"I'm 2!"

Gus celebrated his 2nd birthday last week while Oma and Opa were here. He enjoyed donuts for breakfast and a cheeseburger and ice-cream cake for lunch:) Honestly, that was about the extent of the celebrating. I just couldn't get it together enough this year to do anything big.

It's been a lot of fun lately to watch Gus grow up. Our neighbor Erin taught him how to hold up 2 fingers and say "I'm 2!" It takes him awhile to get his fingers right, which is funny, and then he gets this huge grin on his face:) He is starting to enjoy copying whatever Scott is doing. Last weekend it was the lawnmowing.

He loves being outside these days, cutting the grass...

...or the sidewalk!

He also enjoys attempting to walk around in our shoes,

still loves reading books,

tries to help with household chores (he is very good at carrying his clothes basket back to his room once it's emptied into the washer),

and has started sleeping in his "big boy" bed!!!

We love you so much, Gus-man!!

Oma & Opa

My parents came down to visit about 2 weeks ago for a few days. It was great to see them and share some time together.

Aren't they a cute couple??

It seems that we spent most of the time working on projects around our house (although we did squeeze in a trip to the zoo and an evening out in St. Elmo getting ice cream and seeing the shops in our tiny "downtown" area). Both my parents have such servant's hearts, they don't seem to mind helping us out with our many projects at all. Mom helped us pick out fabric for a baby quilt. I really wanted it to match the one that she made for Gus because it turned out so great!! But it was complicated finding new materials that would go well with the old. But FINALLY, I think we've got it figured out. Thanks for your patience, Mom!!

Gus' quilt.

Dad spent several hours planting and transplanting shrubs for me. It's a terrible time of year to do that, but I'm really on the warpath to get things accomplished around here!! Hope you weren't too sore, Dad!!

Best of all, Oma and Opa kept Gus for one night so that Scott and I could have our first overnight alone in 2 years!! Gus apparently had a blast and didn't miss us at all:)

Off for some adventures with the grandparents.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast which is actually a steamboat docked downtown near Coolidge Park.

The great "Chattanooga" view from our deck.

So, thanks so much, Oma and Opa, for coming to stay and for giving us a chance to relax some too!! Can't wait til your next visit:)

"What? You're actually leaving and won't be here to chase me around all day anymore??"

Gus III and V

This past weekend, Papa Gus came to visit from Kansas City. All the Guses had a blast:) We ate tons of great food (that I didn't have to cook!), took a morning bike ride together on the Riverwalk, and got to go to a Lookouts game. It was a wonderful visit.....thanks so much for coming, Papa Gus!

Fun times during lunch at Niedlov's....

A brief nap during our bike ride....

Guses III & V....

A Day At The Farm

This past Saturday morning, we went to Sequatchie Cove Farm (about 40 minutes west) to pick blueberries. This was our second year in a row and it was definitely more fun this time with a (almost) 2 year old! We ALL had fun picking berries this year....

.....although one of us spent most of the time EATING his.

There were plenty of other "farm" things to see besides berries, like equipment.....

....we found the large & small versions of this one!

We also saw some farm animals.....

It was a wonderful way to spend a morning together as a family and we drove away with 1 1/2 gallons of blueberries for 12 bucks!

I'm pretty sure we'll be back again next year.

SC Friends

About nine months ago, two of our friends decided to leave TN and move back to SC where they are orginally from. We were able to see them in Charleston over Spring Break and had the chance to visit with them again on our way to Myrtle Beach. Turns out that their new house was only about ten minutes off of the interstate we used to make our trek to the coast.

This is Gus's friend, Grace. She is five months older than Gus and was actually his first date. Ok...so all he really did was lean on her the whole time but we still classify the meeting as such! Here is the original post documenting the event.

Grace is a MUCH better hugger than Gus, but I have to say he did much better than expected.

We were only able to stay for a few hours, but we sure enjoyed seeing our friends again. We've been fortunate to have had two opportunities to see them since they left. We're not sure when we'll cross paths again, but whenever it is, Horgers...we look forward to it. Thanks for allowing us to zip in and out...and thanks for dinner and for all of the wonderful vegetables from your FABULOUS garden! (I will not thank you, however, for all the work I have to do now that Amy wants me to build raised beds just like yours!)

From right: Dave, Grace, Kristi, G Man and Hot Momma

Lovin' the roaches!

We went to Myrtle Beach with the Deterding clan a few weeks back. Amy's parents rented a house a few blocks from the beach so that we (8 + 3 kids) could be together for a week. At some point during our seven and a half hour drive to SC we got a call from her mother saying that there was a problem. Within a few minutes of being in the house, she discovered that the house was infested with ROACHES!!! A quick call to the property management office yielded offer 1 of 2. "We can send over an exterminator." Perfect! Wet down the place with poison before the grand kids arrive! Nope...not going to happen. Offer number 2? How about an upgrade to this place right ON THE BEACH? Deal!

We had the left half. God was good to provide such a beautiful, beachfront unit.

In addition to an amazing place to stay, we enjoyed our week with our amazing family!

From right: Steve (Amy's brother), Grace, Heather, Baby Leah, Jim (Amy's youngest brother), Laura, mother and father.

We took it easy all week. It was so nice being right on the beach. We could wander out with (or without!) the kids and turn right back around if needed. We sat, swum, dug pits and built sand castles all week (or to be more exact, Scott and Steve and Jim built the sandcastles). We ate a LOT of food, took a lot of walks and rides to "try" to burn off all the additional calories, played games and just hung out. More pics from the week here, at the family photographer's blog!

This was the masterpiece of the week. A replica of the Capitol Building built by Jim and Steve.

I was surprised at how commercialized Myrtle Beach is. We didn't get out in it too much other than for a Mongolian dinner buffet (our first...very fun) and to see a show similar to Cirque Du Soleil.

Amy has been itching to get to a show like this for a while. It was pretty amazing.

The weather was very cooperative...as was the company! We had a very relaxing time. Thanks Deterdings!

8 years

For our anniversary this year, we did a condensed walk through memory lane. We hiked to the place where we got engaged and walked around the church where we got married. It was good, good, good to remember those sweet moments. Here are some pictures of our hike.

Glen Falls on Lookout Mtn.

My two boys.

Our attempt at a self-portrait:)

Happy Anniversary, Scott. I love you.

In the 'Lou

A few weeks after our return from FL, we drove to St. Louis for my big sister's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. I had never met the groom in person, so I had no idea what the weekend was going to be like but everything went really well. I can't believe she's married now, but I'm very happy for her and look forward to getting to know Matt better as the years pass. After the wedding, we stayed on for another week to hang out with my mom. We really enjoyed our time together. We went shopping, ate too much custard (and too much food in general), took in a baseball game, went to the Zoo, Science Center, Botanical Garden (Amy had fun seeing college roommates Holly and Sarah, plus kids!), a farmer's market, had a nice 8th anniversary dinner out, community pool, Magic House, got a lot done around my mom's house and just plain hung out. We also got a little time with my maternal grandmother, dad, stepmom, all three of my aunts, one of my uncles, a cousin and my niece. That's the great side benefit of weddings: getting multiple family members together in one place. It was a lot of fun. We also got to see the Hagers, some great highschool/college friends, on the way out of town.

The Family ShotsAunt Jennie, Cousin Elizabeth, Nonnie & Nonnie LewisGus got really attached to Elizabeth and wanted to wake her up each morning.He also wanted to spend as much time as possible with Aunt Jennie....although she was definitely a busy woman.Nonnie and her sister Dee Dee at the rehearsal dinner.

CUSTARD!

The Magic House (kind of like our Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga)

The Botanical Gardens

The Science Center & Zoo- two great FREE St. Louis attractions

Don't read this Oma! There is a highway 20 feet below that pane of glass!

Cardinals game-Thanks for the awesome tickets, Hagers!!

The community pool.

We spent our last day at this amazing pool - baby pool/slide, medium slide, lazy river, whirlpools, high slide, steep slide, lap pool, waterworks, etc. Oh, how we wish St. Elmo could get a pool like this!

Congrats, Jennie and Matt! Thanks everyone! It was great to see you all!