Building a Playhouse

My dad bought Tallon a Playhouse from Sam's to put in his backyard. (It is actually for ALL of his grandchildren but Tal is the only one right now!) So my dad and PaPa spent last Wed, part of Thurs, part of Friday and then ALL day Saturday building it! It was a LOT of work but it is a very cool playset and Tal is already enjoying it when he is at their house! Reeves even got in on all the excitement on Saturday and helped build part of the house! Enjoy the pictures!
















Tallon has really become a climber- he enjoyed climbing the ladders and trying to help Poppa, Papa and Daddy build. Also note- he LOVES to eat- I got tickled as I noticed that in most of the pictures of him- he is having some sort of "snack"!!
I think his favorite thing to do in the new playset is to slide and also the tunnel!!

Dallas, Texas

We spent almost exactly 3 years living in Dallas. I would have to say that those 3 years were very instrumental in Reeves and my marriage as we can both look back and see how God grew our marriage and our individual lives closer to Him. We originally moved because Reeves wanted to pursue a Masters Degree in Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary and we thought it would be an "adventure". Well- it was definitely an amazing adventure and we are soo thankful for the excellent preparation and degree that DTS gave Reeves and also for the friends and church that God led us to. Although, we both miss our Dallas friends greatly, God has led us back- closer to our families and provided a wonderful job for Reeves- which he LOVES!! I listen to other wives talk about how unhappy their husbands are in their job and I am soo thankful that my husband LOVES what he is doing!!! I took a LOT of pictures- here are just a few...

Thursday morning- Tallon and I arrived in Dallas by 9:40 AM- YIKES- we left at 5:50 AM but Tallon did great on the airplane and slept quite a bit so it really was not too bad traveling by myself with him. Marsha met us at the airport and we headed to see our good friends Patty and her children Hannah and Silas.

Tallon and Hannah both LOVE Bubbles- I also manage to get some good video or Marsha blowing bubbles with these 2 kiddos



Marsha with Silas- is he not PRECIOUS!! such a sweet little boy!



We tried really hard to grab a picture with everyone, but as you can tell.... the kids were not too happy about having their picture taken- oh well!!!

Thursday afternoon- Tal and I headed over to Michelle and Sydney's home- they were kind enough to let us spend the night at their home and I had a wonderful time getting to catch up with Michelle and hold her precious baby girl!! Tal ADORED Sydney- he was so cute- he would just smile at her and try to give her hugs and kisses- I really think he is going to be a GREAT Big Brother one day! Here is a CUTE VIDEO of Tal with Sydney


Michelle and Sydney


We went to a Really Cool Park near Michelle's home- it had an awesome play area with tons of slides and different areas for Tal to climb, swings, and the sprinkler park was next to the play area- it would definitely be an awesome area to go in the HOT summer times of Dallas.


Tallon and I with Sydney


We brought Sydney a little purple car as a "Thank You" for letting us stay at her house- Tallon LOVED showing her how to make it go!!

Friday morning- the Mom's group from our Sunday School Class- Titus II- had a playgroup at a park in Frisco- it was soooo wonderful to see everyone and I could not get over how much all the kids have grown!!! Thanks for coming everyone- it was Great to see everyone!!!!


Friday Night we got to go see Chad and Andi- we totally enjoyed getting to spend the weekend with ya'll and it felt just like the "old times" when we would get together and hang out!! This is a precious video of Chad and Andi playing with Tallon!

Sat evening- David and Marsha had Tim, Patty and Hannah and Silas, Chad and Andi and us over for dinner! It was a delicous meal as always Marsha and we really enjoyed getting to relax and visit with friends! Thanks for having us!!! Tallon enjoyed playing with Hannah some more!

Tim, Reeves and David hanging out!


Tal and Hannah had their ovn little dinner table- unfortunately, Tal was ready to go exploring=)


The girls (plus Silas)!!

Sunday Morning we were able to go to church and Titus II and then we enjoyed a totally relaxing afternoon with Chad and Andi before we said goodbye and heading off to Mark and Debi's home!! I was quite worn out by then so I did not get any pictures with the Stones=(

Andi, Tal and I


Tal with the Thacker's and Reeves


It was a wonderful trip and we had a great time visiting but found out how difficult life can be traveling with a toddler!! We are all catching up on rest and trying to get Tal back on a routine!!!

Road Trip # 1

Tallon and I went on our first road trip of the Spring this past Wednesday. We traveled up to Columbia and met up with Carrie and Reece and then we all headed up to Greenville! I had a wonderful time- I got to visit with several college friends who I have not seen in 5 years and meet their precious kiddos and than we stayed with Sabrina and Lindsay Wed night. Thanks soo much you 2 for letting us bombard your normally calm house with 2 crazy toddlers!!! Thurs morning, Carrie was nice enough to watch Tallon so that I could go meet Natalie (1 of my college roomies) and her PRECIOUS BABY GIRL- ADRI!! It was so nice to be able to sit and visit with Natalie and to hold Adri- she is soo good- she let me hold her the entire visit and hardly uttered a peep- I even think I got a smile from her!!=) She turned 7 weeks old this week!! We arrived back in Florence almost 24 hours after we left so it was a quick trip but definitely fun!! Carrie and I are already trying to plan our next road trip with the kiddos!


Emily was so sweet to have play group at her home so we could all visit!! I did not take too many pictures because I was busy talking and catching up with everyone!


Lindsey and Avery


Melanie, Carrie and Reece


Carrie and Reece


Emily and Cort


Kelly, Melanie holding Reece, Carrie and Lindsay ( Tallon was happily playing in the kids play area at Chick-Fil-A)


Look at that beautiful baby girl! I so enjoyed holding Adri!


Natalie with Adri


Although both Tal and I were worn out from the quick trip to Greenville, It was nice catching up with everyone and now that we live in SC, hopefully we will get to do it more often=)

Easter Egg Hunt

We met several friends at the Smith household and had an Easter Egg Hunt for the kiddos. Tallon actually found a few eggs but seemed to be more interested in riding the cozy coupe and playing in Makgill's jeep. They say it takes some people 1 yr to adjust after moving and Reeves has constantly been reminding me that Chip Ingram's wife cried every day for an entire year when they moved from California to Atlanta to pastor a new church. I must say that I still have my "reminiscing days" and truly miss my friendships in Dallas, but am thankful that God is beginning to cultivate new friendships here as well!! If only, I could have the best of both worlds- atleast I partially am able to keep up thru friends' blogs!!!

Clara Beth is all ready to hunt for eggs!

Off they go!

Tallon and Daddy looking for eggs in the bushes!

WAY TO GO TALLON!

A little sidetracked from the hunt!

Aunt Aron, LiLi and Clara Beth

Now onto the REAL FUN- MAKGILL'S JEEP!

Check out that look of sheer excitement!

Tallon loves riding in the jeep with Makgill

Sweet Cousins!


Clara Beth is not so sure about being in Uncle Reeves' arms!!

Tallon managed to have the jeep all to himself for quite some time this afternoon when the older boys ran around the yard- he LOVED playing in it and would open the door, climb in, play a little, laugh and smile, open door, climb out and start all over- it was too cute watching him play all by himself!





Happy Easter everyone-as we celebrate Easter may we truly be thankful for the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
I pray daily that Tallon will come to Know, Love and Serve The One and Only God!

HE IS RISEN!!


HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!!!!!!

Professional Easter Pictures

note: all pictures viewed in this post were taken by Collin M. Smith Portrait
Photography- you can check out his website here. He always captures my sweet little boy's personality and expressions so well!!!


We have a photographer in the family- not just someone who claims to have skills and enjoys photography but a FOR REAL PHOTOGRAPHER and he is amazing!! Tallon's Uncle Collin has won all sorts of awards in SC for his Beautiful Portrait Work. He also has a way of photographing my son like no one else has been able to- they were kind enough to fly out to Dallas when Tal was 6 weeks old to visit us (and meet Tallon of course=) and also to take black and white photos of Tal which I treasure soo much!! Well, after seeing my feeble attempt at Easter pictures- Collin and Aron were nice enough to give up a few minutes of family time yest afternoon to photograph Tal for me. Oh- they turned out amazing!!!! plus- Tallon really enjoyed getting to see and play with his cousins Makgill and Clara Beth! They had their picture taken as well. Check out their pictures on their blog.





Evidently Tallon enjoys having his picture taken because he got REALLY UPSET when Uncle Collin told him that he was finished!!



THANKS SOO MUCH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL PICTURES COLLIN!! Your work Amazes me everytime!

Easter Pictures Take 1

So You Want Me To DO WHAT Mommy?? You know I am not into sitting still!?


So.. even though Tallon still seems to be fighting some horrible virus- he woke up yesterday afternoon wanting to go outside and seemingly better and the weather is supposed to turn cold tom so.... Mommy cleaned him up and put on his Easter outfit to see if i could grab a few pictures! Taking Easter Pictures was DEFINITELY easier last yr when he stayed wherever you put him!! Tal and I strolled over in the wagon to one of our older neighbor's homes- she is constantly working in her yard and has beautiful flowers. We were all loaded up... Easter baskets x2, water, extra diapers, comb, eggs for Easter Basket, change of clothes (just in case). Tallon enjoyed running all over her yard and i managed to get 4-5 decent pics (out of about 50 taken)- thought i would get a vote as to which ya'll think is the best!? Let me know!

Weekend at the Lake

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We spent this past weekend at my parent's lake house in Santee- soo much fun!! Tallon enjoyed watching the boats on the water, blowing bubbles and playing in Poppa's boat! He was not too sure about wearing the lifejacket though!! We are going to have to work on that this summer! We had wonderful weather and it was nice to be with family! Tallon was not feeling quite like himself though- he threw up several times, had diarrhea and ran a low-grade fever- I was not sure what was going on, but discovered last night that his top R molar has popped thru- YEAH!!!!! only 1 more molar to go!! These teeth are mighty difficult when they are coming in!! Thankfully- Tallon has been sleeping great and we have not had any problems today so far=)

Tallon definitely perfected the "B" sound this weekend- he said bubbles, boat and ball numerous times with his deep little voice!!!

Here is another video of Tal checking Poppa's boat out!


When we got home yest evening- Reeves mowed the grass so of course- Tallon was "mowing" right along with him- except.... instead of mowing the grass- he was running the lawn mower up and down our neighbor's ramp- FUN FUN FUN!! This video cracks me up because this is soo Tallons's little personality!!