Favorite Photo Friday {family fun in SC}

I'm trying to catch up on the backlog of photos I have from this summer.  

These were taken from our family trip to SC in July to visit my parents for their 50th wedding anniversary.  

The beaches in SC are perfect for Spencer's love for skim boarding.
He was in his element body surfing and loving the big waves.  

Lily on the other hand was content playing in the sand and building sandcastles.  

She loved spending time with her Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jim as well as her cousins Marlee and Kelly.  

Lily adores the beach.  Even tonight as I was tucking her into bed she asked me when we were going back to the beach :))

One night we headed out to Murrells Inlet to take some family photos at sunset.
This is one of my all time favorites of them...I love the way they are walking hand in hand looking at each other.  

In true Spencer fashion he asked if he could jump over Lily.  She was a great sport as you can see her giving him big smiles and a round of applause for clearing his jump :))

The bond they share has been close from the day they met.
 Spencer is only with us every other week and tonight Lily spent about 30 minutes making him a card and asked if she could mail it to him.  Michael helped Lily address it and they walked it out to the mailbox tonight...now it's just waiting to be picked up tomorrow :))

They are the light and joy of our family and we look forward to seeing another little one running around in the photos with them in the days ahead.
{Some of you have asked about our paper chase...we are waiting to receive our approval from immigration and hoping that we are nearing the end of our 60-90 day wait.  Once we receive the approval all dossier paperwork will be authenticated and then translated by our agency to be sent to China...yay!!!}

When I look at Spencer it is hard for me to believe that he was Lily's age when I first met him.
How quickly time passes and how proud we are of the young man he is becoming.  

I love the innocence and wonder of these photos...wish I could freeze these moments in time.    

Together as family...not something I'm always able to capture behind the camera but thankful for this as a reminder of our time together.  

My sweet Mom and Dad on the night we celebrated their 50th anniversary.  

What a blessing it is to have parents who show love and commitment through the joys and valleys of life.  

So grateful for the gift of family and the blessing to all be together to celebrate my parent's milestone.
Even my grandmother surprised us by making the trip to be with us which was an added gift we will always remember.
These are a few i-phone candid photos from the week that capture more of the fun we had.
Thank you Mom and Dad for setting a great example for our family and leaving us a strong legacy of faith, hope and love.  We love you!

Embracing the wind and cold at the beach

We woke up this morning at the beach to 40 degree temps and strong winds but some little and big person around the house were determined to put their toes in the sand.

Michael flew out yesterday for some work related business so it was just the 3 of us today. I procrastinated as long as I could before the troops began to get restless and we needed a plan. 

 So...we hopped in the golf cart to check out the beach before I committed to braving the cold temps.

As I suspected...the beach was EMPTY unlike two days prior when it was crazy busy with people everywhere.

Even though I was freezing the blue sunny skies and peaceful sound of the waves were calling my name so we headed back to the house to pack up lunches for a day of fun on the beach.

Spencer and Lily started out all bundled up but as you can see they began to shed their layers throughout the day.

Me? Well..let's just say I kept nice and warm (somewhat) with my two coats and long pants.

Spencer started building a wind barrier wall which Lily quickly named "the great wall of China"!

They worked on it all afternoon and Lily was thrilled with their accomplishment. 

 Like all little sisters will do, she messed up some of Spencer's hard work but he was patient and understanding as always. She watches his every move and loves imitating everything he does.

We enjoyed a beautiful day on the beach, almost all to ourselves. 

 Spencer helped me with a Hello Kitty photo shoot of Lils on the beach (more photos to come)

and then we headed up to the pool to finish off our day.

I think this photo says it all...even though I didn't capture Lily's expression,  I'm sure you can only imagine the big smile she had on her face.

Their love for each other is something unique and I love watching it unfold.

Looking forward to my hubby being with us the rest of the week and hoping for some warmer weather!

Family Fun in Colorado {Part 2}

We arrived back home last Sunday night and hit the ground running which is why I am just now updating about the reminder of our trip to Colorado.


One of the highlights of our time with Nancie and Chuck was experiencing Raclette for the first time. We spent the afternoon chopping up lots of veggies and meat to prepare for dinner and it was well worth the effort!


Raclette is like an indoor grill that makes dinner such a fun interactive experience for everyone. You grill the meats/veggies on top and the bottom is like a warming tray where you can melt cheese over sausage, bread, etc. 


They invited some friends over for dinner to join us which added to the fun and Lily had fun playing with their twin girls. Spencer was hooked from the start and has hinted around several times that we should invest in one for our family :) 


Steak, chicken, squash, peppers, zucchini, onions, sausage, cheese, potatoes, bread equals super YUMMMY! We had enough left over for seconds our last night there which made one 12 year old boy VERY happy after a full day of skiing and sledding.


Here is a picture of the Raclette grill and Spencer with his purple unicorn...let's just say he decided to join the girls in playing with their flannel boards before dinner started :)




Michael got in a lot of good skiing and Spencer stuck with the snowboard. He improved each day and by the end of our time was carving through the snow and loving every minute of it!



The top picture is a view from the top of the mountain where they were skiing. The bottom picture is our view of the mountains when we went sledding the last day.



Our last day we stayed in that morning and Lily had fun exploring and sharing her love with everyone.







Spencer was content to rest up for his last day of snowboarding while Lily decided to try on Nancie's ski boots for size:)



Lily consistently took 3+ hour naps every day (maybe I should invest in some black out liners for her room!) so she was ready to go when the boys got back home and we headed out for some family fun sledding.







Lily and I didn't last long because of the wind and cold but she left with a smile which is always a good thing. 


After we got home from sledding, I brown-nosed the boys into letting me take a picture with them in their ski boots and Lily in Nancie's boots...of course it was freezing outside and they didn't really want to comply but I'm glad that did because it is one of my favorite ones from the week!



Below are a couple of videos...one Nancie took of Michael doing his thing in the Copper bowl and one of Lily's first attempt at skiing.  We failed to get one of Spencer snowboarding which just gives us a good reason to go back next year :)

Thank you Chuck and Nancie for sharing your love and home with our family!