Family Christmas Date--- Asheville, NC 2010

Being that Claire is an only child and grand child, she is really blessed with gifts at Christmas time. We thought it would be fun to have a Family Christmas Date rather than spend money on toys that she doesn't need. Not to mention we have been in North Carolina for almost 8 months now and still have not seen the sights, so we wanted to check out Asheville, NC before we left.

Asheville is about 2 hours north of Charlotte and is a charming little mountain town. Apparently everyone there is really health conscious as there are health food stores and restaurants everywhere! We were so jealous. In a town of 70,000 people there are like 4 health food supermarkets!

The first day we took Claire on the Rocky Mountain Railroad "Polar Express" tour, for a trip to the North Pole. Claire absolutely LOVES trains so we knew this would be her favorite part of the trip.















The next day we went to the Biltmore Estate which is a huge castle that George Vanderbilt built in the 1800's. We heard that it was amazing to see at Christmas time, with lots of stuff to do. Claire wasn't too crazy about the tour of the house, but she had a blast at the barn and petting zoo. Mommy had a blast at the Winery Tasting and Tour :)








Now off to our next adventure in Florida. Can't wait to post pictures of the beach and Disney World this coming year!

Claire putting on Mommy's makeup :)

Fall in Charlotte

We recently returned from a 4 week stay in Dallas so that I could finish up boards. We were eagerly awaiting our return back to Charlotte because we have heard how amazing the Fall weather is. So far we have not been disappointed! The weather is perfection and the leaves/trees are gorgeous. We are really going to miss this place, but at the same time looking forward to our new adventure in Naples, FL!

Happy Holidays!!!

Christmas Card pictures----check! Wanted to make sure I got these sent and out of the way early this year. Isn't she adorable? :)

Claire Bear Updates

Claire Updates:
She is a talking machine! Every day I am amazed by her vocabulary and even more so by her sweet little personality. She has been talking in complete sentences for awhile now and is just so smart :) She is constantly showered with complements on what a sweet, polite and well behaved little girl she is. I wish we could take all the credit but I think God just gave us a really good egg. She is the most polite little thing I have ever seen... every other word is please, thank you, I'm sorry, no thanks, and yes mam. Right now she loves playing with her babies, painting and drawing. She also likes to pretend she is my mommy!!! It usually goes something like this...

Claire: Mommy, you sad?? What's wrong mommy?? You have boo boo?
Don't worry mommy, I make it better. All better mommy. Don't cry, it's alright. I love you mommy. You take a nap, ok?

So stinkin cute!

The other day she was leaving with Mark to go somewhere and I was staying behind.

Claire: Don't worry Mommy, I come back. Don't be sad mommy. I love you.

She has also mastered the potty. It took 3 days of accidents but now she is a pro. She does have the occasional accident at night time and is deathly afraid of her poopy! But other than that, she has done so good with it. I have to give Mark all the credit for this too. He did a great job with her. So proud of them both!

Below are some recent pics :)

More Pictures For Nanny!

Claire

These pictures are for you Nanny! We love you and miss you!

Happy Anniversary

"When your spouse's emotional love tank is full and he feels secure in your love, the whole world looks right and your spouse will move out to reach his highest potential in life. But when the love tank is empty and he feels used but not loved, the whole world looks dark and he will likely never reach his potential for good in the world."

I am so blessed to say that not a day goes by that my love tank is not completely full. Thank you Mark for loving me, and helping me to reach my highest potential. Not a day or night goes by that I don't thank God for bringing you to me.

A few weeks ago I was driving and heard a song on the radio. I had to pull the car over because I couldn't stop crying. Every word of every line of this makes me think of you. You make me stronger and better. God truly did give me you. Happy Anniversary, I love you.

I’ve been a walking heartache
I’ve made a mess of me
The person that I’ve been lately
Ain’t who I wanna be

But you stay here right beside me
Watch as the storm goes through
And I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you

There’s more here than what were seeing
A divine conspiracy
That you, an angel lovely
Could somehow fall for me
You’ll always be love’s great martyr
Ill be the flattered fool
and I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you

On my own I’m only
Half of what I could be
I can’t do without you
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I pray we never undo

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you, gave me you.
Gave me you.

Sleepy Girl

I think the pictures speak for themselves. Notice her shoes were on the wrong feet. She is obsessed with these shoes and wears them day and night, crazy kid :)

Mexico

Mark and I had an amazing time in Mexico! I'm convinced now that we need a little getaway once year, every year. What a difference it makes...we feel totally rejuvinated and ready to tackle our new life in Charlotte, NC for the next year.

We decided to go back to the same resort we went to on our belated honeymoon last year...Dreams Puerto Aventuras. We even somehow managed to get upgraded for free to an ocean view again.



The first night we arrived they were having Dreams American Idol. They had a full band and tons of rock songs to choose from...so after a few pina coladas, we both decided to sing some songs. I ended up winning the first place prize... a free 3 night trip back to the resort, and Mark actually won 3rd place...a bottle of rum!! Great way to start the trip :)







The trip was just what we needed, and we feel so blessed we were able to go back!

Graduation Day

The light, the silver lining...whatever you want to call it. It's here! I did it! I'm so thankful for everyone that helped me along the way. I give all the glory to God and can't wait to see what He has in store for us in this next chapter of our lives. Here are a few of my favorite pics.