Pictures with family

The night before everyone left we made sure to get some pictures. Devon will leave on his mission very soon, so I wanted to get a picture of him with the kids. We had such a nice time with my family visiting. Maybe next time everyone can come!

Visit from family - part two

On our second day of outings we headed down to Washington DC. We wanted to explore somewhere new. Robyn heard that the Postal Museum had some interesting things to see. It was actually really kid friendly and they all had fun picking out stamps to bring home.

always getting smashed penny souvenirs 

Next we headed over to Capitol Hill to see if we could tour the Capitol building. They had some space in a tour, but we had a bunch of stuff we could not bring in from our picnic lunch. Michael was amazing to volunteer to stay behind. I took Miriam and Simon inside for the tour.

Levi insisted on walking, so Grandpa hung back with him

Visit from family - part one

My Mom and Dad have come for a visit to Virginia. Luckily they also brought Ashley, Eric, and Devon. We decided to have a couple of days of outings. On our first day trip Michael had to work so I took the kids to a visit to Maymont. It is an old estate near Richmond, VA with some really pretty grounds. The kids loved running around with cousins although it was really hot. I didn't get too many pictures because I was busy chasing Levi who insisted on climbing everything.

After a picnic lunch we took the kids to the science museum in Richmond. It was fun to watch the kids explore the museum with their cousins. I wish I would have taken more pictures.

trying out a wind tunnel

It was a very full and fun day spent with family.

Grandpa Braswell visits

My Dad gets to visit Washington DC for work a couple of times a year. We are lucky that he came a couple of days early this time to spend some extra time with us. We enjoyed seeing him and the kids all loved playing with Grandpa.

Thanksgiving

After a whirlwind vacation, it was hard to believe Thanksgiving was coming up so fast. Luckily for me I have amazing in-laws that invite us over to share in their feast. It has become a tradition for Miriam and Simon to help Grandpa make pies the day before Thanksgiving. They love to roll out the dough. This year they made apple, pumpkin, peach, and chocolate pies.

Levi goes straight to the blender every time he goes to Grandma's house.

I guess he loves smoothies.

Thanksgiving ended up being a gorgeous day. The kids were able to spend some time outside. They loved playing in the leaves with Grandma. I loved that I got to take some cute pictures of them.

We are so grateful for all of our blessings. We are happy to be a forever family. We are thankful for our families that love and support us in all that we do. Happy Thanksgiving!

Dolphin Beach

The last day my parents were here visiting we drove down to Trevor and Robyn's new house to spend some time together. Since they didn't have any furniture yet (waiting for it to be delivered) we had to find something to do outside. They live by a small lake that has a little beach. The kids had fun building a sandcastle, playing in the water and sand, and playing with cousins. We are so excited to have Trevor and Robyn live so close to us. It is going to be a fun couple of years.

July 4th, also known as Vanessa's Birthday

First of all let me just preface this post by saying I am a terrible documenter/photographer. We were so excited to have my parents here to visit for my birthday. However, I didn't get very many pictures of them. I guess we were just so busy having fun that I forgot? Anyway, I need to do better taking pictures... on to the post...

We got some sparklers for the kids for the Fourth of July. I am not sure how excited and into it they were. I was hoping to get some cute pictures, oh well. Maybe we will skip it next year.

Michael made me a tres leches cake for my birthday. It was yummy as usual. The kids thought it was funny that I only had one candle... thirty-five would have just been too many! Michael and the kids got me a gift certificate to go get a manicure and pedicure.

This year we decided to go back to Leesburg to view the fireworks. The kids were excited to stay up late and see them. We got a pretty good view of them, but it was so muggy that a lot of the smoke hung around without a breeze to blow it away. It was kind of crazy. I don't know how, but Levi fell asleep at the end of the fireworks. It was a great day spent with family.