Our creek

I am such a sentimental woman. It makes me all warm and fuzzy to see my children playing in the same creek I played in as a child. I was taken right back to playing out there with my cousins and siblings while I watched Noah try to move the big rocks and Ella try to simply walk around in the water without falling over. I love this place.

Vogel State Park - Second trip

We enjoyed the swim beach so much we decided to go back. We went today and enjoyed the water and played putt-putt.

Matts favorite place in Helen

We went by the toy store first and the owner made Matt & Barry try to get free from this rope without taking their wrists out of the loops. They didn't figure it out. But it was hilarious to watch.

Jordano's pizza place is where we eat every trip. Matt loves their pizza! We headed there after the waterpark to fill our bellies - it hit the spot for our sunburnt and tired bodies!

My favorite place in Cleveland

Posing with their "prizes."

Ella is seriously watching Mother Cabbage deliver her new CPK.

Noah was laughing over how crazy that doll's hair was.

I loved this painting!

Waterpark Day

They had inflatables in case you wanted a break from the water.

Waiting for lunch.

Matt and Ella are on one slide coming out, Noah and Gabe had just come down the other slide.

Check out her face in this picture! I wish you could have heard her laughing!

We went to the Waterpark on Friday. It was so much fun and time flew by while we were there! Mary, Barry, and Gabe had come down to stay with us for two days and we took advantage of having the extra hands at the waterpark. They helped a lot with getting the kids down the slides and floating with us in the lazy river and gave us breaks so we could enjoy the park. Ella got to go down the big waterslides twice before we were told she was too short to do it anymore. You could hear her laughing from the top of the tube all the way down. Noah told Matt he wanted to do slides all day long.

Rebecca's Baby Shower

These pictures were from last Saturday. We all gathered at the Inn on Church in Hendersonville to celebrate "baby Joey" coming into the world soon. (Ella calls him baby Joey, no definite name has been picked yet.) It was such a great luncheon, and Rebecca and Joey were blessed with a ton of stuff for their nursery, and so many sports/baseball themed outfits you couldn't count them all. We can't wait til he gets here!

Vogel State Park

We spent a good part of yesterday at Vogel State Park. They had a great swim beach which the kids loved. They got to play in the sand and Matt even joined in on the sandcastle/volcano building. The lake water wasn't as cold as we thought it would be and the water was clean and clear. We loved it so much we are going back tomorrow. But for today, it's off to the waterpark!

What a vacation!

~ This picture is of "Mother Cabbage" about to give birth to a baby Cabbage Patch Kid. 2 years ago when we went the baby was named after Noah. Unfortunately it was some kids birthday so we didn't get to help name this baby girl "Ella." :)

We have had such a great time so far! We got to the "cabin" on Monday night late. Of course the kids were so excited to be here, so we all stayed up late.

Tuesday we went to my favorite breakfast place, MaGooch's for some of the best cheap breakfast you can get. We left there, went to the brand new Babyland General Hospital (the birth place of the cabbage patch kids). The kids got their prizes for the week - a boy cpk dog for Noah and a girl cpk for Ella that's a butterfly. We headed then to the welcome center in Helen to pick up brochures and info (kids love free brochures) and off to the local YMCA to go swimming in the outdoor pool.

Wednesday we headed over to Dawsonville, GA to enjoy the outlets and lunch at Five Guys (sadly, the kids wanted McD's so we brought in happy meals to the greatest hamburger place ever). We picked up a few clothes for the kids for next year (we always buy a season ahead, it saves a ton of money!). At 2:00 we got to go see Toy Story 3 in 3D with the kids. My parents had already taken the kids to see it last month, but they were excited to share it with us. We came home and the kids played in the creek and picked out rocks (there you go Bekah) that we will paint today or tomorrow.

Today we are headed to Vogel state park for the day to play in the lake, possibly paddle boat some, and picnic.

This has been such a relaxing vacation!

~ This picture is of Ella, her new prize baby doll, and the 24 piece puzzle it took her 2 hours to complete :)

July 4th

The next few posts are from our July 4th weekend. We spent it with family in Hendersonville and had a blast. Fireworks, camping in the backyard (they were too late to get a campsite this year), hiking, and playing. It was a fun, rambunctious time.

That guy. The one who unsuspectingly gets into your family picture. He will forever be documented in our looking glass falls moment in time. :)

July 4th weekend we decided to take the boys + Ella out on an adventure in Pisgah National

Forest. We started out at Looking Glass Falls, went on a hike, and ended with playing in the creek. All these pictures are from that day - better late than never!

I don't know the name of this waterfall in Pisgah Forest, but it is beautiful. I remember walking to it many times growing up, and Matt and I even went a lot while we were dating. It had been almost 10 years since we had been there last, and it was great to take the kids. The hike was a mile and a half all the way around, and the kids did wonderfully. Even with wet shoes on the way back! Behind the waterfall is a really cool cave and tons of places to explore.

These pictures are from Coon Tree in Pisgah forest. I can't tell you how many youth trips we took there while I was growing up. I am a safety freak, and I remember in high school we went there and Jason Sama jumped off the rock and hit his head on the bottom so I was not

terribly excited when Matt decided to jump off. Luckily the kids didn't want to (even though their cousin Jack did!). The water was FREEZING but it was a great end to our day!

Today's verse

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”- Isaiah 41:10

Claim it, memorize it, rest on it.

Ready to Go

Tomorrow we leave for 6 days in Georgia. We have all been so excited, and counting down for a month now. It's just the four of us, and we are so blessed to get to go to my Aunts vacation home for the week. It's the same place we stayed at so often growing up. I have pictures of me playing in the same creek that my kids will play at. We have planned out each day and plan to go to the waterpark, the beach at the lake, Babyland General Hospital, the outlets & Toy Story 3, eat at my favorite breakfast spot and Matt's favorite pizza place, and just to just enjoy a break. I've been packing for a few days. Today I heard Ella yelling from the kitchen for me to come quick to her, she said "I'm ready to go!" She had strapped herself and her baby doll into her suitcase!

July 4th

I realize that I haven't posted any pictures of our July 4th weekend celebration. I haven't had the chance to download everything from my camera, and hopefully will get to soon. These are pictures LJ emailed me of the boy's golf outing. The men and the boys all went out golfing at the cheap course in Hendersonville. It was one of the first time the boys got to go along, and they did well!

His biggest fan

Matt is officially a part of the Asheville Men's Baseball League. He's a Diamond Back. Today was his first game, and we all went out to cheer him on. It was a double header, games at 1:30 & 4:00. Unfortunately he didn't get to start the game and all games were cancelled in the 3rd inning of the 1st game due to a crazy fast side-ways rain. We all got soaked down to our underwear. This is a picture of Ella trying to scale the bleachers to get a kiss from daddy before the game started. It's going to be an exciting season and I'm so glad Matt gets to use his talents!

I know it's over, but I'm not over it.

Ok, so it's over, but I'm not over it. Soon I know Matt will say to me "want to watch it over from start to finish?" And I will gladly say yes, and every night for a month or two (after the kids are in bed) will be consumed with watching it over. It's the best show ever, and none could replace it or out-do it. I'm unashamedly a "Lostie."

Occasionally I'll catch up on some of my favorite blogs. One that I check into every month or so is hurleys blog from the show. He recently showed a post to this blog http://mylifeislost.tumblr.com/ which is a blog dedicated to people who have "Lost" moments in their every day lives. It was neat to look at. So I'm sharing it with you.

The Prince and The Princess

Today is a rainy day in Marion. While I was fixing lunch I heard some serious imaginative play going on in Noah's room. I walked in to find this, the prince and the princess playing in their own worlds. Love these kiddos!

Noah's "Nook"

When the closet in Noah's room was moved, we faced a small dilema. The closet was hiding a huge cinderblock column. We wouldn't dare take it out, for fear that it was support to the house. So we decided to take the small space beside it (which was formerly the inside of Noah's closet) and make it into a desk area. Matt finished it tonight. I think it's great. I am so blessed to have such a handy-man for a husband!

Rebekah & Will's Yard Sale

My sister and her husband are adopting from Ethiopia and have been so blessed already in the way God has provided for them. To learn more about their story go to www.yestoadoption.blogspot.com. This coming weekend they are a part of a huge yard sale in Scottsboro, Ala where all the money raised will go towards fulfilling this next phase of their adoption, sending in their dossier. This means, once their dossier is accepted, they will be able to get their referral = finding out who their baby is.

The local newspaper did an article on the yard sale, and you can read about it here: http://www.theclarion.org/news/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2462&Itemid=105.

Pray for them this weekend as there is a slight chance of rain. And that God will continue to be glorified through their journey!

Date Night

Last night was our monthly date night. And I so completely look forward to it every month! I think that the kids have so much fun with Anna, that they look more forward to it than I do. Last night Matt and I went out for BBQ and a movie (Eclipse, of course). Anna took the kids to the park, gave them a bath, and then they made a batch of brownies. She texted me this picture while we were in the movies. Fun times for all.

Preschool Camp

This week Noah and Ella got to go to preschool camp at MCA. Noah was a "helper" alongside Emma (update: they have broken up, but they are now BFF's). This was Ella's first taste of preschool. She did pretty good. She had a hard time adjusting to having to do what the group did, but I expected it, since it's just us at home during the week. Carrie assured me she will do just fine this fall and was a normal 1st time preschooler. Every day they made a new craft, got to experience some adventure, and got worn out. It was a great week for them!

Meredith's First Steps

Meredith took her first steps this week... at my house! I felt so guilty, but Amy had always told me that if Meredith ever did a milestone at my house, she wanted to know about it. I did my best to take pictures of it for her. Our Monday thru Wednesdays are going to get a little more crazy once she is a full time walker, but it will be fun. We love this little princess!

Best Girlfriends Ever.

Wednesday night my girlfriends took me out to Mexican food for a late birthday celebration.
They sneakily planned for the waiters to make a big spectacle out of me when they brought me dessert, and they also brought out a tray of my favorite snack cakes and chocolate covered strawberries. I love these women to death, and they gave me a great party!