Tagged

So, I kept seeing this tagging game going around all the blogs I follow and now I have been tagged.

The object of the picture tag is to:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer.
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3) Explain the picture.
4) Tag 4 people to do the same. No cheating (cropping, editing, etc.) Have fun!

This picture is from Kyle's Senior Phi Kapp party at the Georgian Terrace in downtown Atlanta. Kyle's with his pals Brent, Scott and Joseph. This picture makes me laugh for some reason. Think its the boy pose going on here like they are in a wedding line up and no one knows quite where to look.

Oddly enough, my office is diagonally across the street from this hotel. Little did we know 4 years after this was taken that we'd be living in Atlanta & work nearby. Even this time last year, we had no idea God would lead us to Atlanta after Kyle finished school. Funny how things turn out. :)

As for who I'm going to tag -- I'm not so cool in the bloggsphere and don't have that many blogging friends (especially since virtually everyone else I know has already been tagged) so I'm only tagging 3: my Sister, Larry Grays and Carrie Tyson

More to come from Christmas festivities in a few days...

Hubbie Shout Out

So I have to brag on Kyle for a minute. I went out to the mailbox to check for Christmas cards and discovered that flowers had been delivered from Kyle. AWWWW.... Isn't he the sweetest!

Thank Goodness for Plastic Ornaments

Apparently purchasing a huge container of plastic Christmas ornaments during our first year of marriage was ingenuous of me. While I thought at the time it was a cheap way to fill up the tree when we had nothing to decorate with, it turned out to be the perfect ornaments when a toddler comes to help decorate the tree.

We had a good time decorating the tree and seeing the tree through Elizabeth's eyes with all the wonder only a child can bring. I also learned a few things about decorating a tree with a toddler -- like ornament throwing and light pulling.

Decorating is Fun!

Elizabeth would throw the ornaments to see if they would stay and then clap & smile!

This decorating is hard work. Elizabeth liked using the presents as a seat. Sorry Kim.... some of the presents got a little squashed!

Checking out the lights with Uncle Kyle

Tuckered out

Give Thanks

The matching shirts were totally unplanned... not sure if this means we're turning into an old married couple or what

This Thanksgiving, we were blessed to be able to celebrate at our home. It was so fun to host Thanksgiving at our house for this first time, try my hand at the turkey and also break out the china!

China being put to good use

Apparently I cooked the turkey upside down...WHOOPS! Though, I just like to say I planned it that way so the bird would be juicer :)

Is it done yet?

Kyle's parents drove up from FL and spent the week with us, which was great to spend time with them and catch up in person. We were even able to try out the web cams, so we can see each other virtually when we talk. :)


My parents, Nanny, Aunt Laurie and Cousin Erin came too and we all gathered around our make shift table with oodles of food and lots of laughs.


For some reason, none of us thought to break out the camera when everyone was here, so all i have is pictures of food (typical of my family) and a few shots of the table pre-dinner. Guess we'll have to make that a goal for next year.


We have plenty to be thankful for this year. My Mother in Law got these great cups where you could write what you were thankful for. They ranged from "Family & Friends", power of prayer" to "Good Food". We are so thankful for all God has blessed us with -- even through this difficult year for our country, God has provided us so much and blessed us with wonderful family and friends to love, encourage & challenge us.


Here's a few pictures from Thanksgiving --

Hot apple cider with Oranges and Lemons

The Table -- Pre-dinner

Dad with Elizabeth's "stuffed turkey"

Future Baby Edwards

... now I know what you are thinking.... don't get all excited. I got this idea after reading my friend Kat's blog about RoutonBaby. Since nearly every couple we know have started having kids, I decided to have a little fun in the meantime and see what our own RoutonBaby would look like. Check it out.... a little freaky if a do say so myself!

RoutonBaby Edwards

You too can make your own RoutonBaby here! Have fun!

More Jacksonville fun

We weren't so good at capturing our time together in film this weekend, but captured a few shots by the fort in St Augustine. There was a beautiful sunset that made for some cute family pics.

We're going to be proud Auntie & Uncle's again in February when our little nephew, Noah, is born. Keily has one cute preggers belly :)

Kim & Gary -- or should we say Mimi & Pops

Keily & Jack

Like Father, like Son

Jacksonville Search & Rescue

This past weekend the Edwards clan met up in Jacksonville. Towards the end of our trip we went downtown for a bite to eat before driving back to Atlanta. Who knew we would get front row seats to Search and Rescue practice.

At first we thought something was wrong. I mean, why else would the helicopter zoom up the inner coastal and drop 2 guys in wet suits into the water.

But no, these guys fly down, drop 2 guys in the water, hover for 10 mins or so and then leave. It was sort of like our own mini chopper air show.

(I'll go ahead now and apologize for my stellar video abilities... )

Here's another short video of the guys in the water. We were all quite curious as to what was going on...especially the poor guy who's boat got soaked during the process. He probably thought 'What did I do?'

Few more pics of the helicopter for those who are as fascinated about this as I am...

The spray from the chopper got us all wet

The only person that came up in the crate was the scuba diver

Man Chair

The long awaited "Man Chair" is finally here! We ordered the chair over Labor Day weekend and after weeks of patiently waiting, we got to welcome the new chair into our living room last week! So far we're not really use to having our own place to sit since we've been sharing the couch for 2 years now, but guess we'll have to learn how to stretch out a little :)

Giggles

Gretchen and I had fun with Elizabeth in the park. It was Elizabeth's first time on the swing and she loved it! She kept laughing and giggling the whole time. Makes you wish you could go back in time. Brings back memories of being a kid and playing on the swings with my childhood friend, Kim. We were so daring and would swing as high as we could and then jump off at the height of the swing. I don't know if I'd be so daring today-- I mean - I could break something!

Don't worry Sissy, I'm sure Elizabeth would never do anything like that when she gets older :)

Fun with friends

Since Camille and Betsy already posted about this on their blogs, I had to also add to mine. While Betsy was on the East Coast visiting her family she and Camille drove all the way down from Chatta-vegas to eat dinner with me & Kyle.

It was so fun to see my girlfriends again and catch up in person instead of the phone or Facebook - ha! Camille remembered to snap a photo to remember the evening... this one photo has now made it on all our blogs!

Calling all guests

4 months after moving in we finally have an offical guest room. Living in South Florida in a 2/2 apt, our second room was the catch all - office / workout room / guest room. So, we were really excited that in our new place in Atlanta that we'd have a whole room just for our guests.

We started with just a mattress in August, but the day we moved it in, we noticed the carpet was wet. This started a 2 mo + repair to the wall and floor courtesy of our landlord (thank goodness its a rental!)

So, after months of waiting and anticipating we finally have a bonafide guest room. Here's a few pictures of the final product. Calling all guests.... hint hint Kim, Gary, Keily & Jack!

We started with these 2 huge pictures that I got for FREE at a garage sale in Haines City

Final product

Dresser restored by Kyle's grandpa

It's not goodbye it's just good night... GOOD NIGHT!

Little Phi mu shout out to Camille and Betsy who are drive down to see us tomorrow night. Betsy flew in from Arizona is visiting her family in Chattavegas and is taking time out of her trip to come see me... awwww!


I love knowing that no matter where we go or how things change, that we can still pick up where we left off like no time has gone by at all.


Here's a shout out to Camille & Betsy showing off their prom poses from Jolene's wedding

Braves Game Extavaganza

Our friends Nay and Brandon, the newly Mr and Mrs Sparks, invited us to go see the Braves and Philly's play in pure style.

Nay and Brandon won a content that not only included amazing seats, but also included parking passes and food - what could be better!

Here's a few memorable pics from the night out

Kyle & I in our Braves Shirts representin'

(Let's not focus on how tired I look in this picture... the lights were just bright - i promise!)

Belated posts

Somehow September got away from us, but here's some highlights. We celebrated 2 birthdays:

Elizabeth's

and Mom's

I made Mom a Strawberry cake and we cooked out at Gretchen's house. Elizabeth had just celebrated her birthday the week before, so she thought all those shiny wrapped presents were for her! Here's a few pics.

Key theme music...

In case you weren't aware... it's football season. My slightly obsessed hubbie has been looking forward to this for quite a while.... humming the NFL theme song, mock drafts and real drafts. I'm what you would call "sports challenged" , but I'm trying! I much prefer the stories behind the sports, which Kyle uses to get me to watch the games.

While the Florida Gators played last week, tonight marks the first game that will challenge the Gators (sorry Hawaii) and Kyle has a first row seat reserved in our living room tonight at 8! (Cue chips, coke & lots of cheering).

I have to stop here and tell you one of my favorite memories of watching my first Gator game with Kyle and his sister, Keily. Let me start off by saying I didn't really grow up in a sports house, so until Kyle and I started dating, I hadn't really watched many football games, unless attending high school games & talking my way through it counts. :)

We went over to Keily's apartment to watch the game - complete with hot wings. I was all settled into the couch with my wings ready to learn football, when all of the sudden, both Kyle and Keily are on their feet, cheering, jumping up and down and yelling at the TV. I just sat there dumbfounded. Needless to say I was a little confused. Lesson #1: Football watching is contact sport in and of itself!

I've come a long way over the years... I can follow some of the plays (thank you little yellow line on the TV screen) and even know some of the players names. Kyle still laughs at the silly questions I ask, but Hey - I'm trying! So, tonight I'll put on my game face & get into sports mode. GO GATORS!

Cake Success

The ducky cake was a success! Elizabeth loved her smash cake and the big ducky cake. As soon as she saw it she kept exclaiming "DUCK"! Everyone enjoyed the cake...especially Elizabeth :)

Here's a few shots of the cake and Elizabeth distroying her smash cake

Elizabeth's cake with her name and the #1 on the "soap"

The smash cake

Both finished cakes together

The cake with a few more bubbles :)

Elizabeth got a slow start with the smash cake, but ended up diving right in!

Also got the cake encounter on video:

(the family was just a little excited)

Rubber Ducky your the one!

So my little niece is turning 1 - !!! Can't believe she's so grown up. In honor of her birthday we're having a ducky themed party - her favorite animal. Today I'm making a ducky cake & little smash cake. I found my inspiration on the "coolest birthday cake" site http://http//www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/birthday-cake-designs.html

Here's the cake I'm going to aim to make today... wish me luck!

I'm also going to try and make a mini version for her smash cake for Elizabeth to eat (distroy) all by herself! I'll post the finished product soon. This will be the first time I use all my neat cake decorating tools...hopefully it will turn out!