Graduation Party

This past weekend we hosted a graduation party for Preston's little sisters boyfriend, Ashley. He graduated from UGA and is planning on going to Law school in the Fall. Ashley has always been so sweet to our family and the twins love him. The day before the party I brought home balloons and Gracie and Bailey kept clapping and saying "Ash, Ash." Bailey also remembered that cake goes with balloons from my recent Birthday celebrations and so he also cheered for cake! We had a fun bar b que in the back yard and the college kids didn't leave the party till around 2:30 even though Preston and I went to bed at around 1am. The next day Preston and I took a nap with the twins after church realizing that we are no longer able to hang like in our college days. Preston's dad surprised Ashley with his first set of golf clubs and so we are looking forward to boys playing together when we go to the beach house. We are very proud of Kara for picking such a smart young man!

Kara and the "college grad" Ashley

Big brothers and little sis

The McFarland Family with the newest little addition, baby Mary Elizabeth

The graduation gift

My cousin Jamie has always been like a little sister to me. I was so excited when I heard a long pause on the phone on Christmas Day when I bluntly asked her if Santa had dropped off a baby Drayer! She became real quiet and said "dang it, you are the only person who can be so blunt and ask me a question like that!" She followed with a very excited "We are expecting." Jamie's husband Derek is in the Navy and so they have had to move around alot and we are sad that they are currently all the way in California. The family was so excited to get together to celebrate baby "Nolan Austin Drayer."

Celebrating a new little baby boy!

The proud parents and grandma to be.

the cousins had a blast playing at the shower

Gracie and Bailey are looking forward to being the big cousins!

Bailey helped to give the dad to be some advice!

The Big 30 !

The weekend before my Birthday we headed to Macon to have a baby shower for my cousin Jamie who lives in California. We had lots of out of town family who came to town for the shower and so I was very excited to drive down with the babies to help my mom prepare while Preston was traveling on business. We celebrated my 30th Birthday and my niece Khloe's 1st Birthday on Saturday. Gracie and Bailey were so excited to help me blow out the candles and to enjoy finger samplings of the cake. People keep asking me if it feels different to turn 30 and honestly it does not, it is just like any other Birthday although this year I do feel extremely blessed by my family. Gracie and Bailey have really gotten to a fun stage and Preston and I could not be more happy with our marriage. You know life is good when on a daily basis you think the thought of "if only I could freeze this moment." I hope that my next 30 years are as fun and blessed as my first 30 have been. After Macon we drove home on my Birthday and Preston's parents kept Gracie and Bailey so we could enjoy a date night at Provinos. The twins surprised me with a Bath and Body Works basket full of goodies and Preston was very thoughtful to get me an Arthur Court piece that I had mentioned I wanted. He got extra brownie points for showing me that he really listens! On Tuesday the celebration continued at his parents house where his parents and little sister gave me a scrap book of the twins. His little sister Kara worked so hard on the scrap book and it is something that I will always treasure. My family and friends made me feel extra special for my 30th and I am blessed to have each one of them in life.
"the twins played with the camera so please ignore the wrong dates on the pics!"

Mommy's Birthday cake

Yummy cake and presents
Having fun on Grandma's front porch

Summer Day at the Lake

We have beautiful Lake Lanier just 3 miles behind our house and so we decided to go and check in out on a hot Summer day. Our friends Zach and Ms. Katie joined us for a fun playdate and picnic. We were just about the only people on this little beach and it was perfect for the kiddos. They splashed in the water and the boys played with their dump trucks in the sand. The lake was a great experience for Bailey after he had just been so scared at the Beach of the big waves. There were no waves and everything was calm and peaceful. I was so glad to see my little buddy have fun in the water. We ended the day with a picnic before heading home. Driving home I thought about how lucky and blessed I am to get to make these memories with my Gracie and Bailey. We plan on buying a park pass so we can have many more fun days at the lake.

Doubly Blessed Mothers Day

This Mother's Day was bitter sweet in the fact that I was able to spend it with my family but if felt a little lacking in the fact that we were not able to spend time with my mom or Preston's mom. We are heading to Macon this week and so we will get to spend lots of time with my mom and Preston's mom was out of town but the grand babies made her a special little something for when she returns. Preston volunteered this morning in the church parking lot so the twins and I had to meet him at church. It felt a little stressed for Mother's Day until I read last year's blog posting about making 10 bottles and getting up in the middle of the night and I decided that this Mother's Day was a walk in the park compared to last year's! We went to church and I was SO proud of Gracie and Bailey for not crying when we dropped them off in Waumba Land. We then went home and Preston was super sweet to help with all the Sunday house chores. We decided to just hang out at home as we typically go to a park or somewhere every weekday and so the weekend time is just about us being together as a family. We played in the pool on the deck, took a walk and enjoyed Mexican takeout. Preston and the twins surprised me this morning with a Keurig coffee maker and a sweet card. I am very excited that I will be able to have a quick cup of coffee and not have to wash a coffee pot! The twins also made me precious hand print pictures in Waumba land with the verse "Her Children rise up and call her blessed. Proverbs 31:28" I couldn't think of a more suitable verse for today...unless it said doubly blessed!

Gracie and Bailey with Mommy's presents!

Seeing my babies love each other is the best present of all!

Fun family time in the pool.

Boys will be boys, my Bailey loves his dump trucks!

Obsession in the Spring

I was so excited to take a break from our everyday routine to head to the beach house and soak up some fun and sunshine! We woke up early at 2am on the Monday after Easter to travel to Ft. Morgan, Al. We thought for sure that the kiddos would fall right back asleep but at 3am Gracie saw a McDonald's sign out the window and she started pointing and yelling "play, play Donald's!" The twins did shortly fall asleep after one stop and they stayed asleep until about 45 minutes before we arrived and so the trip worked out perfectly. Preston's parents, his brother Bryan, and sister in law Nicole along with baby Mary Elizabeth all joined us. I am pretty sure the twins remembered the beach house from previous vacations because they were so excited to arrive and they ran immediately to the back porch door to go out to the beach. There was a bad storm headed towards Alabama and so the waves were fierce which scared Bailey. Gracie didn't seem to mind the big waves and she stood knee deep just laughing as they crashed into her. We spent the days playing in the sand and in a blow up pool on the deck. The twins favorite activity was to go "treasure hunting" and collect sea shells and other neat things on the beach. We were pleasantly surprised that they both slept great at night and took very consistent naps which allowed for Preston and I to get some relaxation. Preston was able to go golfing a couple of times and I enjoyed a lunch out with Nicole. The twins differences were very evident at the beach with Gracie preferring to be by the ocean and Bailey liking the deck and upper beach area. The difference allowed each of us to get one on one time with each of them and it reminded me to celebrate the uniqueness that God gave to both of them. We were very blessed by the help that Grammy and Daddy Bob provided us and we can't wait to return with our extended family again in June!

My little beach boy Bailey!

Gracie loved the everything about the ocean!

Bailey with his "treasures"

Gracie loved the "foot shower" and thought it was made just for her!

Bailey flying a kite with his Daddy

I think her expression says it all!

Grammy with her three beach grandbabies

Wonderful family time together

Preston and I out on a date night at the beach at a new favorite place "The Hangout"