Encouraging Reading at ALL Times

In our house reading is always encouraged!  :)

After 20 years...change is coming

When I was 10 we began attending Hebron.  I've had many memories there...being saved, many friends, retreats, getting married, raising my girl there, and many more.  One of the greatest things about Hebron has been the pastor...Larry Wynn.  Not only has he been my pastor for 20 years, but he's been a second dad, friend, encourager, supporter, listener, and example.  I feel like I was blessed even more that Larry is my best friends dad and I've been able to see him so much outside of church...he is always the same!  He's cheered me on in many sporting events, been there every time one of my grandparents passed away (even came to my uncle's house late at night after my grandfather passed away...without being asked!), married me and Jason, and celebrated with us when Raleigh was born.  I can't even begin to name all the ways Larry has impacted my life.  Now that he's leaving as pastor things will be different at Hebron, but one thing I know is that if I or my family ever needed him he would be there for us still.  That's what makes him a wonderful pastor!  Thanks Larry for everything!!

Sunday Afternoon & Papa's Birthday

Sunday after church is usually lunch at Grandma and Papa's.  We also celebrated Papa's 65th birthday since he'll be out of town on March 1st.  We had some play time and then opened Papa's gift.  Fun times!

Raleigh posing with Daddy

 And then copying Mommy by taking a picture of Daddy!  :)

 Goofing around!

 Finishing her puzzle

 Giving Papa his gift.

Happy Birthday Papa!  We love you!!

Heartbreaker!!

Lacy's team played another state game, but had to travel to Wilkinson County.  This was the nicest gym I've ever been in...there were stadium seats on the home side (but we all sat there anyway), a scoreboard in each corner (that included the players number, number of points, and fouls), and bleachers at the end of each goal.  They started off the game great and led until the 4th quarter.  It was definitely a heartbreaker, but when Wilkinson County got going, they really got going!  Unfortunately Lacy's coach was not the greatest and didn't make some good coaching decisions so this made the loss even tougher.  :(  I'm so proud of Lacy and her teammates for a wonderful season!

Boxing out...This girl was really pushing Lacy, but she stayed strong!

I love that you can see Lacy in the background with Raleigh cheering!

One last pep talk near the end of the game

The final score.  :(  They did put up a great fight all the way until the end.

Can you tell how nice the gym is??  You enter from the top and each corner has the "window" for you to watch.

State Game!

Lacy's team didn't win their last two region games, but were still able to play in the state games.  Luckily they won the coin toss and played at home!

This was a close game...I mean really close!  I decided at this game that I'm not going to be able to watch if Raleigh chooses to play sports.  I was a nervous wreck at this game! It was fun to see Lacy get so excited!!

 Look at that smile!  So happy!!

 4 point difference...too close and came down to some foul shots!

Valentine Love!

I love Valentine's Day!  I'm not sure if it's because my birthday has always been the day before or if it's the colors, but there's something about it that I just love!  Maybe it's the chocolate!  We had a fun time celebrating and giving each other an extra helping of love!

Valentine cards that I made to give to Raleigh's friends in her CBS and Sunday School class

Grandma and Papa gave Raleigh a gift in a Disney store bag...

more princess gowns!  She is addicted to these gowns and wants to wear them any time we're at home...I can't get her to keep on real clothes anymore!

Jason always sends me flowers or brings some home.  I can tell him to not spend the money but he does it anyway.  I got these on Friday for my birthday and Valentine's Day.

Not only did I get flowers, but so did Raleigh!  I love it that Jason is so good at showing her how she should be treated and that she's special!

Jason also made another purchase...a new movie!

I decided to make a book for Raleigh with pictures from our Disney trip and vacation.

I would say she loved looking at all the pictures again!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

More Celebrating!

I really can't believe I'm 31!  Deep down I still feel like I'm 22, but then my body tells me other wise.   I may be getting older, but I wouldn't change anything!

My parents brought my gift over in the afternoon.  I had a great helper!

So excited to get two new books!!  If you can't tell what I'm holding it's The Pioneer Woman's book Black Heels to Tractor Wheels  and the other book I got was Candace Cameron Bure's, Reshaping It All.  I'm a little sad that I missed being able to get Candace Cameron Bure to sign the book when she was in Buford a few weeks ago, but I have met her when she spoke at church. But the good news is that I won't be missing The Pioneer Woman when she comes to town!!

We celebrated with dinner at Shoki's (our favorite Japanese restaurant in Athens) with my parents and my sister-in-law.  Raleigh had to use chopsticks and did a great job with them for a short time.

I love "sharing" a birthday with the love of my life!

And again...I love my family!!

Another Year Makes 36!

Happy Birthday Jason!  I really have an amazing husband that I don't tell often enough just how much I appreciate him.  He would do absolutely anything for his two girls.  There are a couple of little things he does that make me so happy and I don't think he realizes just how appreciative I am.  

One is that he always pumps the gas for me.  I'm totally capable of doing this, but in the past two years I've only pumped the gas once!  It's the little things!

The other thing is that he does bath duty!  I am not fond of giving Raleigh a bath.  I don't know why, but I just don't really enjoy it.  Jason does it all the time and Raleigh loves for him to do it.  They sing and play and it's such a joy to listen to them enjoying some daddy/daughter time.

There are so many more things he does that I don't deserve.  I know that he's always going to provide for us and make sure that we are well taken care of at all times.  Just a couple of the reasons I love him!

We celebrated with breakfast at my parents in the morning.  Jason is difficult to buy gifts for.  There are things I know he would love, but they're things that he would have to pick out (bike shoes, bike parts, etc.).  So, I tried to find something different that he might enjoy.  This was a book/chart of world history with all the different times in history.  I had been eyeing this since Christmas and I think it was a success!

Of course new clothes are always needed

You'll never guess who picked out this card!!

My parents gave Jason just what he wanted...money!

Someone else thought she needed it too!

For dinner we went with both of our parents to eat at Pappadeaux.  We love this restaurant, but usually only go for our birthdays.  Here we are after opening our gift from Jason's parents...a gift card to the apple store!!!  On the list to buy...an ipad!  I'm ecstatic, but was told I must share.  :)  Now we must wait until the new one comes out.

Nana and Granddaddy brought Raleigh her Valentine gift...lace up cards!

Happy Birthday Jason!!!  We love you!!

Play Time with Uncle Scott and Aunt Vivian!

My brother Scott had class in Augusta for the month of January.  This meant that we were able to see him and Vivian on the weekends!  Raleigh loves Vivian!  She of course loves Scott and Todd and Cindy as well, but when Vivian is around no one else gets her attention.  I finally captured some pictures on their last day at home (Jason's birthday because I think Scott makes it his goal to never be home on my birthday).  :)

Playing Barbies with Vivian

Barbie fiasco:  When Lacy was about Raleigh's age she pulled the head off one of my Barbies and we never threw it away.  Raleigh had to carry on the tradition so now we have two Barbies with their head torn off!

 Even with the head off you can still comb the hair!

Raleigh and Vivian would take the boots from the Barbies and put them on the ends of their fingers then sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

See what I mean...she loves her!

Vivan had to get ready to leave so Scott got a little bit of love.  They played the organ together (or Scott pumped and Raleigh played)!

And Scott doing what he does best...aggravating and tickling!

I'm so glad that we were able to have some time with Scott and Vivian!  Raleigh didn't want them to leave!