Our Family Vacation 2014

The week after Labor Day we had the blessing of being able to take a family vacation and see our family in NC as well. Because of my expecting Bethany, we had not been able to travel to NC since last Christmas!  We were able to spend some days at the beach and see family too. This was probably our most fun family vacation so far as the big girls are getting older and a lot more interactive playing with each other and us.

 

Our Family, September 2014

 

  This is how Bethany spent 95% of her time on the beach! Unless I was taking her picture or we were going for a walk, this was her favorite spot, and she slept SO well on the beach.
We headed to the Outer Banks for a couple of days for Brent to get a little bit of photography time in on the trip.
 
We saw the lighthouse at Bodie Island and the Aquarium at Roanoke Island.

 

                                     

 

We got in a little beach time on the Outer Banks too. Here are the girls ready for Bethany's first trip onto the beach.

Brent McGuirt Photography

We also got a chance to see our friends, the Walkers' while we were at the Outer Banks. They were finishing up their trip as we arrived. Thanks to you and your family for your hospitality!

We then headed to Topsail Island for part of our trip. As part of the trip down there, we had to ride a ferry across the river. This was Bethany's first ferry ride. 

Bethany's first ferry ride

 We saw most of Brent's family while we were at Topsail. Hope to see you soon, Brooke and Jared.

Nana stayed and visited for a couple more days. She went to the aquarium with us and treated the girls to Chuck E. Cheese one evening.                                              

                                    

 We had so much fun during our days on the beach. As the girls are getting older, they are enjoying more and more things to do on the beach.

 

 

 We played football (or as Bekah calls it "flipball")

 We played in the water and swam and swam.

 

Brent mostly took the girls out in the water but he did take beach duty with Bethany a few times for me to go out with the girls too.

 One of the things I enjoyed most this time on the beach was building sandcastles with the girls. Rachel seemed to enjoy this a lot as well. I missed a picture of our largest castle- the tide got to it before I did!
We took several walks on the beach...

 and the pier.
We also tried to catch fish and Bekah tried to get close to a seagull...no success with either of those!

 And took some great naps on the beach...

 

 Found some great shells. I had two really good beachcombers this year!

 And let Mom and Dad take lots of pictures of us!

 We even got to see family we hadn't seen since Christmas. We saw Grams, Mimi and Pop, Grandpa and CiCi and Family and Big Mama and Big Papa and got to introduce them all to Bethany Joy.

 

We had a wonderful time as a family and visiting our family on our vacation this year. As we close out summer, we are looking forward to a fun and very full Fall!

Our Family Vacation, September 2014

Two Months Old!

 Here is our beautiful sleepy and smiling Bethany last week at the beach. She officially turned 2 months old on September 6, 2014. I can't believe how fast she is growing. She has also started smiling at us in the past couple of weeks!

We decided to wait until after our trip for her 2 month well check. So we headed to Rockbridge Pediatrics for her well check up this morning. She was looking a little serious first thing this morning.

She is continuing to grow well according to Dr. Ellis. Here are her measurements from her visit today:

Height: 21 inches

Weight: 9 pounds, 15 ounces

 She did give us a few more smiles as the visit went along.

 

She was all worn out after the visit, especially since she had to get 2 shots today. She has not felt very well this evening, but we are praying she feels much better tomorrow.

Next time we go for a check up, she will be 4 months old!!!
We love you, sweet Bethany!

Happy Grandparents Day 2014!!

We had the blessing of seeing almost all of our family while we were down in North Carolina on vacation last week. We were also able to see all the girls' grandparents and almost all the great grandparents too. We also had the joy of introducing Bethany to most of my side of the family who had been unable to travel and come to Virginia to meet her.

Though Grandparents Day is officially September 7th, we saw the grandparents throughout the week so we will say we celebrated Grandparents Week instead of just Grandparents Day!


                                        

Talking to Papa

Headed to the aquarium on the ferry with Nana

 We visited with Nana and Papa earlier in the week when we arrived at Topsail and then Nana stayed for a couple of days. It rained most of the day on Monday which gave us the chance to visit the aquarium at Fort Fisher and Chuck E. Cheese. We made the most of our rainy day with lots of indoor fun!

 On Thursday afternoon, we visited with Grams at her house. It was great to get to see my cousin Emma as well! This was Grams's first time meeting Bethany and getting some hugs and kisses from her.

 Her big girls enjoyed visiting with her too!

Grams, my cousin Emma, the Girls and I

 We also saw my Dad and his family while we were in North Carolina. This was the first time Grandpa and CiCi and their family met Bethany also. Because of Ethan's recent surgeries, they had been unable to travel to Virginia so we were glad for all of them to get to meet her and see Rachel and Bekah too.

Bethany wearing the hat CiCi made for her

Grandpa and Bethany

All smiles for Mimi

 We had the blessing of finally being able to see my Mom after her surgery. She had surgery 3 days before Bethany was born and had not been able to travel. We are so glad she is safely back in NC from Florida where she had her surgery. We are continuing to pray for her recovery back home in NC.

 We had used Skype several times to show her Bethany during her hospitalization in Florida but we were so glad for Pop and Mimi both to finally be able to hold Bethany too!

Mimi, Pop, Rachel, Bekah and Bethany

 As we traveled back toward Virginia,we were able to see Big Mama and Big Papa (Brent's grandparents) as well. They enjoyed meeting Bethany too and seeing how much the big girls had grown.

 Here is Big Mama with all 3 girls

And Big Papa with Brent and the Girls also

Happy Grandparents Day to each of you! Also Happy Grandparents Day to Nanny Joyce and Boom Boom Papa. They were unable to meet us this trip but we look forward to hopefully getting to see them soon.
We are also thankful for my Poppy and Granny and Brent's paternal grandparents who blessed our lives in their time here and are now enjoying heaven with Jesus! 
To each of our girls' grandparents and great grandparents, thank you for the blessing that each of you are to our girls (and their mom and dad too). We all are thankful for the godly blessing and influence you each are in all our lives. Brent and I wouldn't be who we are without each of you and we thank you for the love you have for each of the girls and all you are teaching them already! We love each of you!

Happy 10th Anniversary!

 Today marks our 10th wedding anniversary! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown from September 4, 2004 to today!

                                     

Our Honeymoon, 2004

2005

During our wedding ceremony, we sang a hymn called "Great is Thy

Faithfulness." The chorus simply states: 

"Great is Thy Faithfulness, Great is Thy Faithfulness,

 Morning by morning, new mercies I see,

All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy Faithfulness Lord unto me."

As I sit here, in the quiet this morning, typing this, (with 3 little ones quiet does not happen very often), I am so amazed and thankful for our journey, by God's faithfulness  and grace to our family, so far. Two states, 4 cities, 2 church families we have been called by God and blessed to be a part of, and 3 precious ones given to us here and a Decade has flown by!
                                                       

2007

                                                            

2009

2011

2014

Brent, I am so blessed and thankful for the 3,649 yesterdays we have been given by God to be married. I am so thrilled to celebrate our 10th anniversary with you today and I am so thankful, by God's grace, to be able to share all our tomorrows together. I Love You!

Our Wedding Day, September 4, 2004

In our wedding bands we have the following inscribed:
 Ephesians 3:14-21 DCM BJM 09-04-04.
 All glory to God for the blessing of our marriage, so it is only fitting to share these verses:
" For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ  from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,  to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."  Ephesians 3:14-21

A Visit with the Sangers

 On Monday, for the Labor Day holiday, we had the opportunity to meet up with our friends Melissa and Randy near Beckley, West Virginia for the afternoon. This was the first time they met Bethany and the first time we had seen Melissa since they found out she was expecting Baby Hannah.

                                 

 

 

At times, we dress the girls in matching outfits. Melissa decided they all 3 needed matching dresses and mailed these to the girls just after Bethany was born. Rachel decided they all needed to wear them on Monday so Mrs. Melissa could see them in their dresses. Thank you, Melissa! The girls love the dresses and they are so cute!

 I wanted to be sure and get a picture of Melissa and Baby Hannah and Bethany and I. We are so excited for Randy and Melissa to be expecting Baby Hannah and we are so looking forward to meeting her later this year!!

 After we finished lunch, we headed to a nearby waterfall for Brent and Randy to take a few pictures.

 After Randy and Melissa headed back home, Brent decided he would do a little hike before sunset. Rachel and Bekah went with him. This was a first for all of us because this was the first time they had ever both hiked with just their Dad. They had a blast!

 They went to an overlook where you could see the New River Gorge Bridge. We have a child that already likes photography like her Mom and Dad. This picture of the bridge was actually taken by Rachel!

 Here they were hiking back.  Rachel even got a science lesson in on the hike. Here is the giant millipede they found on the hike.

We had a great Labor Day Monday, especially getting together with Randy and Melissa and Baby Hannah. It is always great to get a chance to catch up with you all!