I don't get a chance to blog very often but when I saw this picture I asked Lisa if she would give me a shot. My goal is that maybe around 2035 Vivian will look back on this post and know that her Mommy and Daddy love her very much. She brings us joy and is beautiful in every sense of the word.

So Vivian...when you are reading this 25 years from now and you have a little one just like this, I pray your hope for your baby would be the same as the one we have for you. That she would know the Lord and His steadfast love.

Aaron/Daddy

div>On Saturday we spent the afternoon at Papa and Gramme's house while Aaron made a trip to Winston-Salem to watch the Wake Forest/Navy football game. Gramme had a new toy...this climber and slide was given to her by Laurie who continually gives us things her granddaughters have outgrown!

Peekaboo!

We are taking advantage of every opportunity to play outside while it's still warm.

watching big sister :)
The first part of this week has been warm enough, so we're still outside in the afternoons. Kate loves to ride in the Cozy Coupe. Vivian was very good at sharing with her sister, mainly I think because she didn't want to hear Kate scream and throw a fit when her turn was over. So V would take a 10 second turn and then get out of the car and say, "okay, Kate's turn now, here ya go, Kate, get in!"
I asked them to help me pick up apples in our driveway and they did a fantastic job.

Kate took the task very seriously. Ha! Woman on a mission.

She went above and beyond my expectations for finding apples.

V was caught eating on the job several times.

Every time Kate dropped one in the bucket, she looked so proud of herself and said, "job!" (for, "good job!")

For the past two Tuesdays, Kate has been going to preschool to see how she likes it. I am really enjoying the alone time with Vivian. I foresee us being able to do things together that I normally couldn't do with both of them in tow. For example, this past Tuesday we met Avery and her mom Janelle at the park to play for a couple of hours. It was a gorgeous day to be outside!It was awesome for me to watch her play with Avery. She is learning so much and she made it obvious that she was having a blast. Janelle brought princess crowns for them to decorate with stickers together. It was so sweet.

We took our time and ate lunch there as well. Next Tuesday we made plans to take them to the Science Center!

On Friday night we had an engagement party for Keegan and Carissa. Sarah, Debbie, and I prepared the backyard shelter and had a catered dinner. We all celebrated well! Now we're ready for the wedding in April!

Everyone was asked to write advice for their engagement, and also one line of a poem. We put all the lines together to make a comedic poem about Keegan and Carissa.

Aaron thought very hard about his addition to the poem.

We had a stray cat coming around that night, it was our party mascot

At the beginning of the Labor Day weekend in September, we took V and K to Busch Gardens for the Sesame Street Forest of Fun. It's a section of the park just for little ones, all decked out with Sesame Street characters. They loved it! We will be better to take them next summer...they were a little young this time because of naps, etc. But it was a great trip for our little family of four.
We got to the hotel in Williamsburg pretty late on Friday night, but we set up their pack-n-plays quickly and turned the lights out. Getting them to fall asleep when we were all in one room together was a little tricky, but Vivian was so funny..."No, Kate, don't talk! Only sleep! It's okay, Kate, don't cry, it's okay"
We got to the park on Saturday as soon as it opened, and left around 1. They slept all the way home.

There are going to be a lot of these "finally" posts because I have so much to catch up on!
On the Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend, we went out to the lake to play! We rode the boat a lot, went out to eat, got ice cream cones, and played with our babies. Papa and Gramme were there, and Joey and Sierra brought one of their dogs on Monday for a couple of hours. I don't have time to edit these pictures or pick the best ones, so here are all of them, lots of repeats...sorry!

Last weekend Aaron and I made a getaway to Charleston, SC for a wedding weekend for my friend Megan and her groom Todd. Megan and I were best friends in Middle School and High School. She helped me move out my dorky stage and I will be forever grateful :). We went to different colleges but have seen each other several times a year since then. The awesome part about being in the wedding was that the celebrating lasted all weekend...we got there Friday evening and all the events started Saturday morning.
Aaron and I stayed at a resort in Isle of Palms and it was definitely a short vacation for us. We missed our girls but knew they were in good hands (Papa and Gramme). Enjoy the pictures! I tried to tell more details about the weekend in the captions.