Trip to Gatlinburg

Yesterday, we went with Jonathan and Becky to Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg. (For those of you who don't know, Jonathan is my brother, and Becky is his wife). Jamin and I have been there a few times each but they had never been. It was so much fun! It doesn't matter how many times you go. We had a blast! I have a picture of all four of us, but it's on Jonathan's camera...I'll try to get it later.

Aren't they sweet?



They had a new Mars exhibit. There were some neat things, but there were also some things that talked about evolution and global warming. We went quickly through this part. :)

After about 2 hours in the aquarium, we fought through traffic and ate a quick supper at Burger King. Then we headed out to the ballgame! This is always a fun experience, minus the beer-drinkers all around. The Smokies killed the MudCats 14-1. Needless to say, it wasn't much of a game. It also rained from about the 6th to 9th innings, but just enough to get us damp.



The ended the game with a Fireworks Extravaganza. Beautiful! But I worried a little about the baby through the loud bangs.


We had a great day, and got home just a little after midnight. I absolutely crashed, then took a huge nap today...I think I'm all caught up!! We are so glad we're close to our families for a while and get to spend time with them!

New pictures

In the gallery, I have three new albums....finally. I haven't added to it in a long time, but I had some free time this morning. Take a look. The albums are "Our Third Anniversary," "Trip to Ohio," and "Camping 7.07." There is a new category at the top of the page called "New Albums." That will make it easier to see if I've added anything new. You can click the link on the right, or click here. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Little squirmy...

This baby is so squirmy that I actually felt it move for the first time last Friday. I was lying in bed that morning (we won't talk about how late), and felt it move, big time! I actually gasped. I couldn't believe it. I was not even 17 weeks yet. It was so precious. I stayed there a long time, poking on my stomach and holding my breath, but that was it for now. I expected to feel the "bubbles," which is what most people feel at first, but these were taps and waves. I just love it! Yea! Another milestone. The big ultrasound is coming up in a few weeks!

Blog ratings

I was blog-surfing a little while ago and found a blog rating. I thought it was pretty neat. They just check your blog real quick for language (even the word death), and give you a rating. Pretty neat, huh?

Camping fun?

Okay, so camping has never been one of my favorite things. You have to get all dirty, you have to sleep in a tent. You have to build a fire, then cook your food. You get bug bites and sun burns. There are wild animals around. But we went camping!

We had a great first day! We cooked hamburgers over the fire. We set up our own "Hillbilly Golf" game and played it. We enjoyed talking and spending time with each other. It's so much fun to play with my nephews. And the little one is getting so big. It's fun to hear him try to say new words. He is a busy little guy...kind of hard to keep up with. :)

It really was fun...except for the rain. It rained quite a bit. The first evening, it got all the blankets wet in my sister's tent. So we drove a long way to a laundromat to get them all dry. The second day (Tuesday), it rained a little during the day, then all night long, along with some pretty fierce wind. It was pretty rough. Plus, on the way to a laundromat, we saw an animal running across the road. We are calling it a bear. It really looked like a bear. Then we saw two wild boars running up the side of the bank! Talk about being paranoid the rest of the night! Other than that, we had a great time!

Waiting out the rain in our tent. I know you all miss my makeup as much as I do.



They're pretending to love each other! (l to r: Daniel, Braden, and Ryder)

The tent...partially collapsed after Tuesday night's monsoon. Luckily, it was not our tent.

We really enjoyed being together. Once again, I failed to get a group shot. That's just a tough thing to do. I really love making s'mores on the campfire, I love spending time with my nephews, I love being where it's quiet...I just don't love camping!

The Ultrasound

Everything went well with the ultrasound. It was only to help with the due date...still too early to tell if it's a son or daughter. It was so precious! It was a squirmy little baby. Mom went with us and was all choked up through the entire thing. Jamin and I just stared at the little baby...it sure is a miracle! We got some pretty good and clear pictures. I'll try to scan them soon. I'm 15 weeks now so it won't be long before we find out what it is!

We're heading out very early in the morning to go camping with my sister and her family. I'm looking forward to it...except for the dirty, no shower part. :) I'll post later this week.

Have a great week, everybody!

Eating dust...

Last night, we went to the fair in Rural Retreat, VA. I don't think I have ever been to a fair. We just never went growing up. This was a small fair. I think there were about five rides. But since I can't ride right now anyway, that didn't matter to me. The cool thing going on was the truck pull. I have never been to any kind of pull either...tractor, horse or truck. It was really neat. We were there for a little over two hours watching these guys see who had the biggest, baddest truck. There was a lot of ego. :) A few of the trucks had their exhaust pipes turned sideways, and they FILLED the bleachers with smoke. So gross! I was crunching dust in my teeth. But it was so much fun! I know the pictures are terrible, but you can get the idea!




Here's Jada with her innocent look. We know better! ;)

Tired again...my new look for the next six and a half months.

Our Happy 4th

We spent Independence Day in Virginia, in the town of Independence! We went to a parade there with the whole Boyer family. We were glad Jeanene, Jase and Jarrod could be there! We had a great day all together (minus my nap) but didn't get a family picture. We just can't remember at the right time, can we Jeanene?

Here is Jarrod with his flag.



Later, we went back home and had a cookout. The weather was perfect! Here we are looking tired.

Jarrod sang "God Bless America" for us. He did a GREAT job!

We ended our day watching fireworks!

I am so thankful to be an American where we are free to live our lives as God would have us live them. I am so thankful we got to be with our families on this great day!

How it's all going...

Today, I had to make a dr. visit to get the infamous orange drink glucose test. It's an early test because of some past medical problems and the rampant diabetes in my family. It wasn't too bad except that I hadn't eaten, and I feel terrible if I don't have food in my stomach. So while they were drawing the blood, I proceeded to get hot, dizzy, and lightheaded. Tunnel vision was near. It's embarrassing when that happens. But it was all over soon. I just had to lay down for a few minutes and drink the apple juice they brought me, and feel the cool wash cloth the put on my head. I'm glad it's over! But then I had some food from Taco Bell, and magically felt better!

Tomorrow I'm going for my first ultrasound. I am SO excited to see the baby! I hope I don't have to pretend to see the head and arms. :) I'm sure with the ultra-sonographer's help I will be able to see it pretty clearly. Yea!!

We're heading to Virginia tomorrow after the ultrasound, so I will not be able to post for a while. I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and blessed 4th of July!

More on the Reagans

Here are the pictures I meant to post earlier.

It took the kids a little bit to warm up to us. But when they're warm, they're warm. :)

This was at the Amish place. Fun swing!

The little baby doll herself.


Little Macey sleeping the day away.

The whole family


We had such a great time getting to know them all better. To get their side of the story, click 'The Reagans' on the right.