Easter weekend

This weekend started out with Lee's parents coming in to town. They were lucky enough to have tickets to the oh-so-prestigious Masters on Sunday, so they came down early to hang out with us. We went to church on Friday night, which was really nice, then we just hung out on Saturday, walked around our town and went into some of the little shops. Then Lee grilled out some awesome steaks for dinner. It was a really nice day. Except I had a cold the whole time. Which was one of those just nagging congestion/cough nasty deals. I hate to admit that I may have been a little short and irritable at times, but Lee's parents were really nice and sweet about it and let me act all pitiful. They even made a big breakfast Saturday morning while I laid in bed and felt sorry for myself. Parents are pretty good house-guests to have.

Here's a really cute picture of Lee with his parents before church.

They left early Sunday morning to head down to the golf tournament, and Lee was so lucky that the Easter Bunny had come to see him during the night! It's fun to make Lee do cheesy things, he's a good sport. I had to give him some hints to find it, but he put in a good effort. And don't worry, I have a picture of him with it. Again, he's a very good sport.

Then after church the whole family met at my parents house for a big dinner and Easter egg hunt for the kids. My Granny and Papa were also in town this weekend so we got to spend the day with them too, which was really nice to see them (they live in FL). Here's a picture of me with them. They're very precious. If you've never met them, I'd recommend not passing up a chance to.
Then the Easter egg hunt, which I don't even have to tell you was super cute. You can't go wrong with little kids running around the yard with baskets of eggs. Here's a picture of them on the porch with their eyes closed waiting for the "Go!":

So now back to life and Monday tomorrow. I wasn't able to go for my long run this weekend due to my chest congestion (I googled it, illness above the neck you can proceed with workouts with caution, but below the neck is a big no-no), so I am gonna try for it tomorrow morning. The race is in less than 2 weeks! Hopefully tomorrow will go ok even though I had to skip several days last week. Oh! And speaking of races, Lee's little sister Mallory ran a 10-mile race in Louisville on Saturday (I'm pretty sure it was a Papa Johns event) in like 1:22 or something like that, which I think is just above 8 min miles! Crazy! But she's a pro, maybe I can be like her some day :) ... For now, don't be expecting any 8 minute miles out of me. Baby steps.

Happy Easter, and have a lovely week!

Camping with the Clarks

Last weekend we went camping with my sister Carrie and her family up in north Georgia. It was at this really cool state park that was pretty perfect for camping. My other sister Steph and her husband Jose were only able to stay Friday night, then Lee and I were only able to be there Saturday night, but we overlapped for an hour or so on Saturday so we were able to hang out a bit before they had to go. They all even got me a birthday cake since we hadn't all been together since before my birthday. It was a really fun trip, the location was great, it was good to spend some time with my sisses, and Carrie and Andy definitely have the coolest kids I know. So here are some highlights:

Here's a picture of Lee and Drew eating some birthday cake:

Evan became one with the rocks over the weekend, so here's his bed that he made for himself:

Then we all went for a little hike to find the "shoals". I lived in Muscle Shoals, AL for years and never really knew what a "shoal" was other than it had something to do with water (yeah, they tried to explain it in Alabama History, but let's be honest, not the most thrilling topic for a middle school kid)... well now I have experienced them first hand.

Here's me and Alli stopping on the hike for a picture:

Here's me and Lee at an overlook point:

Here's the kids at the first part of the creek we came to:
And here's where the action starts. There were people wading all through the water, it was all really smooth (and pretty slippery), so the kids wanted to get in. And I decided I could handle a little wading so I went in with them. So we waded for a while, but then they wanted to slide. Here's a super cute picture of Drew and Evan first sitting down in the water (it was COLD), I love how happy they look:

Here's the video of their first slide down the rocks. They had to stop first to pose for a picture, so the sliding starts around 28 seconds. Alli was a little more cautious than the other two. She'll do what they do, she just seems to consider it a little more before she jumps in. Her slide down is really funny cause she definitely went for a ride she wasn't expecting. But of course she loved it:



And then I decided to try (with a little peer pressure from Andy. it's his gift). I went a little higher to try to get a bigger slide, but it was a little grassy at the top so I had some trouble getting started. But once I got going it was really fun. The freezing water was the worst part, but it was worth it. Watching the video, it does look a little bouncy, but it really wasn't painful:

Some Jamaica pics

We finally got some pictures from our Jamaica trip from Lee's coworkers. So here are some highlights from what we got:

Here is a view of the beach, you can't really see the exciting part of the resort very well, but you can see a couple of the buildings with just guest rooms. But this is the best picture we were sent of the beach area. There as a volleyball court off to the side there too (you'll have to use your imagination), where we played a few games. And this is where we loaded onto the boat for the infamous snorkeling trip.

These are some coworkers that Lee is buddies with, they're really fun and we hung out with them most of the trip. Scott's on the left and Dale's on the right. They both have new babies (Scott- twin girls; Dale - a boy) so their wives weren't able to come, so I was the lone girl. But they were very welcoming of the new group member.

Here's me and Lee before the dinner where they presented the awards to all the guys. We had to get all cleaned up for it, and it was a really pretty night, so perfect picture opportunity.

And of course the whole reason for the trip, here's Lee getting his award. This is his former boss John presenting the awards. John got promoted when Imaje merged with Markem, so Lee has a new boss (who lives in Chicago). But I'm pretty sure Lee will always be in John's heart.
(Edit for my mother: This trip was actually for the sales guys who reached certain goals last year, but Lee (who is not a sales guy) was a "Presidential Invite" (the only one, mm hmm) because he was a very vital part of a lot of these goals being met)

And oddly enough, John has a friend named Doc with a dog named Einstein and he invented a time machine which John travels in sometimes. 3 times actually until it was destroyed by a train.
(Edit: I was implying that John looks like Michael J. Fox. At least I think he does. But maybe you can't tell in this picture. Whatever, I think I'm funny.)

On a completely unrelated note, I just wanted to share the pistachio/chocolate chip ice cream I made for St. Patrick's day... it was DElicious. And beautiful. And festively green. I sure do love that ice cream maker.