A Weekend of FUN!

Kyle & I took Friday off of work so we could hit the road this past Thursday evening. Our destination? MOUNT PLEASANT, SC!! We rented a car for fun & our drive was pretty uneventful. We made it into Mt P at 11:30pm & our first stop was Isle of Palms to see, hear, & smell the ocean. I loved just standing on the beach feeling the wind in my hair. Moose definitely enjoyed running around eating sea shells. :) I didn't realize how much I missed living on the coast.

Friday started early because we were so excited to be 'home' & we had tons to do. Kyle went downtown to pick up his Cooper River Bridge Run packet & I went to visit my old job. I had such a great time seeing Dr Goltra & the girls. I miss it there SO much! For lunch Kyle & I met up with Scott & Rachael for some delicious Melvins BBQ! It was A-Mazing! I ate everything & given the chance I probably could've had more!

Friday afternoon we spent some time with Kyle's parents, Marc & Pat before Cooper's baby shower that evening. (I'll post on the shower later) After the shower we invited a couple of friends over to play games. The Adams, Artls, Bryant, & Jilli came. We played Catch Phrase & we had some good laughs! There are phrases from that weekend that will never be forgotten!

Just thought I'd throw in a belly pic from that weekend.

Saturday morning came quick! Kyle set his alarm wrong but we woke up early enough anyhow so I could drop him off for the BIG race! I went to the grocery store, took a quick nap, & enjoyed the sun while Kyle was at the Bridge Run. Kyle did have a good time at the run even if it was solo. For lunch Kyle & I met up with Marc & Pat downtown at Poogans Porch. The company was GREAT & the food was pretty good (not our best visit there). We did have their delicious Gouda Mac & Cheese even if I did have to beg for it since it's not on the lunch menu. :) That mac & cheese is seriously life changing! haha After lunch we walked down to Waterfront Park to look out at the Charleston Harbor. There was a cruise ship, sail boats, & dolphins! It was great smelling the salt air & feeling the warm sun on our skin. (How can you not just LOVE it there?!)

Kyle after the race! So proud of him! :)

Me, Kyle, & Marc at Waterfront Park dwntwn Charleston.

Saturday afternoon we hung out at Ann's house enjoying the nice weather with Bryant, Jilli, & Dad. The boys tried to fly kites-that didn't work out well-so they moved on to skateboarding. Moose loved the skate board...well she loved to bark & bite on it. ha! Later I was able to meet up with my friend Rachel really quick before dinner. The visit was SO not long enough-I miss that girl!

We had a fun dinner date with Scott & Rachael at the one & only Gringos! The food was pretty amazing & the Adams rock my socks! :) After dinner the boys headed off to the Priesthood Session of General Conference so Rachael & I were able to have some much needed girl time! We chatted, cried a little (gotta love hormones!), got some special treats for Ann, & made a poster before the boys were done. We tried to go to Cupcake but they were already ready closed. :( When the boys were done it was time for dessert! We ate at Menchie's. It's new frozen yogurt place where you basically make it yourself & pay by the ounce (or by the pound if you ask Kyle. hehe). It was hard to decide what we wanted but it was super yummy!!

Sunday we had a little breakfast shin dig. I made Pat's famous Breakfast casserole & the Adams brought their homemade cinnamon rolls. Basically it was delicious & great to spend a little more time with special people before we left.

Now we are home & exhausted. We ended up staying up every night until 1am & waking up EARLY each morning so we're glad to be back to ATL but SO so sad to leave Mt P behind. It really feels like home there & I miss my family & friends. Who wouldn't want to live on the beautiful SC coast?! Hopefully we will get back there one day for good!

So Far in 2011

I can't believe it's already MARCH & less than 3 months left til we meet our baby boy! Crazy stuff. Time is flying by!

Here's a list of some of the fun things we've done so far:

-Had a blast with the Adams for New Years.

-Registered for baby stuff for our little boy.

-We had a snow day followed by some pretty intense ice.

-Tiffany & her girls came to town for MLK weekend.

-the Greenburgs visited & we babysat Grace & Cage.

-Stake Conference (we have an amazing Stake President)

-Game night with the Carron's.

-We've become even more addicted to Netflix.

-Found out we're going to Disney in December with the Ensign crew! woo hoo :)

-I started doing Prenatal Yoga & I'm loving it!

-Went to the Columbia Temple to be with Karl, Onna, & the boys for their special day.

-Made Chicken Cordon Bleu for the first time ever. (So delicious!)

-Tried Vietnamese food for the first time (Dinner with the Malans).

-Made funnel cakes with the Crolleys.

-Had a Superbowl party with the Malans & the Crolleys. (Ate WAY too much but it was totally worth it)

-Had more snow. Fortunately NO ice & it melted quick.

-Got Moose a hair cut. (she needed it BAD)

-Celebrated Valentine's Day with my lovely hubby

-Took my Sugar Test & passed! :)

-Kyle started training for the Bridge Run.

-We've planned a trip to Mt P in April (SO excited!)

-Spent an evening with Bryce on his way to SC.

-I endured a gruesome stomach bug... (I was so close to making it thru this entire pregnancy without puking!)

-Got Cabin Fever in the mountains of North GA with Kyle & some friends. (a post on that later)

We've had some fun & I know there is more to come! This weekend we are heading to Hartsville to visit family & to have our first baby shower! We love going home even though it can be a bit exhausting with so much family to see. I will post on our weekend later too. :)

Take a hike!

All last week Kyle & I kept throwing out ideas of what to do this past weekend but nothing really stuck. We finally just left it alone & figured we'd just enjoy a boring weekend at home. As soon as we decided that it all changed-in a good way! We were invited to our new friends', the Malan's, house for dinner on Friday. I offered to bring dessert because as most of you know I LOVE sweets! I made brownies with toffee bits, topped with coolwhip, more toffee bits & syrup. (I forgot to take a pic! Rats!) Anywho! We had a nice evening with them. I have actually hung out with Erin & lil Finn a few times but this was the first time our hubbys got together. It was fun chatting & getting to know each other. Erin made some yummy food including corn on the cob because she remembered me expressing Kyle's love for corn. :)

Saturday Kyle & I decided to head to Stone Mountain. We heard you could hike up the 835 foot tall mountain made of stone so we thought we'd give it a try. I dressed as if it was a rather quick & easy walk/'hike' to the top telling myself that if it's quite the tourist attraction for ALL ages that it has to be easy right? So wearing my jean shorts & sneakers (a last minute decision because I'm usually rocking flip flops) we headed out. Upon arriving we couldn't figure out where to start up the mountain. (there was barely any talk of the hike on the web site nor with the actual people that work there-Kyle & I later agreed that it must be because it isn't a money maker). After finally getting some vague directions on where to start our ascent we head off into the trees. We walked on this trail thru the woods for about 20 minutes wondering A-why it felt like we weren't moving up the mountain B-why are haven't we passed anyone C-if the mountain is made of stone-where's the stone?! Another 20 minutes of trekking ahead, sweating like crazy & swatting mosquitoes ticked on before we actually came across people & the REAL trail to head up the mountain. Come to find out we were on a trail that took you AROUND the nearly 600 acre mountain! By this point I'm frustrated at myself for the way I have dressed, wondering if it's worth it, wishing I had a snack packed for a quick boost & bugged that after almost 45 min of hiking we haven't even begun to conquer this mountain! So to cut to the chase we made it up to the top!! (after plenty of rest stops) It felt amazing to have made it & boy was the breeze wonderful! After doing some sightseeing, reading some fun facts, & actually lying down on the smooth stone mountain, we decided to take the easy way down by riding the Summit Skyride & head home. It was quite an experience & next time we will definitely be better prepared!

Stone Mountain

Kyle being awkward because I wanted to take a pic of him. :)

We were pretty happy about finally making it to the top!

(Kyle took this with his nifty new iPhone!)

Resting & enjoying the view.

Saturday evening we were invited to the Crolley's to play some games. Kyle & I were excited to hang out with Paul, Mandy, & lil Olivia! We introduced them to some of our new & fun games: Blokus & Ruckus! (shout out to the Adams for hooking us up!) We had a great time playing & before we knew it it was 11:30. We are so blessed to have them so close! They are so fun & have helped in making our transition into a new area & new ward so easy! Major thanks to the Crolley Crew! :)

Overall we had a great weekend. At one point this weeekend Kyle & I were talking in the car about how much we missed our friends! Especially the Adams in Mt P & the Bartons in MB! They complete us-haha! We really miss the funtimes & familiarity of it all. But looking forward we are SUPER excited for next weekend because we are heading home to Hartsville! There are so many family members that reside in the ville now! We can't wait to see everyone & have some fun!

Cause A Ruckus!!

Kyle & I love playing new card/board games! We have met so many amazing friends here & in turn have learned a lot of fun games that we will share in ATL. Below are two SUPER fun card games-taught to us by our awesome friends the Adams.

One of my new ALL TIME favorite games is: Settlers of Catan! We call it our nerd game. It was never a game I thought I'd ever play-let alone enjoy BUT now it's my game of choice! haha Special thanks to the Schultz for starting our addiction!

So if you're ever looking for some new fun games to learn & share-try one of these! :)