nana & papa come to visit...

the day after thanksgiving, ava and i headed to the airport to pick up nana & papa!

 

 

we were so excited that they were finally here!  the weekend consisted of lots of quality time!

 

we watched ava ride her scooter,

decorated for christmas,

 

 

gotten into trouble [and nana beat ava's winning streak!],

 

 

painted the garage [okay, so maybe mom & dad painted while i supervised.  worst parents ever :) ] ,

 

 

had dinner with uncle eric at on the border,

 

ava and nana in their cowboys boots :)

and had dinner at brad & sarah's!

 

 

we also did some shopping, including a trip to target every day they were here :)  mom & i even visited two targets in one day [in my defense, i was searching for my bookshelves! ]  they do so much for us, and did so much for us while they were here.  while they were on vacation they were helping us put our house together.  i am so glad that we got to share our home with them :) we had the best time having them here, and were so sad to see them go.  i'm already trying to talk them into moving here, or at least coming for christmas! ha!

 

 



thankful...

there are many things i am thankful for. and while i am not going to list them all out, i will say, i can't imagine a better way to spend thanksgiving than with our people :)

 



last full day [destin 2012]...

we wanted to get everything we could out of our last day in destin!  we spent a majority of the day at the beach, of course! 

sarah buried the kids [plus brad].

preston loved the water everyday, but especially on the last day!



we went to the back porch for dinner.  it was my favorite place we ate the whole trip. 

the weather was perfect and we got a table right on the water. they had a little playground right on the beach, which was perfect!  we were able to take the kids down there to play while we waited for our dinner.

we headed down to the beach afterwards to get some final [ :( ] photos.

we left early the next morning, and the kids rode with justin and i.  we joked that preston did better than his mom & dad on the 12 hour drive home :)  i'm so glad we finally made this family vacation a reality.  we had the best time!  I'm so glad we were able to share these memories with our favorite emerson's too! 

day 4 [destin 2012]...

we started off day for at the beach again.  it was overcast, but that didn't stop us!

with our vacation coming to an end, sarah and i opted to spend nap time at the beach.  it was SO relaxing!

after nap we all headed went to the beach.  sarah and the kids fed the seagulls, and i got some cute photos.  i couldn't believe they ate right out of sarah's hand!

after our beach day, we got dressed and headed to harborwalk village for dinner and a dolphin boat tour.  this dinner was definitely the worst we had, but seriously one bad meal out of all of them?  i'd say we did pretty good!  we made the best of it!

after dinner we walked around the village before getting on board the southern star!

heading out was a bit rocky [literally] but once we made it out of the port, it was smooth sailing.  we got to see several dolphins, and the kids loved feeding the seagulls from the back of the boat and spotting the dolphins.

the kids also got to drive the boat :)

another day down, and only one more to go before we wrap up our first family vacation!

destin 2012 [ day 2]...

day 2 started out a lot like day 1...at the beach!  no complaints here :) sarah & brad got the kids boogie boards, and sarah and ava took turns on them.  preston loved the water and the sand.  the boys joined us for some swimming an football.

one of my favorite pictures from vacation!

after nap time we got cleaned up and headed to seaside.  oh.my.word.  seaside is the most postcard perfect town i've ever been to.  seriously, so cute! 

we took the kids down to the beach for some photos before dinner.  gorgeous water. gorgeous sand. two gorgeous kiddos.

we had dinner at a pizza/italian place on the water.  it was really good!

we walked around a bit after dinner, and the kids danced and played before getting some ice cream.

then it was time to change in to comfy clothes and go crabbing!  i have to admit, i was a little nervous about having to catch crabs, but we had a great time. 

a great day!

family fun on the fourth...

we headed to the in-laws on the fourth of july for some swimming, football, and a cookout. 

preston was ready to go!

his obsession with "gobbles" has continued, and this time he sported these gigantic blue ones.  priceless!

even though he took a time out from swimming to play football, he insisted on wearing his puddle jumper and goggles.  silly boy!



i'm pretty sure ava's only time to get out of the pool was to scarf down a hot dog.  she is a little fish :)

preston was insistent that he could swim all by himself.  little stinker :)

it was hot, so i think everyone was grateful for the pool fun!

this picture of brad and preston cracks me up! like father, like son...

these two pictures are absolutely precious!

one more from our day....the effects of wearing goggles for too long!

it was a great day :)