Wow, it has been too long...

I know that it has been ages but things have been nuts around here between work and getting ready for Thanksgiving. I hope that all of you had as good of a Thanksgiving as I had. I was able to spend lots of time with the family especially the little ones. I had a training in Atlanta the week before Thanksgiving so it was nice to be that much closer to the family for the extra week. I took turns staying at every one's house so that I could spend quality time with them. I stayed with Sheryl the first night and we baked a cake for her cake decorating class that she is taking. She is amazing and has only had like 4 classes, imagine when she finishes the course!

I got out of the training a little early one day so I went and picked Haley up from daycare so that we could go shopping before Mom and Dad came home. Haley takes after her Mom, Aunts and Grandma...that girl loves to shop.

I was also able to get to spend some time with Wes and the rest of the Roberts family. Wow, Wes has grown up so fast. Talking to him is like talking to an adult. He is so smart and funny. We had a blast playing and talking about what he learning in school.

Jim and I went to see New Moon opening night and I was in awe! Such a good movie that I had to run and buy the books because I couldn't wait any longer to see what happened. The only problem was that I hadn't read the first two so I had to start there since I am a sequential person. So I am about a 1/3 of the way through the first one... a little slow but I will get there... hopefully before the 3rd movie comes out!

Once Mom got back in town we were able to spend some quality time together too. She, Jim and I went to see the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular at the Fabulous Fox theatre in Atlanta on Sunday night and had a great time! It was an amazing performance!

The week of Thanksgiving was spent getting ready for the big day and putting up Mom's Christmas tree. Joanne did an amazing job decorating the tree. She is so talented with that stuff!

Thanksgiving day was crazy as usual but we had a great time catching up with family that we don't get to see too often. Gary, Mandy, Macy & Makayla flew into the Gainesville airport to enjoy their 1st Thanksgiving. I cannot believe how fast they are growing up. They are so adorable and have great personalities. Their smiles will melt your heart!

Of course we also took part in the Annual Black Friday Shopping Trip. This year we mapped everything out the night before and decided where we were going, what we were getting at which stores and what time we would be there. It worked perfectly and we were able to get everything that we had set out to get! A very successful day for all of us. After our 10 hour shopping adventure, we met Jim, Gary, Mandy, Macy, Makayla, Whit, Clayton, and Haley for lunch at Chili's. Then we headed back to Mom and Jim's house to relax before we hit the Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier Islands. Whit and I rode in the car with Haley, Sabrina and Clayton. We were so glad to be there to experience Haley as she was amazed at the lights. She kept saying "Look Miss"! It was adorable and I was eating up every second of that! She is so stinking cute!

I am looking forward to Christmas and spending more time with the family again. It is so fun to have children around during the Holidays! Hopefully one day, we will have some of our own to enjoy!

Labor Day Weekend

Okay, so I have been very slack about posting. We have been crazy lately as I am sure all of you have been too. Life never seems to slow down, it just keeps going faster and faster! I can't believe that the twins are 1 month old, Haley is about to turn two, Wes and Reganne started Pre-k, and Riley and Connor just had their second birthdays.

Whit and I were supposed to head to Atlanta for Labor Day Weekend, but as many of you know, he was sick. He is doing better now after returning to the doctor for the second time on Monday. I think that the second round of antibiotics finally helped to get rid of the fluid in his lungs and to started to make him feel better. So needless to say, since he was sick he didn't go with me to Atlanta. I felt bad leaving him at home alone while he was sick but my grandmother and grandfather were in town for the holiday weekend so I had to. Whit assured me that he was going to be fine. So I headed Northwest to Atlanta for the extra long weekend due to the furlough day. I headed up Friday after work and picked up Gary along the way. He flew the new helicopter to Cumming, GA of all places to have it re-finished. We then went to Mom's house for the night. He had to drive back to Charlotte the next day so I enjoyed time with Ma & John and the rest of the family including Haley. She is getting soooo big. We bonded watching the Appalachian State football game. Later on that evening, I hitched a ride with Gary's Co-Pilot, Todd to Charlotte. I went there for the night to see the twins who I hadn't seen since they were born. I met Gary, Mandy, Macy and Makayla for dinner and enjoyed feeding and snuggling with the sweet little girls. We hung out Sunday and enjoyed some bonding time then Gary and I headed back to Atlanta on Greg Biffle's jet. Gary had to fly the jet to Atlanta to pick Greg up after the race so I hitched a ride back with him. When we arrived at the airport, Sabrina, Clayton and Haley were all there to welcome us. Haley was beside herself when she saw the airplane. She has a fascination with airplanes, helicopters, etc. It is hilarious to watch her when she sees one flying in the sky.

After leaving the airport, we headed back to Mom's house to hang out with Ma & John before they took off on Monday morning. We enjoyed wine on the back deck while solving all of the world's problems. It was so nice to see Ma & John again and to catch up on what has been going on with them now that Ma is retired. They are becoming quite the little travelers these days!

Monday and Tuesday were spent hanging out with the Sheryl, Sabrina, Clayton, Haley, Mom and Jim. Ryan had to work so I didn't really get to see him except for a minute here and there. I will definitely have to spend more time with him next time. Tuesday afternoon, Mom and I picked Haley up from school and took her shopping. She was a little skeptical at first when we pulled up to her school in her mom's car and her mom wasn't there. Nonetheless, she still had a great time.

Once all of the fun had been had, it was time for me to drive the long road of Highway 16 back to Savannah. Since I have been home, things at work and home have been crazy. We are gearing up for our annual Halloween party so we are trying to clean the house, garage, etc so that people aren't grossed out when they come. With Whit being sick, things had to be delayed a little but we still have some time before it has to be done.

Whit and I are heading to the mountains for our 5 year anniversary on October 2nd and on the way, we are going to stop and spend some time with his family. I can't wait to see our nephew Wes. He is getting so big! He is playing soccer now and is going to start taking Tae-kwon-do lessons from Mr. Murphy, one of or best friends. I know that this sport will suit Wes well. He loves all of the Ninja moves and everything boy! He is so handsome and adorable!

Whit and I miss all of our nieces and nephews so much. It stinks being so far away from everyone but the pictures keep us going. We look forward to new pictures soon, Hint, Hint!!!!

The twins are here!!

Macy Faith and Makayla Grace have arrived!!!! Our Proud Dad announced the healthy delivery of both babies and the status of mom a little after 10:00 pm. Macy weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces and Makayla weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces. The new family is doing great although Mom and Dad seem worn out so we left for the night to allow them to get some rest. We will head back to the hospital in the morning to cuddle with our new additions to the family! It is amazing how much they look alike already! They are sweet little gifts from God! Thank you God for the safe delivery of the babies and strength given to Mandy!

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of the twins...

Today is the big day!!!! Macy & Makayla are scheduled to make their appearance today. I am sitting in the waiting room along with the rest of the family, waiting to meet my new nieces. As of now, Mandy has been given the epidural and is dilated 5 centimeters. She is trying to get some rest as she patiently waits to see her little girls. As we learn more information, I will pass it along.

The end to a fun and eventful summer...

I am sad to say summer has officially come to an end for me. I started back to work Monday and hit the ground running with meetings and trainings all week. This is a much different pace that I am used to since I spent my summer getting up when I wanted to with no agenda for the day. I spent much of my time at the beach being serenaded by none other than Jimmy Buffett. When I wasn't soaking up sun, I was visiting family and friends. The summer started with the most amazing vacation ever thanks to my adventurous sister, Sheryl. She and her new husband, Ryan, decided to get married on the beautiful island of Maui on a cliff overlooking the crystal clear water. It was the most beautiful place on earth! While we were there, not only did we enjoy the wedding, but we also took some time to hike on the road to Hana, watch the sunrise on Haleakala, learn to surf, hula dance and snorkel the reefs. The pictures don't do any justice to the beautiful scenery there. We took one day and island hopped to Oahu to pay our respects at Pearl Harbor. This was a very eerie and sad memorial. You can still see oil where the USS Arizona remains today. To lighten things up a little bit, we decided to hit Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville at Waikiki Beach. I was able to check off the Maragaritaville in Honolulu on my list of places to visit. For those of you that don't know me very well, Whit and I are huge Parrot Heads! One of my goals is to visit every Margaritaville that there is. I am only 1/3 of the way there. I have been to most of them in the U.S., but now it's time to venture to the Caribbean to visit the more exotic locations. I am anxious for those trips. Anyways, after our day adventure to Oahu, it was time to head back to Maui for one last night of fun before reality struck.

Once we got home and back into the swing of things, my mom came down and helped me spring clean my house. We went through all of the cabinets, drawers, closets, etc to organize and de-junk. We gathered a few boxes of stuff for the neighborhood yard sale and other things which we donated to Good Will. What a relief to have all of that done and my mom to help. Thanks Mom! After cleaning my house, I offered to help my brother and sister-in-law, Gary and Mandy, to prepare the house for the arrival of their twin girls, Macy & Makayla. I really enjoyed helping prepare the twins' nursery for their arrival in August.

The week before the 4th of July, I went to Disney World with Whit's family, Dennis, Suzanne, Beth and Wes. I was so excited to be able to see Wes and Beth enjoy Disney World for the first time. We all had a great time! Wes even rode the Tower of Terror! Of course we visited Margaritaville while we were in Orlando. I can't go to a city that has a Margaritaville without stopping to enjoy a cheesburger in paradise.

After that, my mom, dad, aunt and uncle, Art & Linda from St. Louis, came to visit Savannah! While they were here, we rode bikes around Cumberland Island. It was a neat place but I would definitely recommend that you wait until a cooler month to visit rather than in the heat of the summer! I am so glad that they finally had a chance to see the beautiful city of Savannah!

To end the summer with a bang, Whit and I went to Ft. Walton beach to spend time with Whit's extended family. It was great to be able to spend some quality time catching up with everyone. Whit's grandmother was so kind to rent the condos for the family. We spent our days relaxing on the beach and sipping drinks while we watched the sun set over the beautiful Gulf Coast! Whit and I joined some of the cousins at the local dueling piano bar. It has become a tradition for the family beach trips. Of course you can't go to the beach with out playing putt-putt. Whit has been itching to go to the Flora-Bama bar for a few years now so he, his cousin Reese, and I took an afternoon to drive to the Florida-Alabama border to see what the hype was all about. It was more of a hole in the wall than we thought. Regardless, it was great! We had burgers and beer and of course Whit had to pick up a coozie as he does everywhere we go! One last stop on our way back home was to Panama City, Fl to visit none other than Margaritaville!

Not by coincidence, my summer seems to have a common theme... Jimmy Buffett's MARGARITAVILLE!