First Family Camping Trip

We finally were able to take a camping trip a few weekends ago with out friends The Millers!!!  I was trying to think back at how long we've know the Miller's, and I believe it's been about 5 years?!  We went to Allatoona Lake, Allatoona Landing campground...which is only about 15 minutes away from our house and tent camped.  I wasn't thrilled about going, but everyone else was!  

We had a great time and the kiddos had a blast, our site was right off the lake and so pretty to wake up to :) 

Gathering fire wood with Mrs. Erin...

Our "camp"...

Both tents & our camp...

Jack having fun by the water...he did NOT like to get dirty!

Kiddos playing football with Mrs. Erin & Mr. Eric...

Jack & Daddy down by the water...

Silly Anna, she LOVED to get dirty :)

Not sure why Lizzy had this pose, but I took the most pictures of her and in each one she has the same pose & face?!

Emma stopping for a minute to pose for the camera!

Our family camping shot...

Eric, Erin, Jody & myself

We did end up have a great time camping, much to my surprise!  We had a few hiccups and learned some tricks camping with the kiddos for our next trip :)
What about you, any funny camping trip stories?  Do you enjoy camping?

Holderbys

Our good friends The Holderbys from North Carolina came for a visit a few weeks ago!  We met the Holderbys about 5 years ago at Stony Hill, it was so great to see them and hang out with them again!  They stopped by on a Friday evening, ate dinner with us, stayed the night and off they went with Emma  for the week!
  

Here's a picture of the girls before they left Saturday morning...

Amy is sending me more pictures from the week they spent at the beach in Florida!  I'll get them up here as soon as I can!!!

Pool & friends

We have so much fun at the pool, and what an even better day when it's spent with friends!!!

Ollie & "Whizzy"

"The Emmas"

Anna & Jack

Sorry, no pictures of myself or Jen in our bathing suits!!!

WARREN

Our "Warren" came to visit us this past week.  Lauren is one of our youth from Stony Hill, she was in 6th grade when we started our ministry there and just finished her sophomore year of college!  She attends college at North Greenville in South Carolina and made a pit stop in Georgia on her way to North Carolina :)  We had so much fun with her!!!

For your viewing pleasure I decided to add our series of pictures in our attempt to get a "good" picture :)

Is Lizzy gaging herself?

Gaggy Lizzy and Crazy Anna...

Jack had just slammed his head into my chin and throat...

Anna was re-grouping and Lizzy wanted to show you she still had tonsils...

Emma was cheezin' it and Anna had her princess wave goin'...

Must have been too bright for Lauren...

Oops, now she's trying too hard to keep her eyes open...

But this was definitely the best of the bunch, even though Lizzy is obviously scared of something!!!

We sure were sad seeing our "Warren" leave and go home to North Carolina :(  But were glad to be able to spend some time with her!!!

Mother Bear

About once a month a group of Stony Hill ladies get together for our Mother Bear Project. The Mother Bear Project is dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear. The simple gift of a hand-knit bear with a tag signed by the knitter has touched children with the message that they are unconditionally loved! We usually got together on Friday evenings for a few hours, ate snacks, knit, crocheted or sewed bears and had a great time of fellowship too! The last Mother Bear event I was able to attend was themed "snuggie, pajama & slipper night", it just happened to be extremely cold that evening so it worked out perfectly! Here are some of our students during one of their "commercial breaks"... And I'll leave you with us taking a nap after all of our hard work!

Find out more information and how you can help get involved or start a Mother Bear Project in your church or community by checking out the Mother Bear Project link HERE.

Breakfast Gals

Before we left NC, I had the privilege of getting together with some of our "old" youth, all these ladies are in college now! Can i just add that Lauren was in 6th grade when we came to Stony Hill!!! It was a fun breakfast at Briggs, a restarant in Wake Forest, super yummy waffles and great conversation :)

Saying Goodbye

Saying good-bye is definitely a very hard thing to do! When we came to Stony Hill almost 8 years ago we did not have any kiddos and now we have four! During the last 6 years we have had the privilege of serving alongside a great pastor, wife & their kiddos and the past 3 years alongside our music minister, wife & kiddos...and SO many great people that made up our church famly! We were so encouraged by all the drop-in visits, telephone calls, words of encoragement and cards! During the last few weeks we were in NC we were able to spend time with family and friends (more posts to come). Here is a picture of our pastor Jamie and his wife Tara (pregnant with their second set of natural twins!) and Jody & I at Casalinga, an Italian Restaurant in Raleigh. Great atmosphere, yummy food and awesome company! Thanks Jamie & Tara for a great evening and for your friendship, we have been blessed by you all and "the nats" we can't wait to meet "the Sams" :)

I borrowed this picture from Tara, check out her original post here.

Fun with Friends

Our friend Lauren (one of our "old" youth) came back from college a few weeks ago and she was able to come hang out with us one afternoon!
We love Ms. Lauren and had so much fun with her!!!

Fun with The Hart Family

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Last Monday we had the pleasure of meeting our good friends The Hart family in Burlington, NC! It's a halfway point for both of us :) The kiddos had a blast at the park we found!!!

Thanks Ms. Lauren...

..for my very cute bag :) I Love It!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Saturday we had a family birthday party for Lizzy! She loves the color green and frogs so the theme was obviously "Green Frogs"! Wednesday is her actual birthday...stay tuned for pictures of our baby girl!!!

Hangin' out...

with my friends!!!

Birthday Fun!!!

Saturday we went to a 3rd birthday party for Miley!

The girls had so much fun decorating their wands and crowns :) The cake was fabulous and so yummy, great job Mrs. Corey!!!
Happy 3rd Birthday Miley :)

We Love The Braswells

Our best buds Ed & Jessica (and their two daughters) recently moved from Florida back to North Carolina (Lowell)! We've been wanting to go see them for a while now and it finally worked out! We left late Monday afternoon and got home late Tuesday!

We had so much fun with them, all 5 girls got along so well and Jack just had fun rolling around! Thanks Braswell Family for opening your home and letting us come!!!

Graduation 2009

It's that time again...graduation!!! This year we had 6 students from our church graduating from high school!!! Unfortunately we were in Tennessee a few weeks ago for 2 of the ceremonies and last weekend we were sick with a stomach virus and we missed another one :( But this weekend the kiddos and I had the privilege of attending my cousin Ryne's high school graduation...an awesome opportunity at such a pivotal time as they begin the next chapter of their lives! It was a great graduation ceremony and our cousin Kristi even flew in from Minnesota!!! Congratulations to all the 2009 Graduates!!!