What is your Super Power?

For whatever reason, ever since Garet and I have been married, we often refer to our "super powers" in conversation. Usually we are referring to things that are not our super powers. For example, you can often hear me saying "Taking a quick shower is not my super power", because no matter how hard I try, I can't take a shower under 20 minutes. Or, "Being on time is not my super power" - all of you are nodding in agreement. For Garet, staying awake (the man can sleep through a take-off) and spelling are not his super powers.

So, what are our super powers you ask? Mine is my sense of direction. I have this amazing ability to always know in which direction I am facing. I can be indoors or outdoors (and not relying on the sun) and almost always know which way is north. Whenever we are traveling, this is a good super power to have, because I always seem to know where we should be going.

Garet has two (that's why I married him) that I can think of. The first is his sense of balance. The man never falls down...ever. This comes in very handy when he is skateboarding down our driveway, skimboarding, or surfing. Garet can also catch things in mid-air unusually well. If something is falling off the table, he can grab it before it hits the floor. This is especially useful with the kids cups that they are constantly throwing on the floor.

My friend Matt had written about this topic in different terms about a month ago and my mom commented about my dad's ability to awake at the same time every morning regardless of time zones - a good super power to have when you travel a lot.

So, what is your super power? Please tell!

Welcome to the USA!

As we bid farewell to the Olympics with all its American pride, we were able to welcome some of the USA's newest citizens this past Thursday!

I've written about my friends Bill & Melodie several times and their quest to adopt their daughters, Fern & Rosa, from Guatemala. Melodie moved to Guatemala about 7 weeks ago to be with their girls as they finished the final process. It seemed like forever ago and at the same time just a few days ago that she left and I am thrilled that she is finally home with the girls.

Because of unfortunate delays at the airport, we were not able to meet them as they arrived in Huntsville, but you better believe that I was over there the next morning to give those girls a squeeze. They are about the cutest little things I've ever seen. They surrounded me with hugs and kisses - although it might have been the fact I had Cheerios.

The girls are very close in age to Levi and Kara and it is obvious that they are going to be great friends. I can't wait to see them grow up together!

Rosa & Kara - only 9 days apart:

Fern & Levi - already holding hands:

Sunday we were able to go out to eat with their new family and I asked Bill if it was surreal to have them in the house after imagining them there for so many months. He agreed that it definitely was. I still can't believe they are here either - it is just so exciting!

In closing, my friend & co-worker, Jan, wrote a beautiful post on the Schroders' adoption - an amazing reminder of God's love for us.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Today was the first day of school! Both kids went in without tears and seemed happy to be there - whew! It's old hat in the infant room for me, but I am amazed at how "grown-up" Levi's new room is - he'll be an official "preschooler" in just 2 months!

Levi outside his room:

Kara settled in with Ms. Suzie like no time had passed:

I got a little carried away as I made my way down the hallway after dropping the kids off. I might have done a little dance and a cheer. Thankfully, the ladies around me understood. One of them said I reminded them of this commercial:

I'd have to agree.

Unfortunately our school days for Levi were short lived - he came down with a fever tonight - boo!! I'm sure he'll be fine soon though.

When are you going to Auburn?

One of my absolute favorite experiences of all times is going to Auburn Football Games. Unless you have experienced it, there is really no way to describe it. My favorite games are those night games after the weather has gotten cooler, being under the lights, watching the Eagle soar around the field and cheering that first kick off. Wow - gives me chills.

Garet and I have not been able to attend a game in a couple of years, but we so want to change that this year. Leave a comment and let me know what games you are going to be at this fall - you know me, I want to see everyone that I possibly can. I am long overdue on a good tailgate!

Eight Years

I'm a lucky girl.

And then there was the trip home...

After such a perfect first day at the beach, our second day was a little more rough. I think a week of inconsistent naps finally caught up to the kids and we had a lot of whining. I mentioned in my last post about our dismal time at Joe's Crab Shack, so much so that we joked on the way home of ways this day could be any worse...maybe our car would break down?

Thankfully, that night we came home and had a great time as a family at the pool. It erased the entire day. After packing up the whole car the next morning, Garet went to start the car as we put the kids in the car seats...nothing. Try again...nothing. The kids and I went back to the empty room (still very hot) and waited while Garet tried to jump start the car...no luck. We had the car towed to the Honda dealership (keep in mind we are 10 hours from home). Long story short, it turned out it was the battery (still not sure why it wouldn't charge) and the people at the dealership got us in really quick, thankfully.

This put us 4.5 hours behind schedule and a little worried we wouldn't make it to Atlanta at a reasonable hour, but the kids were amazing in the car and we hardly had to stop at all on the 6.5 hour trip. We stayed with my old roomie, Amanda, and her family - Jonathan, Aidan & Caroline. We hadn't seen each other in way too long (before either of us had kids) and so it was fun to see us all grown up as parents. The visit was too short (no time for Tiger Paws routines!), but it does my mind good to be around someone who has lived with me and still calls me a friend! Gotta love those AU Deerfield roomies!

Kara, Aidan & Levi (Caroline was taking a nap):

Now we are home and my list is way too long, but I got to spend quality time with my family and that was worth every minute!

Beach Beauty, Skim Boards and a Lazy River

Levi's first real time in the ocean besides just wading: Beach Beauty:
I just love this picture: Levi enjoyed scooping up sand and making his Shamu toy do tricks in the ocean:
Garet is starting Levi early with the skim board:
Here are a couple of very short videos of Levi on the skim board. If you knew Garet in college, you'll know that this is one of his favorite things to do. Levi tried to stand up, but he never made it but a second or two. Maybe next year:

The first night we stayed at the beach until we could hardly see:
My one picture from Broadway at the Beach. I had to eat at Joe's Crab Shack - this was a mistake - too hot, too crowded and only mediocre food: The kids pool area at the condo had this really cool submarine - the kids could turn the water off and on:
We spent many hours floating around the lazy river. Levi loved it because he could swim without much effort. I loved it because Kara would fall asleep on my lap - so relaxing:
We decided that we are going to have to start going back to the beach every year with the kids. It was just too much fun watching them! On a side note, Garet and I celebrate our 8th Anniversary on Tuesday. We stayed in the same building we did on our honeymoon. It was wild to think about how much our lives have changed since then and we wouldn't change a thing!

Phase 10 Skillz

Our vacation in the mountains is over and we had a great time. The last night at the cabin, Garet and I stayed up late to play Dominos and Phase 10 with my brother and sister-in-law. If you have ever played Phase 10, you know that it can be a very, very long game and is rarely played in its entirety. In fact, I have only finished the game 2 times. The first was at the beach with our Life Group. I swear the game went on for 6 hours, but it was so much fun. The second was Saturday Night with Brian and Kristen. And who won both times? That's right, me. I've got skillz.

It's a bad picture, but it was 1 AM and I had to document the win.

Kristen was pretty excited about the game as well:

Good-bye Mountains...
Hello Beach! Take one guess as to what we did first after arriving at our condo. I'll post more about our adventures at the beach tomorrow - I'm tired!

Are these the mountains?

This is the question that we heard many, many times on our way to North Carolina last Thursday. We are currently in a beautiful cabin/house in the woods just outside Asheville, NC. My brother and his wife came down from Maryland and we caravaned up here with my parents for a nice long weekend in the mountains.

Here we are just over the border:

We were pretty tired Thursday Night, so we called it an early evening. Friday Morning we headed out to the Biltmore. This was my third trip to the house, but my first with two children. It seemed three times longer than I remembered, but we were also with someone who's legs were a third the size of ours.

When we first got to the house, you can imagine our surprise when we saw Tommy Tuberville working the desk. We swear it was him - it was freaky. Of course, I had to take a picture (even though it's not that great a shot) - that's him over Garet's shoulder:

Although the kids did as well as could be expected, we had to take a lot of breaks along the way. This place isn't named "America's Largest House" by accident:

An unexpected bonus to the day was that Steven Curtis Chapman was doing a concert that evening on the grounds. We were able to listen to the sound check. I will admit that it was a very somber experience watching him sing after everything he has been through the last couple of months:

Here is the entire Christy Family - Kristen, Brian, Dad, Mom and our family:

Yesterday was Brian's Birthday (Happy Birthday!!) and so we topped off the night with an amazing cake that Kristen made - it looked like a reese cup and yes, it tasted just as good.

This morning, we headed over to the Blue Ridge Parkway to experience some nature. Our first stop was the Visitor Center. We started a "passport" for each of the kids, so we had to stop and get the kids their stamp for the National Park book.Being the adventurous parents we are, we decided to take the kids on a mile and a half hike. Even though we had to carry Kara the whole way, it wasn't so bad. Levi was our official hiking guide and walked most of the way all by himself:

He made sure to point out all the "dots" on the trail so we wouldn't get lost: "I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map" - Dora:Garet's cool picture of us walking through the tunnel:
We made it!!:

Tonight we are having a nice big meal at the house and then our immediate family is heading over to the SC coast to the beach!