St Simons Island/Florida trip

We had a great trip! We drove over 1200 miles and Garrett did great. We left at 6am on Thursday morning because we knew he would fall asleep as soon as we put him in the car. We drove until it was time for him to eat and that seemed to work out great. We drove to St Simons Island in GA and it was beautiful. We've been thru there a few times before but have never stayed. We went to the pier village and had a great dinner on the water. We even saw some guys catch a huge hammerhead shark from the pier. I have to admit that since we have a little one now, I love smocked clothing! I've always loved it but now have a reason to buy it :) I found a store down there that sells it and they also have a warehouse where many things have been marked down. Needless to say it was dangerous for Tommy to let me go in there by myself :) Garrett now has an outfit for his first birthday!!

He didn't fuss one time on the way down there and we had him all over the place once we got there. On Friday we drove the rest of the way to Florida. It was so great getting to see our friends and their sweet babies! It was also pretty entertaining watching them interact with one another. We also drove down to Daytona to see our friends parents, had lunch on the water, and did some shopping :)

We also had our first encounter with an angry man at a restaurant! Our kids were great, didn't make a peep and this restaurant was noisy! He was drunk and tried telling us that our kids ruined his meal; we weren't even sitting near him and that we needed to "take control" over our kids--in hindsight, I should have asked how he proposed to do that to 6 month olds :) Needless to say Tommy was not a happy camper and let the guy know what he thought. We always have some sort of adventure to tell about. And granted I know I'm a bit biased about NC but here people will smile at you and even speak to you (even if you don't know them); there are a lot of unhappy people down in the sunshine state!

The 3 amigos :)

Catching up!

One would think I'd have more time to keep the blog updated but I end up spending so much time with my little Doodlebug that the days are flying by! I can't believe how much he is growing. He's sitting all alone now and is making all kinds of noises. His two bottom teeth are clearly visible now :) The best is when he wakes up from a nap and looks over at you and just smiles. Melts my heart every time!

We had a great 4th of July weekend. It was very low key and we mainly just hung out around home. It's so crowded where we live on the 4th because everyone comes flocking to the beach so we tend to stay away :) We did go to a friend's house and swam in the pool. Garrett loved it.

Tomorrow we head out for our big Florida trip and our first time meeting the twins! We are so excited to bring all of these special babies together. We're leaving bright and early in the morning and heading to St Simon's Island in GA; then Friday we'll drive the rest of the way to see our friends.

There will be lots of pictures when we return! Hope everyone has a great week!

Officially Summer!

Today was my last official teacher workday! I am so excited that I will be able to spend the next 2 months with my sweet boy! Speaking of my sweet boy, on Friday, he rolled over from his back to his stomach! He has this look on his face like he wants to get moving so I don't think it will be too long before he tries to crawl. Solids are going well; I'm making his food and so far so good. It's super easy to do and much cheaper and better for them! At least you'll know what's in their food :)

We have a busy summer planned and I'm so ready for a break. We are going to the beach house on Friday and will be there for a week and a half. In the beginning of July, we'll be heading down to visit our friends in Florida and to meet their sweet twins! We'll probably visit some family in NC and then we are thinking about taking a trip back to Ocracoke. I was hoping we would get the finalization papers for the adoption before school starts back. So far we haven't heard anything back from that. Our social worker said if we didn't hear something in a couple of months, then we should call the main office and have them check on things or tell us who we can call within the courts.

Yay for summer!!

New beginnings

Well today is it. The last official day of my summer vacation (insert a very sad girl here) :) I can't believe it's over. This has to be one of the fastest summers I have had in a long time! The good news about that is that I haven't driven myself crazy thinking about the adoption. I've even refrained from emailing our social worker this month. Last summer we were busy making sure all of the paperwork was complete and waiting to hear on approvals from our applications. The summer before that we were totally involved with the IVF and then the miscarriage. This summer was just about having fun! I really think I needed it. I've gotten to spend time with our amazing friends, go to the beach, sleep in (oh how I will miss that one), shop, and travel. That's probably why the summer has felt so short.

But a new school year brings a new beginning. I'm able to start all over again. I teach 7th and 8th graders. Half of the 8th grade I taught last year so I already know them (I know almost all of them because our school is so small). The one great thing about the beginning of the school year is reconnecting with those kids and having the opportunity to start fresh, not just me but them as well.

Who knows what this year will bring! Of course I'm praying my heart out that I won't be able to finish the year out because we'll be bringing home a baby, but that's not in my hands either. So for now I'll just keep on keeping on! Here's to the 2010-2011 year! **You guys will be in for a treat once school starts back and I have middle school drama to share with you!

Fun times!

We've had a great time over the past two weeks. From our little getaway to Myrtle Beach and then a great visit with our good friends K and D from Florida, it's been the perfect ending to a great summer!

Sometimes these distractions are great, especially when waiting! It gets your mind off of things and really lets you enjoy life and all of the blessings we have been given. K and D are also waiting to adopt domestically so it's nice to have some friends to walk alongside us in this journey. As we were walking on Saturday, we were talking about how God works and how He's placed all of us doing things and it's by no mistake. Tommy and I are active in a new church plant. It's by no mistake He's placed us there. They don't know it (well they will now) but keeping us busy with set-up and outreach projects has really helped us. Not only have we grown and seen how blessed we really are but it has also helped to keep us busy doing work for our Savior. There's no greater work than that!

So without further ado, here are some fun pictures of our latest adventures.

The water park Tommy and I visited in Myrtle Beach. I guess the lifeguard was afraid she'd get wet! Good thing we weren't drowning :)

Lazy river riding!

Dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse

Our very musically talented friends, K and D. What a blessing they are to us!