A Perfect Day

Today was absolutely fabulous. Eric and Lindsey came into town which means.......

Yes, more pictures of this child that I obsess over. I'm sorry but...I like to take pictures and she is good practice...Plus, her parents love that I document her life. :)

Here are some pictures of our lovely little Saturday.

We started off the day with a little sidewalk chalk.....

 Aunt Amy helping her blow some bubbles....

Catching them with Uncle Pudge

 Sweet little family...

Giving some kisses....

 Then...we headed to the park for a picnic....it was a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!

 Hey Linds!

The boys played a little baseball...

 Funny story....they start throwing the football and it somehow gets stuck in a tall tree. So, they try using the softball to get it out...Wouldn't you know that the softball got stuck too. Whoops! Finally after many, many, many, many, many attempts we retrieved both the softball and the football. Only us.

This little lady was able to experience her first Pollman's cookie...

I'd say she liked it.... :)

It was such a fun day with family and we all loved that we got to love on this precious girl all day!! 

Hope your Saturday was as beautiful as ours! :)

Final Disney Days

I'm sorry. I promise after this to stop putting up pictures of my sweet niece for a while. Wait...she is coming to town next weekend...Umm..We shall see. She is just adorable though. 

The last two days at Disney were a little more low key. We did some shopping and then took Virginia to the playground at the hotel, where I snapped a million pictures. Our last day we went to the Magic Kingdom again. Here are a few of the last batch of pictures from the week....

 Weeeeeeeee!!!!!! 

 Aunt Amy was blowing bubbles for her!

 So beautiful...

 Mmm....love Florida. The weather was perfect!

Try and tell me she isn't the most adorable little girl!

A little blurry but she was playing football with daddy.... :)

This trip was so much fun! This little girl is an absolute joy with the BEST personality! She is so happy all the time! It was such a great week with my family and nice to get away! Alrighty....I am done. Thank you for sticking around as I showed a whole lot of blog love to this sweet girl on our family vacation!

Hope your weekend has been restful and fun!

Chef Mickey's, Animals, and Fun

Today we went to breakfast with the characters! Everyone who is anyone was there.....Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto!

 Eating a Mickey waffle!

Happy Birthday Linds!

Sweet girl!

Then we made a quick trip to Africa and saw some animals.....

Hello Simba

Then we went to the Lion King show which was FABULOUS. We have a friend, Diana, who was a Jr. Miss that stayed with us a few years ago, that works at Disney. She dances and does many different shows. Today was Lion King and she got us VIP seats and a meet and greet with the cast. So fun!

Tonight we are heading to Epcot...Miss Priss is gonna stay home and get some rest tonight with LiLi and JimPa! Thankfully, we have a restful day planned tomorrow!

Magic Kingdom and Tampa

On day 3 of Disney we headed to Magic Kingdom! This was so much fun for Virginia because most of the rides are ones she can go on. Mom was pretty excited too! Here are some pictures from Sunday and Monday...

Seriously.....how adorable does she look at Disney!

Riding the carousel  

Dumbo

Our favorite mouse couple!

Hey sammy

Cute dad....

Waiting for the parade

Classic mom

Loving the parade...

And....the electrical parade...

How cute is her minnie shirt Aunt Amy made for her!

Yesterday we went to my Aunt Amy's house. She lives in Tampa. It was so good to see her and my uncle and cousins and also my grandmother who we affectionately call Ding Dong.

We rocked some Just Dance...

My brother...

Get it Linds and Eric!

Sorry for the millions of pictures. And.....there are more to come! 

Happy Birthday to Lindsey today!

Where Memories Are Made

I am almost certain that I forgot to mention that I was going to Disney World with my family! I cannot believe I failed to mention this detail. On Thursday we left and went about halfway. This is Virginia's first trip to Disney World! Because I enjoy taking pictures of her and I want her mom and dad to be able to enjoy every minute of her, I have taken it upon myself (along with Amy) to document her vacation and her first experience in the most magical place on earth! Over the next few days I'll be sharing mostly pictures and a few words about what we are doing. This is easier than trying to update when I get home! 

So here is what we have been up to the last couple of days...

 So sweet...with JimPa and LiLi

Ready to swing!

Pretty girl

So grainy....but she is presh

Sliding with Aunt Lou

And daddy...

Downtown Disney for dancing....

And....ICE CREAM!

Day 1: Hollywood Studios

Meeting Minnie!

So sweet!!! She LOVED her!!

Breakfast with Manny and Oso! Mickey waffle!!

Handy Manny and Mangs....haha

Oh hey mom!! (She was more excited than V!)

BEST parents EVER!!

Kiddos! When did we all grow up? Gracious!

Sliding with mom!

Lovin from Sammy!!

What a fun first couple of  days! She loved it and had so much fun! 

Hope your Saturday was just as wonderful!

Happy Birthday to the BEST mom..EVER!

Today we celebrated the birth of the most special lady in my eyes! I am so thankful for my mom. I could go on and on....and okay....I will for a few! She is the most unselfish, encouraging, helpful, honest, caring person. She would do anything for anyone! I am completely undeserving of the love that she gives. So mom, although I do not tell you near enough....THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You are the best and I love you so so much!! 

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I have the most unbelievably selfless father in the world. What an amazing example he is to me and my entire family. I am so thankful for all that he does and all that he means to our family. 

I hope that you enjoyed your day daddy! We are so blessed to have you as the head of our home!

Love you!

13.1 and DONE!

It has come and gone. The weeks of training built up to this one day. In all honesty, there is not much to say. It went really well! I am so thankful that I did it and I am thankful that it is over. :) They say you catch this running bug while you do races like this....They say that it makes you want to do more after you do one. I can honestly say that during the race, I did not catch the bug. I was thinking...."Okay, way to go Laura! You completed your first and only half marathon." Now that it is over, I'll be surprised if I don't do another one! It feels so good to finish and I really would love to do it again........not tomorrow of course! :) 

Here are some pictures from the day....

 Sam....obviously pumped!

 Mangs and Pudge

 Downs and I

 And....we're off!

 Our cheering squad waited about halfway for all of us to pass.....Pudge in the lead!

 Here comes Sammy!

 The two beasts...

 Mangs and I....this is when I commented that this would be my last race. haha. I actually felt good at this point...

 Trained with him....but he is a stud.

 This boy literally didn't train. He ran our 10 mile run with us then a few days later went to London....got back on Friday and decided to run the half. Seriously? I obviously didn't get the running gene. haha.

 Colleen and LaJuan all done!!

 Coll and Jason

 Our turn to finish!! Feeling great right now! I have to give a HUGE thanks to my sister and best friend!!  Amy has been running for a while. This was her second race. She so didn't have to stay with me but she did the whole time. She has been such an encouragement through all the training and everything! So thankful for you Mangs!!

 All the runners and our cheering section!

Sammy and I after we finished. 

 So happy to be done!!

Oh, and I didn't get a picture with Brett cause he was taking all the pictures but he was a major encouragement through all of this too! 

Overall, this was such a fun experience. I kept thinking towards the end when I felt like I couldn't finish that I was so grateful that God has given me the ability to run because so many can't! He is so good! It was freezing and long and tiring and I am sore right now but I cannot wait to do another one.....eventually! :) 

"......and let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us!" -Hebrews 12:1

Happy Birthday Big Bro!

Today is your birthday and I hope it was really fun

I know you had to go to work and I'm sure you got a lot done!

So I have to say, you are getting kinda old

But, I will be 28 soon...or so I'm told.

Even though you are older you cannot be sad

Because, you are still a hot dad!

Now it is time for this poem to end

But before I do, one more message to send....

You are awesome my sweet big brother

And I have to say you are like no other!

I know...I know...you don't have to tell me, I should rethink my career choice! But seriously, Happy Birthday Eric!! I love you!!

Traditions...Old and New

Happy Christmas Eve!! While it was not a "typical" Christmas Eve, it has certainly been a great one with a few traditions and some new ones.

The day started out with breakfast with Julie at Spot of Tea. We didn't decide that this would be a tradition but I think it should be. Christmas Eve breakfast every year at Spot of Tea? What do you think Jules? :) This is one precious friend I have and I am so thankful for her!

The day was kinda crazy but we ended with our Christmas Eve tradition. Waffle House. No, we are not normal! haha. Not quite the same this year cause we were missing a big chunk of our family! But, it happens and we will all be together THURSDAY!!! So excited!!

Our special friends....

Love that Waffle House....haha.

Also, I was playing around with my camera last night. I had seen this tutorial and have wanted to try it for a while. I thought it was so cool!

My pictures weren't perfect but then again I didn't really take my time when creating the covering for my lens...But, I thought they still turned out pretty sweet.

Little Christmas trees!

And a few more of our tree....

I have thought a lot about this time of year and although I have learned that Jesus was not REALLY born during this month, it is the time that we celebrate His birth. I am so thankful for my Savior and that He came to this horrible world out of obedience to His Father. He lived His entire life in obedience until death on the cross. He was born to die for me. I also think a lot about Mary during this time of year. How incredibly brave and obedient she was as well....

"But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.' 'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?' The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.......For nothing is impossible with God.' 'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May it be to me as you have said.'" -Luke 1:30-38

I cannot imagine hearing that. I think about all of the emotions she must have felt. I know she was probably excited and scared and was probably looked down upon by many around her. I hope that I am always obedient to what the Lord calls me to and never question Him because His ways are not my ways.

Now, to leave you with a little something adorable this Christmas Eve..

Sounds more like, "Happy Day Daisy...." but you get the idea! :)

Happy Christmas!