Happy birthday, Daddy!

We spend this past weekend celebrating Carlton. Fortunately for him it was a long weekend so the celebration went on and on!

First stop: the Arboretum. We enjoyed a picnic and walk around the Arboretum on one of the most beautiful days I've ever seen!

Connor loved the flowers. Here he is working on being "gentle" with them.
Birthday gift from the boys: free wrestling match. This Daddy has his hands full!
Robert has really been into the camera of late and we finally caved in and let him take a shot -- not too bad for a beginner, huh??
Next stop: Princeton, NJ with the Manleys - some of our favorite friends from Dallas!
Disclaimer: there will be significantly more pictures of "the parents" in this post than usual. Carlton and I were a little nostalgic about visiting the place where we first met and fell in love! This is the courtyard where he picked me up for our first date!!
Another GORGEOUS day! The entire weekend was incredible!
Connor's favorite part: the steps. He's become very predictable...
Robert loved riding the tiger.
And the rest of the family did too...
This is Carlton's old "eating club." Many dates took place here, too! :)
This is not a joke...my college friends will appreciate the reference!
And back to the site of his proposal - the Princeton battlefield. We continually remarked throughout the day that we never thought we'd be coming back here with two little guys in tow! While they cared very little about anything but the stairs, tiger statues and snacks, we had so much fun!

"Filthadelphia" is a misnomer!

We've been residents of Philadelphia (Glenside, actually) for almost a month now and we truly love it! We continue to miss Dallas - particularly our dear friends there - so much, but we're grateful for how wonderful our experience has been here thus far!

After a week of settling in, we went to the Philly zoo with our new friends, the Fluhrers. Robert and Garner (pictured here) have become fast friends and it's been such a blessing for them to have a buddy in the midst of the moving chaos!

For all of you who have been holding your breath (or maybe it was just me), you can relax now...they do have a sufficient "Cars" section in the Target here. Phew!
Daddy made Robert his first weapon, which he'll undoubtedly want to try out on his little brother...awesome. :)
Lightning McQueen, watch out! #48 may not be fast (or easy to steer), but the drivers sure are cute! And Lowe's, we've officially converted from Home Depot. A double seater, race car buggy is a sure fire way to get this Mommy (and these boys) to shop long and often!
One of our favorite discoveries has been the Arboretum here. They currently have a train exhibit open and it is a little boy's wonderland!


And "Mommy's wonderland" is a walking/riding (bike or horse)/running path by a beautiful creek just 4.5 miles from our house. It is dreamy!! We've been there several times already and my neck literally aches when we leave from looking up and around at all of the natural beauty.


And some final shots from the Arboretum. Robert and Connor would have spent hours running/crawling up and down this hill.

In the short time that we've been here, it seems like it will be a wonderful place to live and I assure you it would be a wonderful place to visit! :)

I LOVE these Girls! (And their little kids, too!)

A couple of days before we packed the truck in Dallas, we had the wonderful treat! The Killian family came through Dallas for a morning at the park on their way from Oklahoma to San Antonio. It was such sweet timing and I am so thankful for this picture that reminds me of some of my favorite people in the world!

And here is a shot of some of my favorite little people in the world!

On the Road Again (and again and again)

A week and a half ago we left our home in Dallas, Texas to begin the long haul to Philadelphia. After driving through 12 states and spending the night in six of them, we have finally arrived at the destination for which we've been preparing for so many months. Our little guys were unbelievably good on the road and for those of you who are familiar with Dora the Explorer: "We did it!"

We did not only leave our sweet home in Dallas, but precious friends with whom we pray we will keep in touch with for the rest of our lives. The most difficult good-bye involved the little stinker on the right below. Charlie and Robert were the best and sweetest of friends and I'm going to have to stop there, because I tear up every time I think of them together. I wish (though not really) that we didn't love you so much, Charlie!

Our first stop was in Baton Rouge. It was such a blessing to spend the evening with our dear friends, the Greenes. McGregor and Ty showed my boys, among other things, that there's nothing better than driving barefoot in your Gator!
No pictures from Atlanta...too busy, I guess.

In Charlotte we stayed with the Steveners. They were gracious hosts and didn't seem to mind having two little boys break in their adorable young couple home!
We got to see some of our other Charlotte favorites as well. At one particular gathering we realized that all of the "men" there were named Robert, except for little Connor.
Our shortest leg of the trip brought us to High Point, NC to stay with our beloved "Gee-Gee"! We had a wonderful time and were treated like royalty by the greatest hostess I've ever known.
We got to help my cousin Carson move some of her college stuff from Gee-Gee's basement to a truck. Robert was a huge helper/cheerleader!
Next stop: Georgetown! Beautiful DC - one of my favorite US cities!
And what's a trip to Georgetown without a trip to "T-Sweets"? Carlton and I went to T-Sweets all the time in college and it has once again proven itself to be my favorite ice cream shop ever! Connor is still too little for ice cream...the excursion clearly was not as much fun for him.
Robert is apparently not too big, as he ate his ice cream and half of Leeley's, too!

Almost as tall as the Washington Monument!



This video will forever make me smile and is one of my favorite Robert moments to date. We attended the end of VBS celebration at our old church in Charlotte and Robert hopped right out of his seat and joined in while they were performing. He was hilarious!

We are thrilled to finally be settled and we are really enjoying the area so far! More to come soon!

Belated Beach Pics!

Early this summer we joined my family at the beach in South Carolina. While vacation certainly takes on a new form when multiple kids are included, we had a wonderful time and I'm already counting down the days until next year's trip!

Connor had a blast. He loved the sand and the water and took many a bottle while shading his eyes from the sun. Poor little guy...we used that tactic to buy ourselves some more beach time!Our little sea monkeys! Robert and Jack were precious together. Such sweet friends and amazingly close considering that they don't live in the same city.
Note: danger of giving your kids food to keep them happy and smiling for the camera.
Note: I was not able to include a picture of the four cousins that actually turned out well...maybe next year.

I LOVE these boys!!
And this one, too!!
A second attempt at a group shot of the four grandkids...Note that one is missing (my child) and one is very unhappy (also my child). Thank you Jack for being so sweet and kissing your sister to rub our faces in it. :)

We took the boys to see some giant bear statues in Dallas.

After three attempts at cutting Connor's hair myself, I had to take him to a professional. Two cow licks are not exactly easy to work with.

Next post will be from the road (possibly) or our new home in Philadelphia. We leave next week - there are lots of emotions involved and there will be many miles to cover with two little ones. Please pray for us!!