Family Photo Shoot

In honor of my mom & dad's (ie: Memaw & Pap-paw's) 40th wedding anniversary, we had our family pictures taken in October. We got the proofs back today, and Shannon Watson did an amazing job! Especially considering she had 13 people to work with, and an endless number of combinations of people to take pictures of. Now comes the hard part....deciding which ones are my favorite to hang up in our house, use in our Christmas card, etc, etc. I really love all of them!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Sister!

One year ago today, we heard Dr. Oldfield utter those 3 glorious words, "It's a girl!". I was so very convinced we were having another boy, I was actually totally shocked (and skeptical) when I first heard these words. For the record, it was really Jeff that said these words to me....he leaned down to my face, and with a tear steaming down one cheek, he said, "it's a girl, mommy". I didn't even realize how much my heart yearned for a baby girl until I heard these words. Thank you, baby sister, for bringing so much joy to our lives over the past year. You are the easiest, sweetest, most perfect, easy-going baby we have ever met. We love you more than you will ever know.

First Tooth!

Just 9 days shy of her first birthday, and Kirsten’s first tooth is finally showing through her gum!! I’ve been checking her mouth a lot lately because she’s been drooling constantly and yesterday I felt the first one.......it's one of her bottom ones. She doesn't seem to care, though. She's still as happy as she always is!!

Sad News Today.....

One of Jeff and I's good friends from Green Bay, Dave Mullen, passed away today. Jeff and Dave worked together at Schneider, Dave’s wife, Ann, is also our realtor in Green Bay, and lately, Dave has been helping us out with his handyman services at the duplex we own in Green Bay. He's also helped us out a lot with showing the property and all sorts of miscellaneous other stuff, too. He is an amazing person and friend. We saw Ann & Dave in August when we were in Green Bay for a visit and had lunch with them. While we were there, Dave also went to our duplex with me to check on both of the units to see what kind of shape they were in, and to meet some of our new tenants in person because I didn’t want to go by myself (and we didn’t want to take the kids with us, either). So, the viewing and funeral are both on Wed, Oct 28 in Green Bay, and Jeff is going to go. To make it even more bittersweet, today was Ann & Dave's 30th Wedding Anniversary. So sad for Ann and her family tonight.....

Wedding Bells

We traveled to Charlotte, NC this past weekend to go to the wedding of our good friends, Patrick & Becky. We arrived in Charlotte early Friday afternoon (Sept 18, 2009). We took a cab to our hotel, which was in downtown Charlotte, checked in, and took a nap! We then walked around a bit, made our way to a little restaurant with outdoor dining, had a late, leisurely, lunch, a couple of beers, and just relaxed! That evening, we went to the rehearsal dinner, and had so much fun catching up with friends that we haven't seen in a very long time (well, I haven't seen in a very long time - Jeff saw Patrick, Luke, and Matt at the bachelor party a few weeks ago). The next day, we didn't have to be anywhere until 4:30pm, so we headed out on foot again (my favorite part of staying in the downtown area of a city - you can walk everywhere!). We had a leisurely breakfast, and then I walked to a salon that I had called the day before, and got my haircut. Afterwards, Jeff and I decided to try to find a place to watch the Ohio State-Toledo game. We wondered if we would be able to find a place in the middle of Charlotte that would have the Ohio State game on? Boy, did we! As we were wandering around, we saw a giant, inflatable Brutus Buckeye outside of a bowling alley - http://strikecitycharlotte.com/. We entered, and were completely shocked at what we saw! The ENTIRE joint was filled with Buckeye fans! As it turns out, it's the location where the Charlotte Ohio State Alumni Association watches all Ohio State football games. I even won a door prize - some OSU chip clips!

After the game, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the big celebration. We walked down the street to The Charlotte City Club http://www.charlottecityclub.com/?vm=r. The wedding ceremony and reception were absolutely beautiful. We are so happy for Patrick & Becky, and we had the absolute BEST time on our trip!! Thank-you Patrick & Becky for including us in your special day, and thank-you to my parents for DRIVING to Nashville AND watching our kids for us! We could not have gone without your help! Thank-you! Thank-you! Thank-you! It is noteworthy to mention that today is Grandma & Grandpa's 40th wedding anniversary, and they spent it babysitting Dominick and Kirsten, and then making the 6-hour drive home to Ohio. We are celebrating with them next weekend, though....can't wait!!

P.S. Grandma & Grandpa said that Dominick and Kirsten were PERFECT the entire weekend. That is excellent news, because they don't know it yet, but we've been invited to a wedding in MEXICO in January, and we would really, really, REALLY love to go :)

Happy Birthday, Anneke!

Happy Birthday, Anneke!

We can't believe our niece, Anneke, is 10 years old today. We also can't believe that it has been an entire year since our trip to Alaska, which was the last time that we saw her (May 2008). Her cousin, Dominick, misses her, and her new cousin, Kirsten, can't wait to meet her.

We love her & miss her lots and hope to see her again soon! We made her a little video to wish her a Happy Birthday!!

Happy Memorial Day

Today seems like the perfect day to debut a picture of our recently hung American flag. It was a very cherished Christmas gift from my brother, Scott. He is a Seargant Major in the Army National Guard and was deployed to Kuwait with his Unit for most of 2008. He brought home a U.S. flag for us that was flown over Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, on 2 Sept 2008, in honor of "The Harpole Family".

Happy Memorial Day to everyone, but especially to the men & women that are our Veterans and those who have given their life for our country. We are very proud of all of them, especially Uncle Scott, Nana Kelley, and Uncle Joey.