Life in Augusta

We've been back in Augusta for about 10 days now...but it seems like much longer! Brent and I have continued to do work around the house - unpacking, organizing, hanging pictures, etc but we still have a ways to go. Brent started his second week of work today. His first week was spent sorting through benefits, paperwork, ordering equipment, computer training, and lots of meetings. He has his first urogyn clinic today so he is excited to get to work!

I have continued to do small projects around the house but haven't been too productive! Graham has given up his morning nap so most of my day is spent on Graham duty! Its a little hard to be in a new place, not knowing anywhere or anything to do with the kids. I'm a little stir-crazy to be honest! Plus, its been 100+ degrees outside so its not like we can go scout out a new playground or anything.

We've been going outside at 8 AM every morning so that we can burn off a little energy before the heat of the day!! Thanks to Aunt Ann, Avery asked me to freeze some Danonino with spoons in them to eat as popsicles...so here the kids are enjoying their treat!

Avery and Griffin have been loving the fact that they have a place to ride bikes now.

what a good helper!

And at the ages of 3 and 5, Avery and Griffin have been introduced to bubble bath! (I am such the slacker for never doing this before....) They love it!!

Beach Trip

headed out to the beach

Here are a few random pics from our time at the beach. The seaweed was pretty bad the first half of the week so we spent lots of time at the pool...but we played in the sand and ocean the last few days.

Griff loved the ocean and the waves. He and Brent spent lots of time looking for seashells in the shallow water.


Here we are making a bunch of sandcastles, decorating them with sticks and seaweed.

Graham thought this was the best ride ever!

Brent and I had a night out - Cafe Thirty A and the outlets!

my littlest beach bum

Family Pictures

We headed out early one morning for a family photo shoot on the beach. Its not easy getting a good picture with 3 little kids, but we did pretty well!

the big kids

Graham, 15 months

Avery, 5 years

Griffin, 3 1/2 years

3 Generations (ages not included...)

Nina and Big Daddy with 3 of their many grandchildren

The Parnell kiddos

My favorite guys!

another family pic

Time in Jasper

Griffin, Aeneas, Addison, Patrick, Avery

Once we packed up and left Durham, we headed to the cabin to await a phone call telling us when our stuff would be delivered to our new house. That phone call ended up not coming until the end of the week so we had almost a full week to spend in Jasper. Thankfully, we had some good family time while we were there.

Justin and Anna and their boys were there all week so we had lots of time to spend with them, which was especially nice since they live sooo far away and we don't get to see them very often. Ann and her girls were there some of the time and then we got to see Preston/LeeAnn and Nina/Big Daddy briefly at the end.

Kale (preston's oldest) and Graham

Preston and Avery, playing frisbee

We swam in the lake, played on the playground, rode 4 wheelers, kids learned to throw a frisbee, played lots of cards, ate great food, and had many lazy days! It was a good reprieve after the previous weeks of chaos!

Griffin

all of the big cousins: addison (peytons 1st), Aeneas (justins 2nd), Griffin, Patrick (justins 1st), Avery

We picked blackberries one evening and made a delicious cobbler!

sorry its sideways!

The kids LOVED the four wheelers and were thrilled to get to "drive" them for their first time!

(Sister-in-law Anna with Griffin)

Graham discovered dishes and pots/pans during our travels...

We had cake and ice cream to celebrate Peyton's birthday!

Visit to Mobile

After unpacking a million boxes, we drove to Mobile and were able to spend a few days with Brent's mom and family/friends. For the most part, we enjoyed just hanging out at Gammy's house ...Brent and I took the big kids to see Cars 2...We had lunch with Grandma Parnell...The kids had a blast at Uncle Gene and Aunt Sue's new place - riding four wheelers and driving the golf cart around...We had icecream with one of Brent's friends and her family. Everyone enjoyed their visit!

Here are a few pictures with Brent's grandmother.

Leaving Durham

Its been almost an entire month since I have posted last....but that is not because we haven't been doing anything!!! Life has been nonstop for a while now but I think we will be finding our rhythm again soon!

We had packers come on June 23 to pack up all of our stuff and then on June 24, I watched all my earthly belongings drive away in a truck! Brent and I and the kids stayed with friends for 2 nights and officially left Durham on that Saturday. We headed to the cabin in Jasper and hung out all week until our stuff was delivered that next Friday. Thankfully, we had family in and out that week to keep us company and keep us distracted! Brent and I made a quick trip to Augusta to close on our new house on Monday June 27 and then closed (remotely) on our Durham house on June 30. Once arriving in August (along with our moving truck), we worked overtime for 4 days trying our best to get unpacked and a little bit settled. We left town on July 5 and made the long-haul down to Mobile to spend time with Brent's mom and some of his extended family. From there, we headed to my parent's place near Grayton beach and spent a solid week there. We finally returned home yesterday to spend the weekend getting a little more settled in before Brent starts work on Monday! WOW - can you say busy?! All of that to say, I have tons of pictures to post and plenty of life to blog about!!

As previously mentioned, we had a wonderful last few days in Durham. I am so thankful for the friends God put into our lives during our time there. We had a goodbye party with our small group the weekend before we left and were blessed with fellowship/food/and fun with our Summit friends. During our final days, we had friends who had us over for afternoon naps and playtime and who fed us dinner. We had friends who let all 5 of us rowdy, early rising Parnells crash at their place. And we had friends who gathered to celebrate with us and spend our last evening with at the pool. Thanks to each of you!

Griffin, Avery, Jackson, Katelyn

Thank you Runkles for your friendship and your hospitality! We miss you already!

And thank TMSA friends for sharing in our journey over the past few years. What a blessing to have great friends who are in our same spot in life!

We wore this slide out while we were there! Even Graham loved it!

Noah and Graham LOVED their cupcakes!!

Griffin and Bryce

Avery and Kaylee