The Outer Banks - A Girls Trip!

During this past month, two very good friends of mine from St. Louis came out for a visit while we were staying in North Carolina.  We decided to take a girl's trip and stay at a hotel for the weekend in the Outer Banks. (YES! I got some much needed GIRL TIME! WAHOO!) 

We saw this gorgeous field of lovely yellow flowers during our road trip to the coast...

Our hotel was right on the beach. We woke up the first morning to this beautiful sunrise view!

As you may notice, these pictures are spectacular and very high quality!! I cannot take any credit...I am so blessed that my friend Caroline is a professional photographer.  She has such an incredible talent! I am amazed with her ability to capture life's moments so perfectly! Instead of sleeping in, we all woke up early to catch the sunrise on the beach.  I am SO glad we did and I am grateful Caroline captured it with her camera!

A huge wave snuck up behind me... and yes...that water was COLD!

We spent the rest of the day doing a lot of sight seeing.  Alan and the boys drove out later in the day to join us as well. (More on that in the next post!)

Bodie Lighthouse

Katie's birthday was coming up, so we celebrated early with a special dinner at a nice local Japanese restaurant. Caroline convinced us both to try sushi for the first time! Yes- I actually ate it! (I know my family and friends probably just fainted after they read this! They know me and my picky food issues!)

Here I go..

Mmm..interesting texture...

So- it wasn't so bad after all! I didn't even gag or get sick! HA! But- I did decide to stick with my grilled chicken dish for dinner :)

After dinner, Caroline grabbed her camera, and we hurried off to the beach before dark for a photo shoot! Have I mentioned yet how cool it is to have a professional photographer for a friend?!?!? 

We also had to take a picture of our newly painted toes in the sand of course:)

Katie and Caroline, THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking the time to come out to visit me! I am so grateful for wonderful friends like you! Love and miss you ladies!!

Blessings to you and yours,

Jill:)

P.S. If you ever need a very talented photographer and you are in the St. Louis area, look up my friend Caroline with A Better Story Photography! She donates a percentage of every sale to Sparrow Ministries, a ministry that provides assistance to adoptive families!! (She didn't ask for this advertisement on my blog...I just thought I would pass it along:)

Happy 4th Birthday Joshua!

I cannot believe how time flies!!!!  A few weeks ago our youngest son turned FOUR! The baby in the family is not a baby anymore! Even Joshua will tell you that he is definitely a big boy now!!!  The day after his birthday he said, "Mom, am I going to be 3 again?" I reassured him that he would never be 3 years old again! He was a big 4 year old boy now:)

For every birthday, the boys love to decorate the house (and now our RV) with streamers, balloons, and signs.  Our tradition is for the birthday boy to pick his favorite activities and meals (one meal can be out to eat at a restaurant). And- they get the day off of school! YAY!  Joshua started off his morning with a yummy breakfast cereal treat and opening presents.  The boys gave him a giant coloring book and crayons, a miniature construction set, and bubbles.  We gave him a new Children's Bible as well.

After opening presents and eating breakfast, Joshua wanted to play outside with his new construction trucks.  He has always LOVED digging in the dirt! He was so happy to have new toys to dig with!

Then, he tried out his new crayons and giant coloring pages.

For lunch, Joshua wanted to go to McDonalds. But- not just any McDonalds...he really wanted to go to one with a play place. During the week of his birthday, we happened to be staying in a tiny town in North Carolina called Chocowinity (total population is around 800!). The closest McDonalds was around 20 miles away, but the closest with a playplace was around 25 miles away. But- we knew we just had to find the birthday boy what he wanted!!! After seeing his precious smile and excitement after we arrived...well, we all knew it was definitely worth the drive!

For his birthday cake, Joshua wanted strawberry cake with with vanilla icing and sprinkles!

Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday dear Joshua...Happy Birthday to you!

We all loved the cake, but Joshua and Nathanael enjoyed the cake just a little bit more than everyone else:)

Showing some brotherly love...awwww :)

On the way home, Joshua was SO worn out from playing, he fell fast asleep!

That night we continued the celebration with homemade pepperoni rolls and a movie night as a family. Later in the month, Joshua decided he wanted to use his birthday money from all the grandparents and family for a National Zoo Membership. We visited the North Carolina Zoo just this past week and had a wonderful time:) 

Happy Birthday to our amazing, incredible, big FOUR year old boy Joshua! We LOVE you!

Blessings to you and yours,

Jill and the boys:)

Parenting Seminar in Conway, SC and Beautiful Myrtle Beach!

At the beginning of April, we held a seminar at North Conway Baptist Church, which is pretty close to Myrtle Beach.   The city of Conway has a neat little river walk area, so the boys and I explored it one afternoon.  It was a great area for pictures, so I snapped a few photos of the boys...

Although the weather was still pretty chilly, we did take two trips to visit Myrtle Beach anyway! I took the boys one afternoon while Alan was working, and then we visited the beach together as a family another day. It was funny to see some people in their swimsuits, while others were bundled up with sweatshirts! Cold or not, the beach was absolutely beautiful! The sand was perfect for building castles.  The boys had a blast!

Micah spent the whole time digging to make a tunnel and castle...

Nathanael loves to get buried in the sand! I think he has done that almost every beach we have been to!

Looks like all that is left is his head!!!

He also enjoys building sandcastles too...

Joshua loved gathering up water and spilling it out on the beach, over and over...

We found all kinds of cool shells too!

On the afternoon that Alan came with us, it was still in the 50s, but the boys braved the water anyway!

After a quick dip in the freezing water, Caleb decided to snuggle up with Mommy! :)

Myrtle Beach was a family favorite! It would have been nice if it was warmer, but we still enjoyed our time there.  Its funny, we were in Florida for two months when it was mostly 80 degrees every day and yet we only visited the beach one time! It just never worked out because of our schedule or the weather was bad on the days we were available to go.  Oh well! :) We will have plenty of time at the beach as we travel up the coast.  So- how about you...what is your favorite beach??

Blessings to you and yours,

Jill and the boys:)