Still Celebrating!

Malachi was just told that his birthday was almost over (since bedtime is getting close) and his response was, "but we can still celebrate!" So here are a few more memories from our day today.

He had a lot of fun opening presents! A few new (noisy) trucks from GranMols and Papaw.

Working on opening a present from Aunt Jessica, Uncle Mike, Austin and Whitney. Thank you for the cool markers and coloring books!

More cake tonight after his favorite dinner of chicken, rice and broccoli. After devouring a good part of his cake, he finally got full and stopped eating!

Happy Birthday, Malachi!

My, how time flies! Today is Malachi's third birthday. We are so blessed to have him around - he makes us laugh all the time, and anyone who knows him can imagine why! Just look at how he's changed over the past three years...

From the day we brought him home from the hospital to this past Saturday when we had his party!

We had a "Three-historic" party this year since Malachi has taken an interest in dinosaurs lately. The cake was my best attempt at a dinosaur, even though it looks a little like a dragon.

We had a coloring contest at the party. I think I caught Corinne and Lance right before they colored my floor!

The presents were a hit. Thank you to all our friends and family who helped us celebrate and gave Malachi more gifts than any child needs! We love you all!

Yay, Spring!

Yesterday we had some friends over to celebrate Malachi's birthday and the weather was beautiful so, of course, we headed outside! The sun was shining, it was warm and everyone had a great time!

Getting a decent picture of all six kids was a feat, but I think this one is pretty cute.

The swing set was a popular place...especially the slide!

The kites were also pretty popular, even though there wasn't much wind. We had to keep running around in order to keep them in the air!

Another Trip to TN

After getting home Sunday night from Nashville, we woke up Monday morning and hit the road to Knoxville for Erik's grandmother's funeral. Although it wasn't a fun reason to head south, we did enjoy the wonderful, sunny weather and the unexpected chance to spend time with family. Thank you, Bruce and Sigi (Erik's uncle and aunt), for being such great hosts!

Aunt Jessica and Malachi checking out some of Uncle Bruce's treasures.

Malachi really wanted to go on a hike with 'Buelo. He settled for throwing rocks in the creek.

When we got home I said something about Bruce being a doctor. Malachi got a little upset and insisted, "My Brucie is a soccer player!!"

Bruce and Sigi have built a zipline in their backyard. Erik couldn't resist trying it out...even though he had to wade through freezing cold water to get back afterward!

Okay, I know...nobody likes seeing the "man-thigh", but this was too funny and I couldn't resist! Thank goodness short shorts are NOT in style for guys!!

Spring Retreat

Erik and I, along with 5 other adults, travelled to Nashville last weekend with 31 middle/high schoolers for their Spring Retreat. We spent Saturday visiting the Grand Ol' Opry Museum, the Opryland Hotel, playing laser tag, eating BBQ, and hanging out at the hotel and in the pool. Everyone had a great time, although we are still trying to recover from lack of sleep...my girls stayed up talking until 3:00 AM!

The whole group in front of the Grand Ol' Opry.

Erik and me, and Heather and me in the Opryland Hotel. It was beautiful!

Some of the students in the Opryland Hotel.

The Days and the Allsops, and some of the students at dinner. Our waitress complimented the group on how polite the students were!

One of our boys, Brandon, saw a world champion power lifter and decided he may be able to beat him in an arm wrestling match. The guy was a great sport and at least gave him a shot before taking him down!

Although Andrew didn't win the "Biggest Splash" contest, his form looked great!

Me, Taylor, Lauren and Katie...the best girls' room ever!

Stockholders

As many of you know, Erik and I volunteer with the youth group at our church, and this Sunday we were busy helping with Stockholders, which is the annual fundraising event. This year's theme was "Hollywood" and it was so much fun! Basically, there is a fun event to make some money (this year you could make a donation and nominate two people to act out a famous movie scene up on stage, or they could match your donation to get out of doing it), the youth put on a play, and there is also a free dinner for everyone (instead of dinner we had an Oscar's "after-party" with lots of yummy hors d'vours).

Andrew and Heather had to act out a scene from Shrek. Heather was "Donkey" and Andrew was "Shrek." They did a great job!

One of the songs during the play. The students did a great job!

The Allsops dressed for the part! Everyone was impressed that Erik owns a tux!

Malachi even gave Corinne some flowers!

Happy Birthday, Kelsey!

We hope you have a great day, Kels! We love you!