The Pets

Thought I would post about the animals.

Sophie, Nixon, Condi and June are all doing good. Into trouble all of the time of course, but they do make my day from time to time.

Nixon is still as loving as ever. He loves attention and is such a good cat!

Sophie can definitely have an attitude at times when things don't go her way or when things are different than they usually are. I was very proud of her, though, because we had to go get yearly vaccinations and she didn't growl at the vet and didn't get upset when we got home. She's been sleeping at our feet every night now for about 2 months.

Condi is the everlasting kitten. She' s a year and a half old, but looks like she's about 4 months old. She's a mischievous little kitty, but she's so cute. She loves Nixon and June. Sophie doesn't care for her too much, even though Condi would love to play with her.

June is beginning to listen to us much better. She is a big 85 pound baby. She really likes attention and thinks that she is a lap dog. She loves it when I lay on the couch at night and let her lay with me. She really likes all of the cats, but Condi is the only one who lets her get close. She's a good dog and one day we will master the electric fence collar. I have confidence. :-)

Trip to Maryland on vacation

After we left the Outer Banks, we headed to Maryland for my maternal grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary party and also my two grandmothers
had gotten together and planned a baby shower for us since this would be the only time we would be up there before Asa was born.
Thursday night was the night they threw my shower in the Community Building at the park in Williamsport. It was a good shower and there were quite a few family members there.

On Friday night we had my grandparents' 50th anniversary dinner at Hickory Bridge Farm. It turned out really nice. It was a good time celebrating what is a rarity in this day: a couple who stuck together and worked things out for 50 years, regardless of what they went through.

Beach Vacation

We started planning a vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with my family back in the fall of 07. We had wanted to go for sometime since we had lived there for a short period back in the mid 90s. We finally decided to go and incorporate the trip with the 50th wedding anniversary party of my mom's parents in Maryland since OBX is somewhat on the way to the Maryland.
We rented a beach house and set out on May 24th. We got to the house Saturday afternoon and it was a bit on the cool side. We had pizza that night and got everything settled in-we made several trips out to Wal-mart and Food Lion. No shocker there. We also watched National Treasure II with a projector that night.
Pretty much every morning we had a good breakfast and the guys would sit at the table waiting while we girls fixed up the food. (see above)
Obviously, we spent a lot of time on the beach. Joey and Jonathan rode the waves for hours on Monday and Tuesday. The water was probably in the 58-62 degree range. It was not enjoyable. Once you got used to it, it was kind of bearable. Uriah preferred staying out of the water (and the dangerous jelly fish, sting rays and other creatures that were out to get him) and searched for beached creatures. He found lots of crabs. I finally coaxed him (and me) into the water a bit.
One night we went out to Dairy Queen for ice cream and one night a girl who had been in Dad's youth group at the church we had been at when we lived in NC came down to the beach to see us with her family. So, that was nice.
We also go to take good family pictures on the beach. It was a really nice vacation. Sarah, Jonathan and I left for Maryland on Wednesday. Wednesday was the only day of our time at the beach that it stormed and rained and was cold. We need to do the beach again one day.

Picnic with Joseph and Elizabeth

Jonathan's younger brother Joseph is in the Air Force Reserves and is leaving for deployment to the Middle East in a week and a half. We wanted to do something with him and his wife before he leaves and they suggested a dessert picnic at Falls Park in downtown Greenville (they always come up with great ideas). It was fun. We had cheesecake and sparkling grape juice.
Elizabeth's baby boy is due November 9th, so almost exactly two months after Asa. It will be nice that he will have a cousin so close in age. Jonathan's oldest sister Becky is also expecting and is having a boy at the end of October. They'll either be the Three Stooges or the Three Musketeers. Either way, I'm sure there will be no end to the trouble and mischief that they will get in to.

Updates on our Life

I know it's been forever since we updated the blog. Ridiculous. Now that I'm not working (and before the baby is born), I'll try to post a few things. We've had a good summer. Not been too busy with a bunch of things, but it's been good. It's been very hot, but we've been spoiled for the past few years by cooler weather. I'll post a few pictures of things we've done and then we did take a vacation with my (Heather's) family in May so I'll definitely do a post of that.
We've had several baby showers this summer. Our church gave us one, my work gave us one, and our parents gave us one for family and friends.
I've also been getting the nursery ready. I'm not sure if I've posted this, but we are naming the baby Asa Paul Speer. He is due September 10th. I will post some more about our summer in a different post since this one is getting full of pictures.