Celebrating 8 Years of Marriage Today!

Eight years ago today, I married my better half.  It was such an amazing night spent with family and friends and I hate that it seemed to go by in the blink of an eye--very much like these last eight years.  Kevin and I have been together for 13 years now.  We have so many wonderful memories.  The last few weeks we have been working on a very special project that is taking us both on a trip down memory lane.  We spent the evening a few days ago going through old pictures that were taken all throughout our relationship.  I thought that today is the perfect day to share a few of those in celebration of our wedding anniversary.  Kevin was nice enough to stay up late last night scanning all of these pictures onto my laptop for me--thanks, babe!  

 Fun at a Grizzlies game

 On vacation in Destin

 New Year's Eve 2001

 On a trip to see our friends in Knoxville

 Down in Gulf Shores for a friend's wedding

Groomsman and bridesmaid in our friends Paul and Jenny's wedding in 2003

The night Kevin proposed--December 22, 2003.  He did it in front of quite a few of our friends!  I was speechless.

One of our engagement photos taken at Shelby Farms

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Daniel--October 9, 2004 at Carahills Estate

This was our first photo Christmas card that we ever sent out as a family in 2004.  Look how little Patton is!

Celebrating our first New Year's Eve as a married couple

And the day our lives changed forever for the better and our family grew by one.  In the hospital for the birth of Ava Reese--March 5, 2007.

Kevin, I thank you for the constant love, support, and commitment that you show me.  I am grateful for the hard work that you put in so that I can stay home and spend more time with Ava.  I love you for making me laugh and for taking care of me.  I am constantly in awe of the amazing father that you are to Ava and I make sure to tell you often how proud I am of the example you set for her.  You tell me often that one of your biggest goals in life is to make me happy.  I just want you to know that you do that just by being you every day.  Here's to eight years and hopefully many, many more.  

I love you and I am so blessed that you were part of God's plan for me!

Our Crazy, Busy Weekend

My favorite season is fall.  The weather is great and there is just always so much fun stuff going on and excitement for the upcoming holidays.  It has quickly become apparent that October is going to be one of the busiest months of the year for us but we would not have it any other way.  :)  This Friday night, our nieces came over to spend the night with Ava.  Kevin and I took the girls out to dinner at Swanky's where we dined al fresco.  

Then we took them roller skating.  Kevin and I had not skated in years and Ava had never skated so it was interesting to say the least.  I was proud of Kevin and myself because neither of us fell even once. 

Ava quickly told us, "This is harder than I thought it would be."  We spent much of the time pulling her up as she fell all over the rink.

Kevin and I kept trying to give her pointers and teach her some technique but Ava is very independent and insisted that she knew what she was doing.  She had fun for awhile and then after a particular rough fall, she decided that she had had enough.  She had just as much fun running around on the side of the rink in her socks than she did actually skating.

Ava and Leah

After the girls were tired of skating, we had a little air hockey competition.  Kevin and I are extremely competitive with each other and we had a fierce air hockey battle that easily lasted 10-15 minutes.  I won. :)

When we got home from the skating rink, it was time for pj's, Good Luck Charlie, and s'mores!  Yum!

That was brilliant of us to sugar them up right before bed, wasn't it?!  The girls ended up staying awake most of the night.  They were quiet though and not getting much sleep is the sign of a good sleepover, I think.  We were up early the next morning for Ava's soccer game.  It was chilly but such a beautiful morning.  Her team won 6-1.  She and her teammates really play well together and they have won all but one game. 

After the game, my mom, Ava, myself, and my friend, Meme, went to check out Mistletoe Merchants.  I had never been before and they had some good stuff but it was sooo crowded!  I absolutely hate shopping in large crowds so it was not exactly my cup of tea but we had a good time.  Ava and Meme had fun trying on some really fancy headbands.

When we got back from shopping, Kevin and I took Ava to my in-laws and then had a date night.  We went to the movie theater to see Taken 2 and then had a delicious dinner at Bonefish.  

This morning after church, Kevin, Ava, and I took Meme out to lunch to celebrate her birthday.  We had yet another delicious meal at J Alexander's and a great time hanging out.  

Our plan is to spend the rest of the evening relaxing after our busy weekend.  Ava is on Fall Break so we don't have to do any of our usual Sunday afternoon lunch menu & clothing prep for this next week which is so nice.  Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!