Surprise your 30!!

Last night I, with the help of Paige and some friends, held a surprise party for JJ at Natty Greene’s in downtown Raleigh. I knew there would be friends from church, work, and college there so I wanted it to be somewhere where it was a casual atmosphere and a lot of fun! The night started off…well…um….let’s just say JJ had to make a bee line past the group of friends yelling surprise to the bathroom! Once we made it through that though he had a great time!

There were so many friends there to share the night with J and he was so excited to see everyone and completely surprised….yes!

Happy 30th Birthday to my amazing husband, best friend, and incredible father of the cutest kid ever!

Trick or Treating

We found the cutest Monkey outfit for Aiden to wear for Halloween so I made sure we wore it as much as we could that day. That included going to the grocery store, going to Chick-fil-A for lunch and of course trick or treating! Aiden’s probably a little young to trick or treat, but we thought why not get him started early! Aiden had fun showing off his costume all day and by the time JJ got home from work we were ready to trick or treat! We ate quickly and then went and met some friends to trick or treat. Aiden had fun riding around in his wagon, seeing all the costumes, getting candy and visiting Aunt Paige’s house! We had a lot of fun and enjoyed getting to spend time with friends and get candy!

Labor Day In The Mountains

JJ and I went home to the mountains for Labor Day and had a great time visiting with family. Aiden did great traveling and keeping up with all of the excitement. We got to have Gaddi’s famous French Toast, see Uncle Chris and Cora and Levi, lots of play time, and mommy even did some spying and captured pictures of me and my family without them knowing!

Saturday Afternoon Hike

Today was a beautiful late summer day in Raleigh so we decided to go for a hike before the good football games started. Less than 5 minutes from our house is part of the “Mountains to Sea trail”. It goes along Falls Lake and was a beautiful hike. We did about 4 miles and had a great time. Even though we had some “hazardous experiences”(see pictures below) and daddy was a little exhausted after carrying “little” man all that way, we all loved it/

We want our families to see this so they can see Raleigh is more than just a city, but has hiking and fun things to do outside as well! So really this is a plug for why they should all just move to Raleigh! 🙂

The OBX

We had a great time again at the OBX this year! Even though Aiden had a virus and a 104 degree fever the first few days of the trip we ended up having a good time.  Aunt Bekah, Uncle Zac and Avery came all the way from Alaska and it was so good to see them again! Cousin Cora, Levi and Uncle Chris also came!

 

Gaddi’s 85!

Now I know most people don’t like to talk about their age after 30, but I think 85 is something to celebrate! Gaddi is turning 85 tomorrow and we so wish we could be there to celebrate with him. He’s an amazing father, grand-father and great-grand-father! Gaddi is the class clown of our family and always has everyone laughing, but is still so caring at the same time! We love you Gaddi!

Thanksgiving

Exploring the Villages

Love this moment Paige was able to capture!

That’s Gaddi for you! 🙂

Smiles

Gaddi and Paige

Love that Paige had this idea, because this house is now sold, and we’ll now have this picture to help remember it by!

A few Easter’s ago

Aiden loves his Great-Gaddi

Great-Grandson with Great-Gaddi

With Bachi who’s been married to this class clown for 64 years!

 

Father’s Day Weekend – in Pictures

As I mentioned in my previous post we had a great Father’s Day. We enjoyed getting to spend time with both sets of grandparents and enjoy the weekend with them. Some pictures from the weekend are below (posting for the great-grandparents :)).

We started the weekend with Aiden’s first trip to the pool with Aunt Paige!

I think he was unsure of the cold water!

Aunt Paige what are you doing on that chair (blurry iphone picture)?

I love my grandparents they teach me to walk…even when mom says stop!

white out

Walking around downtown Wake Forest after lunch. Can you tell Aiden was really enjoying the car show (he slept through the majority of it)..

Hi Ranger!

Hanging out with my Bachi D!

JJ smoked a Boston Butt and Chicken for Father’s Day dinner!

Love my Nana and Ranger!

Like father…like son

handsome

the grandparents

Father’s Day

Today I am so thankful for the amazing fathers in my life. Growing up I was so blessed to have my dad and Gaddi in my life who taught me how to fish, throw a ball, drive, run a business, and so much more. My dad was at every game, event, function I ever had and was always my biggest fan.

Now I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who is already such an amazing father to our son. I love watching him with Aiden and I can already see how much Aiden loves him. The love he shows me and our son is such a reminder of our Fathers love for us.

We had an extra special father’s day this year because we got to have Ranger (JJ’s dad) and Pop (my dad) in town to celebrate and because we also dedicated Aiden at church today. We pray we raise our son in a way that he comes to know Christ at an early age and lives to glorify him each day.

We hope everyone had a wonderful father’s day and know (or come to know) the love of the Father. His unfailing, beautiful, amazing love.

One of my favorite pictures of JJ and Aiden

Aiden loves his Gaddi

Having a good time watching Levi’s baseball game with Papaw!

3 generations – Ranger, J, and Aiden

my loves.

Sisters, a dad, and a baby

Farmers Market

I love the Farmers Market! When we lived off of Tryon Road, and it was only 6 minutes away, I would go to the Farmers Market all the time. Now that we are more like 30 minutes from the Farmers Market I don’t get to go as often. As soon as Spring came though my friend, Jen and I decided we would go once a week together…Yes! We take the babies and spend time hanging out, walking around and getting foods for the week! I love the people, the fresh food and the yummy treats the Farmers Market offers! I even bought a basil plant and 3 tomato plants that I am growing so we can have fresh herbs and tomatoes at home!

Since I make all of Aiden’s baby food myself I love being able to get fresh organic foods to make for him. So far he has loved everything I’ve tried and JJ has loved all the produce I’ve gotten for us as well!

Aiden with the tomato plants we bought.

Love all of the fresh produce.

Jealous of all the beautiful flowers!

 

Pinehurst, NC – Our “Weekend” Away!

A few weekends ago are good friends Kelley and Andrew got married in Pinehurst, NC. From the time we got the save the date we knew it would be our first time away from Aiden. My parents came into town to watch Aiden and since we had them here we decided to make a mini-vaca out of the day!

We left Raleigh in time to get to Pinehurst for lunch and to spend the afternoon exploring the town before we had to get ready for the wedding. Downtown Pinehurst is so cute and we had a great lunch and afternoon. We went to Theos Taverna, a Mediterranean grill, in downtown Pinehurst that was so adorable and the food was delicious. The weather was unseasonably cool that day, so we weren’t able to sit on the patio, but we sat by the window and got to enjoy it that way.

The Ceremony was beautiful and the reception was everything a reception should be. Good food, good friends, great band and a Jubala coffee bar! Before the wedding I kept joking with JJ about the possibility of Andrew having a Jubala coffee bar at the wedding (I was also secretly hoping for a waffle bar as well :)). I was so excited when we got there and sure enough, there was one! I enjoyed a few delicious coffees and we had a great time on the dance floor!

We missed our little man during our 23-hour mini-vaca, but JJ I enjoyed the time together and had a great time seeing friends and celebrating the marriage of Andrew and Kelley! We look forward to going back and seeing more of the town and of course getting to play a little golf!