The Lazy days of Summer....

Diego and Cleveland have been enjoying their summer vacation thus far. Here are some pics of their latest adventures:


Diego couldn't wait until we poured the food in his bowl so he ate right from the container!



Checking out the new washer!



Hanging out in the washer box...its the cool thing to do!



Cleveland trying to figure out how Diego got into the washer box...one is smarter than the other! I'll let you be the judge!




The best cat toy EVER, a bird house!



Bird stalking....

Golf Etiquette

So funny story.... I started golf lessons tonight with some friends at work. Now I just want to say up front that am not familiar with the game of golf and I don't pretend to know what I am doing on a golf course, so I arrive at the course and go into the club shop to sign in (key point: while carrying my golf bag). The lady at the desk says, "please leave your golf bag outside on the bag racks." So, being completely embarrassed for not knowing that, I turned toward the door and whack a stand of merchandise with my bag. My face turned beat red and I got out of there as quickly as possible without looking back, totally embarrassed! So FYI, you should never bring your clubs into the golf shop. :) Lesson learned.

Detroit Red Bull Air Race

Yesterday was a great day. We drove up to Detroit Michigan for the Red Bull Air Race. It was a 3.5 hour drive and we left around 8:00am. The air races started at 2pm with some side shows ahead of time. Let me just say, Detroit is not a place that I plan on visiting again (sorry to those of you from Detroit)I can't tell you how many abandoned buildings that were in that city it was like a ghost town, kinda eerie. And to top it all off, Bonnie, our GPS system was unable to identify some of the roads we were on making our travels very interesting to say the least. But despite the location, the air race was really awesome! Our road trip friend, Brad came with us and provided us with endless entertainment. Here are some photos from our trip:

Patrick after he had some red bull












The pylons that they have to race through on the Detroit River with Windsor Ontario on the other side of the river








A plane flying vertical through the pylons. They get a 2 second penalty for not being at the right angle going through the pylons.








this is my favorite shot with Caesar's Palace in the background. Maybe next year we can stay there! :)











Group shot with our red bull drinks!






In other news, next month is going to be crazy busy! Travis will be heading back to NJ on Friday, and my dad will be arriving from NJ on Friday to stay the weekend. the following weekend, my mom will be in town to help my brother and sister-in-law move to Athens, and as soon as she heads home my mother-in-law will be joining us for a week to celebrate the fourth of July! whew, I am exhausted just thinking about it all, but it will be great to see everyone! And in addition to that I am doing a 6 week Beth Moore bible study at church on Wednesdays, taking golf lessons on Thursday with some girls from work, and work my other OT job every day this week! All I have to say to that is......BRING IT ON!
And now I am going to enjoy some steaks that my husband has grilled up for us and maybe even have some graeter's ice cream! Hope you all are enjoying what is left of your weekend!

It's been a long time...

and I will try to recap everything that has been going on in our lives since my last post.

Well to start off.. it has been rather hot here and since we don't have AC, Cleveland has found the coolest place in the apt....the bathroom sink!

Lindsey, Abe, and I attend the memorial day parade. Abe was such a good baby and slept through the whole parade! Lindsey and I attend every parade we can and thought we should start Abe early so he will hopefully LOVE them as much as we do!

and below is my favorite pic from the parade...

And to continue on my recap...I just want to say that I really love my husband...lately he has been super awesome doing laundry, washing dishes, and cleaning the litter box! I love this man! I am truly BLESSED!

And this past weekend we went to Salem, Ohio (very similar to south Jersey!) for my friend Kim's wedding! It was such a pretty wedding and Kim was so beautiful! It was so great to catch up with OT friends that I haven't seen in awhile! And it was great to see Becca and her baby bump! She is so cute prego! All in all a great weekend with some great friends!

Emmanuel, GOD is with us...

these past few weeks have been a real challenge for me....I have been wrestling with some personal issues of bitterness and anger. I have felt abandoned and alone. The sense of God in my life has been very distant causing me to waver in my faith. I have trying to sort through my feelings and struggle to understand why God allows things to happen and when will enough finally be ENOUGH! A very wise friend of mine recently told me...'Stace, where is your faith?' God did NOT bring me to this place and then leave me to work out the problems. Nothing is a surprise to GOD. and I need to have Faith that he will never leave me nor forsake. He is my father and my King, what can mere men do to me? I am learning that I am wrapped safe in HIS arms of love and he will guide my steps and protect me. These two videos have really touched me and describe some of the feelings I am feeling....

Crazy busy!

So this past week and weekend were very busy but in the best possible way! Abe was born last Tuesday and has been stealing our hearts ever since. My grandparents arrived on Tuesday evening and stayed until Saturday morning. They helped with the baby and did things like laundry, dishes, cooking, etc. They were so delighted to be a part of Abe's life and welcome him into the world! 

After they left, my mom arrived by plane on Saturday and stayed until Sunday night! I know she was thrilled to meet her FIRST grandson and took advantage by snapping as many photos as he would allow!

This past week has also been very eye-opening for me. I am getting to see first hand what it is like to have a newborn since I am literally 50 ft  away! I am so blessed and thankful that me and my brothers are so close and that we can share in this miracle blessing together! It has also been remarkable to see the transformation in Patrick! He has really taken a liking to Abe and visits him everyday! He also drove Lindz, Abe, and I to Babies R Us and was able to remain calm while driving without threatening other drivers or do other inappropriate things while driving ! :) I never thought I would see the day! and I always said that when we have kids I will have to drive b/c Pat will be a bad example behind the wheel! I guess I was wrong! :)

Here are some of my favorite pics of Abe (so far!)

My favorite pic:

More pics of Abe!

Aunt Stacey and Abe

DJ and Abe

baby's first bath!