Cherish the Moments

A Visit from PoPo & GungGung

We were lucky enough to have my parents come visit us for a whole week last week! Eli just loves his PoPo and GungGung! He's used to seeing them a lot on the computer screen when we talk with them on Skype, so he bonded with them right away, especially my mom and Eli is still asking for his "PoPo"!

The weather was gorgeous while my parents were here, so we spent a lot of time outdoors.

Rode trains...

And even spent some time with dinosaurs!

Did I mention Eli really loves his PoPo?!?

The men did a little ice fishing at the Marbles Museum.

And while my parents spoiled Eli with attention, new toys, attention, new clothes, and attention...

Dave and I got spoiled with...

LOTS and LOTS of yummy food!!!

All week long we had the best home-cooked Chinese food!

Man it rocks to have Chinese parents :P

(photo by Elaine Bella Photography)

Mom and Dad, thanks for a wonderful week!!
We sure miss you!!

Eli says "Come back soon!!!!"

Happy Halloween!!

The struggling Grad student, the cutest lion ever, and the nurse

This year we were super excited about Halloween because Eli had a super cute costume (thanks so much Katie!!) and he could actually go trick-or-treating!! He can walk=Trick-or-Treating in our book. He didn't get to eat any of the candy, but Mommy and Daddy sure enjoyed his spoils ;)

Eli wasn't quite sure at first what to do with the candy people gave him. He would hold it in his hand for a long time before we could convince him to put it in his bucket. But he caught on pretty quick.

We got two chances at trick-or-treating this year with our ward trunk-or-treat and then trick-or-treating at our apartment complex. It was a lot of fun!

And check out that cute little lion bum...

The Pumpkin Patch

A few weeks ago we took Eli to a pumpkin patch so we could get some cute pictures of him in his costume.

The pumpkins were just a little too distracting for Eli. All he wanted to do was run around!

See the picture on the left? That's what happened when I tried to pin Eli in between two pumpkins so I could try to get at least one picture of him in a stationary position. He was a trooper though. It was like 80 degrees and 90% humidity when we went to take these pictures.

Seriously, isn't he the CUTEST lion ever?!?

Etsy Shop

No, no...I wish I was crafty enough to have stuff to sell on etsy.

But, my extremely talented cousin-in-law (Dave's cousin's wife, did you get that??) is. I've been waiting and waiting for her to start one. She's always posting all the cute things she makes on her blog and finally she has!! YAY!!



Check it out!

Click here.

Because He is THAT Rambunctious

Yes, that is Eli.

And yes, that is the dryer!

Cutest Lion EVER!!

Our Family Pictures

by the talented Sarah Gilreath of Elaine Bella Photography

Love them!

Thanks so much Sarah!!

Check It Out!

My photography blog is up!

Let me know what you think!!!

The State Fair

We've been waiting for the State Fair all year! We love going to it and were especially excited this year because:
1.) We missed it last year (we were in Switzerland) and the year before (I was preggo and too much of a wimp to walk around).
2.) We were excited to take Eli this year.

We had so much fun looking at the animals...

Mothers, can you imagine nursing that many babies?!? So glad I'm not a pig!!

Eli loved the Lego exhibit...

I loved the neat arts and crafts they had there...

Dave was intrigued by the farm exhibit...

But let's be honest...

the BEST part about the State Fair...

The F*O*O*D!!!!

Eli definitely agrees!

And of course, when you come to a State Fair in the South...

the deep fried cuisine is a must...

That's right y'all! Come get your deep fried: PB&Js, Cheeseburgers, Mac & Cheese, Onions, Twinkies, Pickles, Candy Bars, Ho Ho's, Oreos, Cheesecake, and Pecan Pie!

We decided to be brave this year and try these heart attack on a sticks. We tried the deep fried Snickers and deep fried pecan pie.
Surprisely...it was GOOD!!
We probably cut about 5 years off our lives with the amount of fat we consumed today, but it was worth it!

A great time was had by all!

And all that grease just put Eli right to sleep when we got in the car.

Sneak Peak for Katie

Sorry Mom, I promise to get some pictures of Eli on here soon!

And I should have my other blog up and running in the next couple of days....

Here's a quick sneak peak for my friend Katie. We did some Halloween pictures of her adorable kids this morning.


Cute lil' Miss "B"

And Batman "B" to the rescue

Can you believe Katie made these costumes?? Amazing!

Sneak Peak for Heather

Here's a sneak peak for my friend Heather of some pictures I took of her adorable newborn today.

I'm going to start putting pictures I take of other people on a new blog so my mother doesn't get angry that the pictures aren't of her grandson :)

So stay tuned...

{6} Years!!

Thanks for a wonderful 6 years, "Hot Dave"!

Love you!!

Girls Night *In*

A few weeks ago, my friend Rachael had the idea to have a Girls Night In. Such a good idea! We spent the evening chatting, eating way too many Muddy Buddies and showing off our awesome singing (and dancing) skills playing American Idol on the Wii.

Such a fun night!!!

Definitely need a repeat soon!

Topsail Beach

This year for Labor Day weekend, we got together with some friends for a nice long weekend at the beach. The Hemmerts rented a beach-front beach house and we were lucky enough to get invited to come along!

We had such a fun time and the weather was absolutely perfect (unlike the last time we went to the beach) except the day we left when it downpoured!!

Eli loved hanging out on the beach and playing in the sand!

This kid seriously cracks me up...

^^Eli was standing like this for like 5 minutes! Just watching the water, holding his shovel. It was so funny!!^^

So unlike me, but I didn't get a group picture! But I got some shots of the cute kiddos...

...and the menly men, digging a hole, because that's what men do ;P

And this is what Eli did on the way down to Topsail to entertain himself...

This kid is SO CUTE!!!

Thanks Hemmerts, Pratts, and Elisons for an awesome fun weekend!