An evening of Star Wars

For Justin's birthday, I got him (us) tickets to the Star Wars Concert at the Fed Ex Forum. We had a really great time. Here are some photos from the event.

The sign when we walked in

(already at this point, Justin has a giddy, boyish grin on his face. LOVE IT!)

Right when you walked in, there were these huge backdrops of scenes from the movie that you could take a picture in front of.

Then, you could walk around the lobby area, and look at the exclusive exhibit of star wars costumes, props, and production artwork:

Trying to mimic the pose.

(I am surprised Justin did this bc there were a TON of people watching us)

And finally, the concert!

We actually had really good seats!

The concert included clips from all six Star Wars movies on a three-story tall, high definition LED super screen! The full symphony orchestra was amazing and played with perfect timing to the clips shown.

From time to time, we also watched lasers that were timed to the music.

Anthony Daniels (the actor who portrayed C-3PO in all six films) was the live narrator of the evening.

Happy 28th Birthday Justin!!!

Papa Blair's 90th Birthday

Justin's grandfather, Papa Blair, just celebrated his 90th birthday! We traveled to Nashville to celebrate it with him. All of Justin's family from Georgia came too. We ate lots of great food and had some good fellowship.

Papa turns 90!

James loves Papa

We played Corn Hole, and James just wanted to crawl all over the board.

Justin's sister, Rachel, made a photo book for Papa. It was a gift from the whole family and holds very special memories. I think Papa will enjoy it for a long time :)

Angie and Aunt Jean (Justin's cousin and aunt) thought it would be fun to play "Minute to Win it!" The kids had a blast trying to use their face muscles to work an oreo from their foreheads all the way down their face and into their mouth!

Another Minute to Win it game

Zachary (Angie's son) and Olivia (Sharon's daughter)

A storm was coming, but we stayed outside and played as long as we could.

Rebecca (our niece) and Noah (Sharon's son)

Justin helped me out a lot with James while we were there. It's good for a mommy to have her breaks every once in a while :)

Aunt Jean made yummy homemade cookies in the shapes of puzzle pieces. Because of Papa Blair, we are all pieces of the puzzle, making up one big, happy family!

Happy Birthday Papa Blair!

We love you!

Doesn't he make you smile?

Learning to Stand

Every now and then, James will just let go and stand on his own. We get so excited for him, even though he only stands for a few seconds! Sorry for the sideways view for the first part of the video. I always forget I can't turn my camera sideways for video. haha

Mother's Day

What a joy it is to be a mom. Yes, I am tired quite often, and I lose my mind as easily as I lose my keys. But I was meant to be a mom, and I'd say there is no greater gift from God. James is such a blessing to our family. He brings so much happiness and laughter. And I am slowly understanding a little more what God feels like so often with us as his children (joy, sadness, disappointment, unconditional love, etc). I love learning how to be a better mom every day, and I pray that God helps me to be a mommy that HE is proud of!

Happy Mother's Day!

Always so silly

We couldn't get James to stay still

My parents and sister and brother in law came to my house to celebrate Mother's Day. We had such a good time visiting all together.

My mom, me, my son :)

Papa, Meme, and James

Josh, Michelle, and James

Thanks, Josh, for giving Kramer some much needed attention!

Meme playing with James

James gave Papa the biggest hug!

2010 Shelby League Champions!

Justin and I coach the ECS middle school girls track team together. This past Wednesday we competed in the Regional Finals, and WE WON! We are so proud of our girls. They worked so hard all season and really deserved to win.

We competed at MUS. Seven girls set personal records. Two of our relay teams set ECS records and regional meet records. We had one sweet girl win top athlete honors for numerous wins and records broken. All in all, we broke 3 meet records and 5 ECS records. Unbelievable! We are sad track season has come to an end, but God gave of some great memories to take away from it this year! Here are some pictures of the night.

James watched high jump with me until my sweet mom could rush to get off of work and get there to take him home and put him in bed!

Lots of prayers lifted that night

medals given to our hurdlers

medals to the record breaking relay team

another relay team that broke the meet record

Lots of smiles...

great encouragement...

fantastic teamwork!

clapping for our girls when they announced we won

The girls dumped tons of freezing water on Coach Payne

He was dripping wet

Being silly...

Still so silly... LOVE IT!

Our Regional ECS girls team

1st place!

We are also proud because the boys' team won too!

Of course we had to get a picture with both teams.

Until next year...