An early birthday party....

for Hayden! In honor of opening race day, we got her a Jeff Gordan birthday cake!

blowing out her 12 candles...the loot...

She received a trip for she and her friend Kayla to Washington DC in 2 weeks from us (and with us). As I did last year, I disguised gifts and she had to try to guess the location. NO luck this year guessing....

She and Kayla reading the itinerary for our trip.

Auction...

We have a local auction on every Monday! They have a huge field that they auction during the day and then an inside that they auction in the evening. You will see just about anything and everything here! Dad and Trish were in town on Monday. While Trish had other obligations, Pops and I hung out at the auction! It also gave me an opportunity to play with my new zoom lens!

Picture 1 - some of the stuff you will see...need a walker?

Picture 2 - how about some tanks for some kind of gases?

Picture 3 - I was drawn to all the red out there but blow this one up and take note of the man taking a nap on the bunk bed (didn't notice that till I got home)

Picture 4 - More red...

Picture 5 - A crowd of people around the items being bid on...do you see Pops?

Picture 6 - There he is...

Picture 7 - I took a helper out there with me! :-)I suspect Dana G. will be up to her normal antics with these pictures!

Valentines Day at school....

is today since they don't have school tomorrow! They have a school wide dance the last 1.5 hours of the day and everyone dresses up! We missed it last year because we were on vacation so Hayden was really excited! I thought she looked so pretty today so I snapped a couple of pictures of her...

It was a little chilly so I couldn't get her to uncross her arms.

We made treat bags for her class and teachers. They are so easy, so good......

and so pretty!

A nephew birthday...

We have lots of nephews therefore we have lots of birthdays! Today was Cal's second birthday! We (or I should say the children) enjoyed the day at an indoor gym. As always, I recommend clicking on the pictures for the full detailed versions.

Picture 1 - Birthday boy

Picture 2 - Cousins! L-R Henry , Hayden and Pete (note the self inflicted hair cut on Henry)

Picture 3 - one of her finer moments...

Picture 4 - How sweet...but always stoic!

Buildings...

The architecture is amazing in Charleston. When you take the carriage tours, you learn so much history about the buildings. The city has had adversity over the years and it is just incredible that they still stand.

The horses...

Charleston has horses and lots of them! They are part of what makes this place so 'Gone with the Wind' (ish)!

I interupt this regularly scheduled post....

to bring you a surprise SNOW storm. This is what we awoke to this morning and we still had school! Correction...school canceled!

more beautiful Charleston tomorrow....

Church Steeples...

Charleston has lots of old churches that have amazing design! Don't ask me what they are because I didn't take note.... :-)

Our Anniversary trip....

Brent and I just returned from an incredible weekend in Charleston. We were there to celebrate our 17th anniversary. Charleston is such an incredible place that is so rich in history! I was excited that we had great weather....clear skies with crisp air. It also gave us a chance to play with the new camera. Hopefully most of my blog readers have never been to Charleston and over the week you will enjoy some of the sites the city has to offer through our pictures! :-) Otherwise it might get boring this week...

Picture 1 - Houses on the Battery...

Picture 2 - the street market

Picture 3 -the famous Rainbow Row

Picture 4 - a pretty water fountain...