What IS that...?

Meredith recently sent me this picture of her new pet. Do you know what it is? It is part chihuahua and part cat - naugh! Just teasing. This is Jasmine, her new kitty :-)

Took a little trip...

Ana was able to accompany me on a business trip this week to the mountains of North Carolina! We enjoyed this quaint restaurant called Maggie's Galley, which specialized in seafood (we had to leave the coast to find good seafood :-) It was very rustic, as you can tell from these pictures. Parts of the building date back to the mid 1800's! We dined on the screened-in back porch. The bottom picture was taken on the front porch where guests wait to be seated.

An afternoon at the beach...

Ana and I went to West Topsail Beach after lunch today. The weather was perfect for our excursion! We enjoyed putting our feet in the water after a warm summer day.

Nicole's birthday gathering..!

Last night Ana and I went to Wilmington to celebrate Nicole's birthday (her birthday is actually on the 13th :-)! We enjoyed a good time at the Little Dipper, a fondue restaurant downtown, with Nicole and Brian, and a few of her friends from work. It was alot of fun! Brian gave Nicole a popular doll made in Japan that she brought to the restaurant to show us. The body is the size of a barbie doll, but her head is the size of an apple! What an unusual looking doll... :-) I think Nicole has already started knitting a few sweaters for her... Happy Birthday, Nicole!

Here's a birthday video from the party!

Beans Coffee House has reopened..!

Well, Beans Coffee House, our favorite coffee house, reopened last week! We went through withdrawals for about 4 months!:-) We went in last week for our usual sandwich favorites and the best cappuccinos in town! Today, after church we paid our weekly homage to Beans and enjoyed another wonderful meal - which included a slice of blackberry cheesecake! The top picture shows the hydrangeas Ellen (co-owner of Beans) used in her catering of Natalie's bridesmaid brunch on the 23rd of June. So of course, we had to snap a picture:-) Also, we wanted to include this picture of Billy - our favorite barista and espresso wizard! Just look at the macchiato that he made today - what an artistic creation! Billy is planning on leaving the area soon, and begin life elsewhere. We will truly miss him - a true artist- and an all around super nice guy.

Family gathering...

Mom and Dad hosted a wonderful family barbeque at their house yesterday! It was a great time of food and fellowship. The newly-weds, Natalie and Judson, were the guests of honor. Dad had been planning this gathering since their wedding and wanted to honor them with this party. Everybody had a great time. It was so good having everyone there. We love getting together as a family - we should do this more often.