Preslee's 1st trip to Destin

We went to Destin with my parents for a week at the end of May! Romeo was scheduled to spend the week at doggie daycare but we decided at the last minute to just take him with us! I am so glad we did. He is a perfect car rider and we all really enjoyed having him with us! 

He kept Preslee company in the back! :)

He didn't get a seat but Matt made sure his bed fit in the back so that he could rest!

We didn't spend near as much time at the beach as I normally do but it was so fun to have baby girl with us! It's just hard to spend time outside during nap time so we tried to go out in between then go back in so she could sleep in the cool condo!

Little baby shark loved the pool! 

And she is obsessed with a water bottle! 

She got to do many fun things like ride on luggage carts...

swim for the first time...

feel the sand for the first time...

Eat at Bubba Gump restaurant and many other yummy seafood favorites...

And spent lots of wonderful quality time with Nanny and Pop! 

We made great memories on Preslee's first of many trips to Destin! 

Labor Day weekend.

My mom is from TN and most of her family still lives there. I was so excited to go visit my cousins in Tennessee for Labor day! Mom and I planned a trip together so we could go meet our new baby cousin. My mom and her first cousin Deborah are very close. Deb has 2 daughters, Leah and Valerie, so its so much fun for all of us girls to get to hang out! We ate good food, shopped and spent great quality time together!

Friday night, we made it to town for my cousin Allison's 13th birthday! Her 2 week old baby brother, Jackson was my main focus of the weekend! :)

Leah with her sweet little family! This has been a big month for Leah... She turns 30, her daughter turned 13 and she has a newborn! Boy does she have her hands full! :)

All of Allison's friends at the party! I would say she is a pretty popular girl!

Cute surf board cake! It wasn't a Rick's cake but it was delicious!

Birthday princess blowing out her candles!

Jackson Drew Hooper was born on August 19th. He is absolutely precious! I was so happy to spend 3 days with this sweet baby and get to change him, get spit-upped on, hold and love on him!

Pure sweetness.

Big sister and baby brother at lunch on Saturday!

Mom and Deborah after lunch. We ate at a diner that served grilled cheese with bacon and tomato! They were absolutely delicious!

This is sweet Peyton Arnold! He is a very good friend with my cousins. Peyton was diagnosed with Leukemia in Feb. 09. I have followed his journey and have empathized with him and his family going through his rough battle. Leah kept me up to date and I was so glad to meet him and get to hug his neck! At Allison's birthday party, he was there with a mop of hair on his head. They were teasing him about needing a haircut. So I volunteered to cut it! I knew that he was very attached to his hair since it came back but he did need a cut! :) He was so so so funny and has the best attitude! He came over on Sunday and we got him cleaned up! I hope that I get to see him again and that he will be feeling even better! I hate seeing kids go through such a horrible sickness. If you will, please pray for this sweet boy to have a full recovery! Click HERE to read his CaringBridge site!

On Monday, Mom and I went to visit my grandpa! We had dinner with Papaw, his wife Mary Jo, my uncle, aunt and cousin Shawn! We had a great steak dinner and enjoyed seeing each other!

Before we left TN on Tuesday, we went to put these beautiful flowers on my Nanny's grave! We don't always go to the cemetery when we are there because we really don't feel like she is there but we always want her grave to have the prettiest flowers! I can't believe she has been gone almost 11 years! We still miss her everyday!

I am so thankful for my family and getting to spend time with loved ones that I don't get to see enough! Hope everyone had a great Labor day weekend!

5 years ago...

...I had just graduated from OBU and was about to start beauty school. And my family took a summer trip to MAUI, HAWAII! I had been once before, but this time was special because Matt came along with us!

We had been dating for almost 5 years, and had been long distance for last 2 years. I knew that we would be getting engaged soon, but I DID NOT know it was going to be on the 4th of July!

We were at a luau with my family when the fireworks started. We walked down to the beach to get a closer view and the next thing I know...Matt is down on one knee!! My parents were about 20 feet away and I am SO thankful they were there to capture these priceless photos!

I remember thinking that I was just dreaming or maybe he was just playing a joke on me. I was so shocked! I am not a crier but as soon as he was on his knee, I was crying! It was so dark I couldn't even see the ring but I of course said YES!!

I love this man more than ever! He has been such a HUGE support for me the past year. Matt is truly my best friend and I can't imagine spending a single day of my life without him!

The 4th of July has always been a favorite holiday of mine and it will forever now hold a very special memory! Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Independence day!

White River Cabin

We had a great Memorial Day weekend with Matt's mom's side of the family on the White River! It took us about 3.5 hours and was literally in the middle of no where!!!! But we finally got there and it was really fun!

Beautiful view of the river from the cabin deck.

Matt's uncle and aunt built this cute cabin a couple of years ago! It's precious!

Romeo LOVED being outside and seeing all his family!

Matt's aunt decorated the cabin with all kinds of stuff from flea markets.

Master bedroom with dogs, Skip and Sissy resting in the cool air! :) That is the biggest round bed you have ever seen! Very cool!

Master bath

Guest room. I loved the awnings over the beds!

Guest bath was really cute too!

The comfy bunks that Jeni and I slept on! :)

My sweet boy Romeo was so good even though he had to be on a chain or leash the whole time we were there!

This cracked me up! There was no phone signal at the cabin but we still all had our phones out just in case! We are pitiful! :)

It was so good to see these girls!

Chelsey (Andy's girlfriend), Jeni (Matt's cousin)

We don't know why but Romeo kept standing on the ice chest! He cracks me up!

Jeni with Sissy in bed! This dog is so sweet and lazy and loves to cuddle!

Andy and Romeo on the hanging bed under the cabin!

Lisa with her boys!

Saturday night we went out for a catfish dinner in Mountain View, AR!

Then we headed to the town square for "Picken & Grinnen"! It was a sight to see! I have been to many of these types of places with my grandpa who used to play the fiddle in a bluegrass band. But tons of little jamming bands just sit around playing music. I think they do this most weekends when the weather is nice!

These are some performers that put on a show there in Mountain View. Like I said... it was a sight to see! :)

Group shot before we all headed home!

Hope everyone in blog-land had a great weekend!