Overboard

I had a great long weekend over the 4th. We packed a ton into a few days and boy were there lots of stories at the end. Thursday I got Kelly & Robby's wedding invitation in the mail and I was sooo excited!! I filled out the RSVP card and dropped it in her mailbox so I could be the 1st to respond. :) Thursday night we headed to the Whitewater Center for some friends, food and live music. It was so fun to just chill, listen to music and watch people go down the rapids. Next time we go, there will definitely be some zipline action!

Friday we packed up the jeep and headed to the lake. Mike has been wanting to take the doors off the jeep for so long and I finally "sacrificed" my life and let the doors come off. All my limbs survived so I guess that's a plus. We had so much stuff loaded into the jeep, I was more afraid of that stuff falling out.
As you can see, Zoe & O'Malley loved riding in the jeep and playing in the lake. We could NOT get them out of the water. They even jumped off the dock and went swimming. I never thought O'Malley would be so brave...but I guess he is officially a water dog.

Friday afternoon we took a boat ride and I will never forget it. (Whitney you will be the only one that really appreciates this story). I have not been on a pontoon boat since Whitney & I had a near death experience. We were riding in the front of a pontoon when it started to sink, we rolled off and thought we were about to die.
So Friday we had about 10 on the boat (which isn't too many) and we went over a big wake and the front of the boat went under water. The water was up to people's knees who were sitting in the front and I could no longer see the front of the boat. The water rushed in the boat, the back end was up in the air and I jumped to the back of the boat and was ready to jump over. Phil cut the engine, everyone ran to the back of the boat and by the grace of God stopped it from going under.
I think my pontoon days are over.
We hung out at the lake for the rest of the weekend and enjoyed hanging out and relaxing with friends...and no more near death experiences. Saturday night we got a special treat of homemade ice cream...YUMMY!!! I haven't had homemade ice cream since we were kids and our dad's used to make peach ice cream and cheerwine ice cream :)
Sunday we had a great day at church (they released our new worship CD which is rockin) and then met mom and dad for lunch. It was a hoot as usual...dad wouldn't stop talking about the cookie he wanted!!! Somethings never change.
I was sad to see the weekend come to an end and head back to work. Oh well...guess I am supposed to work hard in order to play hard.
Happy 4th of July!

Be Thou My Vision

Last Sunday we had the privilege of being at Nathan Tuttle's Ordination Service. We didn't tell Tara & Nathan we were coming because we wanted it to be a sweet little surprise.
We all met at the Eckholdt's house for a cook-out. Matt grilled some great chicken and we all got to hang out, play with Oliver and catch up on life. Mike got to meet Jan & Starr and Jan told me I could bring him back as much as I wanted...guess he passed!

We headed to Beck's Baptist and took our seats so the service could begin.
The service was AMAZING!! I knew the Lord had sent Tara a special husband but man was I blown away at how others loved and respected him. Several people got up and spoke about Nathan and the man he has become. It brought tears to my eyes to hear all the stories about his life. At the end of the service Mike & I( along with lots of other people) got to lay our hands on Nathan and pray for him. It makes my heart to happy to know that the Lord brought Tara and Nathan together and I can't wait to watch their ministry grow.
After the service, we got to love on Tara & Nathan (and take a few pictures) before we all had to head out of town.
I think the service was a great time for all of us to reflect on how we are living our lives according to His plan for us! Congrats Nathan...we are very proud of you :)

Memories of Europe

Yes, I do have memories from our "backpacking" trip through Europe...even if it only lasted 8 days!!! Kelly and I would stop at random "crepe stands" when we were cold and get something to drink along with a HOT & DELICIOUS Crepe. They were usually filled with nutella and fruit...YUMMY!
Well God is Great and has sent us The Crepe Cellar near our house.
Caroline, roommate of the year, planned a dessert & drinks night in honor of Helen's birthday at this lovely place.
None of us had been to this new little restaurant yet, but we were all up for the adventure. After ordering several drinks and becoming best friends with the bartender, we finally got a table.
Soon after we were seated the "OMG" desserts began to arrive. Everyone was shoveling the goodness into their mouths...it was so funny!!!
It is safe to say that we were pleased with the desserts:)

Hope you had a HAPPY "21st" BIRTHDAY Helen

Busy Busy

This was a busy weekend but I enjoyed every second of it. Thursday night little Linds came into town and we ran around town buying decorations, food and adult beverages for Kelly's wedding shower.
All day Friday, I was getting so excited about the shower.
Friday we got to spend the evening with the Russo's, Jay & Erin. We had a yummy dinner and I got in some good quality girl talk. It was way past my bedtime when I finally went to sleep...and a few hours later I was up again!
Mike and I headed out early Saturday morning to run lots of errands. I had a list of things to get before heading to the lake for the shower. We went to the Farmer's Market for veggies and tons of fresh flowers, Owen's (Mike's first trip there and he LOVED it), grocery, Edible Art, ABC store and we were finally done!

After loading up the bride-to-be, we headed to the lake for the wedding shower.
The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time. Kel Kel looked happy to be laying out with an adult beverage in hand and hanging out with all her favorite ladies. Little Linds did a great job planning the shower, and I know the rest of the showers and bach party will be just as much fun :)

Daddy Norman made Kelly a Little Debbie Wedding cake!

Kel Kel relaxing in the poolHannah and ReneeKelly & her "around the house" cakeLinds, Mama Norman & Kel Kelme and my pookieSunday morning I woke up early again and headed to Clemmons for Father's Day. Faith and my 3 cousins (Armando, Julian and Maria) were in town visiting my parents for the weekend. We had a great time playing at Tanglewood all day. They even convinced me to go off the diving board which I have not done in forever. I survived (minus losing my bottoms) but it was a lot of fun. After some fun in Clemmons, it was time to head back to Charlotte.

It was a FULL weekend but I loved every second of it.

Annual Beach Craziness

I'm a little late blogging about our family beach trip but its been a little crazy since I returned. We had so much fun that I didn't want to come home. Mike did survive the family madness and even said he had a good time :)
Em wrote some fun memories from our trip so I won't duplicate.
Here are just a few pictures from our trip (6 pics out of the 280 pictures) hahaha!

Oh Nate, please forgive me

This is just a sneak peak at the fun we had at the beach. Yes, Nate is dressed in a leotard and tutu. Sorry buddy, you were just took cute and I had to capture the moment for future use :)
Aunt BB loves you!

Engaged!

There's so much I want to blog about right now...but I will start with some exciting news!

WHIT and ANDY are ENGAGED!!!!
I was at the beach when Andy "took a knee" so I didn't get to celebrate with them until tonight. We had a mini celebration for Whit during bible study tonight.
I finally got to see the ring and it is GORGEOUS...seriously, breathtaking! Great job Andy...sorry we didn't have any faith in you :)
I tried to take a picture of the ROCKS but you will have to see them in person to get the full beauty.
Whitney is beaming and I love seeing her so happy! We're ready for January...