Girl's TRIP... to the USA!

So, it was our spring break and there was some family stuff going on, so Sadie Mac and I headed back to the good 'ol US of A! And one of the first places we hit up was KRISPY KREME!!! Best doughnuts EVER!! 

This is cousin Emmie and Sadie Mac... applying for jobs!

 Date day with NanNan at the park!!! It was a wonderful time!!

 

Had a blast with some our Ellerbe cousins at Chuck E Cheese!!!  (Silly faces!!)

Swinging with Poppie at the park!

Fun with Hope Mills cousins at grandmommie's house!

Her first drum set at grandmommie's house!!! (Sadly no pics WITH grandmommie!)

Top 10 Favorite Pics of 2011

So I started going through pictures the other day and looking at all that 2011 held for our family. So many changes, unexpected happenings, life turns... and it's fun to catch it on the camera. I wish I could post a Top 100 photos...

Most of these pics would not qualify as a "great picture", but for me... it's what's behind the picture. What was going on, and the treasured memory it holds. Not in any particular order... here are my top 10 favorite pics of 2011...

Stephen telling Sadie Mac about the cross (Albertville, France)

Noah starting to eat solid food... and making a mess (Boone, NC)

Fun family times at a 3D film (Atlanta, GA)
Planting a garden with my mom ("Our Yellow House", NC)
The Cascade Waterfalls with Grandma and Poppie (The Blue Ridge Pkwy)
Noah, catching some shade (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
My two treasures (my heart will always smile at this pic)... (Boone, NC)
Daddy and his princess at her 3rd birthday party... (Valle Crusis, NC)
An amazing sunrise (near Albertville, France)
God's amazing creation (France)

Saying Good Bye is Hard To Do...

As we start packing and getting ready to move back overseas... it comes with a roller coaster of emotions. There is a lot of excitement about moving to France, for sure! However, there are a lot of unknowns that come with moving to a new place too. A new culture, a(nother) new language, new friends, new schools, new everything... that can be hard. But before all the exciting "new-s" happens... there are a lot of hard good byes we have to say.
When we came back almost a year ago, Sadie Mac had never met her cousins... and she is quite fond of all of them now. The past two weekends have been rather hard as we have had to say "see you (in a few years)" to them. Sadie Mac and Noah both have bonded with them and WE LOVE them all so much. We love what we do, but it's hard at times too. This is one of those times. Thanks for a wonderful year of loving on us all!!!

Here are some pics of time with our New Bern cousins...





Last week, she spent the week with Grandma Jannie for some bonding and cousin time. Here are pics with the Ellerbe Girls... (Sorry, no pics with Kinnley... glad you were there for the fun though!! LOVE YOU!)

Sadie Mac... The Birthday Girl!

I shake my head in disbelief that I have a three year old daughter. It's crazy to me. Somehow... it just doesn't seem real. I told Stephen we no longer have a baby girl, but she really is growing up. (I know... that is what kids do!) We have real conversations now. Yes, they are 3 year old in context... but she responds with more than just a "no" and asks "how", "where", "when" and "why" questions... she amazes me.
To celebrate HER... we had a wonderful party celebrating her 3 years of life! Her first American Birthday with friends and family from far and near. We were so thankful for good weather as thunderstorms had been forecasted. Never would we have thought we would be here this long... but it was a blessing to be able to enjoy tastes of America for her birthday this year.
Family and friends from hours away came... even if it was only for an hour to give the birthday girl a hug. Everyone made the day very special for us. We know we'll be leaving for France soon... so each day and hour is a treasure. Here are some of our captured memories...



Cake. Dora & Diego. She loves them. I told her I couldn't find Diego things (several weeks prior) and she said, "But mom... you can make one." Her confidence challenged me and encouraged me. I had to make a special cake for her. And that... I did. I did a cupcake cake. Lots of cupcakes piled together with a scene on top... lots of work... but she deserves the best. ;-)

Dipping in the cool mountain water. Lots of fun and swimming. So thankful to my sister who was the "life guard" and official dipper of the kids to the water!

Stephen made her a pinata... packed with candy, whistles, jewelry, and bouncy balls!


Tea Party... for the birthday princess and cousin princesses after the birthday party! (Tea Parties are a daily occurrence at our house!)


Sadie Mac had her first hair cut on her 3rd birthday. Thank you Aunt Dot for giving it to her!

Hot 'Lanta!!!

We headed down to Atlanta to work on getting our visas for France. We live in the mountains of NC where the weather is what you'd call "really nice"... not too hot, not too cold... "just right" as Goldie Locks would say. Well, we learned they don't call Atlanta, "HOT 'Lanta" for nothing!! It was quite warm while we were there. Our hotel was right near Centennial Park so we enjoyed seeing that area. They even had a couple of little tot lot parks right around there so Sadie Mac had a ball!



Since it's a good little drive, we thought we'd enjoy at least one tourist stop, so we went to the World of Coca Cola!! We all had a great time and even enjoyed seeing the BIG Polar Bear and got a pic with him. Noah wasn't that impressed as he slept through the meeting! We also got to see a 4-D movie and Sadie Mac LOVED it! She enjoyed meeting a statue of the Coke Man too! Thankful for a fun little family adventure before we head back overseas!!

Our Week With Grandma... by Sadie Mac & Noah

Last week our grandma came to visit us. She says it is hot and dry where she lives so she needed a break from the heat and dryness... and from all the chores our Poppie makes her do. So, we invited her to stay with us for a little while. We are sure glad she came to stay as we had lots of fun. She is really good at taking pics and takes lots of them so we can all remember the fun things we have done while we're in America.
One of my favorite things was dressing up in fancy clothes and having tea parties... we did this a lot!! Grandma is a really pretty princess and I love it when she wears funny crowns on her head. One day we even had a tea party on our porch. The weather was very nice the week she was here... hot some days, but not like down in the sandhills!



Grandma teaches school so she is really good at reading. She loves to read to me and Noah. Here is a book she was reading to Noah one day... He likes to be with her.


Sometimes we went out to eat too!


Noah's favorite thing to do with Grandma was snuggle... and I think that was probably one of her favorite things to do with Noah too...


As you can see... more snuggling


Grandma grows her own vegetables in her garden, so she was teaching me to grow my own garden. We planted tomatoes together!!!


This is when mom got caught up in my tent and tunnel...


Then chased me around our yard!!!!


And after all that fun... this is all we have to say...


Thank you Grandma for coming to stay a week with us. We love you so much and were so glad you came to visit...

Love,
Sadie Mac and Noah

Celebrating 5 Years...

On June 23, Stephen and I CELEBRATED the blessing of marriage and how thankful we are that God has placed us together. I can't believe it's been 5 years... and a wonderful 5 years it has been!



We were at the beach with my family and so were blessed to have babysitters so we could enjoy our time out with just each other. A quiet night, I guess you could say! He planned a special dinner for us at a neat little restaurant near where we were... then surprised me by taking me back to the place on the beach where he asked me to be his bride... and I said "YES"... all over again!



The rest of our time was wonderful as well... we enjoyed time with my brother and his family and one of my sisters. We all got lots of sun and of course napped... here are my two little blessings as beach bums!!!


Family pic... with Avee!