family vacation 2013 to rosemary beach.

We are back from our family vacation to Rosemary Beach - the "family" includes myself, Randy, Hayden, Harper, my sister, Mary, her husband, Clark, their son, Kennedy, and my parents. We had a fabulous time. 

We first went to Rosemary Beach in May of 2011 when Harper was only a few weeks old. You can go here to see the blog post about that trip.

This trip was full of great memories and joyful experiences. I think everyone had a great time. Although I will say that Harper wasn't exactly a fan of the beach - to say the least. She much preferred the pool!

Here are some pictures showing the trip in all its glory. Enjoy!

On our drive to the Beach, we had lunch at the Rendezvous in Memphis.

I can't believe I am including this picture of my back side - but I think the picture is sweet.

We had a personal chef come and cook dinner for us Wednesday night. It was awesome!

While on our trip, Randy and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary. We were able to get away to WaterColor and stayed at the WaterColor Inn & Resort. It was a wonderful excursion!

Overall, we were gone about 10 days. A LONG trip. Again, it was a fabulous trip but I am glad to be home. We drove 16 hours yesterday to get home in one day. We rocked the roads!

happy birthday Alfie!

Yesterday was Alfie's birthday. Alfie is our Shih-Tzu. He turned 7-years-old. 

Happy birthday Alfie!!!

I love how happy Hayden is in this picture.

Harper tried to take his cupcake. Not cool Harper.

peace at home's courage award.

This past Friday I was honored at Peace at Home Family Shelter's Second Annual Courage Luncheon with the Courage Award. 

The Courage Award "honors individuals who have shown fortitude, strength, and dedication to empowering domestic violence survivors and their families. The award is given by Peace at Home Family Shelter to acknowledge the contributions of the individual who best exemplifies the Shelter's mission: to end the cycle of domestic violence. The recipient is an individual whose courageous work has had a profound impact on the community."

I have served on Peace at Home's Board for nearly 9 years and will "term out" this upcoming November. 

Peace at Home Family Shelter is located in Springdale, Arkansas. It serves as an emergency shelter for survivors of family violence, in addition to providing many other services to its clients.

Peace at Home has a 24-hour crisis line. It provides support groups for adults and children, advocacy services, job training, bilingual services, housing assistance, legal advocacy, community outreach, community education, as well as maintaining as active thrift store.

It is the oldest shelter in Arkansas and is one of the oldest shelters in the nation. Founded in 1977, it works to empower survivors of domestic violence to create and sustain secure, nurturing, violence-free homes.

With 35 available beds, the shelter is consistently full, with the majority of residents being children (the children of the women in shelter). If a vacancy does become available, it is generally filled within a few hours. Some women call the shelter every other day to check and see if there happens to be a vacancy – which there seldom is. It is unfortunate, but the truth.

I am proud to be a part of Peace at Home and was apparently the appropriate candidate to be honored as the 2nd Annual Courage Award Recipient. 

I was nervous about the luncheon and being the center of all the attention, but the event was wonderful and I felt very special. Many people worked very hard to make the event meaningful for me. My mother even gave a very heartfelt speech that almost had me crying - I had to work hard to hold back the tears. 

Following her speech it was my turn, and although I don't think my speech was as good as her speech, I think it worked. 

It really was a wonderful day.

Serving on Peace at Home's Board has been an amazing experience. I will be sad to see it end, but I know my relationship with Peace at Home isn't over. I imagine we will always be connected.

Me - before giving my speech.

Me with my parents and Randy.

Me and my parents.

Me and Randy.

Me with my vase/award - alongside Sarah Langham, the current President of the Board, and Teresa Mills,  CEO of Peace at Home.

Again with my lovely award - alongside Jamie Kern, Peace at Home's Development Assistant, Sarah Langham, and Teresa Mills.

Me with my Mimi (my mom's mom) - I was so thankful that she was able to come up to celebrate with me!

hayden's kindergarten graduation.

Hayden graduated from Kindergarten this morning. It was a super fun, laid-back ceremony and was attended by Randy, myself, Harper, my parents, Randy's mom, and Randy's aunt. 

He was super cute up on stage accepting his certificate. Apparently, he wants to be a 'professional baseball player' when he grows up and when asked about what his favorite thing about school is, he said "lunch - I'm hungry." I have one amusing kid!

Here are some pictures:

I really like this picture. Zoomed in, Hayden's face is so sweet. The way he is looking at his teacher - Mrs. Brown - makes my heart happy.

Hayden with his friend, Derrick.

Hayden with his friend,Tafari.

Hayden with his friend, Bella.

Lastly, Hayden with his teacher Mrs. Brown. She was "only" his teacher for this past month but did a great job. Hayden is going to miss her - I will too.

This morning we presented Hayden with two presents - a book and a small electronic math game. Randy and I had written sweet messages in the book - Skippjon Jones Class Action. I think he appreciated the gifts. I know we appreciate him and are both very proud of our little man!