The sweetest thing . .

This gets me every time :) There is nothing more precious to me than a daddy and his little girl! It always makes me think of the Paul Simon song "Father and Daughter" . . if you haven't heard it, download it!

Birthday Hike to Wallace Falls

I will be feeling this one for days to come!! We went to Wallace Falls which was classified as Easy to Moderate which was the same as the last hike we did so we figured "let's do it"! Not so much!! The scenery was magnificent! It was divided into 3 parts. The Lower Falls which was pretty easy to get to, the Middle Falls which became increasingly harder, and the Upper Falls which was classified as difficult and kicked my butt!! But I have to say there is a big feeling of satisfaction upon reaching the top! It was total 3.5 hours, it climbed 1,100 feet, and had a round trip of 5.6 miles! I think we'll take it easy for a little while :)

The Night Life

Rebecca was sweet enough to watch out girls last night so Danny and I could go out and celebrate our anniversary and my birthday! We went to a local festival where they had a beer garden! Well at only 10 o'clock and 2 drinks later I was ready to go! So much for the night life I guess . . of course I blame the girls :) The festival had live music and fair rides and all that good stuff and I have to say that as we were sitting and having our drinks and listening to cover band sing everything from Lyonard Synard to Nelly, I found myself missing a lot of our friends back home!!!! Hopefully one day we'll be able to get together again!

For everyone keeping track, or taking bets :), we've been married 4 years!










(I had to give in and got the "mom" hair cut last week!)

B-Day Breakfast

Danny and the girls took me out for a sweet birthday breakfast this morning so we could get geared up for our birthday hike! Can you believe I'm 25 - woohoo!!

A Few Pictures . . .

Here are just a few pics taken the last couple of days.

Here's Layla at playgroup
with her friend Toby who
is 4 months old and only
a pound and a half
heavier than Layla :)










I never get tired of snapping
that smile!!










Love it :)










Ella discovered the fun of
bubble wrap for the first
time!!










I think this pretty much
says it all!!

X-Boxer

My worst fear has come true - someone else in the house likes to play X-Box now with Danny :) All he has to say is "let's play a game" and Ella immediatly grabs her controller and climbs in his lap!! It's been a very rough week but, yes, she is beginning to feel like her spunky self again!

First Ear Infection!

Well knock on wood . . up to this point Ella has been such a healthy kid but we are now dealing with her first ear infection! what a doozy :( we had her back to the doctor's office for the 2nd day in a row and now we have her on some good meds and ear drops! She has still kept that fever but they tell me it should subside within 24-48 hours! Here's hoping we never have to deal with this again!!!!!

Camping

Well many of you know we were trying to go camping with the girls this weekend but unfortunalty that's not happening. Ella has had a fever since tuesday that just won't seem to go away and her pediatrician thinks she may have viral croupe. And she's still sleeping alot and feeling pretty lousy so it looks like you'll have to wait to hear all about our trip another time! Hope everyone is doing well!!

Layla-look-alikes!

My mom sent me some pictures of myself and my dad as babies so we could see how much Layla looks like a "little Rabun"! Danny and I have been saying that she looks like my dad since she was born. Decide for yourselves . . . (i hope you can see them ok) . . when I find some good examples of Danny's family I'll show you guys what a "little Brindisi" Ella really is!

Warning . .

This is what happens when you let your bed become a "family bed"! how do 2 little people take up sooo much room . . and it's a king size bed?!?! at one point during the night ella was actually laying horizontly across our pillows! but look how cute they are . . who can say no?

Happy girl :)

Danny had Layla smiling last night and she even let out a little chuckle!!!! Sooo sweet!!

Little Si Hike

Today we took a family hike to the summit of Little Si Mountain. It's a 4 mile, 2.5 hour hike that climbs 1,200 feet! For any of you thinking that's not so bad - try putting anywhere from 15-30 pounds on your back - it's get a bit more complicated :) We found out it's called Little Si because directly next to it sits Si Mountain which doubles in height and hike! Overall we had a great time! There were a few points of very steep grades but it was very worth it upon reaching the top! Both the girls were soo well behaved - they had the best seats!!









The before picture!









Only 5 minutes in . . notice
my energy level!









Danny cools off in a stream









Reaching the summit!
If this doesn't get off
my baby weight - i
don't know what will!





















How can you not believe
there is a God! what a work
of art!!















































































We made it!!!!!









We sat to have a
snack for a bit! On a
side note - Layla is
wearing a 6 month
size outfit :)