We love our niece!

This weekend Michael and I went to Virginia for sweet Ellie's christening. She was such a good girl! I've uploaded a few gems from the weekend. Here's the happy family.

Here are some snaps of the cutie in her christening gown. J.P. and Maureen made sure to dress in pink, too. Below is a picture of the main event at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Arlington. Alex and Margie (the Godparents) look on with Mo and J.P. as Ellie is baptized!

The family got together at J.P. and Maureen's before and after the christening to celebrate.

Ellie loves her Great Granddad.

Ellie enjoyed opening her gifts.

The balloon animals were a big hit. Uncle Buddy had a blast, as you can see.

Happy girl!

Danny and Michael

Good Times in Boulder

Luckily Emily and I had the same spring break this year, so we were able to go see Sara and Scott in Boulder. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing Pete Snowdon again! He and his girlfriend, Katie, live in Denver. It was so much fun to be together again. Apart from being a lawyer, Pete hasn't changed a bit. Here's a shot of the Arlington reunion. We just need Mindy and Julia and we'd be back in high school again!

I was also able to meet the light of Sara and Scott's lives...Millie and Aspen. It was nice to finally meet these gems in person.

This is a great shot of Em, Sag, and the kitties, of course.

Sara and Scott took us on a short drive for a beautiful view of the Flatirons. This is what the Holladays see everyday. Wow.

It actually snowed our last night in Boulder. This was nothing for these Coloradans, but my blood has gone south fast. Turns out I don't miss the snow as much as I thought I did. It's cold!!

Building the Garden

Meghan is in Colorado visiting Emily and Sara, so she asked that I take pictures as I put together the garden. This is my first time posting to the blog, so here goes nothing!

The planter box is in place. This was the easy part!

A trench was dug and the planter box is recessed into the ground.

The NC clay and grass are tilled. This was the hardest part!

Top soil is added on top.

The top soil and NC clay are tilled together. All done and ready to plant!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a great St. Patrick's Day dinner with Quinn, Kym, and R.C. Quinn gets cuter every time we see her.

Such a cute Irish lass!

My birthday was fantastic. I can't believe I'm 29. My students brought me flowers on Friday, so we have a small flower shop in our living room. It smells fabulous! Here are some shots Michael took of me opening my presents. I was definitely spoiled.

Love the clothes, Mom. I wish you could have been here to open these with me!

I love the sign! Thanks, Ellie!! It's perfect for our family room.

Here are some pictures from our first fire last weekend. We've been waiting to use this fire pit for months. More fun days to come with this puppy.
If you look closely you can seen a mini marshmallow on Michael's stick. It was a good effort.

Welcome Home, Quinn!

We had a great time in Orlando with Sally, John, Quinn, and Charlie this weekend. It was so nice to welcome Quinn home from Iraq after 13 months! Here is the sign John made (I'm impressed). Charlie and Quinn- back together again.
On Saturday we went bike riding on the West Orange Trail. The weather was beautiful. We make time for a swing break during the ride.


Michael had a little trouble with his bike.

He was off again in no time.

Izzy was also very glad to have everyone together.

Still trying to figure out how to write this blog...

I have started off very weak with this blog, I admit. I am going to try to do better. Downloading pictures has been a nightmare. I am hoping that when I see Sara and Emily next they can give me a tutorial. Aaaah!

Since our last post things have been busy. Dad came to visit for a weekend in January to see the house, which was a lot of fun. Mom came a few weeks later and delivered a bed and dresser for the guest room. Despite the fact that she and I were both sick all weekend, we had a great time.

This week we finally got a couch for our living room! Getting it into the house was quite an adventure. It involved me, two moving men, and a lot of frustration. Not only does the couch weight 250 pounds, but it is extra long because of the sleeper bed. It just couldn't make the sharp turn into the living room because of the wall in our foyer. So, we were forced to go the long way, through many small doorways and several rooms. Michael couldn't make it home from work in time, so he missed the fun. After over an hour, the movers ended up leaving the couch in the kitchen for Michael to finish the job. It was a mess! On Saturday morning Michael and a few friends were able to get the couch into the living room, after removing a door and moving some furniture around. I was impressed. It's nice to have somewhere to sit now:). Now we just have to paint a few places and sand the doorways to make up for the mess! Who knew that getting this couch into our house could be such a monstrous problem?? It is a little too reminiscent of our refrigerator woes.

It's a start!

Here we are today after church enjoying the paper and drinking coffee (clearly one of my favorite pastimes). We've been keeping up with the election, which has been a major topic of conversation lately. It's hard not to be energized with all that is going on in the world.