Goodbye Piper

Even though we will see Piper at an end of school picnic, this is the last photo of Piper and Alyssa together at school. Piper was Alyssa's first friend and she will always hold a special place in our hearts. Here they had on their special hand made tie die t-shirts and sang during the church service after a week of Bible School. I'm glad the photo turned out well, now I'm trying not to cry : (

Play date with Hali

After three years of saying we were gonna do it, we FINALLY had a play date with Hali! Alyssa was so excited to have her come over to her house!

Here Alyssa is showing Hali some dance moves from Alyssa's latest passion High School Musical. I'm not sure how we went from toddler to tween but we are there!

Next, on to Star Wars . . .

Then on to Push-ups, even better than when we were kids and they were just orange. Unicorns love them!

No play date is complete at our house without a trip to Chic-fil-A, here the girls are riding in twin "boosts" displaying some of their artwork. The girls had a fantastic time together. Thanks Hali for coming over and for being such a great friend!

Fort Sumter

On a splendidly HOT day in July we decided to take Alyssa on her first historical tour, one of Fort Sumter. Here Drew is showing Alyssa how to fire a gun/cannon of some sort, perhaps I should have read the historical marker : )

Alyssa watching our tour boat, the General Beauregard, pull into port.

Fort Sumter, on a hot July day.

A nice shot of our girl resting in one of the cannon openings.


A quick video, showing sweet girl's personality. You'll see why I like it, a rare glimpse at me holding my "baby" captured on film. Even though the war of Northern Aggression technically started on James Island (Fort Johnson), we had a very nice tour of Fort Sumter that I think Alyssa will remember. I will certainly remember the weather, did I mention it was HOT?!?!?!?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW ! ! !

Happy Birthday Drew and Dada - shouldn't let monkeys take your picture! Ha! Alyssa took this one. We hope you have a great one, we love you more each day. Thanks for being the BEST husband and father anyone could ever wish for!

Fun July Weekend

We were able to extend our STAYcation a few days longer when Uncle Brad came to visit. Here are a few shots from Folly . . .

Uncle Brad, ready to take on the world!

I love this shot - I never tire of children at the beach, it was a pretty windy evening.

On Saturday we went with our buddies Lillian and Morgan to see Ice Age 3 in 3-D.

Alyssa, Morgan and Lillian - glasses, popcorn and ready for action! Then it was off to Chick-Fil-A . . .

Morgan enjoying her ice cream . . .

All the girls, thanks Drew for taking the photo and being such a GREAT Dad!

STAYcation July-2009

We are back from STAYcation 2009 in Merry Mo-town! We had a wonderful visit with family, friends, cousins, swing sets, pools, McDonald's, Poppy's Garden, boiled peanuts and the homemade ice cream churn! Above Holt and Alyssa play with Uncle Brad in the pool. Such FUN! AA is working on her photography skills and she took this photo.

The Messenheimers came over for a swim and homemade ice cream. Alyssa loved swimming with Molly. Kelly and I have been friends since junior high school.

Holt is such a sweet boy - here he is giving his daddy a "Hand Hug" - I had to get one too before we left for Charleston.

We went to visit the Jacumins and Eisens in Rutherford College - Donna and I have known each other since we were Freshman roommates together at UNC. Now her and Joseph have three girls - Julia, Elena and Leia. Alyssa had a great time swimming with Elena and Joseph.

Many trips were made to the swing set and many mosquito bites acquired!

Can't forget Tipper - she didn't seem like such a good dog until Jovi showed up!

Jovi drinking from the pool - no wonder there were so many "accidents!"

Alyssa and Marley had fun playing together and here Alyssa is showing how good she can eat (this never happens at home!).

Our second visit to a McDonald's where Alyssa had a blast playing on the indoor playground. We attempted a quick visit with Uncle Chevy and Granny on the way home to Charleston but the noise level was something else - Chick-Fil-A next time!

And last but certainly not least - a photo collage thanks to Drew's photography and Eya's beautiful flowers. Just a small sample of the beauty that surrounded us. Our STAYcation was wonderful - thank you Eya and Poppy for hosting us and having such a fantastic place to visit! We love you and hope to come back again very soon!

July 4th Highlights

We were happy to celebrate our Country's Independence but we were even happier to be HOME! This was a weekend at home after travelling for the past three weekends. One of our activities was watching the Wizard of Oz together - there's no place like home. Drew took this photo after catching the sunrise, a little artistry shining through.

Fourth of July festivities began at school Thursday afternoon. Here Alyssa and Piper are showing off their cupcake star rings.

Alyssa's class and teachers posing for a group shot.

On Friday, Alyssa went for a "New Summer Do." Here she is at the half way mark. Several people have remarked she looks like a "mini Meg Ryan." What a compliment, she's one of my favorite actresses!


Saturday night we celebrated at our neighbor's house with a Cookout and Fireworks - yummy food and much FUN was had by all!

Here's the new do ready for church in a lovely dress that Eya gave her.

Alyssa's reaction to any noisy fireworks, shooting the rest of them off on Sunday afternoon. Oh, it was sad for Monday to come, we had such a great weekend! Does this mean Summer is half-way over?!?!?!