KARLIE'S HOME

On Tuesday of last week, we went with Mrs. Laura to the Atlanta Airport to pick up Karlie!

Karlie is Emma's dear friend who has been gone ALL summer to Florida to spend time with her dad. We didn't see many airplanes, but I did try to get a picture of 1 as it landed!!

Emma has missed Karlie so much this summer! Karlie didn't know that we were coming to the airport with her mom, so she was very surprised and excited to see us!!!

She and Emma have pretty much been inseparable since her return!!

GEORGIA AQUARIUM

We took a trip over to the Georgia Aquarium today!! We live so close to all of these great attractions, and this is the 1st time that we have been to any of them! Crazy!!
Anyway, we had a great time! Emma really enjoyed seeing the fish and different kinds of aquatic animals! It is so nice to get out and do things like this together as a family!!
I do have to say though that I was very disappointed with the actual aquarium! It is huge, yet HIGHLY overrated in my opinion!! Plus, it is waaaaaayyyyyyy to crowded for my liking!!

DOWNTOWN ATLANTA

I think Jason was more impressed with the buildings in downtown Atlanta than he was with the Aquarium! I have to say though that the city scene of Atlanta is beautiful!

EMMA CAN SWIM

Over the course of the Spring and Summer, Emma has pretty much learned how to swim! She would not even get off of the steps when we first started going to the pool. She then progressed to arm floaties, and then after that, she would swim small distances by herself. Now, she doesn't want to wear her arm floaties and wants to swim back and forth to people the entire time we are at the pool!! When she has on goggles, she will even swim under water, which she is really good at, but she doesn't particularly like to put her face under the water.

Our Little Mermaid!!!

WEEKEND BAR-B-QUE

We don't grill very much here at the apartments because of the hassle (we can't grill on our balconies), but on occasion we get really hungry for something on the grill! We have this little grill that we take down behind our unit and do some sneaky grilling! My dad is the expert when it comes to grilling, but I must say, Jason (with a little help from Emma) cooked us a fabulous hamburger tonight!!
Emma couldn't wait for the burgers to get done so she had her a cheese sandwich while she waited!!

EMMA'S NEW HAIRCUT

Our haircut a few weeks ago was just a test run to see how Emma would handle the beauty shop! After seeing Jillian Spann's cute little haircut, I convinced Emma that short hair is so much easier to manage, plus much cooler during the summer! She liked the idea of getting her haircut like Jillian, so we did it!!! It is indeed much easier!!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

We are so blessed to live in the United States of America!!! Each time I turn on the news and see things that are going on in this world, I am reminded of how fortunate we are to live in such a great country!

We are so thankful to the men and women in our military (past and present) who work so hard each day, and even give their lives to insure that we keep our freedom as Americans!

GOD BLESS THE USA!!!!

This picture is of Jason's cousin, Alan Trammell, who is currently serving our country in Iraq!

We love you Alan and pray for you daily!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

We had a busy, yet fun 4th of July!!! We shopped, went to a cookout with some of Jason's co-workers, and ended the night with the Athens fireworks display. This was the 1st year that Emma has stayed awake long enough to see the fireworks! She was so excited and really amazed at what she saw!! It was such a joy to see her face as the fireworks lit up the sky!!!

A VISIT WITH MIMI AND PAPA

My parents came over for a short visit this weekend! We are always glad to have people come and visit us, especially family!!!! They didn't get too stay long, but it was nice to have a little company!!

Jason's mother had sent over some fresh vegetables from her garden, so we had a fabulous supper on Saturday night. Emma helped Mimi snap all of the green beans! Thanks Nanna for all of the veggies!! They were wonderful!!!
Emma hasn't figured out just yet why Papa doesn't have hair!!

Papa's bald head fascinates her!

TIME OUT

Emma had to sit in time-out one morning this week and evidently Lucy thought she was in trouble too, so she sat there with her!! Quite comical!!

BRAG TIME

It is now time for me to do a little bragging on my little girl! Today marks 1 week that Emma has been sleeping in her own bed!!!!! HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY!!!! We sometimes have to lay down with her, but some nights she has fallen asleep all by herself. She usually cries out 1 time in the night and I have to comfort her for a short while, but other than that, she sleeps all night long!!! We have really praised her for being such a big girl! This weekend we tried to fix that bedroom to be more like her room than the guest/storage room! She really likes it now!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON SNACK

Nothing is more satisfying on a hot day than ice cream! Emma loves ice cream sandwiches. Poor Lucy only wishes that she could have a bite!

HOORAY FOR OUR BIG GIRL

Today was Emma's 1st haircut at the beauty shop other than her very first haircut at the age of 1! For some reason she has been afraid to get her haircut by anyone other than my mom (who by the way is not a professional hair stylist). I convinced her this morning that in order for her hair to grow she needed to get the ends trimmed up, and she was ready to go!!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

I am so thankful for such a wonderful, loving husband! Jason is so good to me and Emma! Emma is blessed to have this man as her daddy! I thank God daily for sending Jason into my life and allowing us the opportunity to be parents!

I am also thankful to have a great dad and father-in-law! I am so glad that Emma is getting the chance to grow up with 2 grandfather's in her life! Emma is also very fortunate to have known and still enjoy some of her great-grandfathers!!! Happy Father's Day to all of the dad's that might read this!

FAMILY VACATION

We took a much needed vacation last week and went to Fort Walton Beach with my family. It was just us and my aunt's family for most of the week, but Mimi and Papa were able to come down for the weekend. We all had such a great time. The next few posts are from the trip.

SHELL FAMILY 2007
Mimi, Papa and Emma
We had ate seafood until we couldn't eat anymore! Here we are at the Crab Trap!
This is my Aunt Kathy's Family

Dean, Kathy, Chuck, Seth

Josh in the back

BEAUTIFUL VIEW

We had a beautiful view of both the beach and the bay from our condo! It was so relaxing to sit on the balcony and look out over God's creation!

SAND AND SUN

We had beautiful weather while we were at the beach last week! The ocean was fabulous! Emma loved playing in the ocean, but she really loved the "soft white sand"!

Emma doesn't go under the water, but she wore these goggles in the ocean in order to keep the waves from splashing in her eyes!!

Playing in the ocean made Emma hungry and sleepy! I don't think she is really sleeping here, but she is at least resting!

Emma is over to the right in the green arm floaties! The water was so calm that we put her arm floaties on her, and then attached a baby harness to her, and she swam around everywhere! It was really great!

VACATION BOO-BOO

Emma ran head first right into a big cement column supporting the condo! She was looking behind her and when she turned around, there it was! It was one of those times when you knew it was about to happen, but there was nothing you could do to stop it!!

FUN AT THE POOL

Our condo in Florida had a great pool! It was an indoor/outdoor pool where you could swim in between the two. We usually went to the pool in the afternoon and then sometimes again at night. Jason liked the indoor pool especially after he got sunburned at Big Kahuna's Water Park!

Emma and Seth loved playing in the pool together!

MORE FUN AT THE POOL

Chuck, Kathy and Seth
Emma loves to jump into the pool and have someone catch her! We tried to get her to jump in by herself, but the thought of going under terrifies her!

PUTT-PUTT GOLF

We all played putt-putt golf one evening after dinner. Emma was extremely tired, but she was a trooper anyway! There were 7 of us playing, and Emma tried to wait as patiently as she could! We all had such a great time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GLASSCO GIRLS

We had such a great time at the Glassco girls birthday party! Macey, McKinley and Maddie are the children of our good friends Marc and Christina (Hicks) Glassco. They have birthdays in May, June and July, so this year Christina decided to have one big party for all 3 girls! It was a blast! Most of the kids enjoyed the huge waterslide that they had. I think it was a little too much for Emma though. She played on the swingset the majority of the time.