Peter and Ellen...fun pics and future plans...

Peter wanted some casual pics of himself and Ellen at Clemson so on the last weekend that she visited him (he graduates cum laude on May 7th), a photographer friend took a slew of cute pics...here are my favorites...

They are an adorable couple!! Their wedding is in North carolina on June 26th and after graduation, Peter will be working as an asst superintendent at CF Evans Construction in Orangeburg. Connor is sooooo excited to have Peter home with us from May 7th - June 26th!!! WE are excited to welcome Ellen as our newest daughter!

Happy (late!) Birthday Princess LaNelle

When LaNelle was born, my Mama named her "sassyfrass" and her Dad called her "Princess" (imagine that!). Everyone thought she was a "little lady"... and she was...she never crawled...she sat up, rolled over, etc right on target but my friends' children were crawling and she was just pulling up and "cruising"...I was worried until at 8 months, she let go and walked...and by 1 year, she spoke in sentences...at 16 months, she seriously potty trained herself...she was just a grown up in a toddler body! We adore our LaLa and are so happy she has grown to be a charming, beautiful, righteous, compassionate and smart young woman...a real Southern lady with many many facets to her personality! She loves to change her hair color and can change her entire look...and often does...Enjoy the many faces of LaNelle...

I was almost 25 when LaNelle was born...and now, on her 25th birthday, she and Steven have been approved to adopt and are waiting to be chosen by a birthmom...hard to believe my sweet baby is all grown up! Happy Birthday Princess LaNelle!!!!

Disney on Spring Break 2010

Disney....where dreams come true...we sure packed a lot of fun into 2 days!! (and my calves and feet KNOW it!)The twins ride EVERYTHING and Connor loves to be in front...he was in front by himself on Space Mountain and I screamed "Connor, are you still there???" every two seconds...yes, I did!
Sarah Beth (and ALL of us) ate and ate and ate...
and we met tons of characters...

Minnie was a hoot!

She hugged Connor over and over and it was HI-larious!

so much fun!

but of course...everyone's favorite guy is

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

LaNelle spent tons of time loving on the twins and they ate it up!

We LOVE EPCOT!!!!!!

LaNelle thinks she looks fat in these pics but I love this shot of her and Sarah Beth being silly!

Pete can be silly, too. He made us laugh often...

the highlight (for the girls anyway) was dinner at the Royal Table in Cinderella's Castle (the OFFICIAL photographer took our pics with Cinderella and I have to scan those in when I get home) This is our waiter...he called us Lord, Lady, Prince and Princess...now THAT was awesome! gotta say I liked that!

Belle was soooooo sweet....

Connor was NOT into the princesses at all...he was aggravated actually...until Jasmine came in...but up close, he was not impressed...she was sweet and complimented Lanelle on her crown.

Snow White was very friendly...

but Sarah Beth and Aurora bonded...

did anyone doubt Princess LaNelle would wear her crown to dinner? Cinderella asked her if her Prince Charming gave it to her and said, "He must take very good care of you" He does!

the children's dinner came in Mickey Mouse shaped plates

Connor was thrilled to get grilled Mahi Mahi...

but even a gift of a sword from our waiter could not make up for the fact that he HATED all the "yes, my Prince" and "of course my Princess" He thought it was D-U-M-B

and he was exhausted...it was pretty late...but the princesses loved every second of it and felt right at home in the gorgeous castle dining room...

we are EXHAUSTED, but it was so fun. We are hoping that LaNelle and Steven will get their baby this year (or next) and so we really enjoyed these few days with just LaNelle...the twins have not had her to themselves since they were 5 and may never have this chance again so it was a perfect time to steal her away and we really appreciate Steven for not only understanding, but being so gracious and excited for us all! I missed my other children and wished many many times my grandsons were with us but we did have a fantastic SPRING BREAK! May all of your days be as magical...

SPRING BREAK 2010

Connor LOVES to "boogie board"...

Sarah Beth made friends immediately and also loves to surf!

Connor passionately explaining something to LaNelle...

LaNelle swimming with Sarah Beth...

We had facials...sooooo nice!

Pete and Connor have fierce shuffle board tournaments

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pic of Connor body surfing!

ready for fun at the beach!!

LOVE LaNelle's hat...

sun drenched and sand covered and LOOK at the bangs in this next pic...THANKS Pazlan for the haircut!!! (I just found out WHO did it because the twins didn't want to tell on their friend but guess what? I don't think Pazlan tied Miss SB down to cut her bangs so who am I mad with? you guessed it! Priss Pot Sarah Beth~!

Downtown Disney has a great free lego racing place...Connor LOVES it!

But COnnor doesn't like heights and this was too high for him...we had just picked LaNelle up and SB wasn't letting go of her!

Oh please! Pete and I in a former life, I guess! hahahahahahaha

Sarah Beth and her new friend, Heather...SB always makes friends!

Loving that ice cream truck permanently parked right next to our hotel! But this was a reeses pnut butter ice cream and it made Connor miss Patti ...

LaNelle likes ice cream too!!

Oh we love the sun!!

Well okay..Pete doesn't..he is like an old man..hey! he is an old man!!

Last Fall, Pete and I made plans for Spring Break...everyone but the twins would be at school or working so we booked a studio in Ormond Beach for the 4 of us...we'd never been but we thought it would be fun...we were right! Of course, it turned out that LaNelle was also on Spring Break so we flew her down to join us...we are still here and having a blast! The weather is absolutely GORGEOUS and it is quiet (amazing for Spring Break in Daytona area)...we will be here another day and then DISNEY for a day...oh how I needed this break! (just wish ALL my kids could be here!!)