He did it!

First of all, we are alive!  We just had some computer problems, and were reminded how important it is to back up copies of all the pictures on our computer. I'm still hoping we'll be able to recover all of our pictures taken last year!! Needless to say, a lot has happened since my last post.  So I'll start with item number one...

ANDREW GRADUATED LAW SCHOOL! 


 We drove up to Akron on Friday, May 11th.

Ready to hit the road!

On Saturday Andrew's sister flew in and we were able to give her a tour of campus and some other places around town.

In front of the Law School

That night my dad flew in and Andrew's parents arrived in town.  We had a celebratory crawfish boil.  I mean, is there a better way to celebrate?  Our friends, the Perkins, were nice enough to let us use their house and host Andrew's graduation party.  It was so fun to see some of our friends, and of course, the crawfish was delicious!

Not the best shot, but proof that we were loving every bite.  We didn't want to stop eating to take a picture :)

The company we ordered the crawfish from has a contest every week.  You submit a picture from your crawfish boil and the top 2 pictures win more crawfish!  So we won and are actually having more crawfish tonight for Andrew's birthday!  So that ended up being the gift that kept on giving!

Graduation was Sunday afternoon.  It was also Mother's Day which made it extra special.  I feel like me becoming a mother and Andrew graduating from law school are very intertwined.  While he was figuring out school, I was figuring out how to be a mom.   Graduation and Mother's Day, May 13th, also happened to by my due date from our miscariage.  Definitely made me remember that Heavenly Father has a plan for me.  And also made me very grateful that I am able to be pregnant with another little girl who seems to be growing healthy and strong.  Eleanor and Penelope did really well during the graduation ceremony but after we saw Andrew cross the stage they had about had it so I took them out and played in the foyer/atrium until everything was finished.  It was so neat to see Andrew walking towards us with his robe and hat on and diploma in hand. The past four years took so much hard work and dedication (by both of us, really).  It was a great day and we had such a great sense of accomplishment!

 
 


 

 

 

My children, the street performers...

 
 

Eleanor always takes the time to stop and smell the flowers :)

 
 

 


Our friends the Tefteller's were so nice to have us over for dinner after graduation.  Eleanor got to hang out with her bestie Hannah one last time before we left.  She actually told me the other day that Hannah's mom is her favorite mom!  So thank you Rachel for being such a good friend and a good "mom" to Eleanor :)

Totally typical of these two...Hannah is posed and ready for the picture and Eleanor is totally oblivious with a lot of junk involved :)

Yummy ice cream

On Monday before heading back to North Carolina we met up at the bookstore with our friends the Sorensen's.  They lived down the street from us and our kids are like siblings.  The kids didn't waste any time opening up a can of Pringles and making themselves at home in the bookstore :) 

 

 

We had a really great trip and will remember it forever!

Family fun weekend

 We had such a nice Easter weekend.  Andrew didn't have to go to work on Good Friday or "Good Monday" (not sure if that's really what it's called?) so we decided to do lots of fun things and enjoy spending time together as a family ALL WEEKEND with no work or school!

We started by going to an indoor splashpark on Friday. It was perfect for the girls, they loved going down the little waterslide and playing in the fountains.  And you know it wouldn't be a Whitman family fun weekend without at least one trip to Chick-Fil-A.  So that's where we headed for dinner.

We decided to do Easter baskets on Saturday morning to keep Sunday more focused on Jesus Christ.  On Friday night after I set up the Easter baskets I gave Andrew a handful of chocolates and went up to bed.  When he was done with his treats he left his trash on the coffee table, which ending up making Eleanor's day.  When she saw the trash the next morning she was convinced the Easter bunny ate some of our treats.  She thought that was pretty neat and is actually still talking about it :) 

The girls both got some candy, Penelope got some sidewalk chalk, and Eleanor got a puzzle (thank you Target dollar bins)

On Saturday we headed up to Asheboro to go to the North Carolina Zoo.  Apparently the rest of North Carolina had the same idea.  We waited in line for almost an hour just to get in.  Then once we got in it was (obviously) super crowded!  I do not like crowds and the way the zoo is designed just isn't very crowd-friendly.  We took advantage of any area that wasn't crowded.  

The elephants are always a favorite...

 

Large bugs are not a favorite...

 Penelope was really excited she spotted a giraffe...

 We promised the girls we'd ride the carousel, but when we got to the main food/carousel area it was PACKED! And we decided to just go home and ride the carousel at the mall on our way home.

 Even though it felt like the zoo was a bust, the girls were still satisfied with our day!

Andrew's dad came up on Sunday and we went to the splashpark again on Monday with him.  It was nice to have an extra set of hands to keep track of the girls in the water.  We had an awesome weekend and loved having so much family time.  I think we might have ourselves a new tradition!

Akron or bust!

The last week in March we headed to Akron for Andrew to take a class he needed for graduation. My friend Nicole was the nicest person in the world for letting us stay with them for a little over a week.  It was so fun to see our friends and be back in familiar places. 

We started our trip out with a big group date night to dinner and a movie (Hunger Games).  

We had fun just hanging around the house with friends...

Playing at the library...

 

Playing at the park...

Brenden is so sweet to Penelope. They are the perfect little buddies because they are both so kind and mild tempered.  

Meanwhile Eleanor and Kyleigh have fun together because they are both big girly girls and tend to be quite feisty!

And Eleanor got to spend plenty of time with her bestie, Hannah...

We had such a great time and we're looking forward to our visit in a couple of weeks for Andrew's graduation.