Just right...

Oh, this boy.  How I love him.

Film is not Dead: Topsail Island 2013

So we bought a house.
More on that later...
A few months before that we made plans with some dear friends to rent a beach house at Topsail Beach.
As I was packing up our house I rediscovered a ziploc bag full of film that I've had for who knows how long.  I decided to only take film on our trip and challenge myself.  Every time I took a picture I would look on the back of the camera to "see it"!  I've been spoiled by my digital camera for too long.  But doing this project has reminded me of my LOVE of film.  I am in love with these images.  And I think it added to the memories of the trip.
Ok, I'll stop so you can enjoy...

PS  All of these are straight from my camera.  They have not been edited.

2012...

2012

The drive-by version:

*Kevin and I went on a cruise
*Kevin, Dad, Brian, and Travis went to the ACC tournament in the ATL! 
*Camping in Boone
*Trips to the Zoo
*Bur-Mil pool
*Ballet
*Caroline Started Kindergarten
*Lots of trips to the beach
*I started taking piano lessons
*Caroline loses 2 teeth...in Boone...not on the same day
*Brynn starts nursery
*Katy stays at our house for a whole week
*UTAH: which includes, but is not limited to the following:
            sleepover, Seven Peaks, picnic up the canyon, Lily Mae blessing, family portrait, Denver,   fishing, baseball game, Cafe Rio, etc.
*Caroline 6th Birthday with pony rides
*Brynn 2nd Birthday with the Fresh Beat Band
*volunteer at Pilot Elementary
*I got to take lots of family portraits
*Kevin is working with the cub scouts
*I am still Relief Society President
*Annual Nutcracker Ballet night for Toni and Caroline
*First Annual Walker Christmas Tree Trip to the mountains 
*Lots of fun times with family and friends
*Caroline has swim lessons
*First Annual Walker Summer Bucket List

No wonder we are exhausted!

We are reminded at this time of year how truly blessed we are.  We know our Savior, Jesus Christ, lives and loves us infinitely.  The gospel provides peace to our family.  We love each of you and count you among our greatest blessings.  Please keep in touch.  

DC

We had the opportunity to go to DC for a graduation. Since it was so close to our anniversary we decided to travel on up I 95 and visit the temple.  Yes, I drove, basically, 10 hours to get this picture. 

 There is a picture of Kevin and I on our wedding day in this exact same spot.  It took 2 different people four different tries but we nailed it!

 I do not know what children find so fascinating about a hotel room.  It is a big bedroom with two beds same as at home but something is different. 

These girls, at once, make me happy and make me crazy!

An explanation...

August...

It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times...

That is my excuse for being hit and miss with the blogging.  We had some really good times (family reunion, Caroline's birthday, first day of school) and the lowest times (death of a dear friend). 

I am back at it and I will make up for it with pictures.  

 Family Portraits from the family reunion in Utah.

 Oh! This girl!  I could just eat her up.

The twin cousins

Temple Square...

I will get around to blogging about Utah soon but until then

enjoy these...

(Temple Square, Salt Lake City)

Yes, I do camp...

Back in June we decided we actually needed to open the tent we bought and use it.  Novel idea!  We wanted to go to the mountains and knew the girls would love it. 

Here are the life lessons I learned on this camping trip:
1)  Check the weather. 
     I assumed that since it is North Carolina and it is June it will be hot.  Not so much.  I packed shorts and short sleeves for the girls and just randomly threw their jackets and a pair of pants in the suitcase for good measure.  As we are setting up it got colder and colder.  I finally changed the girls into warmer clothes.  Also, around 10pm it started raining and it didn't stop until 12pm, the next day!  So let's recap:  It was cold and then it started raining so it got colder.  Since we couldn't cook the pancakes at camp like we planned we opted for McDonald's.  I haven't had a McGriddle in years but it was heavenly after the night we had.  We had to check out of the camp site at 11am.  If you are doing the math then you will realize that Kevin and I had to break camp...while it rained...and it was cold.  We put the girls in the car, loaded them with snacks, put the back hatch up as a shelter and folded, packed, and crammed things in as best we could.  When we folded the tent it had a pocket of water that we had to get out.  Kevin and I are getting soaked and all we can do is laugh.  I looked at Kevin and realized that years from now we will look back on this and laugh so why not laugh at it right now.  
To be honest, I was worried about Brynn.  She is NOT the best sleeper.  She was still getting used to walking on a flat surface so imagine running around a camp site.  Well, I hate to tell myself "I told you so", but, well... Self, I told you so. She would not go to sleep.  The rain kept waking her up.  And when she woke up she screamed.  Finally at 1am Kevin loaded her in the car and drove her down the Blue Ridge Parkway to put her to sleep.  At 3am she finally fell asleep so Kevin stayed in the car with her. It might be awhile before we take her camping again. 

2)  Love where you are, right now...

    So, in summary, it is raining, it is cold, we are tired, and we are dirty, but we are also in the mountains.  After breakfast and breaking camp the rain finally stopped but the fog stayed.  We actually wondered if we should call it good and head home or try for Grandfather Mountain.  We were so close that we couldn't pass up that chance.  We make our way in the park and pop in the audio tour CD we got with our tickets.  It was awesome.  I say that even though the narrator/tour guide is telling us to glance around and notice all these awesome points of interest and all we saw was fog.  We drove to the top and made our way to the bridge.  It was so cool! We really loved the Nature Center there in the park and got to see bears, eagles, and deer.  The cougars were MIA.  I am constantly reminded of how much I love living in North Carolina.  I come to these unique spots and fall in love with my home all over again. 

Cruise 2012

Kevin and I have been trying to go on a cruise for over 3 years now and it has never worked out until this past Spring.  We begged and pleaded with Grandma and Grandpa to watch the girls for us and then set out on an AWESOME vacation!  It was a little stressful for us to leave the girls knowing we would have some days were we could not be reached at all but we trusted that things would work out and we did.  So I will show you our vacation pics and give you some of my travel tips (because I am such a pro now.)

 *Consider the driving time part of your vacation.  Kevin and I had to drive 12 hours to Miami and we loved using that time to catch up, listen to music, look at the scenery, etc.  But make sure your AC works really well in your car first.  :(

 Have as many meals as you can outside.  This is where we ate breakfast on the first morning.  Good Morning, Key West!

 Don't be afraid to be a nerd.  Yes, while we were bicycling through paradise I stopped and got a picture at the Hemingway Home.  And yes, there were a million cats running around and no I did not stop to count their toes. 

 Get other people to take pictures of you and your honey.  I doubt we will ever be there again and I wanted to remember everything. 

 TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS.  You can always edit them down later. 
Ok, we say goodbye to Key West and hello to...

MEXICO!

 Be sure to prepare yourself for motion sickness.  This boat may look harmless but going a bajillion miles an hour over choppy water is a killer. 

 Spend the money on excursions.  Kevin and I really researched which excursion we wanted to spend our money on.  We toured the ruins of Tulum and there are no words to describe how amazing they were.  Our tour guide was knowledgeable, the views were spectacular, and we both had a dream come true. 

That vacation was so great.  I told Kevin I wanted to get off the boat, wash our clothes at a laundromat, and keep cruising. 

 2014?  Anyone?