summer continues.....

with a fun visit from my friend Kristin and her kiddos, Elizabeth and Jackson.

They came and spent the night with the girls and I and we shopped and swam, chatted and made cupcakes for Elizabeth's 12th birthday! (elizabeth was my flower girl in my wedding oh so many years ago!!!)

It was a wonderful visit and we had so much fun!

aubrey's dance recital.....

Tap dancing it was for Aubrey and Ellery at their dance recital this year!

They did a smashing rendition of "You can't stop the beat" from the Broadway Musical "Hairspray". It was too much fun. And Eliana was clapping and cheering "yay" the entire time. She's quite the fan of music and of her big sister.........

The rest of the summer......part one...

Sooooooooooooooooooooo much catching up to do!! Kind of ridiculous actually but what can I say?? It was a wonderful, crazy, busy, amazing summer.
Just gonna get the highlights and some favorite pics and then try to keep up with the current state of affairs going on around here!!! Will try my best.
:)
We had another trip to Destin in June with Jon's company and our dear friends The Federico's.

Their daughter Juliana is sooo precious and she and Aubrey and Eliana had such a fun time playing at the big pool and pal-ing around. They were sweet girls and we had such a great time!!

Grease.....

So much to catch up on but have to post this one asap because it makes me laugh and smile so much!!

Aubrey went to drama camp for the first time this summer with 3 of her little friends from preschool.....2 weeks long, every day and at the end of the 2 weeks they put on "Grease". She completely fell in love with the music and such a blast! She came home and sang and danced her heart out every day, even after being at camp for 6 hours a day doing it there!

The performance was absolutely precious. Amazingly enough, she was kind of shy! The first performance she was a little embarrassed by mom and dad I think.....(is she old enough for that already???) but by the second performance she was ready to go. It was a great experience for her and of course I was so proud and happy to share my love of theatre with her and see her enjoy it so much!!

So here we are almost 2 weeks later and she still goes to bed every night listening to her Grease CD soundtrack. She shuts her door and sings at the top of her lungs......I happened to catch this video by sticking my phone through her door and recording it. Absolutely priceless.

:)

Last Day of Preschool

Sad day for me but so proud of my big girl.

She had such a great year!!!

Congratulations Aubrey..........we love you and can't wait for Kindergarten!!

Emily and Jarrell's Wedding

(mom, aubrey, emily, jarrell, austin, dad, me and jon - eliana was snuggled up with her aunt wanda....have to learn how to super impose a picture of her into this shot!! :)

On Sat. June 5th, 2010 my sister Emily got married!

We travelled down to West Monroe, Louisiana and helped Emily and Jarrell get ready for their big day. It was an outdoor wedding at Jarrell's parents beautiful home and 4 acre property and it all turned out just perfect. The rain tried really hard to ruin the day for all the outdoor settings, but we all pitched in, came up with plan b and made it happen.

Emily looked just beautiful and she is lucky to have two handsome men by her side. It was a sweet ceremony and a fun reception. The two families came together and had a great time. We were so proud and happy to be a part of such a special day.

Aubrey loooved being the flower girl. She took her duties quite seriously. She was a little worried that she didn't throw all of the flowers out of the basket on the way up the aisle so she was sure to throw them on the way back.

I was proud to sing "God bless the broken road" for Emily and Jarrell. What a beautiful song for a beautiful and special day.

We love you Emily, Jarrell and Austin and are so happy for you. What an awesome weekend it was to share with our whole family as we grow!!

a few more wedding pics.....

Memorial Day with The Katz's and The Young's....

First of all I want to thank all the men and women, past and present, who risk their lives, miss their families and sacrifice sooo much every single day so that my family and I can enjoy the freedoms that we have. I pray God's blessings on each and every one of them.

Thank you!!

For Memorial Weekend, for the 3rd year in a row, we headed down to Destin with our wonderful friends, The Young's. They have a condo there and graciously hosted us once again! The condo is right on the beach, with a pool right out the back door, so it was pure heaven for Aubrey. Leslie and I went down with the kiddos a few days early and soaked up some extra beach time! Eliana was on our trip last year at just 8 weeks old, but this was the first time she truly saw the sand and the ocean and she absolutely loved it. She dug in the sand and squealed when I took her down to the ocean and put her feet it. She's still not walking so she was completely covered in sand when all was said and done, but she was happy as could be. She is so great to travel with! Happy and slept great, and loved exploring her new surroundings.

Aubrey filled her days with seashell hunts, sand digging, crab hunting and lots of pool time. She loves to swim! Never got tired of it. She looves crab legs so we were sure to get in a couple of crab leg dinners while we were there. She and Ellery and Grant all had the best time together. She learned to throw and catch the frisbee (after much frustration on her part :)

and did lots of hide and seek playing.....good old fashioned summer fun.

The adults hung with the kids during the day, soaking up the sun and enjoying the beach and after getting the kids to bed each night enjoyed some awesome dinners on the back porch of the condo overlooking the ocean. Not too shabby!

We had such a great time and love this tradition with our awesome friends.

The above pictures are my top favorites, except for the fact that Leslie managed to escape every single picture we took!! I'll have to find a way to super impose her on a beach somewhere.......

:)

Aubrey's school art show!

She was sooo proud to show us all the awesome art she created during this year of Pre-K at her school! She loves to draw, paint, cut, and create all kinds of art. She calls herself an artist. I love it.

Fun Run

aubrey participated in a fun run for Children's healthcare of Atlanta through a program called "Generous Generations"
she had a blast! She ran one mile with her daddy while Eliana and I cheered her on.
Go Aubrey!