alternatives to driving and happy bday's...

Grams we thought you might like to see what Maggie looked like on the other end of the line during your birthday phone call last week. She just took the phone and sat herself right down on the floor and settled in for a nice reunion chat. Does this picture say Happy Birthday or what?
This weekend we decided as a family to investigate our travel options since gas is in short supply as of late. This is the best mode we came up with in case we run out of gas and need to make a quick dash to the hospital for a delivery. And, it is a lot of fun to boot. For those of you who have never tried longboarding we highly recommend it.

mountain mama

Who says you shouldn't travel two hours away from your home when you are thirty seven weeks prego? Well, according to our doctor "they" say it, and she didn't exactly say not to go...as a matter of fact we were given a copy of our records and told that the hospital in Asheville is a very good one. So, with papers in hand and a possible delivery lurking we headed to the RUF fall conference in Tuxedo NC for a fun weekend with JWU students. We made it back safely sunday afternoon just the three of us and one bun still in the oven...phew.
We were so excited about our one last trip as a family of three that we arrived at camp Greystone hours before anybody else and just had fun exploring. This was a really cool gym by the lake. Tyler and Maggie practiced their father daughter routine while....
Henry and I tried our best not to bounce. And, no that is not a bowling ball stuffed under my shirt contrary to what it may look like. That is an actual baby.
The students showed up friday evening. This is a shot of our JWU students taken at the beginning of one of the large group meetings. One might call it the "silly shot."
A few of the ladies...
There weren't any kiddie swings at this camp only "big kid" swings, so Tyler rigged up this cozy little seat for Maggie so that she could enjoy one of her absolute favorite activities.
This is the huge slide I coveted going on. It looked like a lot of fun and next year mark my words I will be first in line.
This is saturday night at the bluegrass concert. The band was awesome and as you can see everyone had a really good time.

For more pictures check out the JWU link on the right.

food, fun, friends, football and oh yeah Henry!

Last saturday we were blessed by even more friends and family in celebrating our little boy's arrival. We headed over to the Peterson's house for a good ole fashion cook out/boys allowed baby shower. We had a great time, so good in fact I forgot to take pictures, but I did get a couple of fun shots (sadly most of them are from when the shower was pretty much over). Thank you Peterson family and all the friends and family that came to help us celebrate number two. We feel very well loved by all of you!
Caleb was kind enough to dress up in his giraffe oufit for this special occassion.
This is what happens when boys are allowed to come to a shower....the after party turns into a football viewing extravaganza. But, I think Henry would want it this way.
Cherith threw the shower and has been such a sweet friend these past few years except for a very embarassing gift she and Drew made me open. But, we have worked it out and are still friends...kind of (JK).

Shower time!

This weekend Maggie and I headed to Columbia for a fun girl's weekend. My old college roomies, Paige and Janna, spent the weekend with us at my folks and we played on the lake, enjoyed the boat and played lots of bananagrams. Saturday some other college buddies joined us at Henry's first baby shower along with lots of other dear friends and relatives. It was a sport's themed shower and it was so much fun.
Here are the lovely hostesses preparing some coke floats and miniature hotdogs for our sport's themed concessions. (Erica, Courtney and Sheryl)
Enjoying some yummy snacks.
This is a quilt that says Henry on it. My grandma made it special for our sweet little boy.
These are some dear friends who drove from near and far to make it to the shower and for a little college reunion dinner afterwards at the Olive Garden. (Vanessa, Paige, Janna, Kelly)
My first attempt at a panoramic picture is a success (just don't look too closely)!
The excitement of a sport's themed shower was a little too much for sweet Karis to handle.
So what did Henry's sister do during all the festivities you ask? Well, she was quite happy playing with dogs at my parents. She also very much enjoyed having her grandparents all to herself. She even got to go on a date with her Poppa to McDonalds during the shower.
Bella and Maggie sure have missed each other...here is Bella laying one on Maggie.
Maggie absolutely loves her Grandma and Poppa. And, her mommy is so thankful for their enthusiasm and willingness to pretty much take care of and play with her all weekend!
I had to add this picture to the mix. Thursday before we left for Columbia we dug out Maggie's old halloween costume so that my friend Janna could borrow it this year for her little girl. We thought we'd try to see if it still fit, and lo and behold it did. Maggie laughed at herself in the mirror and of course we did too. This is her ta-da pose.