Everybody Loves a Pool Party!

Well Happy late Memorial Day! Wow, was it a busy and fun day! I started off my Memorial Day by of course sleeping late. In case you don't know me or haven't figured me out yet, I love to sleep, especially on my off days! So I woke up about 10:15 and immediately went for the swimsuit. I picked out the strapless one I have been wearing a lot lately to prevent lines and as soon as the sun was out, so was I. Well, Ben, Johnna, and my sweet little nephew Braden arrived first, followed by Maggie, Sophie Clare, Angie, Emily, Gracie, Jamie, Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Earl, Chris, and Uncle Al. My parents were also present of course, since it is there house. We had a blast! Emily was the first little fish to jump in and have fun and then Gracie and Sophie Clare followed behind. We didn't know if Braden could be won over to getting in the water or not, he is so busy sitting in and playing with every ones cars and 4-wheelers to even care, but we gave it a shot anyway. I must add the water was FREEZING!! Johnna was only wet to about her knees, and from the thighs up it was just breath-taking to get in, so I took the little monkey to see how he would do. I was of course already up to the neck playing with Em. At first, he was a little ball with his knees drawn up to his chest to keep out of the water, and then all of a sudden he loved it! In the process of his warming up to the idea his pulled down my top, so I had to make a swimsuit change. And after I got in the new one his foot got caught in my bottoms and I almost lost those! He had on the cutest little swimming trunks, but he had to switch them for a swinsuit with the floaty things built in because he was ready to swim away. He was so funny in that thing. I posted tons of pictures of him in it, he is just so cute I cannot resist. The food was good and hanging out with family was even better. That is one great thing about being home again. I love pool parties with my family, and we have them quiet a lot in the summer. All I can say is we had a pool full of kids and I had the best time being one with them!! Here are some pictures of the cutest kids in the world!! And a few of some adults, I couldnt leave them out!

Zac, not really wanting his picture made.

Jamie, Zac, and Chris talking about golf, I'm sure.

My Daddy
Braden

Gracie, she is such a doll!

Sophie Clare, or SC for short. She loved it!

My Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Earl

Johnna and the cutest little boy ever.

My brother, Ben

I love this one, he was playing with this sprayer and laughing and having so much fun. I could just squeeze him!

Again with the sprayer. Is that not adorable?

Not sure what we are doing here, but here is a good one of the suit.

Sophie Clare again with Ben. She is so sweet and a cutie pie!

And Emily. She is so pretty and I cannot believe how big she is. I used to go see her all the time when she was a baby and she starts kindergarten next year! I cannot believe it. Isn't she cute!

Well I hope yall enjoyed seeing what we did for Memorial Day. Zac and I also went to this mom and dads for dinner with them and Holly, Paul, Kati, and Benjamin. We had a great time there too, but I didnt take a single picture. Probably because I looked awful and didnt want to end up in one of them! Anyway, Holly and I spanked Paul and Zac in Rook, and we also enjoyed eating and watching the kiddos play. It was a good day with family. We wouldnt want to spend it any other way!!

It Aint Over Till It's Over

Well, it aint over till it's over, but now it's finally over!! I'm talking about selling our house in Prattville, our first home, our sweet little home. It has been a long, frustrating process of moving and selling our house, but now it's finally over with. We had times of frustration, excitement, happiness, sadness, and just satisfaction in this house, and it comes to a bittersweet ending. We were so glad to finally get a contract and closing date so we could move on with our new house here in Boaz, but it's hard to leave all our fond memories. I know I have talked about all this already so I will not force everyone to read it again, and I know I have put pictures of the house on here before but I couldnt help but take some one last time. I love this place, it was so wonderful and perfect for us. I will surely miss it.

We arrived at the closing company and had to wait quiet a while on the buyers paperwork to reach the office, which was fine with us. We just wanted to close that day, even if we had to wait all day. When the paper work arrived it was all done in a matter of moments, or so it seemed. We just went to signing and it was done before we knew it, which is always nice. I was fine until we had to give them the keys, and I had a little moment. I had another moment when I told our realtor thank you, and another moment when I told the new home owner that I hoped they would enjoy it like we had. I think I may even be having a little moment now! It's just hard to say good bye. It's not only selling our home that is sad at times, it is also that we have finally closed the door on Prattville. We really loved it there and had a wonderful time, and we are saying good bye to a wonderful place, wonderful friends, and great memories. Here are some pictures of downtown Prattville. We will miss it!

That's the end of it, and the beginning of our new journey here. It's a special place for us, the first place we started out as a married couple and our first home, but I cannot wait to see what lies ahead!

Kati

Hey yall!! I know it has been a few days, maybe even a week, since my last blog so here is what Zac and I have been doing these days. Last Monday we went to watch our favorite girl in the whole world, Kati, participate in her first gymnastics meet. She was so cute in her Alabama leotard, I just absolutely loved it! I am probably a little bit biased when it comes to her, but I thought she was great! I think we have a little performer on our hands. Here are some pictures of the cute little gymnast. Isn't she adorable!!

Kati and Uncle Zac

Waiting patiently to strut her stuff!

Kati on bars, and mom, Holly, helping her.

Kati and myself.

Now, I cannot leave out the little man, Benjamin. He also had a great time. Whatever Kati does, he does, so when she was jumping and climbing so was he. He also took his shoes off because Kati had her shoes off. It is amazing what he pick up on. He is the just the sweetest little guy, and cute too. After Kati's group went we stuck around for a drawing for some leotards and t-shirts and Benjamin had a great time crawling around the tables.

Couldn't you just kiss that face!

I hope you all enjoyed me bragging on my niece and nephew. They are the greatest, and we are so proud of little Kati!!

Welcome to Fabulous N'awlins!

Hey ya'll! Zac and I are still enjoying a few days in the big easy, so here is a little bit of what we have been up to. We were on Magazine Street a couple of days ago and I noticed a restaurant called Nacho Mama's that I wanted to check out and we thought we might return to Decatur street for dessert, so we headed out Sunday night. Zac had one final workshop to complete for school and Sunday night was the last chance we had to go out, so back to Magazine Street we went. It is just a cool place. Sunday night all the shops were closed, but all the restaurants were packed! It was just a street full of restaurants filled with people inside and out on the sidewalk. Here are a few picks of the block that Nacho Mama's is on, my huge plate on nachos, and Zac's wonderful quesadilla he ordered.

Nacho Mama's is now on our list of fav's to eat at in New Orleans. Zac ordered a wonderful quesadilla that he actually let me try a bite of, and I had that huge stack of nachos that after both of us took a stab at we might have eaten 2/3 of. Anyway, it was good, and the atmosphere isn't too bad either. After our filling dinner, we headed to Decatur Street for a little dessert on the river. Cafe Du Monde was the spot and beingets were the sweet treat! Oh, they are so yummy!! They are french donuts, but they taste just like miniature funnel cakes, which equals wonderful!!! I guess that's about it for now. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Put On That Cap and Gown!

Well everyone, Zac and I have been enjoying some time in the Crescent City, or New Orleans, whichever you prefer. We arrived here on Thursday night to be here for a very special graduation. My sweet husband was to graduate with his Master of Divinity degree on Saturday, and with rehearsal and things on Friday we decided to leave on Thursday. My mom and dad came down with us and Zac's parents came down on Friday. It has been great so far. On Friday we wanted to go visit the Garden District and have lunch there, so we headed for Magazine Street. Magazine Steet is one of my favorite places to hang out in New Orleans! It has gorgeous old homes close by and great restaurants and shopping all together. It is a very laid back area and its not a very tourist area from what I can see. We shopped around first in some antique stores, vintage clothing shops, shoe store, and various other shops, then on to the important thing, eating. We ate lunch at this great little joint called Joey K's that I discovered through Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. They have your classic New Orleans cuisine like red beans and rice, shrimp po-boys, jambalaya, and othe wonderful selections. It is very tasty, and always packed! After our wonderful lunch, we drove mom and dad around the city to site see a little and then we dropped Zac off at the seminary for rehearsal. We decided to rest while he was at practice and get dressed for dinner. Zac had eaten at a seafood restaurant that he loved the last time he was down here, so I found it on the internet and we planned to go check it out after he finished and his parents arrived. Deannie's is the name of the seafood place, and wow was it good! They deliver fresh shrimp, catfish, oysters, crawfish when it's in season, and they know how to cook it right! We were all so full and packed up 3 to go boxes and passed them out to folks on the street. I definately recommend checking out Deannie's if you are ever in New Orleans, and they have 2 convenient locations as well. Well, after dinner we wanted to go see a little more of New Orleans, so Zac and I decided to carry everyone to Decatur Street. It is right on the river and has tons of shops and restaurants. We stopped by Cafe Dumonde, and got some beingets to go and hopped on a horse and carriage tour of the French Quarter. It was very fun, except Zac and I sat in the back and couldnt hear a single word, but it was still worth it! Onto the big day, Saturday. Zac and I got up early to be on Campus by 7:30 for the commencement breakfast. It was very nice. Over 200 people attended, and we enjoyed a great breakfast and some speakers. After breakfast I helped Zac get dressed in his cap, gown, and hood. He looked great! These are some pictures of the chapel that graduation took place inside of and also one of Zac and I before graduation and before his pictures.

Leavell Chapel

My graduate and myself

After our photo op, Zac had to go have some group pictures made and I waited in line to go inside the chapel and defend some seating for our family.I found a row about halfway down the aisles and on the left side just like Zac suggested. It would have been wonderful until a lady horned in on my saved seating, but I am not going to go there. Let's just say she was a little rude and I wanted to get her! But I didn't, dont worry. Here is a picture of my sweetie walking in.

This is the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Class of 2010.

I had some other phtots of the commencement but they were dark, and of course my camera acted out when Zac got on stage. I wanted to smash it for that, but Zac's mother got a good one, so it's all good! This is us after graduation. Here is your newest member of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary's Alumni Association. Way to go Zac!! I'm proud of you!

Stay tuned for more photos of the rest of our stay. We plan to take some pictures while we are out and about and I will post them soon. Feel free to leave a comment about your favorite things to do in New Orleans or just leave a message of congrats to Zac, I will be sure to pass it along!

Packing Up and Saying Good Bye

Hey Everyone! I know it has been a while since I last posted a blog, but wow, have I been busy! Zac and I have had tons of things to do, and then when you add work to the mix it makes for a busy few weeks. I have had some opportunities to blog, but technical difficulties have gotten in the way, but not today! So here we go! A few weeks ago Zac and I finally got an offer on our house. It was another couple looking to buy their first home. We of course worked out a good deal for both parties and got that baby under contract. We were so excited to finally have some progress on the house so we can start to build here. We decided to go pack up our things that very weekend. I happened to be off that weekend, and we just knew it would make it easier when we finally moved the stuff out of the house to already have it packed up and waiting. So we went to Prattville, for one of the last times, and packed up our sweet first home. I have to say I am tearing up now just typing it! I of course had strategically picked out each and every box from piles that my dad had been saving for us, and had them in organized stacks by size. I had already told Zac that he could do touch up things to the house while I packed because I had thought up a system for organizing the move. So, I implemented my wonderful organized plan and Zac touched up paint, worked outside, and packed up a few things that I picked for him. I was going room by room packing things in order by room, numbering the boxes, and then corresponding the number on the boxes to a list with the same numbers and written discription of what was in each box. I know, I have a problem!! But, I had thought this idea up and nothing in the world could have convinced me otherwise. Here are some pictures of the mess of packing everything. It took me all day!

After we had packed up all the boxes we decided to stack them in one area, more like corner, of the house. I picked out which ones were strong enough to have things stacked on them and away we went. We left all of the big peices of furniture in place until we had more help to move them.

And then, we came back the next weekend I was off and moved it all out. We moved boxes first, then all the pieces of furniture after. It was a long day. My mom and dad and Zac and I stayed the night before in the house to get it over with faster. It was funny. The first night we ever stayed in our house when we bought it we slept on an air matress in the floor of one of the extra bedrooms, and gave my mom and dad the bed. And the last night we ever slept in it, we were in the exact same place. When Zac pointed that out to me I cried like a baby, and I almost could again. This house in a sentimental thing for me!

And this is our now empty house. I cried and cried when it was all said and done and I was looking around an empty house that was once our warm, lovely home. It was our first house, a wonderful place to call our first. We were so excited to buy it, even though it was filthy and needed a ton of work. We painted, replaced all the floors, replaced the sinks, remodeled the deck, and a dozen tiny little projects that made it our own. We got our first dog in this house, and she dug all types of holes in the back yard. We had a wonderful time here. I just hope the next owners find it to be so great. I will always remember this one as the first, sweetest place we ever lived. We didnt have any family closer than 2 hours away, so we spent a lot of time together in this place. And though I am looking forward to the next one, I sure will miss this one. Wow! That was a long post, but I can type forever on things that I love, and this was one of them! See you soon!

This and That

Well, I am very behind on my blogging, so I am gonna catch everyone up on the latest. I have been working, scrapbooking a little on my off days, Zac and I have been to a Birthday party, I have taken up golf, and Easter has come and gone. In order, I guess Easter came first. I was scheduled to work Easter weekend so I was kind of bumbed out, but on Saturday I asked to be put down to stay home if our census was low so I could go to church. I have never missed Easter, and I really wanted to go to church, especially to celebrate the Risen Savior!!! So, Sunday morning they called me and I got to go to church! Here are the pictures from Sunday after church of Zac and I and my parents.

Next, is my new hobby, golf. Zac absolutely LOVES golf! He loves to play, he loves to buy golf accessories, he loves to watch golf, he loves everything golf. Last year we bought me a set of clubs, but to be honest I was never very good, and I really dont have a lot of patience. Well, we decided to go to the driving range last week, and I was surprisingly better, and really pretty decent. I got the nerve to go play my first real round of golf later that day. The amazing thing is that I didnt lose one ball that day. Zac and I went again this last Friday. I was still pretty decent, but my record on not losing any golf balls suddenly came to an end. I think I ended up losing about 6! Anyway, I am really enjoying it and Zac is just thrilled to be able to play! Here are some pictures from our round together on Friday.

We also had a big birthday party this last weekend. Our nephew Benjamin had his 2nd birthday party on Saturday. Zac and I brought our other nephew, who is almost 2, Braden. Benjamin, Braden, and Kati(our niece) ran around and had a great time playing with balls, throwing rocks into the fish pond, and just plain running! We all had a great time!

I guess that pretty much gets the high points. I know I have done more things, but they are pretty boring like sleep late, which I love to do! I have scrapbooked a little, made some cupcakes, and we have played cards with Holly and Paul (Zac's sister and brother-in-law) some, but other than that I think that pretty much gets it! Have a great day!