Happy Birthday Lauren!

Monday was Lauren's 25th birthday. We celebrated on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. (We have birthweeks, not birthdays!) She chose a cookie cake for her birthday cake! Lauren is such a special person in our lives! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful and beautiful daughter! (And a great son-in-law too!)

Yep, she got lots of good gifts!

Thanks to all who celebrated with us!

We love you Lolly!

Aloha Hawaii!!

Aloha! We got to go to Hawaii for vacation this year. Wow! What a beautiful place to go to relax and enjoy! We flew to Oahu on Friday afternoon (a 9 hour flight). Hawaii is 6 hours behind us in time. We left Atlanta at 11:15am and got to Oahu at about 2:30pm.
This is the view that greeted us outside the hotel window. Can you say paradise???

This is the view of the bay from our balcony. We got to swim in this gorgeous cove. The water was a little chilly but you could see all the way to the bottom.

Here we are on the rocks across the cove. We were waiting for the sunset. It was absolutely beautiful!

Aloha and Mahalo!

Audrey's First Week

Tonight we went to visit my niece Brandy and her new baby daughter Audrey. They are both doing so well! Brandy is a great mother and Audrey is a really good baby. Brandy's sister, Julie, and her daughter Katelynd came over to visit also. Anne Marie and Lauren went with me. This was Anne Marie's first time to see Audrey. She is sooooo tiny! Anne Marie is such a natural. I know she can't wait to have one of her own. (Me neither!!) This is Julie, Brandy and Katelynd, hamming it up for the camera!
See, I told you she's a natural!

Even Katelynd was really good with Audrey. It's fun to have a baby around when you're almost 12.

Such a beautiful baby!

Happy Birthday Audrey!

Happy Birthday and welcome to my beautiful brand new great niece Audrey! She was born Tuesday afternoon, July 7 weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs. 1oz. and 19 1/4 inches long. She is such a beautiful baby and we are so glad she is here! Happy Birthday beautiful Audrey! Can't believe she is this alert at only 4-5 hours old.

Lauren and my niece Brandy. Audrey looks so much like her mom!

Awwww! She's soooo sweet!

Fourth Fun

Wow! We had a wonderful 4th of July. Jonathan, Anne Marie, Danny and I started the day with a trip to the Douglasville Parade. Don't they look cool with their glasses! We ran into my mom and dad and enjoyed the parade with them. (They never miss a parade)

After the parade we headed over to Anne Marie's parents house for a wonderful lunch of grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and all the trimming. It was one of the best lunches ever. We all thought we were going to burst when we left. Then, a few hours later we hooked up with Chad's family at Longhorns for dinner. Boy were we full!!!!

Chad's mom even donned her lady Liberty hat. Can you tell she works in kindergarten?

We all decided to head to the parking lot at JoAnn's fabric to watch the fireworks. (Except my mom and dad who decided they'd rather see them on TV.) It was a really good place to sit. We had a great view and enjoyed the fireworks and the company.

We had an awesome 4th. It was a great time of food, fun and family!!!

Weekend with Patrick and Ashley

Last weekend, Patrick, Ashley and Liz came down to spend the weekend with me. Wow! What a weekend we had. On Friday, we went to Clinton Park and let the kiddos play on the playground. Patrick said it was the best playground ever. Then on Saturday, we hit a few yard sales in our neighborhood and headed out to the pool at Jonathan and Anne Marie's. It was soooooo hot but we had the best time swimming and playing in the water!

After lunch at my house, we headed out to Monkey Joes'. What a great time the kids had playing there. (It was really crowded though)

Patrick loved the machines and spent more time on them than in the bouncy houses.

Monkey Joe even came out for pictures.

After Monkey Joes', we went to the mall for some supper and to trade the size on Ashley's new swimsuit. We ran into Chad's mom and dad and his niece and nephew, Naomi and Jonathan. Patrick and Ashley really hit it off with Jonathan at the play area.

Sunday morning it was up and off to church. (Boy Ashley looks excited) She wore the little pillowcase dress I made her. It was soooo cute, especially with the brown leggings.

After church we went to Wendy's for lunch with my mom and dad. Yum! Then, Liz and the kids decided to spend just one more night before heading back to Ellijay. Yay! They got to go with us to church for our big 4th of July program, ice cream and fireworks. What a perfect ending to a wonderful weekend!

My mom, dad and I with the kiddos!

One happy Ashley!