Chevy to the Levee

Say "Cheese"

Up close with our little Monkey

The full costume!

Fun on the slide

Her first pumpkin painting experience!

Utter excitement on the swing!


My moment of glory!

Our Family after the 5K
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Finish with a sigh of relief.

All smiles before the big race!


This weekend was a wonderful festival called the Chevy to the Levee. It is a fundraiser for local charities and it has a lot of events including a couple races, 5K (which I participated in), stiletto race (male and female), and family fun run. It also had free canoe rides, inflatable slides, face painting, etc. It was a wonderful family event!
I do have to brag for just a minute, I finished 3rd overall in the female division and 32 overall. I finished in 23:51 which averages 7:41 each mile. It was a really good time and I actually won a cooler and a car that says "3rd place." It was kind of neat! TJ was great and took care of Kaitlynn the whole time. She really enjoyed the park, hay ride and inflatable slide.
We also had our first invite to a birthday party this weekend as well and it was a costume party. Kaitlynn is a monkey this year for Halloween and she is pretty cute while she is walking in her costume!
This week we are excited to carve pumpkins, eat some chilli, and go trick-or-treating for the first time. We are looking forward to some good times! In other news, TJ was called as Young men President in our branch and is really excited to work with the young men. He is also dressing up for Halloween this year and we will post pictures, it should be great! =)
We are also very grateful for the gospel in our life. We both had spiritual guidance this week which is always so humbling and we are truly grateful for the Holy Ghost and for the influence which it is in our life. We are also grateful for the fullness of the gospel and the plan of salvation. We feel very blessed for the opportunity to live here and to meet new friends and make new memories as a family. We hope you are all doing well and we love hearing from you!

Oh How I Love Fall!

That is this?

The truck BARELY fits into the garage

TJ and his two beauties!

A VERY happy man!



TJ and the Carriers in the beautiful mountains

The gang at the bonfire

Kaitlynn trying to eat a pumpkin

Kaitlynn at the Carrier boys

The Family by the river
What a WONDERFUL time of year. The weather is starting to get a little chilly, the hoodies are on, hot chocolate is brewing, leaves are changing, it is wonderful. This weekend TJ and I took a road trip to the mountains of North Carolina to see good friends, beautiful leaves changing colors, and eat delicious pumpkin cake. It was SOOOO much fun. We headed out on Friday and returned this evening. While we were there we went to a pumpkin patch, went on a small hike, ate some REALLY good food, took a nap, and watched some great games. A perfect relaxing weekend. Thank you so much to the Carriers for hosting us, it was great!
In other news, TJ FINALLY got his toy. He got a Ford F-250 truck this past week and let me tell you, HE IS IN HEAVEN! He totally loves it and has driven each and every day! Such a funny boy!
Anyway, hope all is well, love you all and hope you had a great weekend!

TJ's handymanness (word?) hung our TV

Kaitlynn's bath time hair due

The porch before it was stained

The trimmed hedges

The stained back porch

The new couch and rug!

The front room that was empty

YARD WORK.....

My little princess all grown up

It's the "I can do it myself" phase

What is this little thing?

Kinda looks like a dog, so I will pet it.

Watching baseball with dad, GO YANKEES!

So, what have we been doing all week? I will tell you, YARD WORK! Although it has been exhausting, time consuming, somewhat expensive, we LOVE having a yard! I will post some before and after pictures, but we have done some MAJOR trimming and staining. We trimmed ALL of our bushes, they were OUT OF CONTROL, and we stained the back porch with some help from our local missionaries! It has been so much fun!
For fun this week, we went out to eat at a local Chinese buffet (TJ's favorite place to eat lately), saw a parade for homecoming and packed up our bags for a trip to the mountains to see the Carriers but we never left the garage because Kaitlynn caught a slight fever as we were loading up. It was a total bummer, but we will make it out there soon, I hope!
Kaitlynn is walking EVERYWHERE and is SOOO much fun. She has such a cute personality and makes us laugh daily. She is also drinking milk again, FINALLY, but only if we put a little bit of chocolate syrup in it. Oh well, what can ya do! She loves books right now too, she loves to look at them, push them around on the floor, carry them, eat them, you name it. She cracks me up!
I hope you are all doing well, we hope you enjoy the pics of our little princess who rules the roost. Drop us a line if you have time! Take care!

The big 1!

My little girl is SOOOO old, I can't hardly believe it. Where did the last year go? It seemed like yesterday I was bringing her home thinking of how different my life was and wondering how I would ever adjust to such a wonderful change. Now, I can't remember what life was like before this bundle of joy entered our life. We have had a wonderful week celebrating her birthday, because one day just wouldn't do it! =)
It started on Thursday with trips to the park, birthday presents and her first cupcake and icing dessert! Then, on Friday we went to the "exploration station" which is a lot like a children's museum with a lot of young moms and TONS of kids. That night we headed to the Robeson county fair which was small but fun. We had a great time. Saturday we wrapped it up with a trip to a local ranch where we fed everything from goats to camels to an ostrich. Kaitlynn LOVED it and was not afraid of the animals. We even saw a bear! It was SOOOO fun. That evening we had some newly made friends over for a small barbeque, a duck cake (although some people would call it a chicken =)) and some more presents. This girl is spoiled I tell ya! All in all, it was a GREAT way to celebrate a first birthday!
Things she can do at one:
Walk, Say a few words including: Hi, Mom, Dad, yeah, Uh-oh, weeeee. She is as busy as ever as she is into EVERYTHING. She has four teeth, and eats EVERYTHING in sight. She loves music, dancing, balls and phones. She laughs at just about anything and now rides in a front facing car seat.
Things TJ and I have learned at one:
How much money one can spend on diapers and wipes. How many clothes a young one can go through in one day. How fast one can shower and get ready when you only have 3-4 minutes. Pure joy as you watch your little one experience something for the first time. How much a child under one can eat, and eat, and eat, and oh yea, EAT! How important nap time is. How catchy little Einstein songs can be. How car seats work. How much food and other supplies one can fit into a diaper bag. How wet you can get when you are just "watching" your little one take a bath! How much you can actually love someone you know is a small part of you!
We hope you are all doing well. We just want you to know we love you and how grateful we are to have the gospel, especially during this conference weekend. We are blessed with great families and with a beautiful little girl. We are also so grateful for the power of individual revelation and guidance that the spirit provides even with small daily tasks. Have a great week!