Memorial Day Parade & Fireworks

Senoia had a parade for Memorial Day. We were truly surprised at how many people were there and what a great parade and festival our little town had.

I would like to pause in telling you all about are day to say one thing.....

Thank you to all of our Veterans. Thank you to all the men and women currently serving. Thank you the their families. Thank you to the law makers who lobby for our military. Thank you for the companies who give our Veterans and military extra support.

We know first hand how hard military life it and how it effects a family. We pray each day for the safety of our friends still serving.

I ask that everyone take one moment after reading this and say an extra prayer for a friend of ours, Nick Barclay. Nick has done 2 tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was finished with his active duty and on inactive duty with only a few months left. The Marine's recalled him and he is heading back overseas.

I am so thankful that Drew came home after each tour safe. I am so proud of him for serving this great country but I am so so so thankful that he is finished.

Our prayers go out to all of our military friends, family, and those we don't know. Thank you for serving our country!

Now, back to our day......

Here's Payton..... sleeping through the parade.... even with the honks, whoops, and hollers!

And here's Carysn checking to see if Payton was still sleeping!

Finally, one very loud Shriner's horn woke her up, and then she was all about watching the festivities.

After the parade, we walked around and saw all the arts and crafts. We decided to head home and cook some hamburgers while we were waiting to go to the fireworks.

I'll admit, I was a little nervous about taking Payton to the fireworks. But she was great. She enjoyed every bang, boom and crash. She especially loved the music playing.

It was a great day. I am glad I got to spend it just enjoying being an American. Thanks again to our Veterans for allowing us to be able to do these things!

The Rat Tail is Gone!!!!

I'll apologize in advance for the blurry pictures, but cutting a 7 months old hair is not a still thing.

Ms. Brittney helped me out on my hair do. Ever since all of my baby hair fell out, I've had a few pieces that grew in kind of long and uneven. I had a little rat tail in the back and some wispy pieces on the side. And since we were at the lake with a stylist and there wasn't much else to do since it was raining, I figured what a great time to take care of my hair situation.

Thanks for the haircut Brittney!

Memorial Day at the Lake

For the memorial day holiday we headed down to Grandma Kathy and Grandpa John's lake house on Lake Sinclair. It was a rainy weekend but we managed to get in a few boat rides.

Papa brought his boat down for the day and took me for a ride. I think for right now I like to just sit and play on the boat, not necessarily ride on it.

The issue is the life jacket. Could the make it any more uncomfortable. You feel like your head is being squeezed. Needless to say - I don't like wearing it!

Good think MiMi was there to keep my mind of my life jacket.

Finally, I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the boat ride and tried not to worry about the life jacket.

Then, the Kinnett's came to join in on the fun.... and they brought the biggest dog I've ever seen with them. Samson was such a good doggie - we've named him the Gentle Giant.

And of course it wouldn't be a lake trip without Daddy playing the guitar. I love to just sit and listen to the music. Maybe one day I can learn to play the guitar since I'm such a good singer.

Day two.... I did not want to wear that life jacket.... so Daddy just let me play on the boat. Which was fine with me.

And then it started raining again, so this is how I spend my Sunday afternoon. Sleeping in the swing. Such a hard life it is!

Thanks Aunt Kenley!

Payton was all dressed up from Arin's wedding when she went to spend the night at Grandma Kathy and Grandpa John's house. And being the fabulous photographer that she is, Aunt Kenley (with help from Grandma Kathy) took some beautiful pictures of Payton.

I'm sharing them because they are my favorite pictures EVER!!!!!!

Thanks Kenley!

Arin & Chad Griffn

As odd as that seems to type that, yes Arin & Chad FINALLY tied the knot. I don't know it's been about 5 years or so.

All kidding aside, I must say I have the world's most beautiful best friend. She was stunning! Like take your breath away kind of stunning. The ceremony was heartfelt, and a little humorous.

Here's the rundown of the antics..... and there's always antics........

The church was a quaint little country church - you know the kind that is white with a big steeple and big red front doors with stained glass windows, and a really short isle. The kind of isle that wouldn't be intimidating to a two year old.

As soon as we did the processional down the aisle, Carsyn spotted Drew and Payton in the back of the church, at that point she was no longer interested in being the flower girl, but more so in making sure Peep (as she calls her) was OK and what were they doing and saying hey to P-Daddy (what she calls Drew). So she sprinted down the aisle all the way to the back of the church yelling "Peeps" "Peeps". Arin told us all it would happen, we just didn't believe her.

Then if that wasn't silly enough - right when they were saying "You may kiss the bride" Carsyn tugged on Arin's had and said "A, you got some gum". Too Funny - the entire Church was laughing! Good thing Arin loves that little girl so much.

The reception was beautiful and so much fun! We had such a great time. And thank you to God for holding off the rain! Thank you to the Harrell's' for hosting such a great party. We love you guys like family and were so proud to get to share this day with you.

And a party isn't a party without the dress!

Arin, I just want you to know that I could never ask for a better friend. There aren't many memories that I have that you aren't in, and we've shared every milestone in life. I was honored to share this one too. I wish you and Chad all the happiness in the world. We love you JoJo & Tami!!!!!!!!

The BEST Mother's Day Present EVER!

It was a busy Mother's Day! We went to church with Grandma E. first thing Sunday morning. Payton "sang" through church. She loves to sing and she loves the choir at church. She doesn't however like silence I guess, because everytime it got quite she started "singing" again. Finally when the sermon started we went to the nursery.

Then after church we went to John & Kathy's house for lunch. We had some yummy sandwiches, and gave Grandma K. her finger painting. She loved it of course.

We made a quick pit stop at home for a quick nap and to change our clothes.

For dinner we headed over to Grammy and Papa's house. We cooked some fabulous lasagna and Greek salad. We gave Grammy her painting and apologized for the mess the day before in her kitchen sink. I don't think she minds.

Finally we were home bound for some quite time together.

I am so thankful to be a mother. I know what a blessing Payton really is to our family. She is such a good baby and has such a great personality. I am a lucky lucky mom to have a happy, healthy, spunky little girl. I try to take the ups with downs and find humor and happiness in each day with her.

The best part of the day was when Drew got out the guitar and sang some sweet songs. And of course Payton sang along! She is after all her Daddy's child and how could there be music and her not sing. I love that about both of them. If there's music then they're happy.

Plus, don't tell Drew but him playing the guitar is the real reason I ever decided to go on a date with him in the first place.

Here's some sweet pictures of my two songbirds having their Sunday Night Sing-Along!

Happy Mother's day to all the moms, grandmas, aunts, and special ladies out there. There is no harder job then being a mother, but there's also not one that pays better either!

Our Finger Painting Adventure

So I thought it would be nice to make my mom and Kathy something from Payton for Mother's Day. The plan was to get her to put her hand print on paper and make a card out of it.

Ha Ha Ha - have you ever tried to get a super active 6 month old to hold still long enough to accomplish that.

We ended up finger painting instead. Which I must say was a lot more fun! And the end result was pretty good. Forgive me I forgot to take pictures of the pictures. But imagine what's on Payton's body on paper and you'll get the idea.

We started out pretty clean....

Then Uncle Justin showed us what we were suppose to be doing with the paintbrush. Notice to Payton's side what we were attempting to do......

Then once she figured out she could move all that paint around on the paper there was no stopping her.....

We had to giver her the paci to avoid having paint in her mouth.....

It really was a lot of fun.... a big mess.... but a lot of fun!

And the end result - a PICASSO painted by PEEPERS just for her grandma's for Mother's Day!

Look Closely in the top left corner and you can see her masterpiece.

Now image when you paint and you dip your paintbrush in water to rinse it out before you choose another color. Well image what the water looks like after a few color changes - that is what the child's bath water looked like!

My Beautiful Toybox

The last time my Grandma & Grandpa Lewis were down, my grandpa brought Payton two toy boxes. One for home and one for at Grammy & Papa's.

It is truly a treasure. I know that Payton will cherish this for the rest of her life.

I went back and forth on weather to paint it white for the playroom or to stain it to match her furniture.

I decided to stain it. I figured then it could be a bench in a big girl room with storage and then later when she's all grown up it can be an entry way bench in her own house.

We finally moved it into her room and put all of her toys in it.

It's beautiful, Thank you Grandpa Lewis!

Pop's 80th Birthday Party

There's and old quote, and I can't find it on google to give proper credit but it goes something like this "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?"

"Pop" turned 80 years young on May 1, 2009! If you've ever met him though there's no way you'd guess he was a day over 65.

There was a huge party, and rightfully so!

Pop is one of the nicest people I know. He always has a kind word, or something heartfelt to say. He welcomes everyone with a big hug, and always ask about you and your life. Plus he's the best blessing "sayer" (I know it's not a word - but I can't think of a better way to put it) I've ever known.

It is an honor to get to share this milestone in life with him and Grandma J.

We wish him many many many more birthdays!

Love you Pop!

Payton & I had a great time!

All the cousins were there! They're all just too cute together!

Payton, Kate & Cole are all getting so big!


It was a great time seeing everyone!

Sand..... The best toy ever!

Two weekends ago, we piled Payton, Carsyn, Josh & Drew into the car to head down to Aunt Robin's lake house on Lake Jackson to decorate for Arin's Bachlorette Party.

Now, I can only imagine what people in passing boats were thinking while we had two children sitting playing in the sand, two men on ladders hanging up all kinds of unmentionable decorations (you know the kind you have to buy in the back part of Spencer's). And Amy and I trying to decide where to hang a naked man for the game "pin the junk on the hunk". Ha ha ha - I can only imagine the thoughts that people must have had. I know I was thinking what good husbands we have to come help us hang willies all over the place!

Here's a few pictures we snapped while we were there.

Who knew that sand was the most entertaining thing around. The girls had fun - even though Carsyn took a little dip in the water.

And of course the boys did a good job keeping the girls rounded up.

The bachlorette party was a great success and the decorations were too cute! We had a BLAST! And I am sure you will all agree with me that no pictures need to be posted of the party or the decorations.