wedding reception pics

my sister got married back in Sept. but waited until Nov. to have her local reception... a few pics for her! the cute couple! Heather and Fredy

peggy rogers, my papa, my dad, and my papas "lady friend"

holly, CL, susan

ew. gross... they're kissing

all of the originals: heather, amy, nate, kelly, holly, lyndsay and the rents: Bob and Sandy.. together for the first time in 2 months.... (that is totally a record, btw...)

the siblings

holly, t, cl, nate, and nates gf tara

a blast from the past.. my bff from elem. school! erica and amy

my super cute grandma...

please excuse the 1 handed typing. welcome to the family fredy!

I have a confession

While we were driving to the beach, we passed this diner..... I guess it's like a landmark... If you've passed diggers diner, you're almost there! We look for it every year... This year, I thought it would be a good idea to stop there for breakfast on the way home. Diggers Diner celebrates all things grave digger. Grave Digger is a monster truck. Having grown up in VA all my life, and now living in an area where there are race tracks, monster truck shows, and rodeos, I have tried to shy away from them at every possibility. The thought of watching cars race around a track bores me to sleep. The thought of the smells of watching a rodeo makes me gag. the thought of the sound of a monster truck show has me running for ear plugs. But yes. It looks like I will now be taking the kids to such an event. The diner is located on the drivers property. It has a ramp to jump a school bus, all the trucks from the team, a workshop, tons of trucks... van is now obsessed with all things grave digger. Yesterday we were shopping at my fav. store (target) and I was a few end caps ahead of him. Over all of the crazy holiday bargain shoppers, I heard his sweet voice swell above the crowds: "Look mom, gravedigger!!" as he jumped for joy. Yes, grave digger. On the front of a greeting card. If I ever get a grave digger greeting card from somebody, I would cry. It does not seem like the kind of thing I would enjoy getting a birthday sentiment on. The grave digger wishes you a happy birthday??? Not for me.

on the plus side, in NC they are required to post sanitation scores in each public place serving food. the diner had a 99.9 score... and the food was really good...

tough guy poses

a fanta monster truck? that is practically heaven on earth for these addicts

vacation: how do i love thee? let me count the ways

I've been meaning to post about thanksgiving ever since we got back from the beach and between work and kids, just haven't found the time to sit and upload photos, but now that the kids are out of school, time is all we have... We all enjoyed our second thanksgiving at the outer banks this year... here are a few of the things i love about this vacation...

time to be together as a family. uninterrupted, and on our own schedule and time... it is so peaceful.

time to sleep (and catch up on sleep)

friends we don't see as often as we wished

many kids for the boys to play with... (this year there were 18 adults and 27 kids in the house...)

a place for the adults to relax and veg out

water. lots and lots of (cold) water to enjoy

Thanksgiving football game on the beach

lots of sand to play in

the joy of being in nature, surrounded by what I feel are some of the most beautiful creations we have been blessed to experience

Good friends, who share wonderful experiences with us and our kids

We are so grateful to be blessed with such a wonderful group of friends. Thanksgiving is such a wonderful time of year, and i really enjoyed the chance to reflect on all the things in my life I have been blessed with.

a few random pics from before thanksgiving: CL got sick (again)a week before we needed to leave with an eye infection and horrible cold. She was sooo pitiful. Luckily the ocean air was exactly what she needed and seemed to feel better once we got there.

painting babies toes are harder then I expected...

great smiles!