At so it began...

10 years ago today Kevin and I were married in the Washington DC temple.

It was the most beautiful day.

Even though there was a hurricane brewing off the coast.

Kevin is helping me with my dress because Brian would not let me put him down. He was 2.

Kevin and I have been through a lot in 10 years:
We have lived in 3 different cities in 2 different states
We have lived in 2 apartments and 2 townhouses
We have earned 3 degrees
We have driven cross country, went to Hawaii, drove to Philly, drove to Charleston, New York, Atlanta and DC, and flown to visit family in Utah.
We have owned 6 cars
We have 2 cats
We have had 7 jobs between the two of us
We have spent 20 birthdays , 10 Christmases and 10 anniversaries together
We have watched countless games together
We have too many inside jokes to count
We have one amazing daughter that we love endlessly and...

Through it all, no matter what, I would do it all over again.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this:

(Pablo Neruda)

Kevin, I love you.

Memory (Almost) Full...

There was one point in our family reunion when I tried to take a picture and my camera wouldn't let me. The screen kept flashing "Memory Full!"

My camera was almost right.

We had so much fun in Utah for the Brad and Becky Walker reunion and made so many great memories that our memory banks are close to running over.

Wednesday: We left Greensboro at 12:30 pm. Caroline was a pro on the airplane. She was so excited about flying and we used that to our advantage. We got into SLC at 7:30pm and that was the first time she showed any sign of slowing down. We stayed with Great-Grandma Walker that night. Kevin and I were almost too tired to sleep. I had some crazy dreams when I finally fell asleep.

Thursday: This was going to be the marathon day. We had a family portrait appointment in Provo at 10:30am. With 17 people we knew it would be hectic but I had no idea the photographer was going to try and take every combination she could think of. I knew I hated Portrait Innovations and this experience only added fuel to the fire. After 2 1/2 hours we grabbed lunch and headed to the cabin. The cabin was near Heber, UT. It was up on this mountain (The tall mountain like Dora as Caroline liked to point out.) There were only 3 cabins that were up higher than ours. As someone who is used to sea level the drive was a little strange to me. I am so glad I had my ginger for car sickness.

Check out our view from the cabin!

The Cabin itself. That's how we roll.

There was a sand box that the kids stuck to like glue.

Yep! Deer! Right out the front door!

To the delight of the boys there was a basketball hoop. Zach is trying to be Air Jordan.

Aunt Emily is getting Caroline addicted to Cap'n Crunch.

Mom bought glow sticks for everyone. We would turn off all the lights at night and play and tell stories. I decided to experiment with my camera. This is Brian jump-roping with his glow sticks. If you look closely you can see his form in the middle.

Friday: We had a great breakfast (Kevin and I cooked.) and headed out to Hogle Zoo. Caroline loved it. I think this was the 1st time Kevin had been there since he was 5.

Amy, Brook, Caroline, and Katy. Those girls are too cute.

My favorite picture from the trip. Caroline and Kevin on the merry-go-round

Rding the rails

Saturday: After breakfast we headed to Deer Creek Reservoir. It was a little chilly and I thought the water would be cold but it wasn't. Dad rented a boat and a jet ski for everyone to share and we had a blast. Kevin and I took Caroline on the jet ski for a little while and she fell asleep. I have a weird girl.

Tubing is so much fun. Amy was a brave soul.

Saturday afternoon we packed up and left the cabin. That night we met at Mark and Leslie's house for a Walker get together. I haven't been to Utah in 4 years so it was like meeting everyone all over again. It was great to see everyone. Caroline got to play with more cousins.

Sunday: We went to church with Grandma Puckett. Our whole family took up two rows. It was way fun. Caroline, Katy, and Brook went to nursery together. We went to Emily and Chris' for lunch, hung out there, and started talking about the reunion for 2011. Kevin and I are in charge. That is a scary thought. That afternoon we packed up, picked up Grandma Puckett and went to Pleasant Grove to visit with the Puckett side. There were so many cousins there for Caroline to play with. I love catching up with people I only get to see and talk to on-line. I was also trying to convince everyone to come to NC and play at the beach with us.

Kimmie, Caroline, and Ally

We left SLC at 2:00pm on Monday. Our trip was so fast but so worth it. I felt like I didn't see Caroline for 4 days because she played non-stop. She had the time of her life and slept like a bear in hibernation when we got home. We can't wait for 2011.

Flat Earth

These are four of my favorite people in the whole wide world.

These pics are coming your way Amy.

There is a line from one of my favorite Death Cab for Cutie song that says, "I wish the world was flat like the old days and we could travel just by folding a map."

When your nieces and nephews live on the other side of the country you tend to agree with that statement.

I love you guys!

Class dismissed...

Dear John Hughes,

Your movies shaped my childhood.

Sorry but I picture Duckie whenever I hear Otis Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness".




Because of your movies, high school became the great common denominator.




I hope that I can learn to not take myself so seriously like these guys.

Thank you Mr. Hughes. You will be missed

There are no words...

For how much...

I love...

My Squirrel!

It's a hard knock life for us...

It has become an almost tradition that we go to Atlantic Beach with Aunt B (Tanya) and Me-Me (Uncle Brian) and stay at the Bennett's beach house. We have been doing this for three years now and we love it!! Caroline loves going to the beach with her family and the beach house is within walking distance of the ocean. I live such a hard life! :) We spent a weekend this year and had a blast. Tanya, Caroline and I left Thursday night. We spent Friday morning going to the grocery store, exploring new stores in Morehead City, etc. After Caroline's kind-of nap we headed to the beach. It was overcast and windy. We heard that there were storms approaching and when we saw a lightning bolt we quickly packed up and left. This picture is from when we first got there. Caroline may look happy but she refused to touch the sand.
Saturday was much better, weather-wise. We headed to the beach so Caroline could build sandcastles with her new bucket (Thank you Dollar Store). The waves were pretty rough and scared her too much. She wouldn't even look at the ocean let alone go in. Oh well.


After we get back from the beach we put Caroline in a little kiddie pool and let her splash and get all the sand and salt off. She thinks she is just playing. Silly girl. I love this face.

I love this picture. We had just got her out of the pool. I actually gave her a bath and washed her hair in the pool. Got her out, went to get her clothes and found her in the chair like this. Yes, she is naked. Yes, she is eating Pringles. Yes, she strategically placed the can to hid her assets. We found lots of cool sea shells at the beach. When we got home she used her new magnifing glass to really look at them. She cracks me up.

We had so much fun. Can't wait for next year.

What I did on my summer vacation v2.0

I know it has been forever since I posted but I have a great excuse...IT'S SUMMER! Plan and simple. We have been enjoying the warm weather, the pool right out our back door and any free time that Kevin has. I have lots to tell you but here is our adventures in the great outdoors.

We have been talking with Kevin's family about meeting somewhere in NC and camp. We finally did it. I was worried about Caroline since she has never camped before. We got her a princess sleeping bag awhile back since she was doing so well with potty training. We borrowed a tent from Mom and Dad. We left on Friday afternoon and drove to Morrow Mountain. Mom and Dad got there on Wednesday and Laura and Donny got there on Thursday. As soon as we arrived we went to the pool located in the park. Caroline was all about that. She and Katy jumped into the pool, played in the kiddie area and showed everyone how they could float. After the pool we headed back for dinner and smores. As it got darker Caroline and Katy remembered their flashlights and had flashlight wars until we finally had to turn on the lantern Mom and Dad brought. We got Caroline ready for bedand she realized that she would be sleeping in a tent...in her sleeping bag. This is what I was worried about. I had visions of her running toward the car screaming she wanted to go home. That was not the case. She was so excited about the whole idea she didn't even want to tell people goodnight. She barely napped all day and played hard with her family so she was out in no time.

On Saturday we had a great breakfast (Kevin made pancakes and bacon and eggs). Laura and Donny decided they needed to get Katy home because she wasn't feeling well. We decided to take Dad's new canoe to the lake. Again, I thought Caroline would be terrified of getting in the canoe, but she loved it. She had to sit in my lap so Brian and Kevin rowed for us. We saw birds and turtles and trees. It was awesome. We came back to the dock, dropped Caroline off with mom and dad and I got my chance to row. When we got back to the dock, Brian, kevin and Dad had a turn. Caroline had a blast sitting in Papa's truck in the AC eating snacks. When everyone was done, we loaded up the canoe and went back to break camp. Caroline fell asleep on the way back to the camp site so we let her sleep while we took everything down. She was not happy when she had to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. We had such a good time and have already made plans to go again in Sept/Oct.

Setting up the tent. Caroline is "helping"

There was a little stump in the campsite so Caroline used it as a stage. She is singing to Katy.

There were deer that would come right into the camp. Grandpa and Caroline were feeding this one cereal.

She talked about the canoe for days after.

The top of Morrow Mountain