Our new yard!!

After much debate between two parties ( to be left nameless) no, it is not Brandon and I... :) we decided to go ahead with tearing up part of our front yard to put in the new drainage system. With no further explantion on why, when, or who was making us do this here are some humours pictures from our adventures that day.. :)
All the many concrete pipes that were needed....weighing in at 7 tons.. notice the wooden crates between each one. The boys.. notice the emphasis on boys put these here as they rolled the pipes off so not to break the pipes.

This big box now sits on the corner in our yard. Thankfully it is underground. :) It is called a junction box. Yes, I learned some things the other day.

This was no job for the not brave at heart. This guys were booking it all day long....after two broken water lines, dealing with poison ivy from another job and the blistering heat they finished up the job!!Ever tried to fix a main water main?

How Aleeza felt about the afternoon!! :) No actually she was quite interested in the whole process. She loves to be outside so all the added excitment was of great joy to her. Isn't she just adorable???

Fun at Kids Planet

This past week has been very busy.I am getting ready to post some posts to prove it and some pictures. I am so thankful to be able to stay at home though and do fun things with Aleeza and help Brandon around the house. The Lord is so good to us.
This past Tuesday we went to Kid's planet with my good friend Cindy and her three kids. We had fun!! Aleeza loves Robert, Beatrice and Eleanor. The Lord has been so good in giving us such good friends. Thank you for the fun time at the park!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Bonnie!!!!!

Have you ever tried to get a one year old to sit still and try to get her to hold a sign for a picture... well here are the series of pictures and how they turned out.... Pretty much it was like... you want me to do what??? Hide behind the paper....read the paper..... sing Happy Birthday... OH JUST SIT HERE AND LOOK PRETTY !!!!!!!We all wish you a Happy Birthday and hope you have a good vacation!!

Take me out to the ball game.....

Last night the HBA of Greenville ( Home builders Association) had a get together at the new Greenville Drive Stadium. Since Brandon is a member we decided it would be fun to go. Neither of us are really into Baseball which was good because Aleeza kept us occupied all night long. She was so funny. She was literally into everything. My purse, the peanuts, the people infront of us, our cokes and whatever else she could find. She thought it was so funny to touch people that were sitting in front of us on the back and then smile and try to talk to them...She was quite the entertainment for a lot of people.. including us!! We had a good night out though. We did not stay to see the whole game because that would have made for a really long evening for her. She did well though!

Aunt Faye visiting

On Wednesday my Aunt Faye came to visit us for lunch. Uncle Erno and Aunt Miriam brought her down. She was here for a week visiting from the hot state of OK. Aleeza was very worn out by the end of lunch.

The new Abbott Builder secretary!!

I am taking over mom!!!!

Where is he??

Aleeza was waiting for her daddy today to come home. We played outside and waited for him. She was sporting her glasses when he got home.. Thanks auntie bon bon!!

A day in the sun!

Aleeza and I had a good day and evening today. We spent the day playing till she was worn out for her nap. After lunch we took a quick little swim.... she had a blast. Her bathing suit says"chillin" and that is what she was doing. She started to take a few more steps today and stood up again all by hersefl. Every day it is a little more.. soon I am sure she will just take off.
Tonight when Brandon got home she got so excited... she is a daddy's girl!!

My princess!!

Caught you!!

Aleeza latest adventure into trouble... when I open the refrigerator she heads straight for the chocolate syrup which is in the bottom of the refrig... if daddy is home he helps her if not she doesn't get any!!! For lunch today we went to the Pavilion and saw some of my kids I used to keep during the summer and at after school. I like going and visiting them. Aleeza had a grand time with all the kids. She loves to be around children. We had enjoyable day!

End of a blessed week!!

We had a wonderful week at NBS!! The Lord really blessed our 6th graders. They were so good all week and really there were no problems.... which is honestly the first year I can ever remember that happening. We had a competion all week and well, much to my dismay I forgot the camera last week. It was a competion between the red team ( Brandon's team) Vs. the green team ( Mr. Houtz team) and well they thought they were going to fix it so it was a tie so neither of them would have to sing and Mr. Giampapa would have to do all the singing if it was tie. Well the wives thought differently... so picture the three of them up in front of the class singing I am little tea pot... I could kick myself for not having the camera!! Oh well, afterwards we all went out for pizza. We were out till about 10:30 so needless to say the little munchkin is still sleeping this morning and it is 8:30!! She did so well all week not getting to bed till about 3 hours past her bedtime every night!! She is a trooper!!
We want to say hi to grandma and hope you are having a good time with the family! We will see you tomorrow night!!

I am so cool!!

We got to run some errands with Daddy this morning and since mommy and daddy had their sun glasses on I figured I would join in!!

My new friends!!!

Yesterday Aunt Judy brought two of her grand daughters over. We had a grand time playing. Natalie and Claire are my new best friends. I enjoyed playing with them. Thanks for coming over girls!!!
We had an enjoyable evening at NBS last night. We are still having a good week. Tonight I will be speaking to the 2nd graders about PNG. That should be fun.
Aleeza recieved her first balloon last night. We stopped by a Mexican rest. on the way to NBS and our waiter gave her a big red balloon. She thought it was great. I was worried about it popping and scaring her but after NBS we got back in the van it was practically "dead" so I threw it away when we got home. Thankfully she is too young too remember.

A busy week

This week has been very busy so I have failed to post for a few days. We have been busy at nights with NBS. This year they split our class up into two groups so we have less 6th graders. This is really nice. Normally we have a few discipline problems but this year we have had absolutely none. They kids are really listening to the word as it is spoke. We had 13 last night.
We are all doing well, and just staying busy with this. Aleeza is still trying to walk but not quite there yet. I am sure it will be soon. She is talking a lot and is an absolute sweety. She has enjoyed having some little"buddies" to play with the past few nights in the nursery. She loves being around other children. She is like her mommy in the social butterfly accpect. Brandon is well and very very busy with work. After this week he will have a few more jobs wrapped up and under his belt so that will be good. Well, I just wanted to let everyone know we were still doing well. Pray for our NBS this week that the Lord will work in the hearts of the children.

Before... and After and wonderful weekend...

This past weekend was very profitable. We were able to accomplish so much in our yard. Our back yard has never seen grass until Saturday.... It is such a treat to open our bedroom blinds and look at green, instead of brown... :) We were still short about 3 palletts of sod so everything is done but one little corner. The pictures do not do our yard justice. It is so beautiful. Brandon did a wonderful job designing the lay out. Our yard has never looked better!!I can plant flowers now and there is plenty of room for Aleeza to play in the yard. Saturday was spent doing the yard. I was able to go out and have a little alone time doing some shopping and stuff. That was very nice. Grandma and Grandpa had Aleeza for the weekend and according to Aleeza they had a lot of fun.
Yesterday was a very enjoyable Sunday. We had lunch at mom and Dad's. Yvonne Mitchell and Mr. and Mrs. Barnet ( some very dear friends) were able to join us for lunch. We had a blessed time. The food was delicious also!!! :)
Last night's message preached from Pastor Minnick was very encouraging. We are glad he is back with us for another week. We decorated our room for NBS last night and that starts this week. This is going to be a very busy week but one that Brandon and I look forward too all year long!

Get er' done boys!!

Looks like things are going the way I would like them too. Keep up the good work dad!!!

Our poor yard!!!

Last night on Wednesday night we heard a fabulous message from one of our UIT men at church. He preached on taking up your cross and following the Lord. We need to leave this world behind and press on. What an encouragement during this week.
Aleeza was happy getting ready for church last night!! Isn't she just a doll?? We think so!! Her big bow proves she is a little southern bell!!












Today was busy with trying to get the yard all completed. The guys have been working hard all afternoon to get this done!! The pictures reflect all the work that is being done. Brandon and I have pretty much decided that we are taking the house off the market for now and going to stay here. Brandon is way too busy right now to get us another house built and hey, now that the yard is getting done.... we like it more!!! :) We are praying really hard that this french drain they are putting in will take care of all our underground water problems. They dug about a 4 foot ditch and lined it with gravel and pipe. We have some really nice natural springs flowing.. yeah!! Hopefully by tomorrow we will have some nicer looking pictures!!

A wonderful Fourth of July!

Every year we go up to my Uncle Doyles' in Kings mountain, NC where we celebrate the 4th! This year was quite fun with Aleeza being a tad bit older than last. Last year she was about 6 weeks old when we went. I think she had more fun this year. :) Aleeza loves watermelon and so Brandon just let her dig in. It was so cute. She wouldn't touch the watermelon she just put her face into it and bit off a piece. She almost ate the whole slice.

Every year on the way up we stop and get some fireworks. The "boys" Dad and Brandon load up. Well Brandon loads up a little more. He is still a kid at heart. After eating a big meal and relaxing and then eating some more Kingsmountain starts their fabulous fireworks show. Last year they messed it up and did the grand finale first. Well, this year they made up for it. The show was wonderful. They had smily faces and hearts that they shot up. It was really neat.
Brandon enjoyed his time with fireworks. What is the saying?? Like father like son in law?? That is Dad on the left and Brandon on the right!They both had fun doing this. Pretty much the eventually got sick of it though and ended up giving the rest of the fireworks away.

The men and some of the kids also enjoy a time of horseshoes. This game is a tradition.

Fun time with Grandma. Thank you Aunt Bonnie for my outfit. It was so cute on her. Needless to say after playing in the grass, eating watermelon and crawling on the pavement it needs to be washed probably twice!!

Wonderful Sunday

Brandon and I had a wonderful Sunday yesterday. He has had a long week at work so a day of rest was what he needed. We went to my parents for lunch yesterday and had a wondeful meal! Thanks mom! We had a lot of fresh vegetables straight from their garden. Dad has done such a nice job with his garden. He has pumpkins growing which are so cute and little right now. He says Aleeza will be the first to pick one!! :)
After hearing a wonderful message from Pastor Sims last night we went downtown to Marble Slab for some icecream. Aleeza loves to go there!! :) I think Brandon and I do too. We had a very nice relaxing Sunday! The Lord is good and bountiful to us. We praise Him everyday for everything we have!

Getting ready on Sunday mornings

Sometimes you just have to bend the rules a little to get ready on a Sunday morning. Here is Aleeza clearly doing something we don't normally let her do, but Brandon gave the roll of TP to her to keep her entertained. It worked... and we were on time to church! :)

Daddy found me sleeping like this!

Daddy and Mommy wore me out tonight!

Wow already first day of July

First, I hope Aunt Susan gets to view this picture soon. Aleeza still loves her chair and frequents it quite often. Today I found her just sitting in it rocking back and forth talking to herself... hhmm... oh well, she was having fun.









Where has June gone? I can't believe it is already July. Hope everyone is gearing up for a big fourth of July. We have so much to be thankful for living in our free country. Today has been a fun day for Aleeza and I. Seems she is pretty worn out though. She got up at 7 and we headed straight out for Panera Bread then to hit some yard sales. I found some good deals so that was nice. When we got back home we played in the pool for a while. She really seemed to have a great time. At first she was not sure about it so I had to get in with her. That really helped her to enjoy it more. She is such a ham!! Brandon is busy working at Hartwell again. They are almost done framing it then off to sheetrock and other things. We are still hoping to have it done by August as I am sure the Lehrs are too. (this is the family having the house built)
Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend!