July Update from Atlanta

Where has the month of July gone? The month is almost gone and it's time to send our monthly blog. So much has happened this month so I'll jump right in.

We started July off with a 4 day trip to Savannah, GA on the Atlantic Coast. I went to Savannah a couple of times back in 2006 for work; GP has a mill there. Ever since then I wanted to take Mark there for a vacation but it was always too far way. But now that we're in Atlanta it's only a 3.5 hour road trip. We spent the first two days taking in the sites of Savannah and enjoying the July 4th celebration. Thursday we took one of those trolley tours through the city; you know the one with the orange and green buses with no windows and driven by a tour guide with cheesy jokes. The old buildings and squares were beautiful. They reminded me of pictures you see on TV of New Orleans. I also couldn't wait to take Mark to Paula Deen's restaurant for some old fashioned southern cooking. He fell in love with her mashed potatoes. However he still says his Grandma Phil's mashed potatoes are the best he's ever had. Speaking of culinary treats we found a little bakery that makes only gourmet cupcakes...so of course we had to check it out!

That Saturday we drove over to Tybee Island. It's off the coast of Georgia on the Atlantic Ocean side. The coolest part of the day on Tybee was the dolphin tour; yep we saw Flipper! Oh and yeah I annoyed Mark the entire drive to the island by singing parts of the theme song from the TV show Flipper. Thank God my husband loves me and finds me funny. :) While on the tour, we saw what looked like a private beach because there were so few people on it. We asked the tour guide if it was private. She informed us it was a public beach and the reason we didn't see lots of people there was because that side of the island is called Shark Alley! Needless to say we didn't go to that beach. However we did go to the beach on the other side of the island and spent some time walking in the sand and playing in the water. It was really fun to watch all the little kids play in the sand and watch the waves crash over toes for the first time.

The middle of July was my trip back to Wisconsin July 10th-20th to visit friends and family. The beginning of the trip began with my Grandma Jeannette's 80th party. It was gorgeous day and there was a wonderful turn out for the party. I also managed to get in some time at the lake and a bonfire at Lynn and Tom's house with them and Billy & Jo. I miss bonfires; we can't have those in an apartment complex and Mark/I used to have the quite often back home on summer nights. Plus sitting by the fire with Lynn and Tom telling stories reminded me of the old days when it was just the 3 of us living in Green Bay in the late 90s and all the good times we shared back then.

Of course the biggest news on my trip was the arrival of two new additions to our extended family. My sister Janae and her husband Adam welcomed their two little bundles of joy, Ada Faith & Jaylynn Grace, on July 18th. The babies were preemies delivered at 34 weeks but good news to report both babies and Janae are doing well. Even better, Adam was granted emergency leave from the Army and made it home for the delivery. He will be heading back to Afghanistan sometime in August.

The rest of my trip was spent visiting with friends and spending as much time as possible with my favorite little people..Emma, Andie and Trey. It's amazing how fast they are each growing and how different they are. Emma has become my little swimming buddy and loves to race me in the pool; don't tell her but Auntie "Header" usually lets her win. Andie is talking more and started saying my name while I was home which was pretty cool. And what can I saw about Trey other than he's my favorite little man. He's so smiley and expressive.


Back in Atlanta, Mark has been busy at NYL and recently passed one of his Georgia insurance exams. YEAH Mark!!! As for me, same ol same ol on the work front...busy busy busy. I did recently get connected with a group of scrapbookers though. It felt great to dig out the scrap booking supplies again. I even managed to finish our dating album. The ladies I met were teasing me because I kept all the love notes and cards we sent to each other and put them in the back of album. Sometimes it's nice to go back and read them and remember how we fell in love. Plus I figure our grand kids can read them some day.

Well until next time...enjoy the last few weeks of summer and keep in touch. Oh and be sure to check out the latest pictures.

-Mark & Heather