Ann Elizabeth is 10

10 years old! Double digits. How does that happen?

She is such as blessing to us. Our first born girl! Full of life, laughter and love. She is so sweet and innocent and sees the good in everyone. She is a great friend and loves hard. She is really into basketball right now and is an amazing piano player. Reading is her love and she really enjoys science and Spanish (partly because she loves her teacher-Profe Molina). School work seems to come easy for her even with a little studying now in 4th grade.
She love The Lord and is very knowledgeable about biblical facts.
She continues to have her own style...teetering between tomboy and girlie. She loves wearing her basketball shorts and t-shirts, but she also like to get dressed up and go out. We love that about her.
We are do blessed to have her and watch her continue to grown in her faith and in life. She is so full of energy and keeps us on our toes.

Great Wolfe Lodge

Duck Dynasty Camo Birthday Party

Movie Sleepover Party

MOVIES with FRIENDS

Thanksgiving 2012 in Atlanta

Thanksgiving started out with parties in the kids classroom. For fall. Walter's class actually had a Thanksgiving feast (1st grade classes do this every year), and it was the cutest thing. They made either pilgrim hats or Indian hats and wore then during the party. So cute.









This year was our year to go to Atlanta for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun. Because of all the days off we had from school we were able to spend almost a week with Walter's parents. It was a great time to be with them and to just replax and do nothing. The kids had fun staying up late, eating whatever they wanted and having smores at Mrs. Ruthies. Walter and I shopped Black Friday and shopped and shopped and I think we slept even more. We left Gram & Papa's a day early to head to Athens for the big UGA vs. GA Tech game. The kids first football game. What a great trip it was!!!


TRYING to get the camera set for a Christmas Card picture....oh my sweet little monkeys.





                                        Football in the front yard!




                                                      Thanksgiving table

                                             Fun at the Park!

UGA vs. Georgia Tech

We took the kids to there first UGA game on Saturday and they LOVED it! It was so fun to watch Walter experience his old stomping grounds with the kids. They were a little skeptical at first (b/c college football is way different than NFL), but after the first quarter, they loosed up and started yelling and cheering along with everyone else.
We arrived Saturday in time for the game. It was blazing hot and we had really good seats in the sun. After the game, we checked into the hotel and went to grab a bite to eat. Needless to say we were all whipped. On Sunday we hit the Starbucks in downtown Athens and then walked around campus with the children. They thought it was really neat to see where Daddy went to school. However, they didn't quite understand why he had to carry his books instead of putting them in the locker? "Why didn't you have a locker Daddy??"
Hopefully we can make this a tradition and take them to a game....or two..every year!

Back to School! 1st & 3rd Grade @ CCS!

Back to School is here again. This summer flew by. We had a blast but I think we are all ready for some structure to come.
This year I will go to work too on the first day of school. It is great getting up and ready to tackle on the first day of work & school.
Walter is in 1st Grade and he has Mrs. Kneisc & Mrs. Brackman. Mrs. Knesic just adopted a baby so she will not be in school until November, but we love the substitute Mrs. Greenleaf. Walter has had her for a sub before and LOVES her. He is really excited about being able to go to school all day. We keep talking about it being like "big" school and encouraging him that he is ready. So when he came home on the first day we asked him how it was and he stated, "It's fun, but they have preschool rules." It was very funny.

Ann Elizabeth will be in 3rd grade and she has Mrs. Robinson again and we are thrilled. She was her 2nd grade teacher and got moved up. Ann Elizabeth loves her so we are sure that this is going to be a great year. She does have some good friends in her class this year so that is a huge plus.

I still can't believe that they are in 1st & 3rd. It seems like not so long ago that they were in preschool. Time has flown and we are just trying to hold on and enjoy every minute of it.

Charleston Trip 2012

This summer we have been able to travel to Charleston with Walter twice. We love going with him and are so thankful that we can.
The first time we went we spent time with our friends The Walkers and went to the beach. The adults also had a night out while the kids had a sleep over. That was a huge treat. We also met up with a sweet friend and her children. Mary and I were great friends when we loved in Charleston and our children were so close in age and played all the time (even though they don't remember).

The next time we went, we did things a little differently. The first two nights we stayed downtown at The Vendue Inn and it was glorious. The kids loved it. We accidentally found secret notes that other guest had left in the bed post. The kids thought that was really neat and so we left out own little notes in the bed post before we checked out. 

 We were right at waterfront park and could walk anywhere we wanted to go. I was able to get a run in down the battery and it was beautiful.

We played in the fountains, walked around the market, ate ice cream almost every night and ate fantastic meals downtown.

The next 2 nights we stayed at our usual Hampton Inn on IOP. The kids loved it because they could go right downstairs and get breakfast and then jump in the pool. We spent the day at the beach and then caught a Riverdogs baseball game before heading home.

These were the 2 best trips to Charleston that we have had in a long time. For the first time since we left, we were able to enjoy the city and beach without being completely homesick!