Miles' Baby Shower

So, my best friend had a baby.  :)  He is precious.  His name is Miles.  Amber & I gave her a baby shower months ago and it was precious.  Like way precious.  It kinda made me want a boy a little bit.  Bowties and all.  Here are a few of my favorite pics:

The grub!  Mostly courtesy of Amber's awesome cooking and baking skills.  Plus some yummy green punch - recipe here.

Detachable bowtie onesies.... Ahh.  Love them.

Close up of Manda's boob corsage. ;-)

The beautiful Mom-to-be and Grandma :) :)

Eve & Miles' first picture together.  <3 <3  #ArrangedMarriageAlready

Amber's Bridal Shower

First off, I'm back posting this so that it falls in line with the appropriate date since it's now December.  Secondly, this shower was by far my favorite shower I've hosted so far!  It was beautiful and since the weather was fairly nice, we did it outside.  The guest list wasn't huge, so a sit-down garden party was perfect!  Everything turned out gorgeous!  I must add that Parker and I returned from our trip to the Dominican Republic assuming that my brother had stopped by the house to water the flowers since it was a garden party and it was in the middle of summer… However, Weston had spent the week in the hospital with a round of pancreatitis and our flowers were dead as a doorknob when we got home two days before the shower.  The day before the shower, it poured cats and dogs, so the morning of, Parker and I made a mad dash to Lowes and bought a few flowers to plant last minute.  Talk about a time crunch!  Eek!

Amber and Jarrett's wedding color was cobalt blue, so I designed the decor and invitations to incorporate the blue, plus I added pink and flowers since it was a garden party.  Amanda co-hosted and made a bunch of the food… plus she arrived way early to help me pull everything off.  I think it turned out beautifully, so enjoy the pics below!

Friends & Food!

Every year, our Sunday School class gets together to burn Christmas trees.  I know that sounds odd.  

I guess I should tell you the back story.  When our class first started, we use to play one round of Taboo each Sunday to get to know each other and break the ice.  We played guys vs girls, and at the end of each quarter, the losing gender had to plan the class social.  Well, in an epic comeback, the girls won one quarter and the guys were determined to make it a social we'd love.  Please feel my sarcasm.  They chose to gather as many Christmas trees as they could (it was January), and plan a big bonfire.

Well... five years later... we're still doing it every year.  We've had as many as 100 trees, but this year, we cut back to about 10, because we have so many little ones that 1) They just about outnumber the adults, 2) We're too busy chasing after them to chop that many trees in half to burn, and 3) We now have bedtimes to consider.  But, we still love it (no sarcasm) and look forward to it every year!

The farm we usually do it at was way too wet, so on a whim, we invited everyone to our house for the cookout and fire pit.  It was so nice to have everyone over!

Ava Kate loved playing with her best friend, Nora.  She even got in the grass to get close to her, which is a big deal, because she DID NOT LIKE THE GRASS.

Toys were played with.  Hot dogs were eaten.  Fingers were licked.  A good time was had by all.

Then, as we approached the time for the fire... a dark cloud that had been waiting all day started creeping in...

That's Jane & Ernest.  They're our teachers and so cute.  We adore them.  Everyone else is in their mid 20s to mid 30s... I mean, except for the kids of course... who we also adore.  :)

The boys played baseball and can jam... and I am just so thankful for our big backyard and the field behind it to play in!

And that cloud that was creeping in... well, it sprinted the rest of the way and the bottom fell out.  So for all you tree lovers, don't worry... no trees were burned... yet.

Bonfire is on hold until after April showers.  :)

Annual MLK Beach Weekend

Remember last week, when I posted the long list of stuff to pack for AK?  Well, that was for a trip to the beach with some of our great friends!  Parker & I are so blessed to have become friends with some wonderful people through our Sunday School class!  This year, we decided to start an annual trip to the beach with a group of current and past members of the class since many of us have moved away in the last two years to be closer to family or for new jobs.  We left work on Friday and headed out to Kill Devil Hills.  Ava Kate was excited too!

We stayed at our friend Christie's uncle's house, which was right on the beach!  TWELVE bedrooms and ELEVEN bathrooms y'all.  It was perfect!

It was an awesome weekend catching up with everyone!  Each couple brought a meal and/or snacks, and let me tell you, we ate A LOT.  The food was delicious and I'm pretty sure Parker & I put on about 10 pounds each.

One of the best parts was seeing our dear friends Casey & Ryan.  They moved back home to Tennessee about 3 years ago and we have missed them SO much!  They recently added sweet little Millie to their family and we were so excited to meet her!

On Saturday, we all piled into 3 vehicles and drove on the beach looking for wild horses.  It was pretty chilly, but we found the horses!  They walked right by us!

Ava Kate was clearly excited about the horses! :)

  

After riding on the beach, we went to see the lighthouse.  Sadly, it was closed for the season, but we still got to walk around it.

Even though I've lived in NC my entire life, I've never actually been to a lighthouse.  I know, it's a shame.  I really loved it and can't wait to go to another one!

Of course we had to get a family selfie at the lighthouse.  :)

After our gallivanting, these sweet babies passed right out in the truck.  I was nestled in between the two of them... how can one person be surrounded by so much cuteness?

Sunday was a pretty chill day.  The girls hung out and watched movies, while the guys played cards.  Parker, Ava Kate, and I took a family nap in the afternoon and everyone played some board games later.  The beach was gorgeous.

Family seflie on the deck after nap time :)

It was a wonderful weekend!  We can't wait for next year!  Did I mention that we have the best friends?

The 7 couples & 2 nursing babies (no kids allowed) ;-)

Cousin Pepper

I must admit that I'm not really a dog person.  I don't dislike dogs... but I'm not really dying to have one either.  Well... that might be changing a little.

Meet Pepper.  Pepper is Ava Kate's four-legged cousin by friendship. You see, my best friend in the whole wide world, Amanda, is "Aunt Amanda" to Ava Kate.  Amanda & Cory recently became parents to this sweet, precious dalmatian named Pepper.  Therefore, logic follows that Ava Kate & Pepper are cousins by friendship.

Ava Kate is smitten.  Look at that face.

She preferred to go 3-Stooges on Pepper and poke her eyes out.  This is how we show love in our family... Don't judge us.  See the resemblance?

http://www.arts-stew.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/The-Three-Stooges-Eye-Poke.jpg

Pepper was a good sport about it all really...

...Even when Ava Kate about pulled her ear off.

And that my friends, would be my "Ahhh!  Ava Kate!  Don't pull her ear off!" face.  Enjoy.  :)