Duke Gardens

Duke has an amazing garden about 5 minutes from our house. We have gone several times since we have been here and thought you might like to see them too!! Katelin and Tye love the Lily Pad pond.

They say that July is the worst time to go, but it is still pretty amazing. I'm sure I will post more pictures during fall and spring.

Happy 4th

For the 4th of July we went to downtown Durham. The city has renovated some old tobacco warehouses into a cool shopping area. USA was playing Guatemala at the Durham Bulls stadium so we decided to show some support and watch the show afterward.

Chic-fil-a had about 5 cows at the game and Katelin could not contain herself. She just had to dance!!! This is just a small example. The cow loved her so much that he came out just to dance with Katelin.

The kids had a GREAT time at the game and fireworks afterward.

Hello Durham

My parents were troopers. They kept the kiddos while Meg and I drove across country. They then managed to travel with a one and three year old on a three leg flight from Austin to NC with NO naps. They were the family you did NOT want to sit next to on the plane!!

The kids had the best time with the boxes...(and still are)..

My dad left on the 4th and left my mom here to help unpack, arrange and organize...thanks mom!!
Katelin in her princess out fit helping unpack...
Meg in her princess outfit helping unpack :)

Destin

On our way to NC, Meg and I made a well needed pit-stop in Destin. We had a great time just hanging on the beach.

We didn't bring any beach chairs, so we dug our own chairs in the sand. Actually much more comfortable and custom fit:)
The mid afternoon shower chased us off the beach, so meg decided to get a pedicure while I looked at electronics at Best Buy, very romantic way to spend our vacation...I'm being serious.
We didn't get to celebrate our 7th anniversary together, so we decided to make this our anniversary dinner. Very romantic spot call "Fudpuckers" where they have live alligators to watch while waiting to be seated.

After a day of rest, we made a long drive to NC...Here we are crossing the state line.

Bye Bye Galveston

We had one last hang-out time with Chad and Catherine Conner and Fam.

My colleagues at UTMB met me for lunch at the Original.
Katelin and Meg got to say goodbye to David Emma and James. James stayed at our place 2-3 days a week. Katelin and James became good buddies.

The Movers finally arrived. Katelin had a blast going a round and taking pictures of all of the movers. Here is one of her masterpieces.

Here is Granddaddy wrangling the kids while the movers pack the truck

My parents are going to be our "storage facility" for a year (so they think!!) for stuff we don't really use, but to attached to get rid of...do any of you have that kind of stuff?
Katelin wondering where all of her toys went.

Katelin excited that all of her toys made it on the moving truck. She was excited about the rocking horse in the background. Can you believe that we filled up this entire 18 wheeler with stuff!?!

Saying goodbye to 1928 Ave M...The empty house was kind of sad. Meg and I walked through all of the empty rooms recalling all of the memories we made with our family in this house. All of the friends we had over for CCCC and CMA group in the dining and living room, Tye coming home to his first home, Katelin moving upstairs to her first big-girl bed, the thousands of pancakes made in the kitchen, and of course all of the time we spent in the basement cleaning out after IKE (we are now grateful to IKE that we didn't have to move even more junk that we were too attached to!!)

We made some great friends while in Glaveston. John and Erika were one of the first couples we met coming back to Galveston and starting our CCC small group....and the last couple we saw driving out of G. They were gracious to let us crash at their place after a long, tiring, and emotional day. We had a great time hanging out with them and look forward to them visiting NC soon!!