Kindergarten!!

Christopher absolutely LOVES kindergarten.  Some things that he has talked about(while jumping up and down because he's so excited) are:

His two new friends: Sean and Christopher Cooper

The cafeteria and how fun it is to punch in his code to buy hot lunch

The science lab:  the ant farm, the guinea pig and making pulleys

The hug from his teacher for being such a good listener(He blushed a little when he told me!)

Gym class:  the basketball hoops, tumbling mats and bars to spin on

The computer lab:  "I was in the red group.  We did the best and got a mint!"

Recess:  monkey bars and a ball toss game(basket that has a bunch of holes where the ball will come out)

Riding the bus:  He loves his bus driver, Mr Ernie, who has a grandson named Christopher.

Seeing his friends, Gabriela, Arann and Gabe throughout the day

Homework:  "I LOVE doing homework." 

Here are pictures from his first day:

When he walked into the kitchen that morning with his uniform and backpack on I held my hands to my face and said, "AAAAAAHHHHHH!  Brian come look at this BIG kid we have in our kitchen!"  I was shocked at how much older he looked.  

He was excited that he looked like a BIG kid!

It was a beautiful day.

Walking into school

Getting him settled in his classroom

After a few minutes he said, "I'm fine Mom. You can leave now."  I'm glad he did so well.  I, on the other hand, had tears streaming down my face the moment I walked out of the room.  They were proud/sad/happy tears.  I am very excited about how much he will grow and learn this year!  

Eutopia!

That's the word I'd use to describe our adventure on Lake Powell in Utah, followed by two days in Sedona, AZ last month.  Before I say anything else, I want to say THANK YOU to Brian's sister, Elaine and her husband Marty who orchestrated the entire trip.  Their hard work is the main reason everyone was able to sit back and enjoy.  

We started the trip early in the morning on Sunday, August 3rd.  We left for the airport at 7am where we met up with Mom and Dad Ellis to take the 4+ hour flight to Phoenix together.  The first evening we stayed in Phoenix which is where Elaine and Marty live.  The eating started immediately as we grazed on homemade enchiladas.  YUM!  Then, it was birthday cake in honor of Brian.  We all went to bed early in preparation for the predawn departure to Lake Powell(a 4+ hour car ride).  

There were 17 of us:

Mom and Dad from SC

Elaine and Marty from AZ

Mark from CA

Kevin and Lauren from VA

Yvonne and Kenny from CT

Adele, Dennis, Megan and Theresa from FL

and the four of us from NC!!!

We had two houseboats(70' Millenium and 59' Discovery), a speedboat and a jetski.   The houseboats were amazing!  Roughing it did not apply to this camping trip!  The landscape itself was breathtaking, but being surrounded by family made it just that much more spectacular.  Brian loved being the captain of the Millenium and he did a great job!  I didn't want anything to do with getting that massive boat around the lake.  Beaching the boats for the night proved to be the most challenging.  Finding the right spot for two houseboats and getting them both anchored was a job for the entire crew.  

I loved having coffee on the top deck every morning.  I loved watching Christopher and Andrew surrounded by so much love from so many family members.  I grew up with a large extended family very close and know how great that feels!  I loved watching everyone have a great time skiing and tubing.  I loved sitting by the campfire.  I loved Yvonne's group prayer time and Kevin and Lauren's skit.  I loved all the laughs, the food and fun!!  

Sedona was beautiful!  We stayed there for two nights.  We went to Slide Rock State Park which has a natural water slide.  The water was cold, but everyone had fun!  We had a picnic lunch afterward and stopped at Dairy Queen for dessert!  We also hiked Cathedral Rock.  Christopher was a champ and loved hearing his echo at the top!  I carried Andrew in the backpack until the terrain was too narrow and steep.  Thank you, Elaine, for watching Andrew so that I could join the others at the top.    Otherwise, we hung out and ate very good food!  The carry-out pizza, breakfast at the airport and dinner at the Javelina Cantina were DEE-LISH!  Once again, being surrounded by family made each moment more enjoyable.

Our last night, we stayed in Phoenix.  We helped Marty celebrate his birthday and had another wonderful meal.  That was one amazing trip!  Thank you everyone for all the wonderful memories!!!

Happy Birthday Brian!!!

Brian turns 35 today so I thought I'd put him in the spotlight!  He is truly an amazing man and as the years go by I grow to love him more and more.  He means more to me than words could say, but I'll try to put some words down to describe how I feel.  Seeing him with Christopher and Andrew is truly priceless.  He is an awesome, hands-on dad.  Another thing that stands out about him is that he ALWAYS puts others before himself and nothing makes him happier than to be able help someone.  Words I'd use to describe him are: spiritual, intelligent, athletic, handsome:), organized(way more than me), dedicated, funny, fun......

The list goes on and on.  Brian, I feel very blessed to have you in my life.  Thank you for everything.  Happy Birthday!

Love always,

Tracy:-)

Here are some of my favorite pictures of him over the past few years.

Our Beach Trip(June 7th-13th)!

We had a very fun and RELAXING time at the beach.  We stayed at Marriott's OceanWatch in the Grande Dunes area of Myrtle Beach.   Our nephew Kenny joined us for the week!  We loved having him with us!  

We didn't have any "scheduled" time for the entire week, except for Brian and Kenny's tee time one morning.  The majority of our time was spent on the resort, but we did do a few things around town.  We went to see the movie Kung Fu Panda, walked around at Boardwalk on the Beach, and ate out for dinner one evening.  We usually ate breakfast and dinner in our villa, and packed a lunch to have at the beach or pool.  It has always been a challenge to get Andrew to eat enough food, but while we were on the beach he ate a lot!   Andrew also took a nap almost everyday right on the beach.  Christopher rarely left the water, but he did get a nap in one day.   The resort had many activities going on through out each day.  Kenny enjoyed playing in a couple Texas Hold'em tournaments.  Christopher and Andrew liked the pool games and loved playing in the gigantic outdoor play area.  Spending so much time together as a family was amazing!  We are already looking forward to next year! 

Watching Brian play volleyball!

The boys and I were able to make it out to see Brian play volleyball the other night.  I have always loved watching him play.  Christopher thought it was awesome!  Andrew didn't care about the game and had a hard time understanding that he couldn't just run out on the court when he wanted his daddy.  I was able to keep Andrew occupied, snap some pictures and watch most of the game!

June is here!

Mom & Dad Ellis drove to our place Tuesday morning as they were catching a flight to Connecticut that afternoon.   As soon as they were in the door, the boys headed for their books. Christopher proudly read to Grandpa while Andrew excitedly brought one of his library books to Grandma.

It just happened to be Andrew's "Show Week" at The Little Gym.  He was proud to have Mommy, Daddy, Christopher, Grandma & Grandpa in the audience!

Where did May go???

The month of May flew by.  Here are some highlights!

Mother's Day!  I woke up in our tent with my three guys around me and sound of gentle rain falling on our tent.  Absolute bliss!  I sat up and Brian had homemade(my favorite) mother's day cards laid out at the end of my sleeping bag.  Awwwwww!   We packed up our campsite in the rain, came home, showered and headed to Sumter to surprise Mom Ellis.  We had a short but wonderful visit! 

Christopher's last day of school!!

Here he is with his best friend Andrew.

Matt on the left and Harrison on the right.  They sat at the same table for the second half of the year.  They call themselves the "the green table guys." Christopher just had them over on Wednesday.  They REALLY missed each other!!  It was fun to see them play.

A good friend Emma.  

His teacher Mrs. Mullinax.

The teacher's assistant, Mrs. Williams.  Christopher has brought her name up a few times since the last day of school.  He really misses her. 

Play Doh!!  One of Andrew's favorite things in life!  Christopher called me over to show me what he had made.  It's a computer!  Complete with keyboard, monitor and mouse!!

A little fun with cake batter!!

Andrew is potty training!!!  It's been a week now and he is doing fantastic!  Way to go BIG BOY!!

Our first family camping adventure!

We went camping with the O'Reilly's and O'Donnell's a few weekends ago.  What a blast!!  All of our families have two boys that are the same age.  Fun was had by all!
Some of the pictures appear grainy in the slideshow. I'm not sure why, but enjoy!

Catching up - once again!

When we got back from Wisconsin, I was delighted that some of our tulips were still blooming.  Then came the azaleas!