LYNCHBURG VISIT

So Joe and I went down for a SHORT weekend to visit Jaclyn and Cat. It was a nice weekend and it was good to go back to Lynchburg, but WOW what a shock when you go back! It had been about a year and a half since we were last there, and there is so much that is different! It is more built up around the town, but that is to be expected, but really what was so overwhelming was Liberty's campus! It definitely is not the same university that I went to!

First there are just so many more people that are on campus now, but there are just so many other things that they have. For instance, paint ball, a ski thing (see below - it's not real snow, but you can ski on it), more dorms, Barnes and Nobles, Doc's Cafe, and on and on.

There is a different aire to it now too. Don't get me wrong, it was nice to go back and remember great memories, but things have changed there on campus, and I am not so sure if for the better. Do I still think that it's a great school? Yes! But I worry that they are steering away from the foundation that makes Liberty the great university that it is.

Anyways, as I ramble; we saw friends and family and it was very nice. We definitely wished we had more time to see more people and relax, but hopefully we will be able to go down again during the spring or summer to visit longer. Molly stayed at home with NaNa and Pop, so it was good to enjoy time with just Joe!

And we did just that on the ride home! It normally takes 6-6.5 hours to get home, and it took a whopping 10 HOURS Sunday to get home. I was never so happy to drive into NJ and smell the wonderous aroma!

We also stopped on Friday to visit Joe's aunt Lyn and Carol, which was great! It had been a while since we last saw them, so it was so nice to just catch up and see how all were. Thanks again, Lyn for letting us come and visit!

The ski thing - Joe told me what it was made out of, but I don't remember. It looks like velcro and then there are water sprinklers... so it's not real snow - and you can only use it when it's not below freezing - or something.... Josh Joe and Zach - good to see family!
Me and Cat - haven't seen her in 2 years! too long!

And, of course, Miss Jaclyn!

It was a great visit, just a little on the short side, but so good to see everyone and of course eat at Tokyos (I wanted to order some and bring it home, but Joe told me that I was being a little ridiculous, so I just ate my whole entire plate - yes all of it - and then had a belly ache from the yum yum sauce all the way home - I should've just brought it home to enjoy!)

FALL WALK

It, of course, has been too long - again - it seems so hard lately for me to actually get on the competer and update anything! Things are going well. Joe is still in school and it is coming along - it is a hard semester and the beginning of the semester was packed with projects - it has slowed down a little for him, but not for long!

Molly is doing well - she was sick for a bit with bronchitis and ear infections, but thank heavens is much better now! If only she would stop waking up in the middle of the night!! She has been doing this since about 22 months, and if anyone has any suggestions, I am all for them! She tells Joe and I that she can't go to bed because she's scared and that she's too little...

But really all is well.

Below are pictures at the Mannesquan Reservior from the other day. Molly had just gotten better and desperately needed to get OUT of the house! It was a nice little walk and I was able to sneek in a couple of good pictures of us all!

WISCONSIN TRIP

So Molly and I took a trip to Wisconsin to see everybody inlcuding our newest edition to the family, Miss Julia! We had a GREAT time - Joe was bummed because he had to stay back, and we did miss him, but it was so good to see everyone.

Julia is just a little sweet pea. She is so mild and is doing so well! Molly and John-David really played well together and enjoyed having each other around. This was the first time that the 2 could really play together and have conversations now that Molly is a little older, so it was so fun to watch.

Here are some pictures of highlights of the trip.

Saying Cheese and just being goofy - they kept wanting me to take pictures of them, and then every time took a picture, they would jump down and want to see it.

Playing Hide and Seek - Molly really believed that no one could see her.... hahaha aww...

At Monkey Joes - which is an inside jungle gym. Here is Molly riding the horse - about 2 minutes later she completely fell off the horse and hit her head - I was too busy taking cute pictures of my daughter to be by her side.... but no worries, she was just fine.

All of the pieces were inflatable - The 2 had a great time~!

At the pumpkin patch.

Stealing apples from the treeYou definitely can tell that they are cousins!!

And here are some pictures of sweet Julia LoRayne Miller. She really is such a good baby, and I am so happy that she is finally here and that her and Mags are doing so well! If I thought that I could get away with stealing her, I would, but I know Maggie has been waiting for this little one for some time! Welcome little girl to the family! We love you!

Molly was able to hold Julia on the last night we were there. She was so excited to meet her. On the way to Wisconsin she said "Mommy, I CANT wait to see baby julia!!"

She actually tried to take Julia from my arms because she wanted to hold her so bad. She would just stand next to me or try to sit right into my lap if I was holding her and pet her and count her fingers.

When we let her hold her for the pictures, she did such a great job! You could tell that she was taking this very seriously and was very quiet and had this grin on her face that just said it all - she was so happy and proud of herself for holding the baby!

FALL THUS FAR

And of course, it has been another long while since I have posted pictures, so here are a couple of pics of what has been going on. I am going tomorrow to see my new niece, so once I am back from the trip I will have more to post!

The beginning of fall started off warm, but now it is starting to get cooler, which is good for me beacause I am ready to pull out my sweaters!

Here was Monmouth Battlefield Park. Joe and I took Molly and Sophia. It is a beautiful park - you actually forget that you are in NJ! There are a ton of apple, and peach orchards as well as pumpkins and strawberries. It was a beautiful day and I can't wait to go back to get our pumpkins for this year!

See how pretty! Then Molly, NaNa and I went to visit in NY my mom's side of the family, which was great for me because I had not been there for years! Aunt Donna took us to a rescue farm and Molly got to chase all the goats and lambs around and pet them. We also went antiquing. It was a lot of fun to have a weekend with just the girls - even Molly said that she liked antiquing!

Brushing our teeth. We had our first dentist's visit a couple of weeks ago. Molly had some grey marks on her teeth, and I freaked out. But they were only stains and the dentist was great! She was so good with Molly and gave me rules that I had to follow when we were in the room... I even got a report card for how well I was brushing her teeth - which I got a C on - yes I do brush my daughter's teeth every night, but sometimes it is hard to get a moving target. But the doctors was great and showed me some moves to help get those back teeth!

Ahhh, baby... Molly is obsessed with her baby dolls. With feeding them, dressing them, giving them milk, taking them on trips in her stroller, giving them time outs, whatever it is, baby is along for the ride. Joe got her this new baby doll that is for the bath, so she takes it into the bath with her every night and washes her hair - it is so cute. She sings the baby rock-a-bye baby... it really is funny because she thinks she knows all the words....

And our first in grown toe nail...... ugh!

except that she likes to soak her toes, but she wont let me look at them afterwards....

Thank heavens it is all better now.

Molly is also wearing one of the nightgowns that Grandma Fran made for her too! My Grandma made Molly liek 5 fall jumpers, 3 nightgowns, 2 fleece jackets, a bunch of hats and a beautiful dressy winter coat (she looks like mary tyler moore!)

I wish I had Granny Fran's sewing abilities. Everything she made was absolutely beautiful!!!!

Good-bye to Summer

So, we are back from our trip to Myrtle Beach, which means only one thing - summer is coming to a close! I wait all winter long for hot summer days, but by the end of my vacation I am finally looking forward to brisk fall weather and I am ready to pull out my sweaters again!

The trip was fun, not as relaxing as it used to be when I was a kid, but it was great to see Molly enjoy herself. Here are a couple of pictures of the week.

In the Woodsy Pool. It starts off at 0 feet and then slopes deeper. Molly, of course has no fear of water and would keep on walking until the water would get to her eyes. I would try to pick her up, and she would tell me "Back up Mommy. I can swim" - She loved this pool though. She would crawl and dunk her head under the water. She finally started to realize to close her mouth and hold her breath.

Running like a wild woman!

On some rides. It was funny. 2 nites that we were at Broadway at the beach around the kiddy rides, I saw 2 different people from Lynchburg. It was so good to see their familiar faces, although it made me wish I was back in Lynchburg right now. But the Lord gave me a nice gift by allowing us to run in to warm faces from VA.

This was the kiddie version of the pirate ship. Molly LOVED this ride. She was sitting next to a little girl her age and the 2 of them kept looking at each other and giggled the whole time. It was really very cute.

And of course, Mommy got to ride the teacups with Molly. I was so dizzy at the end of this ride. Molly kept spinning and spinning the wheel. She thought it was great - I was car sick for the rest of the night!

At the alligator farm. We watched the people feed them. When you see one alligator, you've seen them all. It was a hot sticky muggy smelly place.

At the beach. Daddy and Pop took her into the ocean and she of course had so much fun in the waves. She got knocked down one time with NaNa, which gave her a healthy fear of the ocean.

She had fun digging in the dirt, and she met a little girl her age on the beach that she played in the sand with throughout the week.

2 year birthday pictures

Here are some pictures of Molly for her birthday. We go to Sears and I really can't believe how reasonable the price is and more importantly how good they are with Molly. This time, she was really well behaved (until I had to choose what pictures I wanted; then she had enough!) and warmed up the photographer quickly.

I am having such a hard time with the fact that she is actually 2 years old now. She seems like such a big girl wanting to do everything on her own. She is talking in 3 or 4 word sentences and remembers things/stories really well now. She is even prompting us to go on the potty! It's funny, because I keep saying how exciting it was for me when she turned 1, because it was like - wow, Molly is 1 and we survived the first year, and how fun it is to see her grow! Now it's like, wow, Molly is 2 and where did that year go, and she is growing like a weed and I wish I could slow it down a little!

She is just a sweet precious little girl who just enjoys life and honestly is one of the funniest little girls I have ever met (I know that I am her mom and I am supposed to think that, but I really do mean that she is stinking hilarious)

Molly, Mommy and Daddy love you with all of our heart, and cannot wait to see where the Lord will lead you in life, and we pray that you will follow and serve him without reservations!

July Update

It's been a bit a while awhile, yet again.... I wont post many pictures because there was a lot that I took, but here are a few. Molly with NaNa and PopPop Winkels when they were out to visit. We went to Allaire and Molly got to ride the train out there. Of course all trains are Thomas the Train, but she had fun. It was such a great visit with NaNa and PopPop - we wish they were close to us so we could see them all of the time!
Molly in her Flintstone car she got for her birthday - I can't believe my baby girl is 2 years old!!!

Eating icecream at the boardwalk with NaNa and PopPop Winkels.

Having her birthday cupcakes for the Sperling family party....