Summer is here!

We kicked off the month of June celebrating Luna's birthday with a trip to get a treat at 5 Below, and see the new Employee of the Month there!

The pups got some NC State swag too!

Brian has been traveling A LOT for work (He just got back from Asia), and we were lucky enough to get a weekend alone... It was off to Virginia Beach for 2 nights for a getaway and a comedy show!

We got about an hour of enjoying the beach before a huge storm came and cleared us all out.

We took a drive to Norfolk for the afternoon and toured the USS Wisconsin, a huge battleship used in WWII... What a hot and cramped life those officers had, but it was neat to see!

We wrapped up our trip with dinner out and an awesome comedy show! I'm so thankful for this quality time together during a busy time in life! 💗

While we were on our trip, meanwhile back home... Julia arrived for an awesome visit to spend time with the cousins & celebrate Abby's graduation. We LOVED having her, and hope she comes back soon!

The month of school celebrations!

May was a busy time for our family, full of school award programs & band concerts!

We were so proud of Emily for being inducted into the National Honor Society, and for Abby to be corded as her time in the organization comes to an end.

Abby was also awarded with a medal for completing the AP Capstone program, which included successful completion of her AP Literature, AP Research & various other AP programs!

She got to sign her name on the Senior Wall at school too!

Additionally, Abby was awarded a medal for the "Pursuit in Excellence in a Foreign Language" from her time in France, and was given her senior stole, which celebrates her Summa Cume Laude status as well! This girl has worked so hard and it showed in all her senior acknowledgements!

We wrapped up Ben's 7th grade year with a wonderful band concert, and he has grown so much... both in his musical talent and in height! :)

Check out how much he's grown during 6th & 7th grade!

A Crazy Night in the ER...

Abby had quite the night... After a full day (mostly at work) and evening experiencing a lot of pain, I finally took her into the ER at 1am to figure out the problem. After 5 hours there and every ultrasound, xray, and blood test under the sun, we had THREE potential diagnosis to pick from! They thought she could be suffering from 1. Acute Appendicitis, 2. A ruptured ovarian cyst due to their new diagnosis of polycystic ovaries, or 3. A large kidney stone.

We were quite surprised with all the new information, but after being there for several hours, and a dramatic decrease in her pain level on re-examination, we all agreed that it was most likely from a large, 6mm kidney stone that had finally passed into her bladder. With no additional pain medicine needed (since the original Aleve I gave her hours earlier), and armed with a strainer to see if we could catch the stone at home to have it tested (we haven't), she was anxious to get out of there and grab a Chick-fil-A breakfast so she could go home to sleep before her AP exams the next day (although she really wanted to just go straight to school). Needless to say, everyone was interested in meeting the girl with test results like hers that obviously had a very high pain tolerance! She had strict instructions to return if she developed a fever or if the pain returned, but she's been fine so far! 

She also managed to conquer her biggest fear while being there- getting an IV in her arm! 

She was obviously feeling a little better as she snapped a few pictures of her journey! 

The IV coming out wasn't quite as scary as it was going in, but she still would have passed on the whole experience if it was up to her! Keep feeling better, Abby, and hopefully everything else quiets down now!

Derby Day & Cinco de Mayo Celebration!

This year, the Kentucky Derby was the same weekend that we would celebrate Cinco De Mayo, so we figured, why not have a fusion party?!?!?!?

I made a "make-your-own drink" station with recipes for Derby Mint Juleps, and Cinco de Mayo margaritas! It was a hit!

The neighbors made a taco bar & apps to celebrate both occasions!

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We watched the Derby in the driveway, and had a little bet going amongst us all... and Emily's horse won! Go Sovereignty! 

After the derby, we switched gears, put on the Mariachi music & enjoyed hitting the pinata! 

The adults even got their own pinata this year!

Fun times as always in the hood!!!!