my sister received a pretty fancy "real photographer" type camera for her birthday, and we have been her fortunate subjects as of late! she has a real knack for capturing some sweet expressions and moments. james tends to enjoy the limelight more than ben david, hence ben david's shots are taken "on the sly!'

here is some of her work:

(p.s...bookings are available:)

quite the ham!

amused by his cousins...

big bear hugs for kurt!
happy boys

on march 22, 2006...ben david entered our world, forever changing our lives! he surprised us by arriving a full 9 weeks early and weighed in at a whopping 4 lbs. 11 oz!. after a month in the hospital we were able to bring him home for good. we thank the lord for him daily and never take for granted the special gift that he is to us.

on sunday, we celebrated ben david's third year of life! we had a wonderful time with family and enjoyed a beautiful day outdoors cookout. after months of requesting a "cranky the crane" birthday cake, ben david pulled a last minute switch on me and asked for a "rescue man" cake. for those not familiar...this is a character of the "boz" movies that resembles a superhero of sorts. the closest thing i could find was a spiderman character that we put on the cake. many thanks to his daddy for adding the spider web!:) in addition, ben david picked out some thomas plates and elmo hats. quite the assorted birthday "theme" this year.

ben david received some super fun gifts...including a cool, remote control dump truck from his anderson cousins, a chain saw (not real...but very real looking and sounding:) and thomas shirt from mamie, deuce and kai, a fun ice cream playdoh shop from grandmommie and poppie, and a super neat magnet building set from marmie and poppy. he raked in quite the loot!! here are a few pics from the festivities.

the birthday boy!

"rescue man" cake

make a wish!

this past weekend, ben, myself, my sister annaliese and brother-law-evan made our "great escape!" we left the kids with their most wonderful grandparents (THANK YOU MARMIE, POPPY, GRANDMOMMIE AND POPPIE!!) and took off for a weekend of playing and relaxing. it all began with an afternoon of pampering at the grandover resort in greensboro, nc. while annaliese and i were treated to facials and a pedicure, the guys managed to squeeze in 9 holes of golf, a game of racquetball and some pool time. here is a pic of our luxurious hotel!!

we capped off the evening with a: delicious, quiet, no one throwing food, no one spilling their milk, no one needing their mouths wiped off, dinner!

the next day, we were off to chapel hill to watch the heels STOMP on georgia tech!! we had awesome seats and really enjoyed the game. our next stop was the franklin inn where we enjoyed being right on the "main drag" and feeling very "collegeish":). dinner that night was at four eleven where we enjoyed great italian food. again...no mouths to wipe, dishes to clean, etc. to cap off our adventure, we took in late movie...all staying out later than we had in years!;)

our awesome room!!

the next morning, we relaxed before eating one last yummy meal at sutton's soda shop. while the weather was bitterly cold and rainy all weekend, we truly did not mind a bit. we had a fantastic time!!!