Trip to the Beach

I absolutely LOVE vacation! We just got back from the beach this week. My whole family went down to Florida for a few days. It was a blast. It's always fun when everyone gets together. Anna got to touch the ocean for the first time. She didn't like it at first but warmed up to it a little. I think she just didn't like the temperature. While we were down there, there was a huge storm, and I mean HUGE! I don't know if I've ever seen wind like that before. It felt like we were in a hurricane. We didn't get to spend a ton of time on the beach since it rained so much but what time we did get to spend down there was very fun.
I was absolutely dying to get some good family pictures. We haven't had any good ones since Anna was born, so it was really important to us both. We actually took these off of our balcony because it was raining, and they turned out great.

This is my brother and sister-in-law with their little boy David. They're so much fun!

I think the adults had more fun playing in the sand than the kids did. We made a big sand castle. It was great.

These are my two brothers, looking like studs.

This is the crew all on the beach, enjoying the scenery.

It was so beautiful there. We decided to get married on the beach here almost two years ago. It was really fun to go back.

Anna went swimming for her first time and actually loved it! I knew that she liked the water but it was cold. I wouldn't even get in. She gets her courage from her dad. Mom is definitely lacking in that department.

This is a great picture of Anna with Granny. They just love each other!

And finally, here is the whole crew right before we left our hotel. It was a great trip.

Catching Up

We have a lot of catching up to do. We might be on vacation but we sure have been busy. Since we've been staying with my parents, we've been able to take advantage of having free and wonderful babysitters. Last weekend Josh took me on a surprise date. He kept going on secret excursions to prepare for the night. Finally, about 7 PM on Friday, he blindfolded me and put me in the car. Since I know my hometown so well, he didn't want me to figure out where we were going by where we drove. So he drove around crazy streets and went in circles over and over to throw me off. It was hilarious. We finally ended up at my grandma's house. He carried me down the hill in his arms with my blindfold still on. Once we were on the dock, he took off my blindfold and there was dinner in candlelight waiting for us. It was so much fun. After dinner we got in a little raft and rowed around the lake and watched the sun set. Josh did good on this date! We had a blast.

Anna sat in a high chair for the first time this week. Since we're first time parents, you know we had to document the occasion.

Mother's Day was great! I woke up to my sweet husband giving me a beautifully wrapped present. Josh gave me a sweet card and some fantastic knives. My mom has a really good knife, and I've been raving about it since I got here. I guess Josh got the hint and now I have some of my own. Cooking goes so much faster and is so much more fun when you have good tools.
My dad gave me a beautiful Precious Moment's statue. It's kind of been a tradition to get these beautiful porcelain statues on special occasions. I love them! This statue was of a little baby girl. So cute!
My brothers were also very thoughtful and got me Mother's Day gifts. It was so sweet of them. One of my brothers got me chocolate and some beautiful flowers and my other brother got me the movie, "The Count of Monte Cristo". I'm very lucky to have such wonderful men in my life.

Anna has had a number of visitors this week. This is a picture of my Uncle Gary. It was so nice visiting with them. They're just wonderful.

This is Aunt Carol holding little Anna.

Aunt Carol brought graduation gifts for both of us. We LOVE the gifts. They were perfect for us.

This is my cousin Katherine holding little Anna.

This is Uncle Billy. I think he and my dad look almost identical. They bought Anna a little silver piggy bank with her name embossed on it. It's ADORABLE. We loved it! It was so great to see them.

Rollie Pollie