Trip East: To Virginia!

We made the beautiful drive down 81 to get to my family's house in VA - even through light snow showers! The day after we made it to my parents' we went exploring on Mill Mountain. They have a great Discovery Center there that Graham was even interested in, a new little park, and the Star! They also have a zoo, but we didn't go there that day :o)

Here is Graham rock climbing up with Grandaddy to the top of the slide!

Walking to see the star with Gramma!

A great view of the city and valley from the overlook in front of the star...

My Aunt Jenny came to visit one night for dinner - it was a treat to see her again!

Some dear friends from seminary came to see us while we were in town too. Danielle and Brian now live in Blacksburg (only 30 min away) so the Creasons drove up from Charlotte to stay with them for the night and they all came over for lunch on Saturday. It was so special that they would take the time to make the trip up and we appreciated my parents' hospitality to have us all there!

Another treat was the snow... Graham loves snow.

We were also able to see some good friends that I grew up with while we were in VA... I was excited that they were able to get together on such last minute notice! This is Lisa, her husband Aaron, and their little girl Vivian! They have another baby on the way in August :o)

Kisses from Miss Vivian

The three of us - me, Carissa, and Lisa - and the babes :o)

Carissa love

Graham loves his Grandaddy and learned a new trick from him that he is still playing... "Bore a hole, bore a hole..."

Riding the horse!

And he loves reading with Gramma :o)

Cheese!

And we can't forget Izzi... Izzi was extremely patient with Graham, especially when he wanted to ride her like a horse!

Trip East: Off to Maryland!

Our first destination was to see family and friends in Maryland. Before we actually got there, though, we had a first for Graham -- his first flight in an airplane!! He was thrilled to be at the airport to watch the planes take off and land. He understood that he was riding on a plane, but I'm not sure how much he actually understood that he was flying in the air. Thankfully, he did great on his first flight!

Here's Graham having fun in Pop-Pop's "new" Bug from the 60s!

That Monday, some of Nat's extended family came by for brunch - it was great to see them all! Todd and Chelsie also came by with Joel... My camera was loving the Graham/Joel time so much that I didn't really get any shots of Nat's other family who joined us that day. But aren't the cousins so cute together?!

The piano was a HUGE hit the whole time we visited!

Group shot of Nat's immediate family (and significant others) after dinner! Bridgette, Randall, Joel, Todd, Chels, Gram-Gram, Pop-Pop, Nat in back... and Jackie, Graham, and me in front. We missed having you there, Mitch!!

Our friends the Wileys had us over for lunch one day... it was great to spend a few hours with them, catching up and enjoying each others' company!

A picture was needed of the 7Eleven... we have not seen a single "Sleven" south of VA.

Some of you might not know, but my sister, Mariah, lives with Nat's family! We were able to spend some good quality time with her and Graham loves his "Aunt Riah." One of his favorite things to do with her this time was to go down the stairs and count every single one of them!

Tickle fight with Pop-Pop

Our good friends the Hackenbergs had us over for dinner one of the nights we were in MD... Their little boy Moses has gotten so big! It was fun to have the boys together, and we were thankful for the opportunity to have some quality time with Jeremy and Hannah :o)

Getting a re-cap of pictures with Gram-Gram

More fun with Aunt Riah

Swinging!

Big Trip East

Last week (the 15th to be exact!) we took an opportunity to go see some family and friends back on the east coast! We just came back on Monday the 23rd and feel as though we jumped back into a busy busy week, so I promise we'll have pictures from our adventures up soon. :o) It truly was a refreshing and encouraging trip for all of us.

Fun Ride!!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

We (especially Nat) have been extremely excited to start a garden at our home here in Texas!  He has planted many seeds already that are ready to grow in the window, but last week we were thrilled to buy some fun trees for our yard!  Included in our shopping spree was a pecan tree (our shade tree... well, someday), a crepe myrtle (for the front), a lime, lemon and fig!  We're excited to watch them grow :o)

Fun with Stickers and Water

I'm honestly not sure where I was for this, but Graham found a sheet of stickers and went to town!

After Nat came home, they had some fun with the hose!  I was trying to be inconspicuous in the window but was caught!

Doctor = Cheeseburger

I finally took Graham in for his 18 month appointment (at 21 months...) and he's growing tall (even though he's gained almost no weight the past few months)!  35 inches, 25.9 lbs and his head is 49 cm.  After I took him to get his shots (a whole story in itself!), he very tearfully cried out "cheeseburger!" when he caught a glimpse of a McDonald's.  How could I resist such a request?  Here he is enjoying his reward for being such a brave boy!