Visiting the Carpenters

We headed up to Greenville, SC on August 22nd for the weekend to visit with our friends Cory & Courtney and their 2 kids. We had been looking forward to this visit for some time and had made plans to take some family portraits while we were together. We had such a great time. Addi, their daughter (who will be 4 in March) is just a bundle of energy and smiles. She kept us laughing and smiling the entire weekend. Gage, their latest addition who arrived in June, was just precious. He's such a laid back baby (which isn't surprising given his parents) and I just loved squeezing him as much as possible.

Saturday we had a pretty laid back day. I made my friend Jenn's waffles which were super yummy and then Court, Addi & I went for a walk. We all went out to Whole Foods for a yummy lunch, then split up and ran errands before meeting up back at home. We were grateful that Court's mom & step dad came over to watch the kiddos while we went to Oysters in downtown for a nice dinner. It was a beautiful night so we ate outside and really got enjoy ourselves.

Sunday we went to church then out to eat at Sassafras - a deli in downtown near Reedy River Falls Historic Park. Afterwards, we strolled around the park and I got to take a ton of pictures for my portfolio and of course their enjoyment. =) Addi is such a good sport and does so well when posed. Though my favorite ones, as with most kids, are the ones where they forget the camera is on them and their personalities really shine. Here are just a few of the many, many pictures I took while we were together.

Addi at Sassafras

Cory at Sassafras

David & Addi swinging in Reedy Park

The Carpenter Family

Cory & Gage

Cory & Courtney

Addi

Addi & Court with pink flowers in their hair

Sweet Gage, 8 weeks

Red & Court

This is a normal picture for David & Cory - I use the term loosely...

Our 6th Anniversary

On August 10th we celebrated our 6th anniversary. I can't believe we've been married for 6 years already! Of course I say that and on the other hand, I can't remember my life before David was in it. Here's a few images from our wedding and our first 5 years together...

Christmas 2002

August 2003

Christmas 2004

Ireland 2006

October 2007

To celebrate our 6th, we headed up to North Georgia to Tallulah Falls on August 9th. We hiked to the bottom of the falls (and back up of course) for a total of 1062 steps! It was a beautiful day and unseasonably cool, which we were grateful for. The fall at the bottom of the gorge was beautiful, but we were disappointed to find out we had to have a permit to get down into the water. Thank goodness we had our camel backs!

The sign at the first overlook before you get to the stairs.

Believe it or not, this was the sign that made me WANT to do this hike - what was I thinking?!?

At the top of the steps...it's gonna be a long way down!

David on the suspension bridge that takes you across the gorge.

We made it to the bottom, the view was gorgeous.

Hurricane Falls

What goes down must come up...man that's alot of stairs!

That night we stayed in the Sugar Shack at the Happy Valley Cabins in Clarkesville. It was really quaint and cute and comfy enough for us to enjoy a quiet evening with our books and a hot tub. Sunday we took off to Helen and tubed the Chattahoochee. It should have been restful and enjoyable, but note to self for future reference...don't tube a river when the state is in a drought! The water couldn't have been more than a few inches in most places. We got pictures, but they are on a waterproof film camera which of course hasn't been developed yet. Here we are at the Sugar Shack on our actual anniversary.

On the way home we stopped at the farmers market and loaded up on Georgia Peaches - yum and then shopped the outlets in Dawsonville. It was a great little getaway and we had a very enjoyable time together. It's been wonderful to be married to your best friend, we are very blessed. Praise God for bringing us together and allowing us to go through this life together.

A Weekend in Atmore

The last weekend in July we headed down to Atmore to visit with all of our family on David's side except for Blayne. It was especially wonderful to get to see Deborah & Erin since we don't get to see them nearly as often. It's always fun (and often challenging) to be with all the kids. When Anne arrived it took the total to 5 kids under 5 in the family - crazy!

We took Martin with us since it had only been a few days since Vinny died and it was nice for us to have him with us. It was also nice to have the distraction and not be home. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Who says the kiddie pool is just for adults?

We had fun playing with the girls while the boys were in their swim lessons.

Deborah & Erin playing in the rain

We were all dressed and ready to hit the pool when it started to rain.

No thunder and lightening = fun playing in rain puddles!

Erin after completely enjoying her pasta at dinner one night.

Erin & Mae after church on Sunday. So cute!

Our Sweet Vinny

On July 19, we gave up our sweet Vinny boy to go on to a pain free place because he was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder. We were so devastated as our kitties are our babies...they are our family. He is without a doubt missed by not only us, but his brother whom he left behind. It was heartbreaking to watch him leave us and while it's getting easier, I'm still caught off guard by what will set me into tears. So sad! Here's a few pictures from our last moments together...

Our Sweet boy

Vincent "Vinny" Bilbo

February 14, 2004 - July 19, 2008

Marty & Vinny

Red & Vinny

David & Vinny

Wilson's 4th Birthday

On July 3 we headed back up to Dayton so we could all be together to celebrate Wilson's 4th birthday (on the 4th of July!). We had a wonderful time at his tractor/transformers themed birthday party - boys will be boys! Carol was gearing up to spend a few weeks with David's folks so we got to spend the entire weekend with his mom as well, which is always wonderful. That and I got lots of squeeze time in with little Anne. It was a wonderful long weekend with the family...

Here's the Birthday Boy!

Chris & Anne

After my workout I sat down to stretch and Mae climbed into my lap. It's been so fun to watch her personality change. Even as recently as our vacation in March, she didn't want anything to do with us and would scream if we tried to pick her up or love on her. Now, we're 2 of her favorite people...gotta love kids! =)

Uncle David is fun!

The latest picture I took of the Clark Family (and one of my favorites!)

Meet Anne Fleming

Carol had her 4th child on June 2, Anne Fleming. We went up to Dayton to see their new home and meet little Anne on the 13th. We had a wonderful, relaxing visit and Anne is so precious! Here are a few pictures from our time in Dayton in June...

Carol and her newest addition

Anne & Aunt Red

Uncle David & Anne

Us with Anne

We took a walk in Dayton and stopped to swing on this beautiful afternoon.

Here's Bennett & Uncle David...

Mae

and Wilson