HAPPY 35TH ANNIVERSARY!!!

Monday, July 28, 2008 was my parent's 35th anniversary so I just wanted to acknowledge this because it's so very rare these days that we find marriages that last even a couple of years! They have set such a wonderful example for us and many others in the love that they have for each other and the Lord and I know that this love is what has held their marriage together! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad and here's to another wonderful 35!!! :)

Here's some pictures from the past couple of years of my parents - we love you both so very much!!!

Will's 1st Baseball game

Will and I headed to Rock Hill this past weekend to spend time with my family since it was my parent's anniversary. My dad treated us all to a baseball game - this was Will's first and he loved it! It was the Charlotte Knights vs. the Buffalo Bisons...unfortunately the Knights lost but we had a wonderful time together! Will was taking everything in and was very observant during the game. He also really enjoyed the cotton candy that I got him! :)

Swimming Lessons

Will and his buddy, Jackson, started swimming lessons last week and haven't had many lessons yet due to weather but what they have done so far is learn to put faces in the water, blow bubbles, kick, paddle and try and float on their backs. They've had a lot of fun together and with the other children. Hopefully we'll get some better soon so we can continue with the lessons and have some more fun at the pool! :)

The recreation center where they are taking lessons has a park also so Will and Jackson had lots of fun playing there after lessons:

A date with Will

Rick was away in Connecticut for a couple of days so I decided to take Will on a "date" to the zoo this past weekend (7/20/08). We had a wonderful time together even though it was almost 100 degrees! We were able to see the lion cubs that were born last month, the crocodile being fed, the penguins being fed, played on the playground and rode the carousel and many other animals! I bought him a stuffed elephant while we were there - it was the animal that he chose out of all of the ones that were in the store. He loves the elephants!!! Can't wait for the next time that we go!

Playing in the rain

This past week we had quite a few storms around the area and on one of the days Will and his buddy, Jackson, got out together and played in the rain together - unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them together but they were soaking wet and had a blast! They were running all around in the cul-de-sac and playing in puddles, etc. After the rain died down a little the sun started to come out and we got a beautiful rainbow out of it! Here are some pictures:

Saying our Goodbyes

On the last day at the beach we really just spend it cleaning up, packing up and saying our goodbyes to the beach and each other! It always makes me a little sad but at least we having something to look forward to next year!

Last day at the Beach

On our last day at the beach we, as always, spent all day outside playing and had so much fun! Can't wait for next year! :)

Our little Emma

Emma loves her Hello Kitty sunglasses and loved "chillin out" on the beach in her little chair, drinking her drink and wearing her sunglasses! She was so precious watching all that she did during the week at the beach this year - so different from last year at the beach! She wanted to do everything that Will did so we've decided that we're going to have to work very hard on making Will into a good leader instead of a bad one since he does have little ones watching everything that he does also even as young as he is! I'm so grateful that the two of them are so close to each other - they love each other so much!

Will on the Boogie Board

Will got a chance to try out the boogie board at the beach this year and loved it. There was a little "river" that formed on the beach on the last day there so we drug out a boogie board and pulled him through the water - he loved it and thought he was such a big boy! It was so cute!

Train Ride

Rick, myself, Will, Brian, Allison and Jackson all headed to the South Carolina Railroad Museum this morning (7/5/08) for a train ride. I know that Will and Jackson were very excited about it but I don't know who was more excited between my two men - Rick or Will??? :) Will loves trains bur Rick really loves them! :) Rick had so much fun and I'm so glad that he was able to go on the train ride with us today (he wasn't able to at Christmas). There were so many things that we saw while on the train ride: old train equipment, all kinds of scenery, the old train station, airport, etc.

These are some of my favorites from the trip today:

Will looking at all of the trains while waiting to board the train:



Rick and Will waiting to board the train:



Family picture:



Will looking at his train ticket:



Will playing on the train and making choo-choo sounds:



Best Friends - Jackson and Will:

2008 4th of July

I hope that everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Rick, Will and I had our neighbors, Serena, Brian, Allison and Jackson come over for 4th of July this year and we had a wonderful time and so much fun together! We had fun just hanging out and talking, eating lots of yummy food, watching the boys have a blast playing in the pool and slip-n-slide, and enjoyed the many fireworks throughout the neighborhood! Rick helped me out so much with everything, as always, but I want to brag especially about the watermelon that he made for me - it was amazing!!! He never ceases to amaze me! :) We let Will have some fun later that evening by playing with some sparklers for the first time - he was very fascinated by them and thought that he was such a big boy getting to play with them himself! He's growing up into such a little man! :)



Here's pictures from 4th of July a- can't wait until next year:

A Visit with Rick's Cousin

We were able to take part of a day and head to North Myrtle Beach to visit with Rick's cousin, Scott, and his family that are from Arizona. We never get to see them so it was great to get a chance to hang out for a while and catch up with them and let the kids play. Their daughter, Julia, and Will had lots of fun together playing in the sand and water! They definitely all have some similarities in their looks too - it was neat to see this! Hopefully we'll get to see them again sometime in the near future!