God is good!

There's been a lot going on in our world and I wanted to share some of the good news!

First off, Trent, Shauna, and Kaleb moved back to Durham, NC this past weekend. Trent was offered a great position by his previous employer in Raleigh as a Business Developer. He'll be doing marketing, sales, and graphic designs for Accent Imaging. Shauna also got a job, as a research assistant, with her previous employer, Duke University. She'll be doing lab experiments and research on animal behavior for Prof. Albert. She's kind of like a CSI lab tech for animals ;-). Kaleb is starting a great church day care program near their home. To make matters even better they still owned their home in Durham. They weren't able to make a sell initially so they decided to rent. The renters' contract expired just before they had to be back so they actually got to move directly into their own home!! God is so good!

It looks like we could be making lots of trips up to Durham since our family seems to like that location ;-). Bo & Erin have offered to babysit Kaleb on occasion and Trent & Shauna are thrilled about it. One of the main reasons they decided to move back "home" to the upstate was they didn't have a trustworthy babysitter in Durham. Speaking of babies.......Bo & Erin are pregnant!!!! They are expecting Baby Thomas on May 9th - Mother's Day. So, it looks like a little practice may come in handy. We are so excited for them and Tyler can't wait to meet his newest cousin! They will be great parents! See what I mean about the many trips to Durham ;-)?! God is so good!

While we are talking about babies....you know I can't do a post without saying something about Tyler!! The weather has gotten cooler here and we actually had to break out the warm, footed pjs last night. This morning when Tyler woke up he followed his usual routine and scattered his toys everywhere in a matter of minutes. I couldn't resist taking a pic of him in his winter clothes with his mess in the background. Isn't he just the cutest mess maker you ever saw?! God is so good!

Ben's plant, Sandvik, won The Silver Crescent Manufacturer of the Year award! The award honors and recognizes excellence in manufacturing in SC! There are 3 categories of winners: small, medium, and large (based on # of employees). Sandvik won the award for The Medium Manufacturer of the Year. Even in the wake of budget cuts, layoffs, and minimum orders....there's still room for recognition. God is good!

Nana & Papa visit

Nana and Papa came up yesterday to spend the day with Tyler and I while Daddy was at the Clemson football game. I decided that Tyler and I would sit this game out because I've been having some knee pain and swelling and the weather forecast didn't look too appealing. We were both so glad that we stayed home because we had so much fun with Nana & Papa!! Tyler sat on Papa's lap for nearly an hour watching one of his favorite videos - as you can see in the above picture. It really was too cute because Papa watched the Clemson game on the computer, via ESPN 360, while Tyler watched his video. Nana and I made dinner while the guys watched their respective shows. We made breakfast for dinner.....one of my favorites!!

Ben got home around 8 pm soaked to the bone! He stayed and watched the entire game in the rain, but seemed to have fun despite all the rain. We're both really hoping for no rain during the next home game because so far every home game this season has been a rainy one.

Daddy's Birthday

Daddy turned 29 years old on Saturday!! Ben wanted to hang out around the house, watch football, grill out, and relax for his birthday so that's exactly what we did. We grilled burgers and brats and had Lucinda and Trey over to help celebrate. Tyler always has a great time with Aunt Lulu and Trey! Ben opened gifts, we had cake, and did the traditional birthday stuff too. Tyler and I gave Ben a ticket to the NFL Panthers vs. Eagles game in Charlotte as his main gift. Ben went to the game with Brian and they had a good time. I think the Panthers should have won since it was Ben's birthday ;-).

Tyler and I went up to Simpsonville to visit Aunt Shauna, Uncle Trent, and Kaleb while Daddy was gone to the game. The boys played together all afternoon and Trent made us a delicious chicken kabob dinner. We had so much fun - our boys are quite entertaining! Kaleb let Tyler borrow some more of his toys, that he has outgrown, so Tyler has been checking out all the new stuff today.

Litterball

We were watching the Clemson vs. Ga Tech Thursday night football game last night when Tyler debuted a new word....again! My little smartie now distinguishes between different sized objects. He has lots of different kinds and sizes of balls. So last night he walked up to me and handed me one of his baseballs and said "litterball" (little ball). He said that because I was holding a larger blue ball that we call "big blue ball". Anyway, it was the cutest thing. We let Tyler stay up until 10 pm because he loves to watch his tigers play, and we loved hearing "litterball" over and over - and of course he was a good boy!

Speaking of the tigers.......what a game! That was too bad that we didn't pull out a win, but something should be said for effort and perseverance! I think we have a good season ahead of us, and I definitely picked up on a different attitude from the tigers last night (than under previous coach). I'm proud of my tigers....they fought hard, and as always I'm proud to be a tiger!

Oh, Tyler recently started calling Ben "Daddy"! He probably splits "Daddy" and "Dada" about 50% right now. It just reminds me how quickly he is growing up!

Sunday School Social

Our Sunday School class had a family social event at the playground this afternoon. Tyler had a blast sliding, swinging, and "driving" the sandbox boat. We've decided that we need to get Tyler a sandbox - he LOVED it!! Tyler even went down the bumpy "big boy" slide all by himself. It was fun to watch all the kids playing.

Clemson vs. MTSU

Clemson played Middle Tennessee State University for it's football season opener. The 3 of us had a great time tailgating and watching the game. Tyler fits right in with our family since he enjoys Clemson tailgating and football ;-). He was such a good little boy all day, and looked too cute in his Clemson gear! Clemson won so the day was a complete success.

First Friday

Today was busy, but a very fun busy! Tyler and I went over to Anna's for a playdate this morning. He had a ball playing with all the other kiddos. When Daddy got home we went to Clemson's First Friday parade with Rafael & Fernanda. Tyler enjoyed the parade and people watching. Afterwards, we went to Wingin' It to eat dinner and visit Lucinda. We walked over to the soccer field after dinner to watch the 2nd half of the Clemson vs. S. Carolina soccer game. We didn't stay long because we wanted to get Tyler to bed so he'd be nice & fresh for tomorrow's festivities.