Beach Vacation Part 1

I am so blessed... I just got to spend the last 8 days at the beach. Last Friday, I headed down to the beach for a weekend with sister and the other bridesmaids and some of her friends to celebrate. We made it to the beach and first stop... Sea n Suds for lunch. The beaches were so beautiful and calling our name.

Keri all dressed in her special veil that her friends brought her. They made her wear this (I will let you imagine what the back looks like) as we went out that night.

Here are a few of the girls in a yucky place that I didn't dare even visit the restroom because I was so scared of the germs.

Here is a picture of all the bridesmaids before heading to dinner.

Me and sister (so sad she couldn't stay for the rest of the week with us)

We stopped by the Wharf before dinner and visited a few shops to work up an appetite. I just didn't take as many pictures as I planned too, but it was a fun weekend celebrating sisters wedding, which is very soon!!

Beach Vacation Part 2

And then on Sunday the fam swung by and picked up Matt and headed down to the beach. It was super hot and dry this week. We had perfect weather. We layed by the pool, sat under the umbrella on the beach, and ate lots of seafood. Matt even got to try on some shoes, but they didn't have his size.

We took Harley out to the beach for a walk... poor guy is getting old... I think we walked too far for him. Matt had to take a nap this day, because I made him get up early and go to the outlets. I think we went in almost every shopt there.. I didn't want to miss out on any good deals.

Look at this family photo, minus sister and soon to be brother-in-law. I set the camera up on one of the wooden beach chairs that are out on the beach. By the way, all this oil madness is a joke.. the beaches were gorgeous without a trace of oil.

We took a few beach photos before heading to dinner. There were double red flags, warning people not to get in the water, but that didn't stop us..we are such rule breakers, aren't we?!

After dinner one night we stopped by The Hangout and did a little hanging out. Of course we cannot go anywhere, even Gulf Shores, without Matt running into a student or football player and sure enough he saw one of his players there. See that yellow hard hat.. don't be jealous... as we were walking across the street from one of those cheesy souvenir shops I found this in the middle of the road. Lucky me, I know! Then Matt said.. what if it had lice in it.. I quickly gave it to mom. Fun week at the beach!!

Grab An Umbrella

We have been showering it up around here lately for sister. Keri is getting married very soon, so we have been celebrating a lot. Friday night I helped host a lingerie shower with some of Keri's sweet friends. We had a good time with all the festivities!

Mom came for the shin dig too.. it was a good opportunity for us to make Keri blush for a bit.

Look at the spread. We had some good lookin food and some fabulous cupcakes that Christie brought.

Me and sister before presents.

Sorry you can't really see any of these pictures.... these are top secret.

And Sunday was Keri's tea in Birmingham. Look how pretty they decorated the table. I love the flowers they did.
Me and sister. Now, I didn't realize I was going to match the decor at this tea.. but if they had needed to use me as a table decoration, I guess I would have done it. Doesn't Keri look pretty?! I love her dress!

My sweet aunt Susan came in from SC for the weekend. It was fun having her here and seeing lots of old friends and helping sister celebrate her big day. I have been feeling like the paparazzi lately as I have been the picture taker for lots of recent events.

In The Middle Of Nowhere

Last Sunday we headed out into the middle of nowhere for a good ole family reunion. We had one last stop before we headed on this last road into nowhere and just to give you a picture of this gas station in your mind, the restroom had a paper on the back of the door that said it hadn't been cleaned since May 2008. Here we are with some of the fam, minus a few who couldn't be there. This was with my papa's side of the family so each of the brothers and sisters had to get in front of this " backdrop" (if that's what you want to call it) and take a family photo. Now if you want to get one of these backdrops at your house here is what you do... take the plastic tablecloth off the table and tape it to the wall. And make sure it's crooked too, makes for a great shot.

The parentals...aren't they presh??

Here are the girls with mema. This was in the "community center." At least it had air condition.

Here is sister and me with Papa. We can't get him to smile often, so this is a framer.

Matt and Steven are such good husbands and husbands-to-be and they came along for some good ole family fun. Nothing like telling old war stories and having to stop and turn your hearing aid up half way through. Gotta love the fam!

Don't Have A Cow

If you are as big of a fan of Chick-Fil-A as we are, then I hope you took advantage this past Friday. What was Friday you might ask? Well, it was Cow Appreciation Day, meaning if you came into Chick-Fil-A dressed like a cow then you received a free combo meal. Hot Dog!! Did you think I would pass up this offer of free food? No Way! I worked hard on Thursday to get our outfits ready and here is the product of my hard work.... Try to imagine a "happy face" on Matt as we are driving to the Chick-Fil-A. When he came home from practice Thursday I was so excited to show him our outfits and well, we will just say his expression was a little less than I expected... but it didn't ruin the mood for me.

Mom was working from home Friday so she decided to meet us and get some free chicken too. She went all out with her singing cow and tail.

And here we are... the cow couple. I will admit that many people were staring at us on the interstate. Let me set the scene for you.... we pull up to Chick-Fil-A and we see NO ONE else dressed as a cow... then matt starts to doubt me and says maybe I got the date wrong. How bad would that be?? He tells me to go inside by myself and see... what?! Yeah like I am going in by myself to see if it's cow day.

We all 3 got the courage to go in and sure enough it was the day. And the employees were so excited to see us. They took our picture, applauded for us.. the whole works.. obviously we were the best they had seen that day. Makes me proud.

Here we are enjoying the fruits of our labor. Man that chicken was gooood too. The manager came out with the big Chick-Fil-A cow and asked to take our picture with him. I feel like a celebrity on a farm.

Isn't this a cute family photo?? If you need to borrow this outfit for Halloween one year, just let me know.

Harley even got to join in on the fun. Poor guy was a little freaked out with the cow nose I was wearing.

And here's Matt after the event was over... actually this was after the SECOND Chick-Fil-A that I made us stop at. I wanted to have Chick-Fil-A for dinner too. Why not?? It's free. He didn't waste any time ripping those cow spots off once we were back in the car. He was such a good sport!!

6 Years!

Today is our anniversary.. 6 years ago we tied the knot! Fun times!! Here are a few flashbacks for you--even though it isn't Friday. Here we are on our wedding day leaving the church. It was a hot and steamy day in July but we propped ourselves up on this convertible regardless. I said--Matt hold on to your toupee or it will fly off-just kidding!

This was when we first met. Matt was on beach project with Campus Outreach and my family went down to Panama City Beach to see him. Isn't that sweet? Here we are several several pounds lighter and much younger.

Remember how I once told you that Matt had A LOT of hair when we first met... well, here you go. I dug up this old picture from the can buried out back and this was a few days after we started hanging out. Look at that hair?! Isn't it something? We actually had some fun times with that hair before he cut it. We (me, matt, sister) would gel it up, pull it back, all kinds of fun.

But in all seriousness, the best part about being married to Matt is that it gets more and more fun every day. We have an absolute blast together!! He is my best friend and I cannot imagine spending every day with anyone else. He is truly a man of God that treats me far better than I could ever imagine being treated. I am blessed! I mean this guy puts the toothpaste on my toothbrush every single morning, fixes my lunch, my breakfast, and does more chores around the house than a live in maid would. God has blessed us far more than we could ever have imagine. 6 years has held some good, bad, sad, and happy times, but we would never be here today without the Lord the center of our marriage. Happy 6th Anniversary Matt-I love you to the moon and back!

Happy 4th Of July

We spent the last 4 days at the lake celebrating the 4th of July. Since you haven't had enough lake pictures lately, here are some pics from the last few days. Saturday the Crockers came to play on the water. The boys had fun playing in the lake and enjoying the sun. Nathan even attempted to wakeboard.

We went to the Marina to feed the fish... but they weren't coming to the top because it was so hot. The best part of that boat ride was when Asher said he had to go potty and asked where the nearest restroom was... well, I will leave the rest to your imagination...

Saturday night the fam loaded up in the boat and headed down the lake for a fireworks show. There were probably 100 or more boats all pulled together to watch the show. We got there a little early so we had to entertain ourselves by taking pictures.

And Sunday the Warrens came to play. We did a little skiing, wakeboarding and wave runner riding. Drew even learned how to ski--woohoo!! Please look at the top right picture... that's dad skiing... he has taken a break from skiing for many years and always pulled everyone else... but he asked matt to drive the boat and decided to put on the ole skis after many years. He did awesome!!! We had a fun weekend in the sun. I realize this summer is winding down quickly (think happy thoughts).... so I am trying to enjoy every minute of it!