Happy Birthday Ty & Marley

Yesterday was Marley's 3rd birthday (Ty's 5th birthday is today) and we had a party for her & Ty, with our families & some close friends. It was so much fun! Ty had a Jedi Training Academy in his bedroom with all of his friends and Marley had a Princess Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in her bedroom. Thank you to all of our families & friends for making this day so special for us! We love you all!

Like I do every year, I start to reflect on our kids...how much they have grown, how much they are learning, and how much I love them. They bring so much joy & happiness to my life (stress also, I will be honest) and I am so thankful for these little guys! This is definitely the part of my life that I have always been waiting for and will always remember. My grandmother was right, this is one of the best parts of life, soak it all up!

Let the Celebrations begin!

Josh's birthday today, Marley on Saturday, Ty on Sunday, Josh's mom the 21st, my dad the 23rd, Christmas, & then our 11th anniversary on the Christmas day! Let the celebrations begin!! :)

It's that time of year again...sledding!!

SANTA

Well this is the 1st year that Marley sat on Santa's lap without crying. She even felt comfortable enough with him to take off her shoes and show him her toenail polish! Oh no, what will we do with this little girl?!

We met the Beard's there and then went to dinner also. It was great to get the kids together, except for all the bottle up excitement the Harper kids had and could not control. Now it's time to see what Santa brings!

Lot of Fun for Everyone!

Wednesday Amy and the kids came over to play and help while I did a conference call, thanks AMY!! Then Thursday we went to Opryland hotel and it was a lot of fun and a special Christmas treat!!

We came back, Josh took Ty to the hospital for his allergy test and then I zoomed off with Amy to Atlanta to IKEA and then to Birmingham to meet Tessa and Ashley. We stayed two nights at Embassy Suites, we shopped alot and ate good food (Purple Onion & Cheesecake Factory), what a fun time with friends! Thanks to Josh for watching the kids!

Then we rushed home for the Soddy Christmas parade which was fun as usual. Now it's time to slow down!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

What a wonderful thanksgiving! Wednesday we went to LC and had dinner with my family and then Thursday we had lunch with Josh's family. It was really great to see everyone and eat good food. We then came back and I did black Friday shopping with the Beard's, fun as usual! :) Then a relaxing weekend with the fam, it does not get much better than this.

Curt came and visited with us on Saturday. Not sure who looks forward more to having Curt over, us or the kiddos!

Kitchen Helpers

They ALWAYS want to help me in the kitchen and to be honest, they are not totally helpful. :) Here they are on clean up duty after making oreo truffles...oh I love them so!


This is what they look like nice and clean...

Birds Eye View

Not too much going on here, kid birthday parties, made a new flower bed, cleaning out leaves (kids were on the house while Josh was cleaning our gutters), been doing little paint projects here and there, working at TVA a little more. Josh did have a four day weekend and that was nice, we both got a lot done!

Halloween Weekend!

Let the trick or treating begin! We had such a great time with our friends and family! Thanks to everyone for helping us have a BOOtiful halloween. :)

Kudos to the Fore's...they put the rest of the costumes to shame!



Saturday after our yard sale we went to Connor's 5th birthday party! So much Star Wars and so much fun! Connor is just a little bit older than Ty and they have been great friends since before they were even born. :) I have loved watching Connor grow and he has become such a nice and fun little boy. Happy Birthday Connor!!

The Big Bad Wolf & Little Red Riding Hood at our church's Fall Festival. It was great!

Thanks to my mom for spending the week with us and to Uncle Bert & Aunt Tracy for coming to see us!

Birthday Weekend!

Friday we drove up to Lenoir City. We took all 7 cousins to a beautiful farm in Sweetwater, TN and Jill's sister in law, Ennette, took some wonderful pics of the kids. After that our kids spent the night at Jill's house and Josh and I had a night off. Thanks Jill!!

We started birthday weekend off in Lenoir City on Saturday morning with my nephew's, Will, 2nd birthday. See him chillaxing waiting on his cupcake! :)

My neice Sayuri celebrated her 1st birthday, here she is looking super cute!

We ended the birthday weekend with Dax's 4th Birthday Party at Partyville, the kids loved it!

Chuck E Cheese, Monster Bash & Pie Run!

Marley has been doing better not peeing in her diaper at night so went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate. My mom was here for a couple of nights so she went with us and she also helped me redo our backsplash. It looks great, thanks MOM!!

Everybody, hands up for the pretend roller coaster!

Ty was pushing the gas for Marley, too funny.

Thursday night we had a delicious dinner with the Beard family at Seki Sui and then fun at the playground.
These kids crack me up! I went out on our front porch and this is what I saw... what imaginations!

Friday night we went to the Monster Bash at the Creative Discovery Museum! Here is Bryce the firefighter, Ty the Big Bad Wolf, And Marley Little Red Riding Hood. Too cute!



Saturday I ran the Pie run with my neighbor and good friend Lisa, it was great! Then just Chillaxing the rest of the weekend. Now it is time for another fun week!

Football, Festivals, and Columbus?!

Our weekend started off with Signal Mtn. High School's homecoming parade, then a FABULOUS dinner at the Pastaria, followed by going to the football game. What fun and they won big!

Saturday we went to Alexian's Fall festival. They had face painting, music, cake walk, petting zoo, cotton candy, popcorn, corn dogs, snow cones, and the list goes on. It was so nice to walk there and it was free!

Sunday we went to church and just hung out and then Monday Josh had Columbus Day off. So he worked on the house and I went to work for a little bit. I will miss having him at home today!

Taking a Time Out

Well we got back from Spain and it seems like we have been going nonstop! :) Last week we went to Huntsville with Josh's work (see the 2nd pic) which was a lot of fun, then Thursday we went to Lenoir City to visit and drop Ty & Marley off. I came back on Friday, picked up Josh, then the Masters and then we went to Atlanta. Saturday we went to Thomasville, GA (almost on the Florida/Georgia line) to see Bradley and Corinne get married. It was a beautiful wedding and a lot of fun to hang out with our dear friends Anthony & Tessa. Sunday we got up and drove to Lenoir City to pick up the kids and then back to our home sweet home. Hopefully this week we will just take it easy!
Here are the boys, Bradley, Josh & Anthony!

The kiddos in Huntsville.

Madrid, Spain (LAST Spain Posting) Sept 20-22

Well what an adventure! Josh has been a trooper and was able to drive in Madrid to the hotel and car drop off. He did much better than me! Our GPS went bizerk in the tunnels in Madrid and it was crazy. This is one of the parts of traveling that stresses me. Anyway we are here, eating, playing, shopping. Tomorrow the Museo Prado and then more Madrid. Here is to the end of the trip!

We had dinner in this market. Wow! The food was great, but not too kid friendly. We might try it again tomorrow and maybe I will take some pics. The tapas...yummy!!

Yes more playgrounds! I think we have hit every one that Spain has to offer. The kids love to play and meet other kids. They even met some from San Fransico. We tell Spaniards we are from Tennessee and they think for a minute and say Jack Daniels...guess that is what we are known for.

Well we have all day tomorrow here to explore and then we start our journey home on Wednesday. Can't wait to get home and tell you all about it in person. Buenos Noche!

Nerja, Spain Sept 16-20

Nerja has been one of my favorite places. We have relaxed and had some really good meals. We can eat for 30 to 40 euros on the beach, while the kids play at a playground and we eat a delicious meal. So nice!
One of our first days we went to Alahambra, a moorish castle. It was really neat and has some "unique" history.

For 4 days we have built sand castles and buried each other in the sand. The beach is always fun, no matter what country you are in!

Ty has gotten Josh to play A LOT of soccer with him.

After Nerja, we drive 5 hrs to Madrid and try to drop the car off. That should be fun! Adios!!

Parador Sept 14-16

Wow! We left to drive down to the Parador and what a trip. We got stopped on the interstate for over 2 hrs. When I say stopped, I mean we got out of the car and other people around us had a picnic! We finally got going again (apparently there was a protest going on) and then added 3 hrs to our trip because the GPS took us 1.5 hrs too far...argh! Try asking for directions in a different language! Despite it all the kids did well, it was Josh and I that were bitter. As long as we stop at playgrounds they are fine. :) Our car trip took 11 hrs. Luckily we got to our castle right before dark and it was fantastic! So nice we decided to stay here 2 nights and not go to Sevilla. We have rested, played in the castle's pool and playground and eaten good food!

Forgot to mention that Josh pushed the car to back up at first. We couldn't figure out how to put it in reverse...ha! And Ty has kept us laughing, he thinks the guy from Star Wars is Obie Kanobie #1.

Tomorrow is suppose to be a 6 hr trip to the beach for 4 days, so hopefully it will be less eventful! Much love!!

Llanes, Spain Sept 11-14

I am having problems with the internet, so a shorter post. We spent 3 days following the Vuelta (Tour of Spain, bicycle race). It has been a lot of fun, and exhausting. Here are a few pics.
This is our crew on Covondonga. We (mainly Josh) pushed the kiddos up this mountain part way. Let me tell you pushing 100 lbs up steep uphills is VERY tough. We are so sore. Despite the rain, we cheered on the Vuelta. The countryside here is beautiful, mountains right next to ocean.

Here are the kiddos cheering on the riders on the Cotobello mountain. Josh pushed the kids over 4k up the mtn and then a French man drove us the rest of the way up...God bless him! It was a fun day, but we were SO worn out afterwards.

Barcelona, Sept 8-11

Seems like 3 weeks ago, but only 3 days ago we started our trip. Here is Ty on the plane. He did great! I lucked out and got to sit with him. :) Josh sat with Marley, she didn't sleep as much and cried a couple of times but for the most part was good. Barcelona has been a lot of fun, with it's harbor, markets, playgrounds, beaches, La Ramblas (touristy street with lots of vendors), etc. We have really enjoyed it and it's food!

La Boqueria! There are markets all around Barcelona. Natural fruit juices 1 euro, all kids of fruit 1 euro, meats, fish, bread, veggies, and the list goes on. These have been very yummy!

Yesterday we had a delicious lunch at Ryans Beach. The food was good and the atmosphere was perfect. The kids have tried lots of different foods and so far they have done well. I bought a piece of bread this am, and much to my dismay it had fish on it. For breakfast...they put fish and olive oil on everything, even their chips!!

Here's the fam at La Sagrada Familia (Holy Family in Spanish, Cathlolic Church designed by Gaudi). This is the most popular tourist attraction in Barcelona. We have been there, we have eaten sardines, olives, tapas, vino, sangria, and paella. We are trying to live like the Spainards! Oh yeah, I will post a highlight of pics (more than this)on facebook when I get back.

Some of you may ask, how do they do it? Traveling internationally, 6 hr time difference, different language with a 4 & 2 yr old, etc. Well I think this pic says it all. :) The "candy store" is called Happy Pills. The kids LOVED it! Although after this we spent our 3rd night in Spain. We are all out of whack. The kids were up for a long time last night. Hopefully we will start to adapt to their time soon.

I think Ty really liked Marley's photo flip book from Disney because on this trip he has asked to get his picture made everywhere. This is along the harbor.

Tomorrow we drive to Llanes to see the Vuelta (Tour of Spain, bicycle race) and we are all excited to see another part of Spain and eat our picnic lunches (bread, cheese, meat, vino)! I will do another post when we leave Llanes (3 days). Adios & Love!