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We went to the zoo for the kid’s birthdays.  Riley has been asking all summer long.  The Saturday we went happened to be a little cooler, weather wise, and just the perfect day!  We picked up coffee and bagels for the road and arrived shortly after they opened.  Riley walked most of the way and Ethan walked a good portion.  They were such troopers!  About a third of the way into the zoo, Riley asked where the lions, tigers, and Aunt Meg were?  No joke.  Travis and I got a kick out of that!  The NC zoo was the nicest zoo we have been to.  We have been to some nice ones:  Portland OR, Sacramento CA, San Francisco CA.  The zoo is one of our favorite places to go as a family.  We love observing the animals and spending time together.  My favorite part was stopping to ride the carousel and eat ice cream.  Ethan gets so excited and impatient trying to dig into the ice cream with a spoon, he ends up digging into it with his hands!  So funny!  The giraffes were not out that day (Riley’s favorite) but worked out to be okay since they were going to be the last stop.  By then, we were all ready for pizza.  We drove back home and found a great Italian pizza place in Concord and then headed home to open presents.  Ethan isn’t a cake fan, so we sang Happy Birthday with two candles in a chocolate chip cookie.  We had strawberry cake and ice cream the previous weekend for Riley’s birthday.  This is a busy time for birthdays but I wasn’t complaining too much with two birthday cakes and chocolate chip cookies and cake leftovers in the span of a week!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from our zoo adventure:

Our Riley girl turned four August 3rd!  Our baby girl is growing up right before our eyes.  I can’t believe it has been four years since our beautiful, precious, blue eyed angel came into our lives and changed our lives for the better.  Riley has blessed us in so many ways and God has used her is so many ways in our lives.  She is incredible!  Riley is the most sincere, genuine, thoughtful, cuddly, dramatic, sweet, creative, loving, bossy, sensitive girlie girl!  We love her and love watching her grow into the young woman God has created her to be.  She is so fun!!

Our Heman turned two on August 9th!  Yes, their birthdays are six days apart (I did not plan that! )!  My little man has grown and changed so much this past year, I can hardly believe it.  He is going to outgrow big sister any day now!  He just cracks us up.  Ethan is the most adorable, curious, messy, determined, strong, animated, funny, inquisitive, agile, boy in the world.  His big brown eyes just melt my heart!  We love him so much and love watching him grow into the young man God has created him to be.

Megan turned 18 yesterday!!!  I can’t believe my baby sister is a legal adult now!  She has been such a blessing to us and we love having her with us.  I love watching our kids interact with their Aunt Meg and I love having a friend who is always there for me, literally!  Megan has grown so much since we have moved to Charlotte.  You should see the badonkadonk butt she has going on!  No, just kidding.  Seriously, though, Megan has become so independent to the world and dependent on God.  She is such an encouragement to Travis and I.  Megan is so inspiring, I love it!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

(We went to the zoo for their birthdays so I will have pictures to come!)

I have not posted due to a recent move.  We are actually in Charlotte now!!!  We love our new house and neighborhood!  I have not meet any neighbors yet but hopefully they are neighborly.  What seems to have been bad news regarding our last house turned out for the better.  We are closer to Travis’s job and our church and everything else we love is near by.  We are just about unpacked.  This has been really hard but now worth it.  I love how God turns what seems to be too hard or bad news into something good, and even better than I would have thought!  He really does know what He is doing!!!!

I can’t help posting more pictures!  She is so beautiful!!!  See for yourself:

Click on the pictures to see the entire picture-family shot is cut off.

Ava Taylor is here!  She was born July 24th at 10:45pm.  She weighed in at 5lbs., 7oz., and is 17 inches long.  She is so adorable and tiny!  My sister, Katy was induced at 5:00pm and had a smooth delivery.  Ava is healthy and beautiful as you can see below.  We are so sad we are not there to hold her and kiss her little cheeks.  Raul has been great at getting us pictures right away!  Thank you Raul!  Here are some pictures of her in the hospital: