good to be home! ...finally! :)

I have to say, sleeping & waking up in my own bed last night & this morning felt terrific! After blogging, laundry is one of the first things on my to do lists...probably because I'm so excited about getting to do it! :)

After getting back from vacation late Saturday night, Parker & I took an early morning flight down to Memphis on Sunday & just got back last night. It was so much fun getting to see family again, but we were looking forward to getting home as well!

Here are some fun pictures from our beach trip to Mexico!!!

Where: Riviera Maya, Mexico

Fun excursions: ATV & Wave Runners through the Maroma Jungle, the Chichen Itza & Ik-kil Tour (ancient mayan ruins & a sacred well), Snorkeling in the Caribbean

Things Parker loved: playing in the sand with his sand pail & shovel, going into the ocean with mama & daddy, playing at the kiddy pool & play area with Rassie, the PEOPLE everywhere, the food & of course the airports!!!

We missed: Taylor!!! Wish you could've been there! My little brother is such a hard worker!

Things we will not miss: the humidity in our rooms (no vent fans in the bathrooms)

One huge negative on the trip: my camera was stolen along with my 4 gb memory card that held over 800 pictures from the first 4 days of our vacation...so thankful that Rassie had her camera too, but am missing sooo many of the pictures that I remember taking & being so proud of! Those are memories that I will never be able to get back! :(

Thankful that we were able to go on this trip! Beautiful resort, great food, fun memories made & new things learned! First time any of us had been to Mexico! Let's see...where should we look at for next year? :)

back in the usa!!!

Just flew in from Mexico a couple of hours ago...it was a lot of fun! This is how we feel right now though (see picture above) :) I'm on load number 3 of laundry for the night & am about to hit the sack. I'll share some fun pics & memories from our vacation soon! I'm proud to say we all got great first tans of the summer!

Though it was hard leaving that tropical paradise, I am glad to be back in the states!!

Off to Mexico!!

A few fun things in my bag for Mexico!!!

Baked these yesterday for the goodie bags for when we're on the airplane...of course, Clay & Parker wanted to help!!! Parker had so much fun helping with the cookie cutters!
The cookies were by no means perfect, but they were definitely fun to make!!

Of course, by the time I had put in over 3 hours of prep work baking the cookies, making the icing, etc., that icing was just slapped on!! ha ha!

Clay's surprise goodie bag for the plane!!! I had so much fun putting these together!

Mexico, here we come! :)

the birthday boy!!!

Happy Happy Birthday to my Baby!!!

To the sweetest of sweets, the one who can brighten my day no matter what, the Apple of my Eye, most caring of caring, smarter than the average bear, the one who is always up for adventure & fun, the charmer of charmees, the true love of my life:

I Love you,

Carrie

365 picture of the day

I wanted to share my "picture of the day" from Wednesday with ya'll. This is Parker at his post-op for his tubes. His daddy & I were so proud; he handled the wait time, the tests...everything like a pro!

If you're not familiar with the concept of 365 you should check it out!

It's simple: you take one picture every single day of the year. That one picture should capture the thing you want to remember from that day...whether it's furniture in your home, a first for your child, a birthday, etc. Even if you're not a scrapbooker, you can do this!

Step 1: Snap a picture
Step 2: Print the picture
Step 3: insert picture in album & write a quick blurb about it!

Here are a few more of my recent "pictures of the day" from this month.

Me taking a picture of myself...it's not very often you will find me without this camera in my hands. (I was actually in the middle of doing laundry & any other quick thing I could get done earlier in the week while Parker was napping & ran in to take a quick picture of me doing what I love to do...taking pictures of everyday life!)
Parker on his second day of daycare in the toddler room; he's graduated to the big boy room! (And yes, out of about 12 shots, this was the best I could come up with. He was all over the place with excitement when we pulled up! I can't be sure but I think he was pointing to an airplane or an animal in this picture.)

So now it's your turn! Dust off that camera & get to work. One picture a day....of anything you want it to be about...you'll thank yourself later for taking the time to capture the little everyday moments!

a hiking we will go...

So excited to see this package arrive on Monday! Clay & I decided it was time to invest in a backpack carrier to haul Parker around on some of our hiking adventures this summer! It came just in time!

I don't know who was more excited...Parker or us. As soon as Clay started opening the box, Parker rounded those cute little lips & let out a long "Ooh..." (Although I think Parker was more anxious to play in the big box & the cute little carry-on teddy bear that came with the carrier than the backpack itself.)

As soon as he saw mama & daddy trying the new object on though, he wanted a turn too!
We'll be trying it out next week so we'll let you know how it goes!

playtime at Rassie's

Parker had so much fun playing at Rassie's while mama was in Bermuda! Though I missed him terribly the whole time I was gone, I knew he was in good hands!

Fun things to remember about Parker's trip to MS:
Firsts: watermelon (thank you Mama Sam & Shorty!), black olives & turnip greens

I was amazed when Parker could point to all of the objects & animals on the back of the Little Golden books...he didn't miss a one! He now has started pointing to objects in his other books like butterfly, squirrels, boats, etc. And, when you show him family pictures (even distant relatives) he can almost always pick out everyone in the photo. He didn't really do this before he left for MS but all of a sudden, it's like he can point to almost anything you ask him to point to! It's really cute to see how excited he gets over the littlest things!

Rassie also taught him how to fold his hands for the blessing; so presh!


This album was wrapped & waiting for me when they picked me up from the airport.

Rassie had stayed up late every night putting this scrapbook together so that I would have pictures & memorabilia of his "first trip away from mama & daddy!" It is such a treasure & is now propped on one of Parker's shelves in his room. He likes to get it down & look at it often.

Thank you mama for the perfect gift! I love it! (And Parker loves it too!) :) I know he's already looking forward to his next MS trip to visit some of the grandparents & great-grandparents, great-aunts, uncles, etc. etc. etc. :)

birthday cake & crosses!

Had a fun birthday on Saturday! My mom drove Parker & me to the airport to head back to MN. Parker got so much enjoyment watching our airplane from the window & waving at the people outside! Saturday night, Clay surprised me with a yummy cookies & cream birthday cake. It was sooo good that as of last night I'm sorry to say it's all gone! :) Hey, you only get a birthday cake once a year though, right?

I have to admit, this year, I wasn't too thrilled about turning a year older :)
You know what kinda got me excited about it though?! (Some of you are about to either think I'm pathetic or crazy!) ...when I opened up my inbox & saw like 15 emails from places like Red Lobster, Cold Stone Creamery & Wendy's that were either giving me some free stuff or sending a monster coupon! THAT got me excited! ha ha! If you don't have you & your family members registered on your favorite places' websites you are missing out! Seriously though, you can get some great deals by doing that!

Ok, enough about the birthday deals! I was ecstatic to open up 2 packages that held crosses in them! Thank you Fair & Mama! The ones on the left & the right are new (the picture doesn't capture the true colors & such..sorry!); the large cross in the middle was a wedding gift & I have been wanting to add to it & start a collection ever since! I just think they are so pretty! Each time we sit down to eat dinner at the table, Parker just points at them & starts telling us all about them! Clay & I are both amused by it!

bermuda memories

Here are some more of my favorite memories & pictures from the trip to Bermuda! I can't wait to scrapbook all of the memorabilia in our "Travel" book that Tressa gave us all! (I only had half of one suitcase filled with postcards, vintage stamps, Bermuda brochures & tourist info on the way home) :)

Welcome to Bermuda - sign at airport

Second attempt to land in Bermuda on Thursday...rain + fog + wind = multiple landing attempts

One hour later...driving to Tressa's house...all sun! (While we were there, it did not rain during the day again!)

Speed limit on the island...the island itself is only 22 square miles, but because of the narrow roads, traffic & slow speed limits, it can take hours to get from one side to the other.
Yummy Hagan Daas Ice cream at the dockyard...I actually got chocolate, but Cristie's looked prettier! :)
Watching Rum Cakes being made
Shops at the mall at the Dockyard
This man stands outside the entrance of the Glassworks & Rum Cake shop & wishes people well as he sings some relaxing island songs.
Me standing on Somerset Bridge - thought to be the world's smallest drawbridge
It is opened by hand to allow passage of a sailboat's mast. This famous bridge is featured on their $20 bill.

Yep, that would be my feet covering the entire bridge.
Kyle & Tressa's sweet boys: Drew & Sam

Loved this picture of Sam taken at our cookout at Tressa & Kyle's
An example of what the houses look like on the island; they use bright, cheerful colors for their paint choices!

Carrie, Cristie, Tressa & Tracy at Henry VIII on Friday night. We had so much fun here! The dinner was "in celebration of mine & Cristie's birthdays." When we sat down at our reserved table right across from the piano & saw the "scrolled" menus I knew I was going to like this place. This was by far my favorite dinner while in Bermuda; I ordered Rock Fish (an island favorite) with veggies & pototoes. For dessert, I had strawberries & cream...so scrumptious. The piano man liked the "Minnesota Girls"...I think it was because we requested so many songs & later in the evening Cristie sang karaoke with him. He had an amazing voice though; I could have gone back every night & heard him sing "Everything" by Michael Buble. :)
A view from one spot at the top of Gibbs Lighthouse; I was backed up against the wall for most of these shots. I gladly handed the camera to Tracy so she could take these!


Tressa & Kyle's house (the big one with the pool in the backyard)


Info about Gibbs Lighthouse: "...Gibbs Hill commands a spectacular view to the North over Hamilton Harbour & over the relatively safe southern approach to the island. Nearby, 15 miles of trecherous coral reefs stretch westward."


"Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, in its day state of the art, was the second of its kind ever built in the world. Its erection in 1846 finally provided safe passage through the reefs for ships traveling along the trade route between the old & new world."

We had a great lunch at the lighthouse prior to climbing to the top!


These are pictures from the beach on Saturday morning..one of my favorite outings of the week! Horseshoe Bend was beautiful with crystal clear water, gorgeous beaches & many rocky overlooks!

The sand is actually not like the Florida sand; it's actually made up of broken seashells so it's very fine & pure looking. Downside...good luck getting it off of anything it touches!!

I climbed to the top of this cliff to get a better view of the beach & surrounding area

Carrie & Cristie on the Rockaway ferry

Cristie & I decided on Monday to walk the downtown Bermuda area, do a little shopping & then ride the ferry over to the other side of the island where Tressa would pick us up.

Shot of the downtown walk area - the dock & boats were on the water to our right
Loved the feel of the small downtown shops with the locals; very clean & also very small-town feeling!

Front street - popular street in the downtown area

Carrie & Cristie riding Bermuda public transportation...of course I had to get a picture of it! ha ha! The buses were actually quite nice!

So, we went toad hunting the last night we were there...actually we were in search of the Bermuda tree frogs...they are these tiny little slimy things that make so much noise you would think a giant toad the size of your brother's basketball is going to jump out & croak in your face! I was delighted when we finally found one! Click on the picture for a close-up; it's towards the middle of the picture!!!

bermuda memories: walking the 143 stairs to the top of Gibbs lighthouse, standing with my back pressed firmly to the wall of the lighthouse with my palms sweating while praying I wouldn't be knocked off the edge if a big gust of wind drove by, dinner at Henry VIII, Horseshoe Bend Beach on Saturday, touring downtown Bermuda with Cristie, riding the ferry, the humidity, Spades & Shanghai every day with the girls, Lavendar Cosmos (yummy!), missing my baby & my hubby each moment of every day, walking at the Dockyard & visiting the shops, watching the boats & cruisers come in & sail out, Hagan Daas ice cream, friendship bracelet, the gorgeous bright flowers, large toads, Tracy's humor, finding the tiny Bermuda Tree Frog on our last night & actually getting a good picture of it, toad hunting in the late hours, midnight swim in Tressa's pool, watching the lighthouse come on...looked like sparkling diamonds for the first 15 minutes, trying Bermuda rum cake, seeing Tressa & Kyle's everyday life in Bermuda, standing on the world's smallest drawbridge, reading 3/4 of a book on the airplane, seeing Kyle's office building downtown, & just having good-ole visiting time with my girlfriends!!! Thank you girls for a wonderful time! I can't wait for our next visit together!

nothing like a good book...

Totally into this book right now...my first novel to read in a year and a half...I had already read the first two in this series a few years ago. Each of the three books in the Mark of the Lion series is amazing! Francine Rivers delivers those "heart-racing, tear jerking, sit on the edge of your seat, don't interupt me because I won't acknowledge you" type books. Go pick up a copy of the first book in the series & let me know what you think about it when you're done! What books are you into right now?

tuesday evening

Back from my fabulous trip to Bermuda!
Thank you Tressa for such an amazing girlfriend trip!
Thank you Rassie for playing with Parker while I was away.
And thank you Clay for being such an amazing husband & supporting me in going...and for cleaning the WHOLE house while I was gone--I walked in tonight to a perfectly clean & organized home tonight. I have the best husband in the whole wide world!!!

Headed out before the rooster crows to see my baby boy! It's been too long! Going to hang out with my hubby now for a few minutes before I have to head to bed! I'll post more pictures soon!