Haley's Haven

Comments heard during today's Tea Party... After the initial sharp intake of breath as they rounded the corner, "LOOK, ANA!!!" (Keep in mind, I had told them to dress up as best they could.) (Excitedly) "Mom, is this sugar?" "Barley, GET AWAY!" "Oops." "Mmmm." "Can you spread some peanut butter on this please, ma'am?" "Oh no! Gross! Wait, no, it tastes good!" (Referring to a dropping of the cream pitcher, and the mixing of peanut butter and sugar into the "tea" - at this point I felt the tea party was very nearly over...) "Mom, it's ok if we spill stuff, right?" Me: "Now, that's not proper at a Tea Party." (Referring to the tall stacking of the tea cups and saucers, the peanut butter in the tea cups, and the brief spat over not sharing the last of the "tea".) And my favorite: "Hey, Mom, you're our servant."

I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of the girls with Auntie Anne that day at the zoo - it was really too hot to do too much besides look at the animals and jump into any sprinkler we saw, but still! We had fun, and will miss Anne as they move to Austin, TX on Friday... sniff! But we will definitely be visiting. Definitely. And here we are, Matt and I - this past weekend we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. You know, we have been through a lot in 6 years, and I wouldn't trade a second of it. Not a second.

I am a proud mama - so proud that, having taken these pictures a couple of days ago, I feel a frustration that now my veggies are much bigger than this now, and I want the world to know the CURRENT SIZE - but then I realize that no one cares about vegetable growth. Except me. And maybe the girls and Matt. Also, this is the scene from my kitchen window as I cleaned up from dinner the other night - too cute. And, as many of you know, the dog wakes up very very early - I sometimes have 2 1/2 full hours with him before anyone else wakes up. So, this is what Matt saw one morning when he came down the stairs. :)

The girls have loved being around their grandparents for this past week, first here in SC and then on our Maryland trip. We got to go to a little Firemen's Fair type thing while we were up there, which was a big hit!

Uncle Jason married them, in their home church, and the reception was in her parents' backyard - it was so great! They had a casual reception complete with a jumpcastle and various sports, and of course some super delicious food and out of this world dancing. The girls were OBSESSED with Faith - especially Haley, who kept going up to her and bothering her - it was really cute. Another added bonus of our MD trip is that Uncle Mattykins was able to come - the girls are always so funny with him, and he is so good with them - I love to get them together as much as possible. And some of you are wondering how the trip went for us on the way home - here are some photos of the better parts :). For me being alone with the chickadees (Matt had to be in class :( ), everything went really well, and we made it back in time to see Matt for a couple of minutes before he left for his last week at the academy.

Most of these were Haley and Ana's photo taking expertise. Here we are all lounging around in our incredible host and hostess's living room in Maryland. What a wonderful time we had!

These are the only pictures I have so far of Papa and GC's trip - the girls have been LOVING spending time with their grandparents. We got to go to the fireworks in downtown Greenville with them Saturday night when we got back from camping - very nice. Now they are staying here for a couple of days, then we head out to Maryland tomorrow to see the Shelton clan - Cousin Jared is getting hitched - congrats!!! Can't wait to see those guys :). For our first family camping trip we chose to go to a campground instead of trying to find our own site out in the wilderness. I am sure the parents of young children reading will understand this decision. Anyway, we chose Ash Grove - what a GREAT place - we recommend it, definitely. We had a great time and the girls did really well - I have been against camping with them for a while (like, since they were born) because of just the extra work without much of a payoff, but now that they can hike around it is a lot of fun.

a Interestingly named Hooker Falls, this was a fun site - freezing water, lots of interesting people to talk to - fun! Like the beach, except for large rocks at water's edge instead of sand. The Dupont State Forest is new to us - that area of land has only been a state forest for about 8 years I guess, and we haven't been up to Western North Carolina much since I graduated from Clemson.

Campsite shots, last morning - having some oatmeal and getting ready to head out!

this site - these are our friends who recently got to Indonesia - awesome and funny stories, great insight into what it is like to move to a foreign country in order to begin the process of learning the language, building relationships, moving out into a remote tribal location, setting up house (solar, water systems, etc!) hosting dental/doctor visits, teaching literacy, writing a tribal language for the first time, translating the Bible into that language, telling people about Christ and giving people the option to choose Him - people who have never had the opportunity to walk down the street to a Bible teaching church, or send their kids to VBS, or choose which "brand" of church suits them the best - you know what I mean. Pray for them when you think of it.