Turning 30...

is not so bad when you have a fun surprise party! My parents and sister threw me a great one Tuesday night. I only thought that I was getting to babysit Anderson! They are pretty sneaky and everybody lied to me a lot, but Michael says that it's okay to lie if it's a surprise party. Anyway, my family and friends were awesome to go to all of the trouble of braving the heat and cooking out at Patrick the Pavilion (see Rebecca's page for explanation). They were sweet enough to bring gifts, too. Of course the most exciting was an iPhone from my parents! I was so surprised (even though I have been talking about it ALL summer (obsessively)!!
I got other really cool things, too, like gift cards, candles, Tervis tumblers, picture frames, earrings. Anderson went ALL out! I'm thinking that she really takes after her mama, because she is so thoughtful and loves to give gifts as much as get them!!! She also wore her new cupcake outfit for me!

Amanda used her new scrapbook room at their new apartment in Hazlehurst to decorate a paint can for me. I'm going to use it to put my bribes, I mean candy, in at school! I haven't loaded pictures of that yet, but I'll get those up soon! She is just TOO creative! Leah, John Parker, and I went over there yesterday to help her unpack and wash kitchen stuff. She has the den looking really cute. I took these with my iPhone camera...

End of summer...

Not much has been going on since we got back from Gulf Shores. Leah has been working during the week, so I've gotten to hang out with John Parker a lot. I had to go to school last Wednesday and Thursday to look at our new curriculum, and I'm already stressed out! So now I'm a little sad that this is the last week of summer. It seems to have flown by! Of course, it doesn't help that this is also the last day of my twenties. That was really weird to think about this morning! Tomorrow I'll be 30!!! Yikes... I keep thinking that I haven't really done everything that I expected to have done by 30. Oh, well, at least I have read the whole Harry Potter series...haha! Here are some pictures of John Parker. I'm sure I'll have some new ones of Anderson tomorrow. I'm babysitting for her tonight, so I'm hoping to get some cute ones. We have to work on getting some good ones of them together soon!

I LOVE my fingers!

What? Do I have something on my face?

AHA!! I found the thumb!

This was from the morning that I kept both of them. It reminded me of working in the baby room at Colonial Heights Daycare...except there I had 5 at at time! (of course, I WAS a bit younger then!)

The Beach Wedding

This week we have been in Gulf Shores for Mark and Amanda's wedding. At 11:00 yesterday morning, it was storming so bad that tents were literally tumbling down the beach, and The Weather Channel reported that it was going to get worse throughout the day! But by 3:00 it was actually sunny again, and as you can see, the weather was perfect for a beach wedding!! Amanda looked beautiful, and even during the worst of the storm, she stayed calm. It was a sweet intimate wedding, and I'm so glad I got to be there. Here are some "unofficial" pictures that I took. Amanda's friend Jenny took pictures, so I'm sure that Amanda will post those on her blog soon!Thank you Lord...our prayers were answered and the storm disappeared!


Mark seeing Amanda in her dress for the first time




The Wedding Party


The Smith Family









You may kiss the bride!


The Sand Ceremony...very sweet!


Yes, yes...actually a picture of me. Leah gave me the ultimatum of having my picture taken with John Parker then or the next day in my bathing suit...

Last day at the beach...

I'm so sad that we have to leave tomorrow, but I do miss Anderson and John Parker. I forgot that I had these on my camera from Anderson's last day here. We were sitting out on the balcony watching the boats in the harbor while the rest of the family took a pontoon boat out.

This is right after they dropped Mimi off and picked Rebecca up.

Anderson's photo shoot

One of the most fun parts of this week is watching Anderson really become aware of what's going on! She is really funny and smiles when you talk to her (mostly in the mornings!) and watches everybody walk around. Rebecca said that she heard me laugh from one end of the condo to the other and grinned...that might be a coincidence, though! I've loved spending so much time with her, but I do miss John Parker. He got to eat his first baby food today, and I'm so sad that I missed it! I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to catch up next week, though!

4th of July in Destin

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We got to watch the Destin fireworks last night from our balcony. We heard today that it was about $150,000 worth, and I can believe it! It was the most amazing show I've ever seen! This was the finale (but it's pretty long!). Anderson slept through the whole thing!!!

Anderson at the Beach

The Condo