Happy Birthday Stacy!

Today is my sister's 30th birthday, and I just wanted to give a shout out for her birthday! It's nice to have another person added to the ranks of thirty-somethings. She's a great sister, friend, wife and mom, and she deserves to be celebrated! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIS!!!

More fishin'

Last night Bradley & I sat out back and watched John & Henry do some more fishing. My sister, Jessica, has been heckling me about this, but we are enjoying the outdoors so much!


(don't let the waves fool you. we live on a river not the ocean. these waves are from a boat's wake.

hey, look what Henry caught!

Thank you "Nother Beach"

Virginia Beach is about a half hour drive from our house which is great considering it took us 10 hours to get to a beach from Memphis. But still, half an hour is a bit far to drive for a morning beach trip with 2 kids, a lunch and plans to come home for a nap. So, we found another beach in Norfolk which is less than 10 minutes from our house on the Chesapeake Bay. It's called Ocean View and is just like a beach with much smaller waves. Here's some pics of the kids there last week:

Henry embraces sand and waves which is quite contrary to his picky personality. He asks to go EVERYDAY and when there, you will find him rolling in the sand, jumping the waves, and having a grand ole time. Bradley, on the other hand, is VERY afraid of the water and clings on to me for dear life when a wave seems to be approaching her within a 2 foot radius. This is also quite contrary to her fearless, nature-lovin' personality. At the beach, you will find her dippy her dainty fingers in a bucket of clean, ocean water, bundled up in a blanket in the stroller or clinging on to me for dear life. We visited VA Beach 2 weeks ago which has much bigger waves, and I thought she might choke the life out of me from fear. She enjoys Ocean View much more because the waves are almost non-existent which is actually great for little kids who love the ocean but can't handle the undertow and waves yet. Every night when we say our prayers she wants me to "thank God nother beach" which means to thank you God for the other beach -- the one with the smaller waves.

Crabbing

To immerse ourselves fully into coastal living, we decided to try crabbing this weekend. We heard from neighbors that you can catch a dozen crabs easy, and that information sent our mouths watering. So, we purchased a crab pot, stuffed it with some sort of oily fish, and tossed it into the water. This was much more gratifiying than fishing for me because you don't have to stand there all day AND you get a feast at the end!! The kids loved watching John reel in the crab pot to see if we had caught any crabs. We didn't catch as many as our neighbors had bragged, but had enough for dinner last night. Mmmmmmm, fresh crabs!!!!

John bringing up the crab pot:

Henry and the prisoner:

Henry watching dinner get cleaned up. I kinda felt sorry for the little guys climbing around knowing this was their last moment on earth before they hit a boiling pot:

We didn't get any pictures of the final product. We were too hungry! They were yummy and oh-so-fresh.

Top 10 List

Words cannot express how thrilled we are to be back in the Commonwealth!!! Not only that, but how ecstatic we are to be in this awesome house on the river. It is a must see, so please put us on your vacation calendar now! I have been mentally composing a list of the top 10 things that I love about our life now. Here goes (in no particular order):

1. Our house has a clothesline which currently holds articles of wet, flapping clothing right now!

2. I hear sea gulls in the parking lot at the grocery store.

3. Cashiers and other service industry workers are knowledgeable and KIND!

4. John comes home happy from work at 5 o'clock every day AND has no call during the week!!!!

5. We eat every meal and spend most of our at home time watching the peaceful river which flows past our house in the backyard.

6. Our dear family and friends are SO CLOSE! See pics of our first visitors below!

7. There are so many things to do! Fish off the backyard, short drive to the beach, playgrounds galore around us, day trips to see family, etc.

8. Our kitchen.

9. Breezes - even though it is July hot, there is always a nice ocean breeze blowing which makes any day bearable.

10. Our backyard, our backyard, our backyard!

John & Henry fishing in the backyard:

Henry catches his first fish!!

Daniel & Ashley, the newlyweds, came for a visit this weekend:

The view from our back room (sigh. . . . ):

So long Memphis

We left Memphis at 4:45 a.m. last Sunday and left behind 5 great years. We have wonderfully fond memories of happenings in that town -- our two children were born there, we survived the haze of residency, we made some incredible friends and watched our children make wonderful friends as well. Driving away I felt very nostalgic about our time in Memphis. Though we are very excited about what lies ahead, there was a grieving for what we have left behind. Sweet friends, familiar places, the only surroundings our kids have ever known, the warm hospitality of the South are just a few. I had about 14 hours to ponder on our drive to VA and to thank God for sheltering us, providing for us, loving us and giving us the strength to get through the rough times.

Here are some pictures from our last few days in Memphis:

Packing the car for the umpteenth time. John has the strongest back of any human I know. He almost single handedly packed and unpacked our moving truck. WHEW!

Some of my mommy friends gathered for a going away dinner. (sniff, sniff)

At the graduation dinner where John received his diploma for finishing residency. John did an OUTSTANDING job!

Hail to the graduating chiefs!