Happy 30th Birthday Jennifer...

Sweet Emily is only two weeks old so Jennifer had some "limitations" to celebrating her 30th birthday. However, her husband and sister pulled off a little surprise in honor of her special day. Some of her closest friends met at my house and then when we got the "text" we walked to her house next door to say "surprise" and enjoy some cake and ice cream with her on her special day...

Me with the Birthday Girl...

Anna Lauren helping her Jen Jen blow out the candles...you know "30" is a lot for one person to blow out on their own...

Not only was she surprised by a few of her closest friends coming over for cake and ice cream...she got a laptop that COMPLETELY caught her by surprise. I love this picture of Michael because you can see it in his face...he is saying to himself, I did good!

All the girls that were there to celebrate her special day...Jennifer, you are such a special friend to all of us, and we hope you enjoyed your 30th birthday and all your surprises!

Halloween...

We had a day of fun celebrating Halloween...

This morning, Seth and Chaney came over to decorate cookies for our Halloween "get together" later in the day. Seth and Chaney live across the street and Anna Lauren just loves them and of course, thinks she is as old as them even though they are 7 and 10. (Note: Table cloth was in the washing machine...feel free to donate to the table fund...ha ha!)

Anna Lauren loves sprinkles and will try to put them on anything...so...one of our "fun traditions" is to decorate cookies for the different holidays.

Ta da...made with love by some preciuos children!

Emily's 1st Halloween (1 week old)...check out that tutu and pumpkin shirt...isn't she precious? She and her parents came over for a little while to hang out with all us neighbors before Trick or Treating...we were so glad for her to be a part of our Halloween! Anna Lauren was looking at her and said, "she so pretty"...it was so sweet!

Cheerleader Anna Lauren and Lion (without her hat) Ann Hardie...

About two months ago out of the blue, I asked Anna Lauren what she wanted to be for Halloween, and she said a CHEERLEADER. Well, she never changed her mind and has talked about a cheerleader ever since...so tonight was the night to finally be a cheerleader!

Doing a cheer for us...

All smiles and ready to Trick or Treat...

Our beautiful little cheerleader...don't know what we would do without this little monkey who is still full of life and testing our patience every single day!

Let's go Trick or Treat...

Mommy and Anna Lauren...

Here is the Lion, but you better look quick...it didn't last long!

Daddy and Anna Lauren...

Our sweet neighbors, Mr. Gary and Ms. Janie...they do not have any grandkids yet so they have plenty of love to share with all the kids on our street.

Some more of our neigbhors...Jim, Olivia, and Puppy Dog Brayden...

Anna Lauren getting some candy...she didn't always say Trick or Treat, but she was certain to say please and thank you, which made her parents proud!

Running from one house to the next...by this time, she had warmed up to ringing doorbells and getting candy...

Anna Lauren and Ann Hardie filling their buckets...

Anna Lauren said, "I can run fast in my tennis shoes" and off she went...

Bently's Fairy Garden Party...

Today we celebrated Bently's 1st birthday at a "fairy garden party"...it was perfect weather for a "garden party" and Bently was by far the prettiest fairy I have ever seen!

Bently's Aunt and Uncle live in New York and have made a tradition of coming home to their house in Mississippi and hosting 1st birthday parties for their nieces and nephews. Aunt Natalie and Uncle Robby went above and beyond and hosted a fabulous party for all of us to enjoy as we celebrated Bently's 1st birthday!

Bently in her birthday attire...

Anna Lauren had no part of the wings and wands...BUT...the bubbles were fun!

Bently's 1st birthday cake...

Joey (my brother) and Bently...

Singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out her candle...be sure to notice...there was even fairy dust to sprinkle on your cake!

Listening to everyone sing "Happy Birthday" one more time...

Enjoying her cake...

Still enjoying her cake...

Opening presents...

Anna Lauren gathered all the boys and her Nanny for a picture and then ran away...that stinker!
(Left to Right: Reid, Jake, Ashton, and Nanna)

Welcoming Baby Emily...

Unfortunately, Emily decided to arrive two weeks early, which means she arrived while we were in Boston so we didn't get to see her for the first time until today. Emily arrived Thursday morning and is the precious daughter of our dear friends and next door neighbors Jennifer (JDunc as some of you know her) and Michael.

Anna Lauren was excited to meet baby Emily and even took two bracelets off her arm and gave to baby Emily...however, she opted not to hold her, but I'm sure she will give her lots of love as we plan to visit often.

Jennifer and Micheal, congratulations...you have a beautiful daughter!

I actually took this picture from their blog, but I just love their faces looking at Emily shortly after she was born. I love the "joy" in the faces of new parents!

Mandi getting to hold Emily for the first time...

Sweet Emily...

We Loved Boston...

Matt and a few co-workers had the opportunity to go to Boston for some training Tuesday through Friday. Well, thanks to frequent flyer miles and a MeMe who agreed to keep Anna Lauren, I was able to join him in Boston on Wednesday. We absolutely loved the city, and would back again in a second!

While Matt was in training on Thursday, I took a trolley tour of the city...it was a beautiful day with the temperature in the 70s...could not have been any better for sight seeing. This was just one of the many pictures I took of the trees...they were just beautiful!

I love Fall so this made me smile every time I walked out of the hotel. Across the street from the hotel was a "market" that put pumpkins and fresh flowers on the sidewalk every day.

Four people went from the State Department of Health...here are three of them (Ramona, Joe, and Matt). And let me just tell you, I was a little hestitant about traveling with a group of computer "nerds" but they were so fun and included me as if I was one of them although I was the only spouse that tagged along.

We were on the 16th floor of our hotel and this was our view from our room...

This was our view from the 16th floor window while waiting on the elevator in the hotel...

Left to Right: Mark (the big boss), Matt, Ramona, and Joe at Cheers

Mark said they could skip meetings on Friday and sight see...so...we all headed out for one last day in Boston. We didn't get so lucky this day as it was in the 40s and windy but we still had a fun and enjoyed our last day in Boston.

Matt and I across the street from Harvard...now we can say, we went to Harvard!

Matt and I in front of our hotel, which was really cool. It was a jail that had been converted to a hotel so it had a really cool history and also had some of the originals from the jail.

Nanny's 80th Birthday Party...

Last Sunday, our family hosted a party in honor of my grandmother's 80th birthday. Nanny is a a special lady to all of us and obviously to everyone else as she had some 100 guests to attend her party. Here are a few pictures of her special day, but I don't have many because I put our camera down and enjoyed the party because we hired a photographer to come capture memories for us as well as Nanny.

Words cannot express what a joy in our lives Nanny has been to all of us...we're so thankful she has been a part of our lives for so many years and only wish her many more years of good health and happiness!

Love you Nanny! And yes, she is 80 and has a computer so she will read this blog...got to love her!

This picture was on the table where guests signed the guest book...it was Nanny in her "teens"...

Matt and I handled documenting "through the years" with pictures...the pictures seemed to draw everyone's attention...needless to say, we got the fun project as we had a great time looking through all the old pictures and of course, that came with many laughs!

Nanny with her birthday cake...

Our Nanny...

Half Marathon Number 5...

This morning I completed my 5th half marathon right here in Jackson. I started out training for the full marathon but after finding out that was "not fun" I decided to just do another half. There is just something about a 1/2 that I love...it is the perfect distance and the fun never ends while training or running the race, which is what it is all about for me...just to have fun!

I could not have asked for better weather, better cheerleaders (Matt, My Mom, and Anna Lauren), or my body to feel any better. It was the perfect running day, and I had the 2nd best time out of the five half marathons I have done!

Mommy and Anna Lauren right before the race started...

Mom and I right before the race started...

Waving to my cheerleaders...I was between 2.5 and 3 miles at this point...

Coming up on my cheerleaders once again...I was around 9.25 miles at this point...

Giving "fives" to my cheerleaders...

Approaching the finish line...still feeling great...what a great run!

Crossing the finish line...my official time was 2:20:51...24 out of 54 in my age group...I was pleased!

Anna Lauren was not interested in the Chick-fil-A cow, but she was all about the balloon!

Waiting on Matt, Mom, and Anna Lauren to make their way to me...taking a break and enjoying my post race banana...

Anna Lauren liked my medal...however, she didn't want to wear mine...she wanted her own...mommy quickly said, you have to run a long way to get this, darling!