east tennessians

 

Saying "goodbye" to our Memphis house.  I didn't really get to say goodbye to our house.  Asher woke up early and once he was fed we had to hit to road to get in as much drive/sleep time as possible.  I will forever love that house because it is full of our love, laughter and tears.  It was the home we brought Asher home to and because of that it will forever be a favorite.

Now we are offically East Tennessians again.  We love being so close to our friends and family but man do we miss our Memphis friends.  

st. patrick's day at the zoo

We spent our St. Patrick's Day with friends and zoo animals. It was a beautiful perfect day for strolling around the zoo and laughing with friends. I cannot tell you how much I'm going to miss our Memphis family when we move. I'm going to be an ugly mess. Let's not talk about it. Back to the zoo...

Where to go first? Let me jump into the map and see.

(Any FRIENDS fans out there??)

In the beginning, Asher man wasn't too excited about all of the animals.

Aven, Asher and Kate. The monkeys must not have been too entertaining to them. They didn't wake up to see them.

Now we have eyes!

Asher and Daddy

Asher's Daddy loves him an unbelievable amount.

Julie & Kate, Lauren & Aven, Asher & Me

Daddies and their babies

Hello giraffes.

Charles and his mini-me, Kate.

She looks so much like her Daddy. It's adorable!

My favorite little boy.

Hippos didn't impress our little man.

Trav was suppose to be taking a picture of all of the girls and their babies. This is the picture he took instead.

Taking a break for some Dippin' Dots. Yum.

We love our life with this boy.

Taking a break to feed the babies.

Panda.

The Puryears

Elephant exhibit.

Travis cannot wait to take his little man hunting.

The Trammells

We loved showing Asher all of the different animals. He slept for about the first 20-30 minutes after that he was wide awake and taking it all in.

Lauren and Miss Aven.

Aven turns 1 next month. Time flies by way too fast.

Love, love, love these people.

"Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety."

Proverbs 11:14

memphis shower

Last weekend we celebrated our upcoming bundle of joy with some of our closest friends in Memphis. Travis and I have met wonderful people while living in Memphis. These past 3.5 years have been great because of the friends we have made. I know without a doubt that we will remain close friends even when we all go our separate ways here in a few short months.

The Trammells hosted a joint shower at their house and it was perfect. All of our Memphis friends were there and the love for Asher and Kate was overflowing.

Lauren got crafty and made these wreaths. You will be seeing mine hanging on Asher's door.

Delicious food and pretty, too!

Julie and I let the boys have all the fun! They opened every present. At first I think they were kinda hesitant but I believe they really enjoyed it...

Some of the guests.

Julie, Charles and Kate (in her belly).

Kate will be here any day!!

JB and Audrey

These two have shown us ways we want to raise our children without even knowing it.

Being silly with our bellys. You can hardly see skinny minny Courtney behind our growing bellys.

Most of the girls.

Kyle and Myself

The McShans

I'm so glad that Summer and Mike came to town to celebrate with us. They got the chance to meet all the people we talk about and love in Memphis. We loved having them in Memphis for the weekend. I miss seeing my sister like crazy!! We hung out all weekend and had some much needed sister time!

Claire and Emily, dental school friends. Thanks girls for celebrating with us!

Brent with the Trammells (our wonderful hosts).

Crossville's finest.

Asher's Aunt Sum!

Audrey, Courtney and Kirsten.

Trav told me to hold up a #1, I thought everyone was making a silly face. Oh well..

Much better!

To all of our friends, thank you so much for a great night and all of the sweet things for Asher! He is such a lucky little boy. We will never let him forget how much he is loved. Thanks for being our "family" of friends. We love every one of you.

"But if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7

labor day weekend in east tennessee..

We spent a wonderful relaxing Labor Day weekend in East Tennessee. The best part...we were surrounded by family and friends.

We decided last year that we were going to go somewhere for Trav's 30th birthday. Take a trip for "Pa". =) Travis turns 30 on September 19. What better time to take a trip for his birthday than over Labor Day weekend?

Late Friday, we packed the car to the top and hit the road making our way to my parent's house.

On Saturday, my Mom mom made us a delicious breakfast. We felt like we were in a bed-in-breakfast! She's the best. Later that morning, my Aunt Netta and Uncle John John came over by boat. They took us on a boat ride.

Trav and Kyle jumped off the boat for a quick swim.

Looking a little windblown after our ride.

Thanks Captain John for our boat ride!! We will send your tip by mail. =)

Later that afternoon, the boys got all dressed in orange and headed to Knoxville to cheer on the VOLS. I was so glad to see Chip in UT orange. He's an Ole Miss Rebel so UT orange is a change for him. He was a great "Vol" for the day.

Never a dull moment.

Lookin' good fellas.

The boys are so fresh and clean and the girls are still a little dirty. Who cares?! We still took a group picture.

While the boys about melted in the hot sun at Neyland Stadium, the girls did what girls do best. Shop. I took them to Turkey Creek. A girl's heaven on Earth place to shop. It has all the shops and restaurants you could ever need.

Cleaned-up and ready to spend some money.

(my belly looks enormous in the picture. bad angle. ha)

Sunday (after another delicious breakfast by my Mom) was spent on the lake.

Kyle ready to ski.

All the boys took a turn I just forgot to snap a picture. They all had jello legs that night.

Chatting with my Momma.

My cousins were also in town this weekend. They came over and enjoyed the lake with us on Sunday.

My dad and Cade pulling Kel on the tube.

Mom and Anna Reese.

Our good friends, Sam and Jill, came down for dinner that night. We really miss being around them. They have the sweetest little babies.

Little Miss Lily is so beautiful and has the cutest personality!

Getting some lovin' from Baby Samuel. He and Asher are going to be BFF.

Trav, Sam (his BFF) and little Samuel.

That's all the pictures I snapped this weekend. I was too busy soaking up my time with wonderful family and friends. We had a great time showing our friends our side of Tennessee. This was our first of many trips together to East Tennessee. We loved every minute of it and cannot wait for more trips together. Travis and I are so grateful to have such amazing friends in our lives. We feel like they are more like family then friends. Thanks guys for being so great. We love you!

"There are friends who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24