Friends along the way. . .

On our way to the cabin, we were able to stop and see some of our bestest friends! First we saw Annamaria and her cutie patootie family.  Baby Sabrina has gotten SO big! She's a doll, and the boys loved playing with her!

Then we trekked onward and stopped in Greensboro, NC, to visit with our friends (and former neighbors,) the Cox family.  We visited the Greensboro Science Center while we were there, and the kids had a great time! They have an aquarium, an animal park, and a museum. There was a LOT to look at! The three Cox littles have gotten BIG and the twins are walking and talking (and Deb definitely has her hands full!)

Whenever Tanner gets out of the bath and has wild hair, he says "My hair is like Reisa's!" Her hair actually is so completely fabulous.  It's hard not to squish it and fluff it all the time!! :) 

the battle in the front yard. . .

things get. . .feisty around our front yard most afternoons.  there are games of Cops and Robbers, Monkey in the Middle, and some sort of football/tackling/wrestling game which may or may not involve a ball.  And there are scooter/bike races, and occasionally baseball played with a pinecone instead of a ball.

Yesterday during the tackling portion of the day (of which Tanner, as you see, has NO fear of diving into) I caught some pictures before the whole thing ended in the inevitable injury and fight over who-caused-what.   And when I made them try to all look at me and smile, it took some effort, but i was able to get a few NICE shots of the boys.  One of them lives next door to us, and the other is down the street (although i think he has status as an honorary-second-child next door.  he's pretty much always there!)

Baby Sabrina

Allow me to introduce you to my new favorite little tiny friend!  This is Sabrina Emerson Shockey, the new baby sister to Jillian and Ava, two of my favorite girly girls on earth!  I am Sabrina's (fairy) godmother, and on December 31st, just a day after returning from North Carolina, we took a whirlwind trip to Lakeland to meet baby Sabrina, catchup with a bunch of friends, and be there for Sabrina's baptism.

I'm seriously obsessed with this baby.  She is a DOLL.  And she looks just like Jilly!  

the kiddos at the church 

the best part. . . sabrina LIKES me! she stopped crying when i held her, because she LIKES me! ;)

me, the boys, and my little girlfriend

Me and B! The grownup Sabrina! (my roomie at flagler!)

the boys, keeping an eye on miss sabrina

love these kiddos!

eating lunch with jilly and daniel (daniel is joy's oldest son)

We have a picture of the four of us, when Jilly and Bryce were babies - at Jillian's baptism, sitting here in this very spot, at AM's parents house. . .let me see if i can find it. . ..

HA! Success. . .check this out - CRAZYPANTS. I can't even BELIEVE it. 

This pic was May of 2005. (gulp. i feel old!)

It had been FAR too long since the four of us girls were in the same place at the same time. It was so bittersweet though, because we only had a few hours together!

Christmas vacation fun!

Lots of fun to be had over Christmas break. . . .

cookie decorating with Bryce and Tanner's pal, Emma.  (Emma has been in B's class since Kindergarten, and we ADORE her. Tanner is quite obsessed with Emma, and she is a super sweet friend.)  They used some serious SUGAR to decorate those cookies!!!!

And while Lizzie was in town, we went to the zoo with her.  Definite highlight of the trip was petting the goats! They are so funny! :) 

It's hard to believe it's almost CHRISTMAS!!!! woohoo!

Annamaria's House (aka Waiting for Baby) and the Cox family

As we started on our trip, our first stop was Annamaria's house in South Carolina, on Sunday evening, but leaving on Monday morning.  Little miss baby #3 was due the week before, but still hadn't made her arrival, and this made me pretty upset with her! ;)

Annamaria was scheduled to be induced on Monday morning, so we added a bit more chaos to her life with our quick visit!  It worked out great though, because since she had to be at the hospital super early, we were there to take the girls to school Monday morning, before we left town.

Here are the kiddos ready for their sleepover. . .

Apparently the three big kids all ended up sleeping on the floor. Except that Bryce ended up coming in to sleep in a twin size bed next to me.

And here they are the next morning! It got chilly outside! I had the daunting task of doing hair for two little girls. . . I'm not exactly practiced in this task, but I was quite proud of myself for pulling together one french braid, and two (only slightly crooked) pigtails.  I had Jillian with us the day that Ava was born, so it was special to have both girls, the morning that the new baby would be born. (The only hitch is that baby Sabrina didn't end up being born until the NEXT morning. . .but we'll pretend!)

After leaving South Carolina, we went to North Carolina and stopped to see our old neighbors, and special friends Johnny and Deb, and their three little cutie patooties. Reisa is totally my BFF. For real. I adore this chicky, and her wild poofy hair!

 We hadn't seen them since the summertime, so the babies (twins who turned 1 a few weeks ago) were a lot bigger than last time we saw them!!!

And then. . . .onward to the cabin, and my parents!

It was a SERIOUSLY whirlwind week!!!! 

Flagler reunion!

Just before we left for North Carolina, we had a whirlwind reunion with some of our fabulous Flagler friends.  Michelle and Karisse converged on Jacksonville for a whole 16 hours, and we packed in as much fun and as little sleep as we could.

First. . .girls night on Friday night! Big thanks to Karisse and her obsession with Instagram and taking pictures with her phone, so I could steal them :)

Michelle, Sarah, Karisse, and I 

Michelle hadn't ever met Tanner - OR Bryce. So clearly, we haven't seen each other in FAR TOO LONG. She lives in Texas, but is now required to come to Jacksonville more often to see me! :)

Barista Eric got everyone going on Saturday morning, making jumbo caffeinated beverages.

And Bryce caused Karisse to fear for her life, with his Nerf gun.

Then, the BIG party began. . .some of our local Flagler friends came for brunch and a MAJOR catch-up session. The weather was perfect for some fabulous photos!

Karisse and Michelle and all the kiddos. . . .

Some things never change. . ..a seriously goofy picture!!!!

Karisse was here with a UHaul, moving things to her new house in DC. (And Michelle was meeting her here to road trip with her.)

Here's a lovely two-photo shot of Eric pretending to be hit by the UHaul. 

 I'm pretty sure Bryce was begging Karisse and Michelle to take him with them. Sorry, no third seat buddy.  From here, Karisse and Michelle proceeded to drive straight through to DC, trying to stay ahead of Hurricane Sandy. They had QUITE an adventure.  And then we left, the next day to go on our own trip!

It was SO SO good to see all my girlfriends!!!! It doesn't matter how many months or years go by, it's always like things haven't changed a bit. (Except for the addition of children, jobs, moves etc!)