5 years ago- Sydney and Sam

Five years ago a picture very similar to this one made the Montgomery Herald newspaper.  We were attending the Candor Peach Festival and a photographer noticed Sydney and her friend Sam (weren't they just adorable).

Hard to believe it has been five years and these two kids are 7 this year!

Ashleigh's Day

My CMA Ashleigh was diagnosed with bile duct cancer a few months ago. She is receiving chemo at Cancer Center of American in PA. Our office has organized a few fund raisers to help her financially.

We had a hot dog/bake sale and I made several desserts.  My kiddos were my taste tester's and they definitely approved of my mini cheesecakes!

Ashleigh and I, each wearing our team Ashleigh shirts!

girls working in the kitchen getting organized to sell hot dogs

The day of the sale was actually Ashleigh's 40th birthday so we also had a surprise birthday party that evening. 

It was a great day.  We are so proud to call her our coworker and friend and we will continue to support her in every way we can!

play time

We had a blast at Farmer Elementary school playground on Saturday. 

spin cups

the web, when did Sydney and Sam get so big?

They have changed so much from our previous visit.

fun on the tire swing

Griffins first time on the tire swing

We enjoyed a picnic, the playground and then rode bikes and scooters!  The weather was perfect and so was the company!

Day away with Ellie

My friend Ellie and I enjoyed an afternoon and evening away.  We were celebrating her birthday and our friendship.

We started at Brixx Pizza-yummy!

Then we headed over to the new Whole Foods and took our time browsing and reading labels.  We sampled a few cheeses, salmon salad and grapes.  I was tempted to buy these sunflowers, they reminded me of my sister Amanda.

Have you seen these?  I almost bought the bag to give them a try.

I drooled over the antipesto bar, okay not literally but yummy.

We bought coffee at Starbucks and it took us forever to figure out what these little green sticks were for, oh yes to plug the hole in the lid, ingenius.

We went to the Mellow Mushroom for dinner but since we had pizza for lunch and we were not that hungry we shared a stuffed portabello mushroom and each had a greek salad, again so yummy.

We walked across the street to a place called Elsewhere which is a living museum, nothing is for sale.  We walked around and reminised about toys we used to have, for instance the phone on wheels, trolls and a glow worm.

It was a wonderful day and I feel blessed to have a friend like Ellie.

New Year's Eve Party

Instead of going out we hosted the Parkers for a New Year's Eve Party.
Ellie and Garret

Bill and I

Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese-yummy- thanks Ellie

We played Pictionary- which as a hoot.

the kids enjoyed watching

and also scribbling some pictures themselves

My dear friend Ellie

Sydney and I

Syd's turn at the board

We had so many yummy snacks: bang bang shrimp, jalapeno poppers, brie, and of course Margarita's

for dessert I made crepes with strawberry sauce and a cream cheese and yogurt filling. 

Our evening was over by 10 but we had a fabulous time with friends and our kids.