Walk-Talk

Taking a walk in Mommy I's neighborhood in New Orleans

One of my most favorite things to do when it's nice outside, is go for a walk! I love it! The summer before our wedding I walked and walked and walked and walked! And lost about 15 pounds. :) Most of the time my dad joined me on the walk, and we had (what I like to call it) a "walk talk." A walk talk is the best for great conversation and one on one time. It's just the two of you! I really treasure that time with my dad too! I try to walk as much as I can but it's hard dragging a 3 1/2 year old through neighborhoods-especially now that he doesn't want to ride in the stroller. He's too cool for that.

Walking is so great for staying in shape but it allows you to be intentional with your thoughts and prayers. You're not distracting by the laundry that needs to be folded or the dishes in the sink......I guess you could be thinking of those things though! :) It's just you and the Lord. Last Friday morning, my mother in law Peggy, watched Braylen for a little bit so that I could walk her neighborhood. It was so great! I listened to Shane and Shane's "Psalm's" album on my ipod and loved every second of it.

Braylen and I walked (well he rode) over to Mall Road a few days ago. We stopped at the grocery store and Old Navy. It's nice to be in walking distance to the store as we still only have one car right now. sigh. Anyways. I let Bray get out and run around next to the old movie theater. He loved it. He walked up the steps to the theater and started trying to open the doors, and one of them was actually OPENED! So we walked around the deserted lobby, played in the concession area, roamed the empty theaters......... totally kidding!!!! I was like ugh...let's get out of here Braylen. I don't know why but it totally freaked me out that the doors were unlocked. I mean who could possibly be in there! :) It was only 11am but who cares? I've seen plenty of scary movies and Law & Order episodes to know not to go in there.

But back to walking real fast. I was thinking about how awesome it will be to walk in Heaven. You can talk your little heart out and not have to worry about walking faster to burn calories. Wonderful.

This weekend is Father's Day! I am sooooo incredible blessed to have the greatest dad ever. Seriously. I also have an awesome father in law who is going to host a Father's Day dinner and grill out some amazing food. You should be jealous because everything he makes is delicious.

Guy! Braylen and I love you so much! Thank you for loving and serving us. Braylen says Happy Father's Day daddy!

Have a great weekend!

A Wedding, A Shower, A Leader Weekend

The month of May was full of a lot of great weekends and parties. My BFF Hillary got married and I was so thrilled to be apart of her special day! She looked stunning and her wedding reception was awesome-full of thrifty, cute, "thought of ALL the details" finds. I wish I had more pictures but here are a few. 

The day after the wedding, my mom and I (although my mom did most of the work! love you mom!) threw a baby shower for my little sister! She is due on July 10th and I am ready to be an aunt! We keep telling Braylen about his baby boy cousin and he is getting excited. My mom and I enlisted friends and family members to help with food but my mom made mini red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and they were delicious. We also made cute pom pom hanging flowers, diaper favors, a blessing tree, and blue "bath time" punch. I of course didn't take ANY pictures! The only photo I have is of the bath time punch which turned out awesome! You can visit Cory's blog for more pics from the shower and here for instructions on the punch. Isn't it cute? 

By the way, I ended up leaving the shower early because Guy took Braylen to the hospital! He ended up being fine but he had a 104.5 fever and seemed really sick. They gave him a dose of Tylenol and he bounced back. When I showed up to the hospital, he started crying and said "I just want to feel better!" ugh. Thank you Lord that we can take our children to the hospital and doctor whenever they are really sick!

The next weekend we went on our annual YL Leader Retreat over Memorial Weekend. This year it was at Timberwolf YL Camp in Lake City, MI instead of Rockbridge in Virginia. This is my 10th year going on this retreat! This year was super special because my family was able to stay in the same room! When I was single, I stayed with girls in the dorm and then once I had Braylen, all the moms, babies, and kids were usually thrown in the same room/cabin. Which is not the most ideal situation. Timberwolf has this awesome Assigned Team Cabin with 10 suites (2 bedroom, bathroom) a huge lobby with a fireplace, comfy couches, etc and each family had their own suite. It was so nice! Braylen had his own room and slept in his own bed! Such a big boy! Slept like a champ too. Timberwolf is on a beautiful lake and there are tons of rocking chairs, hiking trails, etc and the ATC has a playroom! I felt like someone should just pinch me. Needless to say, we had a great time. There was lots of fellowship, one on one talks with friends, and both speakers spurred us on to be more intimate with our Heavenly Father. Here are a few pics from the weekend. Oh! And Braylen went fishing for the first time and caught two fish! :)

A few other highlights from the month of May were attending my sister in law's wedding shower in Louisville. Amy is getting married in July and I cannot wait to celebrate the day with her. She will be the sweetest bride! Braylen also started playing in a soccer league. And he hated it. Which means mommy and daddy hated it. He basically only "played" in 1 game and he almost scored a goal BTW. :) We haven't gone back because, well, let me tell you mom's and dad's: it is not worth forcing your child to play in a sport when he's only 3! I just thought it would be fun. Apparently it's not. I can see marching bands and trumpets in our future..........sigh. 

Sorry for the lack of posts! I hope to update soon with details from our long but fun trip down to Charlotte!