memorial day.

Like most others, our Memorial day weekend was jam packed.  My Mom came to visit and watched Logan all day Friday.  She was a great help in our "adventures in potty training" Logan :)  On Saturday we spent the majority of the day doing yard work.  Our outside is much improving thanks to Mikey's hard work and our multiple daily trips to Lowes.  We were the cliche Memorial day shoppers when we purchased a new grill for Mikey as an early Father's day gift.  Of course we had to try that baby out, so we had our friends TJ, Kate and their daughter Presley over for a cookout Saturday evening.  We had a wonderful time with some truly great friends.  Sunday we went up to Big Bear Lake with Pat and Chuck for a Memorial Day cookout with Katie, Erik and "the girls."  Erik's family owns a cabin up at Big Bear and it was our first time going there.  Big Bear is most definitely it's own little world where people get from point A to point B by driving on golf carts, corn hole tournaments are no joke and everyone is adhering to the summer time life of livin easy.  It's a great atmosphere for the kids to just run around and be kids.  Logan had so much fun we had a rough time getting him to leave later in the evening.  We will absolutely be coming back this summer for some more Big Bear fun :)  We spent Monday trying to recuperate from the weekend by doing yet more yard work!  Monday afternoon we headed down to our friend Mike's lake house on Cheat Lake where we cooked out and spent some time with good friends.  We are so thankful for times like these with our family and friends and do not forget the true reason for this holiday.  Thank you to all who have served and continue to serve our country to keep our lives and our freedom a reality.  God Bless and Happy Memorial Day!

Fun at Big Bear Lake:

The golf cart was a huge hit with Logan.

Vintage lights and the "boys" around the campfire.

Big Bear Lake:

And of course Logan just had to get all the way in, clothes and all.

Fishing with Daddy at Cheat Lake.

Logan attempting to give Tucker kisses.

kelly's baby shower.

This past weekend I went down to Northern VA to help celebrate my good friend Kelly's baby shower. She had a Mexican themed shower which was such an awesome idea! Kelly looked wonderful and adorable at 34 weeks. Her and her husband Phil are keeping the sex of the baby a surprise so we don't know what it is yet, but I know whatever baby Thompson is it will be absolutely darling. Congratulations Kelly and Phil, can't wait to meet your new addition to the family next month!

mothers day.

Happy Mother's Day! I am so blessed to have such an amazing family. Mikey made me a delicious breakfast in bed and Logan slept in until 8:30am! We went to church and celebrated with a wonderful Mothers Day mass. Logan and Mikey's gift for me is to finally organize our kitchen pantry (which is atrocious), so I will do a post on that once I have it finished. In the afternoon we went over to my sister-in-law Katie's house for a cook out with our family. Mikey's brother Beau and his wife Sarah and our sweet Godson William were in town. It was so great being able to spend time with them and to see little William. Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful Mothers out there, especially my Mom and my Mother-in-law xoxo

logan's 3rd birthday.

I cannot believe that our little boy is 3 years old! Seriously where has the time gone?! We celebrated Logan's third birthday at our home with family and a few close friends. I figured this would probably be the last year we could get away with not inviting a ton of Logan's school friends and having a huge party. We had a "transportation" themed birthday (of course) and Logan loved it. Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate our baby turning three! We had a wonderful party filled with some very memorable moments. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such amazing family and friends.

Easter 2014.

He is Risen!  Happy Easter! The Easter season is one of my favorite times of year.  I obviously LOVE this time of year because it is the base of our faith, that Jesus Christ died and rose again to save you and me because of God's amazing love for us, but I also love all of the traditions that go along with the season.  Dying Easter eggs, Easter baskets, dressing in your "Sunday best", all of the new life and yes I even like going to church for like 72 hours straight!  This year we celebrated Easter at home.  My Dad came up to help celebrate, and Logan was very happy to see Grandpa.  We dyed eggs, which was a difficult choice of words to use with Logan who kept asking "those eggs are gonna die?"  How to explain a homonym to a toddler??....Our church had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday which was a good practice run for the real deal on Sunday.  We celebrated Easter brunch at my in-laws house with Mikey's family and my Dad and then Sunday evening we ate Easter dinner at my sister-in-laws husbands parents house (Goldie & John).  We had a wonderful Easter and Logan had a great time (as always) running around Goldie and John's house with all the kids.  Happy Easter and God Bless!

fishing.

Warmer weather has finally arrived! And we couldn't be more excited. After this horrendous winter we have had it's so nice to be able to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. Here are a few photo's that I snapped of Logan learning how to "fish" at our friend, Mikes, lake house on Cheat Lake. We enjoyed grilling out and spending time with our friends on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

"fishing" for minnows.

Father & Son

Worms!

growing up.

I cannot believe that our little guy is going to be three years old.  It feels like it was just yesterday we were going home from the hospital with this amazing new wonder in our lives.  Here are a couple of photo's I took for no reason but I feel like this is the last glimpse of my baby now that he's becoming a "big boy."

australia-port douglas

After the wedding festivities were over we made our way back to Sydney to catch a flight up to Cairns. Cairns and the surrounding areas are where most Australian's go for beach type holidays. I would equate it to our Florida, it's hot, humid and there's a rainy season. Since we went towards the end of March we were just entering the rainy season and the end of the peak tourist season. We arrived in Cairns late on Sunday night and then drove the hour to where we were staying in Port Douglas. When planning for this trip Mikey and my Dad spent many long nights choosing our itinerary and where we should go. They chose Port Douglas for its great location to the Great Barrier Reef and beautiful beaches. We were staying in Port Douglas for a week and rented this gorgeous 2 level condo overlooking a pool and right off the beach. Because we were at the end of the tourist season we were the only ones staying in the complex and were able to enjoy everything without having to worry about other guests. Some highlights of our time in Port Douglas were: Mossman Gorge & swimming in the rapids, snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, shopping in the quaint downtown Port Douglas, eating ice-cream every night, Katie's Birthday at Daintree Rainforest (where it torrential down poured on us the entire time - "it is called a rain forest")- "best birthday ever", the Nespresso machine!! and Logan and Grandpa's "Lunch with the Lorikeets" adventure at the wildlife habitat. After an amazing 2 weeks we headed home via Cairns to Brisbane to LA to Pittsburgh. Needless to say it was a loooong travel time home (Logan still did really, really great- such a trooper!) but it was all completely worth it. Thanks Dad again for one of the most memorable vacations of all time. Our trip was truly unforgettable and I am so blessed and LOVE to be able to travel the world with my family. Now where to next! :)

Logan and Grandpa's Lunch with the Lorikeets

cindy and danny's wedding.

Next up in our Australia itinerary was Cindy and Danny's wedding (the main reason why we were even on this trip). Cindy and Danny were married in Danny's hometown of Wollongong, a coastal town about an hours drive from Sydney. Logan had a fun time going around the rest of the trip saying "Wolly-gone!" Cindy was a beautiful bride and both her and Danny looked so happy. Their reception was at this wonderful restaurant overlooking a lagoon and was definitely a memorable experience. They had Brazilian dancers, fireworks, a live band and a 6 course meal. One of the best things about their reception was that it provided the opportunity for me to see and spend time with a lot of my old girl friends from school. It was so great being able to catch up on everyone's lives 15 years later! I will always remember Cindy and Danny's wedding and be thankful for the memories I was able to share with old friends. Congratulations Cindy and Danny, you two make a beautiful couple and I know your marriage will be filled with lots of happiness and babies! :)