Visitors

Last weekend we had more visitors.  I was especially looking forward to these visitors because they are the most awesome people in the world!  My sisters came up for the weekend and we had a blast.  While Aaron worked on Friday we walked the shops on Main Street in town and grabbed lunch at the Coffee Shop or as Levi calls in the corndog place.  Friday evening we drove out to see the elk and luckily the the bull and several cows were out.  We finished it up with some DQ ice cream.  Saturday we drove around taking in the mountain sights and spent the evening out at the river park.  Of course we found plenty of time for cards as expected.  They went to church with us Sunday before heading back home.  While NC is an adventure, I miss my sisters.  They are my best friends and I miss not seeing them and talking to them every week.  Their visit was so nice and refreshing for me.  They've also been quite the hostesses for us when we come down to GA - even at the last minute.  There are no two better gals on the planet and I love them so much.  Thanks for coming a spending some time with us!

Go Braves!

Last Friday night Beth, Amy, and myself went to the Braves games. They played the team we hate the most - the Phillies. Unfortunately, they lost the game, but were still able to get a place in the playoffs. We've been keeping up with their progress and cheering them on. So far they are behind in the series 1-2. Hopefully we'll win the next two games and go to the next round. I think another World Series would be great for out Atlanta Braves.

This is my AMAZING sister...

She celebrated her 24th birthday on Wednesday. She is one of the most amazing women I know. She loves Jesus with all she is, and it is evident in every conversation we have. She is kind, soft hearted, compassionate, loving, independent, encouraging, upfront, honest, helpful, respectful, and absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I feel so completely blessed to have her in our lives and be able to share my deepest hurts and greatest joys with her. She is one of my best friends, and I love her. We celebrated her birthday this week with dinner, cake, and games, but I neglected to make a post wishing her a "Happy Birthday" on Wednesday. So I hope she knows just how much we love her and forgives us for posting this a little late. I hope she can also find it in her heart to forgive me for posting the next picture, but this is the side of my sister that I love the most. The FUN side. The side that always makes me laugh. I love that about her. We can joke, make complete fools of ourselves, and have a blast doing it! We just enjoy being retarded together, and who wouldn't want a sister like that? Thanks for bring the party wherever you go. You truly are an amazing part of our lives!

Happy 24th Birthday Lou!!

I (we) love Beth too - always and forever!

Happy Day to Bay!

Happy Birthday Bay!

I didn't get a chance to write this post yesterday, so I'm a day behind in officially wishing my sister a happy birthday via blogger and all other electronic devices. However, yesterday was her birthday and I spent the entire day with her celebrating her big 2-6. We took Beth on a tour of Turner Field (if you didn't know Beth is now a HUGE Braves fan...a ridiculous fan really). All three of us had a wonderful time on the tour - probably because we had the most awesome tour guide ever! Thanks Bill! The tour was actually pretty awesome and we got some awesome pictures. After living it up at the stadium we headed to the Varisty for lunch. We celebrated the rest of the day with dinner, presents, ice cream, and hand and foot. Hope you had a wonderful birthday Beth! We love you!!! The birthday girl herself.

For Beth

Before Beth left for Thailand she gave me strict orders to "Update your blog while I'm gone," so here it goes...

Levi watching VeggieTales. He is so adorable.

Levi has always had a fascination with the dishwasher. He usually takes out all the dishes as I'm trying to load them up, but this time he decided to get in the dishwasher. The trouble is he did it so fast I didn't even know he had climb in and I was in the same room with him!

Levi has decided that he must stand to eat his food. I have been insisting that he "sit down" while at the table, but my insisting has gotten me too far. I feel like we've made some progress since he hasn't climbed onto the table this week.

Beth this is especially for you. We went to McDonald's for Wednesday lunch. We missed you so much, but said a prayer for you. These are pictures from lunch. I was playing peek-a-boo under the table with Levi. We had a good time, but missed you.

Bay - We hope you are having an amazing time in Thailand and ministering to the girls each day. I know they are probably ministering to you as well. I can't wait to hear all about everything!

Recent...

So much has been going on with us lately. This week was drama week at Prospect, and Aaron played the role of Jesus again. He did a wonderful job, and I'm always so proud of him and the job he does in this role each year. This is one of my favorite pictures of Aaron from the drama. If you'd like to see some pictures of the drama you can check here. Today Beth headed to THAILAND! I am so proud of her and the sacrifice she is making to serve others in this world who need to see Jesus in others. I know she is super excited about what all God is going to do during her stay. While she is there she will be celebrating Christmas with all the girls and delivering their Christmas boxes from their sponsor families. Please be in prayer for her as she ministers at the House of Grace over the next 12 days.

P.S. Isn't she AMAZING?

And I almost forgot, but Levi is now 18 months old! I can't believe it! He is growing up SO fast. He has his 18 month appointment next week, so I'll post his stats and such then, but for now here is what he is up to...

• He is talking so much these days. He says: papa, mama, ball, basketball, dodger, baby, Jesus, uh oh, juice, set, go, two, three, and a few more. Some he says more than others. He also understands tons more words like waffle, help, milk, and simple commands, but hasn't said them yet.
• He knows his ears, nose, fingers, bellybutton, toes, mouth, and eyes (sometimes).
• He's pooped in the potty once. He's just starting the training, but we are so proud of him anyway.
• He smiles really big when you say "Cheese."
• He loves balloons, cars, VeggieTales, Christmas lights (thanks Ky for your yard), his doggie, and sticks.
• He eats most anything - and sometimes eats me out of house and home.
• He still signs 'please' and 'all done,' but hasn't used any other signs on a continuous basis.
• He is very friendly and always waves hi and bye to everyone we meet.
• He is a ham! He loves being the center of attention and laughing.
• He loves playing. He will play by himself, but loves when other play with him especially if they chase him.
• He has his first ear infection last week, but is doing much better.
• He has 16 teeth!! His i-teeth are finishing coming in, and that gives him 16 total. He is a champ at teething and hardly ever complains.
• He loves to throw things - sometimes good and bad - and he has a real strong arm.
• He loves outside and would spend all day out there if I would let him.
• He hates the car and would rather play than ride.
• He loves to read - anything. His favorite books right now are Here Come the Firefighters, Jane's Flying Expedition (both are pop-up books), and anything Dr. Seuss.

HSM

Tonight Beth, Amy, and myself dedicated our entire evening to High School Musical. We've never really seen any of them except in passing, so we started with 1 and followed with 2 and 3. It was definitely cheesy and a little lame in some parts, but we had such a great time laughing and hanging out. By far the best part was creating our top 5 (I mean 10 for Beth) and him of course.

Big Thanks AMY!!!

Thanks to my talented sister, Amy, I was able to enjoy the Hillsong United concert this past Wednesday. In case you haven't heard the story...

Amy won 2 tickets to the concert off the radio. She called into This Fish and had to make up a song including several words they gave her, and then sing it on the radio. Anyways, they loved her song about rainbows and unicorns and gave her the tickets!! Sadly, Amy had a prior committment to teach on Wednesday night, so she generously gave Beth & I the tickets. We had a great time at the concert, and owe Amy big time for it! Thanks for letting us go in your place!

P.S. This is my 200th post! Yay me!

A-M-Y

Astounding

Mesmorizing

Youthful

Happy Birthday Amy!

Tuesday was my sister Amy's 23rd birthday! I know this post is a little late, but we were out of town and I haven't had enough time to give this post the tlc it needed. So here's to you Amy! We hope this year is filled with all kinds of wonderful surprises and blessings from above. We love you Aunt Lou!!

Someone Quite Spectacular!

GIVE ME A ... B

GIVE ME AN ... E

GIVE ME A ... T GIVE ME AN ... H We just want to wish my sister Beth a Happy Birthday!

We hope your day is fantastic and that the celebration last all night! Here's to a happy 25th, and many more to come!

I Want to Rock and Bowl All Night...

Saturday night we had dinner with our friends, Todd & Missy. They live in Atlanta, so we aren't able to get together with them too often, so it was so good seeing them. We are really excited because they are moving to McDonough so now we'll get to see them more often!! After dinner we met up with Amy, Beth & David for a little bowling. We had such a great time hanging out and catching up. Take a look at the video to see a little of our entertainment for the night!

Snow Baby!

Snow, snow, and more snow is what we got Sunday. It started snowing lightly while we were at church, but really started coming down while we were at Gramp & Gramma's house for lunch. Levi wasn't really sure what to think about it. When we headed home it was still coming down hard. We lost power between 5pm and 6pm, and were without it the rest of the evening. The next morning we woke up to nearly 8 inches of snow!!! I haven't seen that much snow in a long time. It was beautiful! Monday morning before Aaron headed to work we went out a played a little. Levi didn't care too much for the cold wet snow, but he loved watching Dodger (who loved it) run through it in the front yard. We had a great time playing and here are a few pictures to enjoy.

Our house on Sunday evening.

Our backyard Sunday evening.

Levi playing with us in the snow.

Our 8 inches!! This shot was after it had already started to melt. As I said we were at Gramps & Gramma's house when the snow started, so Aunt Lou decided to keep Levi warm in a human warmer blanket thingy...think Snuggie.

Levi's doctor appointment was cancelled due to all the snow, so we went today. He is growing so much. He is in the 75% in weight coming in at 22.1 pounds (he lost a few ounces since surgery because he hasn't been eating that well) and he is in the 95% in height measuring 30 inches long! They said everything looked great and that we was doing wonderfully!

A 'Super' Weekend

This weekend was awesome. Friday night we had another Girls Night. We had the best time playing Bunco and charades. May I just say that Richard Simmons cleaning a bathroom never looked so good. Can I get an amen? Anyways, we had a blast eating and playing. I'll refrain from putting up the videos to avoid complete embarassment for some of my dear friends.

For our Girls Night I made a recipe I'd been dying to try. It will completely take away any New Year's revolution you may have, so proceed at your own risk. I saw it on Bakerella, and thought Girls Night was the perfect time to some Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies!!! They were delicious! (It's a Betty Crocker recipe, so if you are interested you can check out their website).

And now for the Super Bowl...

Sunday we had a little Super Bowl Party at Mom & Dad's. It was just us, but we had a blast watching the Steeler and Cardinals duke it out for a win. We were all rooting for the underdog and thought they were going to pull it out until the last few seconds of the game. The video below is the half time show we had. I don't think Bruce Springstein has anything on us.

Lou Makes Us Laugh

Aunt Lou came to visit today. Levi got so tickled at her. Hope you enjoy!

Hair

Yesterday was all about the hair. Aaron has been needing a hair cut, so he was brave enough to let Amy take a stab at it. She actually did a pretty good job as you can see from the picture of him afterwards. However is was quite funny to watch her do it since she had to stand on a chair to be able to reach the top of his head. We also gave Levi a little trim around the ears. There is a picture of a lock of his hair, but no picture of him because he really doesn't look different. I got my hair chopped off last week, but trust me when I say the picture of me is not to depict my new do. That picture is totally for Amy. Ever since Amy has started teaching, she has asked me on several occasions if she could do my hair like the kids in her class do their hair. I repeatedly tell her no, but finally decided to give her what she wants. I decided that since she had to go back to work today that she needed some reminding of those precious little ones that she works with, so yesterday I showed up at her house with my hair like the picture above. She died laughing and it was totally worth it. Even Levi found the humor in it and would start laughing every time he looked at me. So there's our hair. The good, the bad, and the ugly.