Recap of the past few weeks

The other weekend, my mom and I drove to NC to go visit some family. I have not seen my aunt in over 3 years, and the last time I saw my uncle was at my wedding reception (which, of course was kinda busy and whatnot). And my cousins...its been a couple of years for them also! I took a day off of work, and we drove up on Friday. Usually i'm not a huge fan of driving long distances (especially pregnant), but my mom and I had such a great time! We made stops whenever we wanted...took side trips whenever we were intrigued by something...and thanks to Stephen's GPS, Penelope(yes, that's her name) we got there with no problem!

One of our side trips was to the little town where my Grandma used to live. I LOVED this little town when she lived here. It literally is a little "Mayberry" town with a museum, library, and park within one block of my grandma's house. Mom and I wandered around this 'mayberry' and took a little stop by this old train (which was beside the library). I love how it said 'southern' on the side. Yep...its true...I'm Southern.

Unfortunately, my mom has most of the pictures on her camera, since she designated me 'photographer' of the trip, so I don't have any more than that. Then, after leaving Mayberry, we went to my Aunt's house. It was sooo great to get to visit with her and Ken, because I really haven't seen them in over 3 years. Poor Ken had to deal with THREE of the most talkative women on the earth go on and on and on and on for most of the day. (three years is a lot of time and stories to cover! haha) We had so much fun, and had a lot of great food! (which, in my book, means perfection!)

Needless to say, we were exhausted when we got back to the hotel, and pretty much crashed as soon as we got into bed!

The next day, we went to visit my Uncle and cousins. Again, its been a while since i'd seen them! My youngest cousin has recently got engaged and is getting married on New Year's Eve. I guess she's not THAT much younger than me, but it is still so crazy to me to think that she is getting married! I guess I just have her stuck as 'little' Randi in my mind.

AND, I got to meet my cousin's new baby. Can you believe this kid is only 5 months? He is a chunk, and i LOVE it! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see his mama, since she was working, but I was glad that we were able to play with him while she was gone!

(Melissa, me, Randi)
Did I mention that my cousins live in the country. yes...that's one of their many horses. and that's a random Mulberry tree. (which, is actually pretty good)
Sorry for the horrible pictures, but I saw these hanging up at my aunt's house and had to do the whole 'picture of a picture' thing. The one on the Left is my mom. Yes, my MOM. Gorgeous, huh? I absolutely love this picture. Then, on the top right, is the picture of my Granddad and my namesake, Naomi (or Nomi, as we called her). And last, but not least, the bottom right picture is a caricature that my aunt had made for our family a LONG time ago. I love how it depicts everyone with something that was very 'us' at the time. Cara's got a trumpet (and a rat), Heather has her Cello. Mary has her art pad, and me? I'm a mermaid. Come on, you all know you loved 'The Little Mermaid' too!

Then, after a busy week of work, my in laws came to visit! We had the pleasure of having my father and mother-in-law AND my brother and sister-in-law with their two kids come visit! Luckily my BIL who lives here also has a house, so we could fit them all in! We had a great time just hanging out with them, and we even braved the heat at the zoo. It was definitely hot, but it was also fun. Although...for some strange reason, Ryan decided that WALKING back to the botanical gardens where we parked would be faster than walking to the train stop. BAD IDEA. Although distance wise, maybe it was close, he did not take into account that the trek back to the gardens was uphill the entire way. ugh. Well, I guess I have him to thank for my exercise for the day.

Little Sarah, w/ Stephen.


randoms from the day


THEN, if the past two weeks hadn't been crazy enough, we decided to go shopping on Monday for a grill. We found one, and then decided to have a cookout. The on again/off again rain all day didn't stop us. We just moved the grill to the front porch and still had our cookout.

We invited Ryan (the BIL), and our great friends, Sherry and Brent (and baby Peyton), Brad and Lindsey, and Michelle and Travis. It was SO. MUCH. FUN! Although it was the first time Stephen grilled, it went great, and we had Hamburgers, Bratswursts (sp?) and some ribs that Brent had marinated for 3 days. We also had grilled asparagus, salad, corn on the cob, chips, baked beans....and chocolate pie! Needless to say, we were all stuffed by the end of the night.
And we had a great time playing games. (even if the boys tried to cheat....haha)

I'm just so thankful that we have such great friends that we can always guarantee to have a good time with. And lucky for us...they are all in our WARD!
Stephen grilling and some of the guys on the porch. (I wish I would have gotten a picture earlier. We were completely segregated. Boys on porch, girls inside.