Hello, FALL!!

I have to say that I am really excited that Fall is here! The weather is getting a bit cooler, our schedules are much more normal, and it's FOOTBALL season!! I love every part of FALL!! Brooke is back in school 3 days a week and is LOVING it! Presley comes to Stroller Strides with me and we get to get some alone time together. Brooke is back in dance class and is so thrilled with her class. Ahhh...goodbye summer...hello FALL! Mom Mom Suz was in town when Brooke had her 1st dance class this year! Look how excited she is!

1st day of school!

Wearing her mermaid outfit that Nana got her!!

At a friends birthday party enjoying her pizza! Like mother, like daughter! :)

Seriously?!! This was after eating a cupcake!!!

A Day with my Man

Yesterday was a day that I have craved for awhile now.... I got to spend the day with my incredible husband!! With the past couple of months being so busy, stressful, you name it... it was time for us to get away and really have a great day together. My Mom was so great to watch the kids for us while we jumped in the car and headed off. We decided to head up to Table Rock and hike for the day. I have to say that this was by far such a beautiful day (in many different ways). We hiked for 7.2 miles and loved going to the top of Table Rock. The view was so pretty and it felt great to be on the mountain and feel so connected to my love. We laughed so much and just loved being in nature together. After the hike we headed out to dinner in downtown Greenville to one of our fav restaurants, Rick Erwin's. We had an awesome steak dinner with a dessert to die for. We stayed overnight downtown and enjoyed coffee on the river and a long walk there this morning. I love being with my children everyday but the times I get to have Scott all to myself, I just soak it up. Thank you Mom for hanging out with our children so we could have such a great time hanging out with each other. It means so much to us to be able to do that. We love you.


Here are some pics from our day yesterday:
We stopped at the last gas station before Table Rock and found this ostrich behind the store. We thought it was a little random. :)

Start of our hike! Yes, we were already sweating since it was still about 90 something degrees in the mountains!

On our way up... this rock looked like a sleeping dinosaur!

Pretty view on the way up

Nice view heading to the top

At the summit!

Scott looking out at the beautiful view

This was what we climbed yesterday. This was taken when we left the mountain. The pics right above this are taken from the top of those rock cliffs.

End of August

We cannot believe that summer has come to an end especially since it is still about 97 degrees here! The last couple of weeks of summer have been so much fun! Mom Mom Suz came to visit for a week and it was so great to spend time with her and get to all be together. She and the kids did so much together and had a blast!! The last night she was here she came with us to the annual neighborhood Dodgeball tournament!! This night is so much fun..the Dads play dogdgeball and drink lots of keg beer while the ladies and kids have fun outside the game!! We love this night every year! This year our Dads called themselves the "Millbillies" and they won the whole tournament (12 teams played)!! So fun, we got a little rowdy afterwards to say the least. :)
We also celebrated Nana's birthday too with yummy Italian food and a fun night all together!! We love you Mom Mom Suz and Nana!! All the gals and kids at the dodgeball game!

Scott taking a break and hanging with Brooke and Melaina.

Mom Mom Suz and Nana hanging out!

Nana's birthday night!

Me and my girl celebrating! (Yes, Brooke does not have clothes on...she pretty much rips them off everytime we walk in the house!)

Summer Days

Below are some pictures to show what we've been up to from late July until now. We've had to get creative with some fun indoors activities since the heat has been almost unbearable!! Cool days ahead..I can already feel them starting! Presley and Abby got to meet in Pennsylvania!! (Abby is Chad and Ali's daughter - Scott and Chad grew up together and are pretty much just like cousins!)

We celebrated my birthday in PA and had a delicious chocolate cake thanks to Mom Mom Suz!

Brooke played with friends at Bryson's birthday party!

Who doesn't love a good hula hoop?!

We created hop scotch in our garage so it wasn't in the sun. You should see how much we sweat out there, even in the shade! They have a blast though!

Presley joining in the fun!

My friend, Carrie, and I took our kids up to Hendersonville, NC, to the Hands-On Childrens Museum. It was a great place to take them for a couple of hours and they had a blast!!

Luke and Brooke playing in the "Vet Hospital"

Brooke went grocery shopping!

Couldn't even tell you what this contraption is called but it was so cool!

Who knows what she's doing?!! Just having fun!

Presley turns 1!

Our baby girl turned 1 on July 4, 2011!! What a wonderful day it was to celebrate her big day! We had a joint birthday party with Clara (our best friends little girl who was born on July 5th!). We had a pool party at our neighborhood pool on July 4th and served pizza, fruit, and cake! What better way to spend our Independence day, right?! It was so fun to see all our friends and family and to all be together! Presley and Clara had a blast but the older sisters probably had more fun! Brooke and Melaina were all over that party...they loved it!

First of all, I am still in shock that the past year has flown by as quickly as it has. Presley is growing and thriving and we couldn't be happier with our little munch. (or "Puppy Puppy" as Brooke calls her, don't ask?!). She is now running everywhere and we feel as though she is 1 going on 6 years old. She is a climber, seriously, on everything...anywhere. I hear loud thugs all day long from her falling off stuff but she is tough as nails. She barely ever cries...a little different then our older child. :) Presley loves food..she will pretty much eat anything, which is SO fun for us!! She prefers to eat what we are eating and makes it very easy to prepare food for her. She is saying Hi, Da, Mama, Dada, and that's about it. She babbles some but overall those are her main words. She is completely off the bottle and has preferred the sippy cup since a couple days after her birthday. She just wants to be doing everything that Brooke does so now she struts around with her sippy cup and shows it off to Brooke. Presley is the "panty thief" around here. I know it's weird and it sounds like something a dog does but she LOVES Brooke's underwear!! Clean, dirty, it doesn't matter, she will grab them and run!! Cannot tell you how many times a day I am saying "No more underwear, Presley!" She has 6 teeth (4 up, 2 down) and lots more coming in. She drools all day, everyday. Our little girl is truly coming into her own and we love every minute of it! We love seeing our 2 girls playing together and learning what it feels like to have a sibling. That is a love that will last forever.

At Presley's 1 year check-up, here are her stats:
Weight- 20.94 lbs. (63%)
Height- 29 inches (30%)
Head- 18 inches (73%)

Here are pictures from Presley and Clara's party!!

Our niece and nephew, Caden and Adelyn enjoying some cake!

Presley and I will Aunt Judy and Uncle Kurt!

Uncle Devin throwing Caden high in the air!

Everyone enjoying the beautiful day!

Happy big sister!

Presley loving her pizza!

Presley and Clara got their own cupcakes!

Look how sweet...SISTERS!

Singing happy birthday!

Presley ready to get the red goob off!

Look at that sweet face!

Trying to attempt a family picture! Never works!

Ahhh.....now that is a nice family picture!

Melaina, Lydia, and Brooke all loving being the big sisters!

I will never forget...

I will never forget Thursday, July 7th receiving a phone call that my brother-in-law was missing.

I will never forget Saturday, July 9th learning that our worst nightmare had come true.

I will never forget the week of June 18th-June 26th spending an incredible week at the beach with Jamie.

I will never forget saying our goodbye to Jamie up on the mountain.

I will never forget Jamie being the DJ down the mountain. He was there, no doubt.

I will never forget the beautiful words my husband said about his brother standing at both podiums.

I will never forget the family flag football game at the base of the mountain.

I will NEVER FORGET my vibrant, extrememly funny, intelligent, wine loving, sensitive, snuggly, live life to the fullest, always in a good mood, and people loving brother-in-law.

Jamie, we miss you and will always love you!

This Native American prayer was read at both Memorials in Vail and in West Chester.

I give you this one thought to keep-

I am with you still- I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow,

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awake in the morning's hush,

I am the sweet uplifting rush,

of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not think of me as gone-

I am with you still in each new dawn.

Jumping Bean

We stopped in Burlington, NC on the way home from the beach and found this great shopping area where we stopped for dinner. We saw people jumping on this trampoline contraption fun ride and just kept walking by. Brooke was so in awe of it she wouldn't stop saying how much she wanted to do it! We got her on and she had a BLAST! So glad that we stopped at this place..it was a great pit stop along the way home!