July 4th at the Beach

As with tradition, we went to Sunset Beach with Matt's family for the 4th of July.  This was Lilly's 1st time at the beach and she had a blast!  She loved the sand, the water, getting dirty, eating the sand, all of it!  She was MUCH more of a handful than Brayden was at this age!

Brayden also had a lot of fun this year.  He really enjoyed playing with his cousin Sid and he finally got over his fear of the waves and went out in the water with Daddy and Uncle John.  

Hmmm....I wonder what is in the cooler?

Sweet Lilly the 1st day at the beach

Covered in sand

Taking a nap with Nana

Brayden working hard

Sid being...well, Sid.  He is so funny!

Matt & Ron having a serious conversation

 On July 4th, we went to Calabash to watch the fireworks display.  Of course, it was WAY past Lilly's bedtime, but she was a trooper and made it through the show. 

Lilly taking a ride to the fireworks show

Brayden and Sid deep in conversation.

 One evening, we went and played putt putt.  The guys (and Mamie) wanted to be all competitive so they put the little boys with us ladies.  Ends up, even with the little boys and Lilly on the ladies team, Mamie won!! 

The boys playing putt putt.

A VERY sleepy Lilly while we played putt putt.

This is how I played...I didn't do too bad either :)

The very last hole.  They loved watching the balls disappear.

 On day, we didn't go out to the beach until about 4pm.  The crowds were much thinner and the sun was no where near as hot.  The boys had a blast running around all over the empty beach.  There were several huge holes right around where we were and Sid and Brayden kept running from hole to hole hiding.

She was not excited about this at all :)

Sweet baby girl

Taking a snack break at the beach

Benny, Matt, and John...I am sure they are plotting something...

We always have so much fun with Matt's family.  They are fun to be around and I am so glad that Brayden gets to grow up with his cousin, Sid. 

Catching up...

I am SO FAR behind on my blog posts for the past few months. 

We have been really busy around here and I have either been spending my evenings getting ready for Lilly's birthday party or working.  I am really going to try to get caught up in the next few weeks, so please forgive me as I go back in time to get caught up!

Uncle John

Two weeks ago Matt's brother was diagnosed with Classic Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  Uncle John as we call him around here, is a great brother (Matt and John are only 11 month apart and are very close), the best BIL I could have ever asked for, awesome uncle who loves his nephew and niece to pieces, follower of Christ, talented musician, and all around amazing guy.

Tomorrow they return to the oncologist to get the results of a PET-CT scan and echocardiogram that were done last week.  We are praying that the cancer hasn't spread beyond the neck/chest area.  I know that John and Dana (his wife) would love your prayers as they travel down this difficult road.

John and Dana (his wife) have started a blog to chronicle their journey with cancer.  I also have their blog link on the sidebar of this blog if you want to follow along on their journey and pray for them.

Matt, Benny (their dad), and John at our wedding (October 2004)

Uncle John with Lilly (September 2011)

Uncle John with Brayden (February 2009)

We love you Uncle John!

Zoo 2012

Last weekend we took Brayden & Lilly (who really could have cared less) to the zoo!  Matt's parents, brother, and sister-in-law meet us there for a full day of fun.  The weather was perfect...upper 70s, low humidity, and a light breeze.  Because the weather was so nice, the animals were all out and pretty active too which was really nice!  We had a great time together!

Giraffes up close

Brayden, Aunt Dana, and Uncle John looking at something...

Elephants

Brayden and Daddy looking at the elephants

Lilly and Mommy near the rhinos

Rhino up close

Brayden and Nana looking at the lemurs...they were very active

Gorillas.  This was a gorilla family and the daddy was holding the tail of the baby to keep it from getting away.  Dana and I decided that kids need tails for a while too, to use as a leash.  It was so funny because the baby was running all over the place and the daddy kept a good, firm grip on its tail!

More gorillas

Crazy bird...dived across LOTS of people's heads and landed in this tree.  There were lots of signs that said this bird would bite as well.  Great!

BIG alligator

Sammy the Seal (we read that book a lot and Brayden thought it was cool to see Sammy in person)

Lilly chillin' with her glasses while riding in the Baby K'Tan carrier.  She finally passed out with me carrying her!

A month of Lilly in pictures

Blueberries are SO yummy!

Lilly finally figured out how to sit up :)

Sitting in the stroller I used to ride in as a little girl and wearing my dress.

Brayden and Lilly

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Cutie pie with her big flower!

All bundled up for the March of Dimes walk...it was COLD this year to start the walk!

Riding on my bouncy horse

Just chillin

Lilly's favorite mode of transportation for a while was rolling all over the house...she got really fast at it!

First time swinging

The cutest little bunny around!

New Deck!!

When we bought this house almost 2 years ago, we knew that we wanted to replace the existing deck one day. Well, we decided that now was the time and they just finished the project earlier this week!  The company that did the work was great to work with, did a great job, and did what they said for the price they said.  We are VERY happy with the results and can't wait to spend time out on the deck this summer grilling out, playing and eating!  Enjoy the before and after photos :)

Old deck wood rot

Old deck from below

Old deck and where the new section of deck is going to go

Old deck GONE!

Framing for the new deck

Completed new deck!!

New deck!!  It is HUGE!