Dayton

Before we arrived in Memphis, me and the kids made a week-long visit to Dayton to see Jason's mom and grandparents.  While we were there we also got to see a few of our friends that live there too!  It was a great week!  The only thing missing was daddy.  He had to go on to Memphis for some job interviews.  But we were so glad and thankful to have gotten to spend a week with Grandmaw!  I am SO thankful for the relationship I have with my mother-in-law and I can't wait til we can go visit again!  Here are a few pics of the kids from our stay...

Sporting their new outfits from Grandmaw...

One day the kids pretended each room of the house was a different fast food restaurant. Lily made signs for all the doors.  Can you guess which fast food place this is?  :)

One day we went and had lunch at my friend Jill's house.  Jill is actually the person who introduced Jason and I in college!  The kiddos had a blast playing at Jill's with her little boy Anthony.  And of course the trampoline was a hit!

My boys...

I got to eat at my most favorite restaurant...Jacob Myers.  They have THE best kettle cooked chips you'll ever eat.  Ever.

The first summer we lived in Dayton (about 3 years ago) we purchased some land there at an auction.  Several months ago we decided to sell that land.  It was a beautiful lot, but we just don't really have use for it anymore.  When I went to visit it was a little hard seeing this adorable new house sitting on our land!! 





So...the stay was great!  And now, being that it's been almost 2 months since we've been, I'm ready to go back!  We are having a ball here in Memphis, but I am always missing our Dayton family as well!  Even though I grew up here, I can't get over how much Dayton feels like home to me too! 

Tennessee Christmas

Christmas in February?  I think so.  So for Christmas this year we took a trek down to Tennessee.  We left early Christmas morning and headed to Dayton to see Jason's family (minus Molly and Mike...we missed you guys!).  Jason's brother and his family were in from Georgia (close to Savannah), so we got to visit with them as well!  We hadn't seen them in just over a year, so it was long overdue and we had such a good time!!  Here's a few pics of everyone opening presents...

 For the first time in our 8 years of marriage, we are at least an hour from a Sonic.  We may have never lived close to a Chick-fil-A, but we have ALWAYS had a Sonic within a few minutes.  So each time we go to Tennessee, Sonic (along with Chick-fil-A of course) is a must!  Peyton is trying his very best to get his first introduction to Sonic...

 So we stayed in Dayton from Christmas evening (Tuesday) until Friday morning.  And on Friday morning, we headed to Memphis to see my family.  My one sister and her family live in Memphis, and my other sister was able to come in from Charleston, SC.  It was so much fun visiting with everyone there too!  And of course we had more presents to open...

We stayed in Memphis from Friday evening until Monday morning.  Then Monday morning we headed back to Dayton, spent Monday night there, and headed back to Maryland on Tuesday.  I think in the span of that week (Tuesday to Tuesday) we drove over 2,000 miles.  It was a long trip, and we only got a couple of days with each family, but it was so worth it.  Our kids had an absolute blast with all their cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles; and Jason and I had a blast with everyone as well.  And Peyton...wow...for a 4 month old baby to travel 2,000 miles in a week, he sure didn't cry very much at all!  Of course at each destination, he had PLENTY of people who wanted to hold him, so he rarely was put down.  Each time I think about that trip it just brings warm feelings to my heart.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful families that we love spending time with!!  I can't wait til next time we are all together again!!

Still Here!

Hello friends! I haven't forgotten about the blog, it's just honestly the last priority on my long list right now. We have moved and are still getting settled. It's taken a little longer than normal because Jason was the best man in a very close friend's wedding in Memphis last Saturday. So yes, after moving, Jason, our 3 kiddos and my very pregnant self somehow managed to rummage through our stuff and pack up for a very long trek to Tennessee. It was so worth it though to see our dear friend Airton marry a wonderful lady! We sure wish Airton and Tiare the best! And I'd be lying if I didn't say there was most definitely another reason I was not going to miss that wedding....it was sooooo wonderful visiting with our families briefly as well. It was too short, but still so wonderful seeing them. We miss them all dearly. Anyway...pictures to come of the trip and the house. Meanwhile, I only have 4 more weeks to get this house perfect before the baby comes! I think I can, I think I can...(I really do think it won't be a problem)....as long as this little angel stays put til I'm ready for him. :) Hopefully soon I can update better with pictures and such. Until then, enjoy the rest of the summer!!

My Dayton Top 10!!

I've been thinking a lot about all the different places here that I'm going to miss when we move. So, here are my 10 favorite places unique to Dayton (and yes...quite a few of these are resturants) :)......

They have THE best tomato casserole I've ever had. Well actually, that's the only place I've ever had tomato casserole. Anyway...it's sooo good!

I have had a lot of different people cut my hair over the years. Cherri here at Dayton Styling Center is one of my favorites! She has curly hair too, so she knows just how to cut it!

It's an antique store, and they have the cutest tea cups, tea pots, and other antiques. I could spend a fortune in there.

We love our little trips to the library. :)

This is a coffee shop here in Dayton, and the man who owns it is a christian. He is super nice. Me and my college buddy (but she's not in college anymore....or in Dayton anymore) used to have weekly dates here. They have very very yummy coffee and specialty drinks. And I've recently started buying their coffee to brew at home. YUM...I may have to stock up on that when I visit!

This is my favorite Mexican place in town. They have the best chicken fajita nachos!

This is our Chinese resturant. The parents' of one of our youth owns this resturant. It is sooo good. And they've recently starting serving hibachi....I love me some hibachi chicken and veggies!

This, of course, is our church. We have had some good memories here. I know I've said it before...but the teenagers here are AWESOME....and there are others we've met here that we will never forget and will miss greatly!

This....would be where Lily takes ballet. I am in love with Christian Ballet. I could sit and watch the whole 2+ hour recital video over and over again. Of course, I love watching Lily the most; but I also love watching the other routines! They have some very talented ballerinas AND they do ALL their routines to christian music!! I just love it! Have I said how much I love it yet?

And, lastly, but most certainly NOT least....is my favorite resturant. Jacob Myers started out as a little deli downtown. And maybe a year ago-ish, they moved across the highway to a building on the little river. And then......oh my word. They have THE best kettle cooked chips, the best wraps, the best desserts, great french fries, wonderful sandwiches, awesome dinner entrees....you get the picture. They are GREAT! And they are only in Dayton, Tennessee. Sad. I will miss them (just a little). :)

So, there you have it. My top 10 Dayton places. (Because I know you were just dying to know!) :)

Backpacking Trip

Well I am finally getting to blog about the most awesome backpacking trip that we took with some of Jason's family. It was so much fun. There is this little place right here in Dayton called Pocket Wilderness. There are all kinds of trails, a couple of campsites, and some waterfalls.....it's beautiful. It's quite a shame that we really don't go up there more, but I think after this little trip we will most definitely be going more often. Here's the group of us that set out to go...The man on the far left is Jason's dad's cousin (his son in front of him). The two couples in the middle are 2 of Jason's uncles(Scott and Steve) and their wives (Diana and Angie)...and of course our family. Although Austin did not go with us. We really wanted to take him, but it was about a 2 mile hike in, so we felt that even taking Lily may have been pushing it (since she often still enjoys being carried herself). Here's the 4 of us getting ready to begin our hike.

Taking a break....notice the double hats and sunglasses on Jason's head...

Me and my little boy...

Anyway....I've been backpacking before, but never on an overnight trip. It was quite different trying to pack everything we'll need for overnight...and for 2 kids....in a backpack. Especially when we didn't have all the cool lightweight stuff that Uncle Steve and Aunt Angie had. But it was a lot of fun hiking in there and getting all set up and cutting our own firewood...

...and swimming in the creek...

...and cooking our dehydrated dinners (which were suprisingly tasty) over the little propane stove that Uncle Stevie brought. (There are no pictures of the marshmellow roasting and smore making, but we MOST definitely made room for that stuff in the backpacks).

And Daniel pretty much adored Uncle Stevie the whole trip. I loved the picture above of him b/c this is literally about as far as he ever got from him...plus he rarely took his eyes off him. We also popped some very yummy popcorn over the little stove. Then the kids took the bag around to let everyone get a handful.

This little lightweight hammock was one of the really cool things that Aunt Angie brought and I think she definitely agrees it was WELL-worth the 3 lbs. that it added to her bag. Uncle Steve and the kids (esp. Daniel) spent most of the evening in it.

And this....would be the little tent that we decided to bring with us backpacking. "Oh...it will be so much lighter than our 4 person tent," my husband tells me. Well....there's a reason for that....its TINY!! To his defense, we didn't know Lily was going to join us on the trip til last minute. And it was funny because we did have to sleep rather close and at one point Lily said, "Mommy turn on the air!" But, hey...it was just one night! And it really would have been harder to carry the bigger tent.

Gathered around talking before bed...

And here we are the next morning getting ready to head out! There is smoke blowing in front of us; and Lily is saying "Ow" in the picture since she touched a piece of wood from the fire.

And here we are headed out. That would be my pack that I carried...the sleeping bag hanging from the bottom. And Lily about carried that bag of peanuts the whole way out too.

All in all, it was SOO much fun. The kids weren't ready to leave. So later that week we actually ended up driving to a little campsite and taking Austin with us. They definitely enjoyed that a little more....just the whole idea of camping without walking....and getting to sleep in a 2 room tent verses a 2 person tent. :) Yay for camping!!