crickets & a campfire...

camping. yes, i have to admit it wasn't the real in-a-tent-sleep-in-the-dirt kind of camping but it sure was fun. we had a wonderful 2 days of hiking, biking, listening to nature and just sitting by the fire. yes, we roasted lots of marshmallows & hot dogs but mostly enjoyed each other's company...

improvising a bath in the camper sink which actually worked very well...

lake wood haven
this is my dad. he was so wonderful to pull the camper out for us and set everything up (which is the only hard part about camping). he never ceases to amaze me with his love he shows for all his children...
sorry, but i had to include a picture of these legs (peeking from under her jean skirt).... i can't get enough of them.
livi with her friend, avana smith, (antonio & chrissy's daughter) who came for a little afternoon visit. livi was desperately envious of her hair & this is the only picture we got where livi is not yanking on avana's curly locks.
this picture accompanies a very funny story. actually too long to blog about & way funnier to hear drae tell it anyway. let's just say drae locked both sets of our car keys (both laying in the driver's seat) with livi's bags & items locked inside the car... twice. this is a picture of how he attempted to get into the car without calling a locksmith @ 7am on a saturday morning. needless to say, after a blaring car alarm shook the otherwise silent campground for 20 minutes, (because drason deployed the anti-theft system which we weren't aware we had & made the car unable to start) the other campers wished he would have just called a locksmith...

hiking @ lake wood haven
this is us with my mom. she worked tirelessly cleaning & stocking the camper full of goodies for our get-a-way. she makes me so happy & as you can see livi thinks she is a crazy-cool granny!
livi taking her nap with me by the campfire.... very fun times.
drae gathering firewood for out blazing campfire that he insisted on burning non-stop even though it is august

aunt jeana melee...

here is livi drae with her aunt jeana melee. what a wonderful friend & sister jeana is to me. her spirit makes everyone around her smile & i find myself always wanting to spend more time with her. i think, as i grow older, i realize even more that my family is truly my life's greatest blessing. it makes my heart warm to know that my livi will grow up in the arms of a large & loving family...

a bath outside, blueberry pancakes & a bloody nose

well, now livi can scratch "take a bath in the front yard" off her "things to-do" list... yes, we started off the weekend with a bang with bath time on friday afternoon. livi thought it was grand & now that summer is almost over i'm wishing we had purchased a kiddie pool.
then, saturday morning, livi's nana greta and papa joe (our next door neighbors) invited us over for a fantastic spread of bacon, eggs & blueberry pancakes with homemade maple syrup!! it was a divine start to a saturday & thanks to ms. greta & mr. joe for the sweet invite!

later in the day on saturday we headed to kobe steak in nashville to celebrate a good friend's 30th birthday (happy birthday chad!) we actually had nanny thelma come and keep livi drae for the evening & had a wonderful time hanging out with all our friends. below is a picture of livi wondering who the lady is (with curled hair & makeup on) that is posing with her & her dad....
and finally, livi & i had our first "knock down, drag out"on sunday afternoon...... she won.

sweetness...

what a great day! yesterday, i wanted to just spend the day with my little livi & drason. it is so rare, in this fast paced life, that i just get to be with both of them for the day without somewhere to go & no time schedule. it may seem boring, but our day consisted of going to publix & playing with livi.... for us, that was a good day. we took some pics outside & here are a few with livi exploring the flowers. she was so serious with her attempts to hold them in her hand.

also, i've had several people ask about livi's childcare situation since the post about it being stephanie's last day keeping livi. well, here she is folks..... NANNY THELMA!! Today begins her second week keeping livi drae & it is going beautifully. nanny thelma is so interactive with livi & really gets her to jabbering. drason & i truly feel blessed to have someone so sweet coming to our home to keep livi while we are working. God is so good to have sent her to us!

the graduate....

on saturday, livi's uncle rich graduated college. i wanted to post about it because i am so proud of his hard work & dedication to getting his degree. he drove to MTSU so many late nights after working all day & it finally paid off. we went up to murfressboro for the ceremony on saturday morning & then just the three of us ate lunch together & just shopped around town. it was such a great day! (here is livi in awe of rich & his accomplishment!) rich with dana lana lu & his in-laws
later in the day, we all went to my sister shalia's house for richard's pool party. we had baja fresh & yummy chocolate cake. above is monty joe congratulating rich...
livi hung out in the shade with her grandmother...
also, i had to include this picture from the party of livi's friend lila vaden & her dad, ned. she is such a dream in her bathing suit & handkerchief!

10 years already??

yes, 10 years since we graduated high school. drason & i graduated together from dickson county in 1998. with drason having been class president, he spent most of his spare time for the past several months planning the reunion. i just wanted to say how proud i am of his dedication to planning & making sure the event was a success. i think it was a fun time for everyone & we loved hanging out & catching up. here are a few pics from the event...
BFF caryn reynolds with daniel jones (jamie's hubby & annie's daddy~from a previous post) drason & yann
BFF... jamie bullington jones & ashley gray fussell
me & drae dancing the night away!

election day adventures

well, what a fun, long, delightful, and memorable day we have had. we just returned home from my brother-in-law, Monty Lankford’s, VICTORY PARTY!! he is running for Congress & won the republican primary today in Tennessee’s 4th district. we are just so proud of him!! today, drason, livi, & i were assigned to the community center in mt. pleasant, tn as our campaign post. we arose early this morning, voted @ our local precinct, and headed to mt. pleasant for a day of fun. we brought our pop-up tent to block the sun’s beaming rays, plenty of liquids for hydration & camping chairs. we had to remain 100 feet away from the voting site, due to regulations, so we set up smack-dab in the middle of the parking lot. we no sooner got out tent, chairs, & livi all set-up when it started to thunder & lightning. then, the rain came & the tent started to leak so we all piled up in the back seat of drason’s truck. Soon, we heard an awful screeching sound and looked around to find our tent blowing away. it was bent beyond repair so livi & i spent most of the day in the back seat of the truck. however, a normal day without craziness would just have been boring. we had a blast overall & just enjoyed being together as a family.
off to a good start~ tent still keeping us dry...
tent beginning to leak.... still all smiles....
campsite in turmoil.... but don't forget to vote Lankford for Congress!!
an exhausted livi drae taking her nap on mom's belly.... what a trooper she was....