Our actual anniversary - May 28th

So, as I was working on dinner I learned that I can no longer leave Sterling in his swing with out being strapped in : ) He's getting more and more mobile every day!

It was a marvelous evening for dinner on our roof!

Our menu for the evening was:
Grilled Steak
Scalloped Potatoes
Broiled Asparagus and
Home-made Wheat Bread
..accompanied by a wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon - compliments of Miss Robyn!

...And for dessert...
Peach and Blueberry Cobbler with home-made Whipped Cream and Coffee


We had a very enjoyable time sharing our celebration with Rob, Erin and Jackson!!

Memorial Day - May 26th

Our friends (and neighbors) Rob, Erin and Jackson joined us for a wonderful dinner at mom and dads on Memorial Day!

Our 2nd Anniversary!! - May 23rd

I will just start by saying that my dear husband had to be one of the happiest men in the world when he asked if we could take the motorcycle and I said yes : ) !!! It was his turn to plan our anniversary (we trade off planning every other year), so he surprised me with a lovely camping trip! We left Sterling with my parents and headed out on Friday afternoon into southern Pennsylvania.
We had the most wonderful weekend together! It was so sweet and refreshing to just have time to reconnect with each other surrounded by the peace and beauty of God's fabulous creation! We laughed together more that we had in a while! I told Tim it was like we both turned into comedians for a couple days! The greatest story of our weekend was - looking forward to going to bed the first night only to find that our air-mattress had gone flat! It wouldn't have been half so bad had it not been a really cold night and the ground just sucked all the warmth out of us!!! We settled in as best as we could and fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later hoping that it was near morning only to find that it was midnight. Some how that hit my funny bone and the only thing that stopped my laughing was that my dear husband wasn't quite so amused : ) We fell back to sleep only to wake up hourly until dawn. By the second time that we woke up Tim began to see the humor so we laughed till we cried each time we woke up! At some point we scooted as far to one side of the mattress as we could and Tim pulled the rest of it over us for another layer : ) Oh what memories we created!!! My philosophy on things like that is that memories are better made when things don't go quite as planned!

Loaded down and ready to go! Tim managed to fit ALL of our camping gear, food, etc. onto the bike - I was very impressed!

Beautiful drive!


Our first morning - eating oatmeal out of the pan together : )

Tim made a really yummy taco salad for dinner the second day!

My handsome husband!!

My great provider : )

Our little tent.


The Iron-master's Mansion
The park where we camped is the location of the former Pine Grove Furnace, an iron furnace that operated for 131 years. We had a lot of fun exploring the history of our surroundings. The highlight (especially because we just happen to be reading Uncle Tom's Cabin together) was finding out that the Iron-master was part of the Underground Railroad. His mansion had been built with 3 hidden rooms under it and we had the privilege of a personal tour of them.

The round windows were used as signals for approaching refuge seekers.

Just to give you an idea of how small the hidden rooms were...Tim is standing on the ground here.

This is all the further I could stand in the underground room.



Packed up and ready to head home. After having such a great time together it was exciting to anticipate seeing our little man!!!

The Blue Angles show! - May 21st

One of the many fun things about living here in Annapolis is getting to watch the annual Blue Angles show. They put on an amazing show for the Navy's commissioning week every year in May. This was my first year to get to see it as I've been out of town every May since I've lived here! We watched the show from a boat at the mouth of the Severn river and the planes flew right over us! We were afraid that the show would get rained out this year but in the end the weather was nearly perfect - just a bit cold!!

They flew so low you could almost see the pilots!


Sterling was a champ! He napped through the whole thing which was amazing considering that the jets were flying directly over head and were so loud!!!

Sweet Alexia!

Some daddy lovin'!


It's hard to believe that she had gained 8oz by her first week ped. appointment!! She's so tiny and delicate!!


How sweet are they!

My first Mothers Day!!!

How can one ever even begin to put into words the mystery and wonder that it is to be a mom! My eyes fill with tears as I sit here and ponder such a thing. I am overcome with feelings that are far too great to describe... I always wondered if, once I had a child of my own, I would understand in a more real way the sacrifice that it was for God to send His only son to die on the cross for us... On one hand I feel that I can now answer that question with a resounding YES! And on the other hand, now that I have experienced this indescribable depth of feeling for another being - I am that much more certain that the profundity of what HE felt is infinitely beyond our ability to comprehend. My prayer...is for the grace to live life in a way that appreciates that extraordinary sacrifice - made on my behalf so as to make it possible for me to be reconciled to HIM! I stand in awe...

I feel blessed beyond imagination and so privileged to be a mom! It has only been 4 months, yet try as I may, I cannot fathom what life was like without Sterling!


We got to enjoy a wonderful brunch together at one of our favorite restaurants in downtown Annapolis! It was a sweet surprise from my mother-in-law. She had called Tim and asked him to take me out as their gift to me (they live in Indiana). What a lovely surprise! I had never had their brunch but had always wished that we could go some day. It was perfect! We got there right as they opened and beat the crowds! Our waitress was sweet, the food was fantastic, and Sterling slept through the entire thing!



After breakfast and church we went to my parents and hung out with my family for the rest of the day. We ate, played a few games...and just enjoyed being together!

May 9th - Cousin Christi's grad party

Congratulations Christi!! We are so proud of you!!
Family gatherings are always a blast! I just hate it that we don't manage to do them more often!! What a blessing though, to have family close by!!
Uncle Ryan and Sterling!

Christi, me and Tim

Pops and Sterling!

Shanny (still pregnant) and Christi in the kitchen.


More of Pops and Sterling : )



Beautiful sisters! - aunt Colleen and my mom

Bath time!!

How is it that cellulite is so darn cute on tiny bodies??