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! 

I'm a Soccer Mom!

So, I've recently become a soccer mom.  It seems so suburban.  However, I still don't plan to ever drive a minivan. ;)  Ava decided that she wanted to play soccer for the first time this fall.  We have been practicing for the last two months or so and she loves it!  There are six kids on her team, four boys and two girls.  One of the little boys is also in her class at school and they have become fast friends.  A couple of weekends ago, she had her first game.  

Warming up and so excited for her first game!

I love the looks of concentration she gets.

And then the whistle blew and it was time to play!  Kevin and I are pleasantly surprised that Ava is pretty aggressive when it comes to playing.  She definitely does not shy away from getting right into the middle of things.

 Her coaches have been great!  They both really seem to enjoy working with the kids and are super encouraging and give out tons of positive reinforcement.  There are lots of high fives going on amongst her team!

Ava started the game so after the first period she was able to come over to the sidelines for some water and snuggles from her Nonie.  Our family is such a great support system for Ava.  My grandparents have been to just about every practice and game and my mom and Kevin's parents make sure they are at all of her games too.  This past weekend, Ava was so excited because her Uncle Doug and Aunt Steph came to watch her play!

Cheering on her teammates

During each game, Ava also gets a chance to play goalie for one period.  She did a great job--nothing got past her!

Unfortunately, we lost the first game but I believe we have won all the others since.  The kids congratulated each other on a great game.

 Time to relax now and enjoy their after-game snack!

We are all really enjoying watching Ava play and soccer is a great way to get exercise.  All of the other activities Ava participates in are not team oriented so this has been a great learning experience all the way around.  I think she will want to continue with soccer after this season.  So now dance, gymnastics, soccer and she just decided the other day at the Bartlett Celebration that she may want to try karate!  There are just not enough hours in the day to fit in all the fun!  

Our Little Flower Girl--The Sequel

Back in December, Ava was the flower girl in my cousin, Brent, and my new cousin, Jessica's, wedding.  Didn't she look pretty?!

Well, it turns out that my cousin, Lindsey, had just recently gotten engaged to her boyfriend, Matt.  My new cousin, Jess, has a twin sister, Becca.  Becca is Lindsey's best friend.  You got all that? :)  Becca mentioned to Lindsey that Ava had done a fabulous job as a flower girl.  So, Lindsey asked Ava if she would like to be the flower girl for her wedding as well.  Ava was so excited!  When I was little, I absolutely hated being the center of attention but Ava is the opposite.  She always loves hanging out with her older "big girl" cousins--Lindsey and her three sisters:  Allie, Courtney, and Jordan.  

Lindsey let Ava pick out her own dress.  Kevin, Ava, and I spent a fun afternoon at David's Bridal trying on beautiful flower girl gowns.  We found quite a few that we liked.  The one Ava liked the best was, of course, the most expensive.  But all she had to do was bat her big, blue eyes at her Daddy and do some cute twirls in the poofy dress as she wrapped him around her finger. ;)  

We had fun going to wedding showers and before we knew it, the big weekend had arrived.  The day before the wedding, Ava went with the bridal party to get her nails done.  She had her own special pink butterfly pedicure chair.

One of the wedding colors was purple, so she got purple polish.

Visiting with Jordan as their nails dry

That night, we went to the rehearsal.  Ava got to hold the practice "bouquet".

The day of the wedding arrived and Ava was able to spend some time playing with the toys in the bridal room.  

All dressed up and almost go time!  This is the dress she picked out.  She picked it due to the exceptional twirling quality.  

Our girl looked like a little princess.

The wedding was beautiful and Ava did a great job posing for pictures afterward.  Here she is with bride and groom.
Two beautiful ladies!

After all of Ava's official wedding duties were over, it was time to go have fun at the reception.

The first dance of the bride and her father, my uncle David.  She is the first of the four girls to get married and I know this was a special, emotional moment.

Kevin and I had fun dancing with Ava. Our child is a huge ball of energy.  

As my uncle emotionally told Kevin that night, "Enjoy every moment, because in the blink of an eye, this will be you."  So, so true.  It seems like Ava was just born and time just moves so quickly.  Here is one daddy who loves to spend time with his baby girl.  

Two peas in a pod.  

And one blessed mommy.

2012 Small Fry Tri

Last weekend, Ava competed in her very first triathlon!  She competed in the 5 year old heat.  The race started with a run, then a bike ride, and ended with a "swim"--actually a run through a fancy sprinkler setup.  It was a rainy morning but that didn't stop lots of families from coming out to take part in the fun.  Ava was allowed to have a "trainer" accompany her during the race so Kevin decided to assist her.  She did a great job during the run portion and left Kevin in the dust.  He caught up to her on the bike ride and jogged along with her encouraging her all the way.  My mom and I were on the sidelines and I was able to snap a quick picture as they zoomed by.

After they passed, mom and I kept watching for Ava to appear in the sprinklers.  When she didn't, we started wondering what happened.  We spotted her walking along and Kevin pushing her bike.  We couldn't figure out what had gone wrong but Ava finished strong through the sprinklers!

When we caught up with her and Kevin, they told us that the rain had made the asphalt slick and Ava tried to take a turn a little too fast on her bike and fell.  That is what slowed her down.  But our tough girl got up, shook it off, and finished her race--bloody knee, elbow, and all!  I took a picture of her "war wounds", as we called them.

We wrapped her up in a warm towel and some face painting is just what she needed to distract her from her injuries.

Pretty rainbow on a rainy day!

She also had fun in the moon bounce.

Ava had fun visiting with her friend, Ryan.  Aren't they the cutest little triathletes!

Time for the medal presentation.  These are the kids from Ava's age group.

So proud of our girl!

Close up of her medal.  Kevin told her to bite it for the pic like the Olympians do but she wasn't really down with that. :)

This was such a fun way to promote fitness and a healthy lifestyle.  We will definitely take part again next year.  Hopefully, without any injuries!