Free At Last, Free At Last, Thank God I Am Free AT LAST!

Well,

Today is my official last day with my company. Let's just say that my close friends know how long I have been dreaming about this. I can say all the bad/good things that have happened the time I was there, but I am not going to complain anymore.

This post is dedicated to all the people that helped keep me going throughout my time here when I felt down and completely exhausted. I can not thank you all so much for everything you all have done.

Most of all, there are no words that I can type or express my undying love for my wife Christina. She has been my rock, the hugger when I really needed it, my advice giver, the bright spot in my day, everything, everything, everything to me. I can definitely say that bc of her, I was able to not make dumb decisions that I would have regretted and kept me goal oriented in time. She keeps me centered when I go all horizontal in my head, and she always, I mean ALWAYS, makes sure that I keep true to my walk with God.

I love this woman more than anything else in the world, well, I love our little stinker too at home, she is the bestest as well.

But thank you all again for all the support and encouragement. I am about to begin another journey in life, and I am more than excited about it.


-Joe of Garner

JC Penny Photo Shoot

Here are a couple of the shots of Declan and Abby that we had taken while they were together in NC.


Declan with his cute "What?" face


Abby "the little monster" Garner crawling away.


Smile =)


Abby and Declan - I am blaming it on the teeth =)


Grumpy and Cutie


Look at the little angel!


Wardrobe Change


Declan can sit up and look at the curls!

Classic Abby!

Abby has started standing up in her crib and we had to put it on the lowest setting bc our little girl is an explorer. Christina and I both love our Saturdays bc Abby gets to sleep past 5:30 a.m. and when she wakes up for the day, she is so happy and this is what we get to see.



Does this picture remind you of anything? Look at the 3rd frame in the comic strip:

Laura and Allan's Wedding

Christina, Abby, and I drove down to Greensboro, NC this past weeked for her cousin Laura's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. They did lots of very unique things that I am sure they will cherish later on. They did a slideshow of all of the people who had passed, they did an open invitation where the guests were able to share stories of either the bride and groom (during the ceremony), Laura and her mom hand made the programs which turned into fans, they left the church in an antique covertible and the list could go on.

We had a great time hanging out with Aunt Jennifer, cousin Declan, Grandma, and Grandpa the night before. Saturday morning we took the kids to JCPenny to try and get their pictures made together. I will say that Declan cooperated and was the most photogenic baby ever that day! Abby on the other hand was not ready for her photo op nor did she have any interest in Declan so the ones of them together are funny, not cute. So we will have to keep trying...

Christina and I have learned that if we drive home right after Abby takes her 5:30 a.m. bottle, then we will pretty much get a enjoyable car ride home that only takes 5 1/2 hrs as opposed to 7 hours +

Abby and Grandma

Uncle Steven being Silly!




Wedding Shots




Family Shot


Cousins

Mommy's 1st Mommy's Day!

We celebrated Christina's 1st Mommy's Day and we wanted to make her feel extra special the entire weekend. On Saturday, I made her breakfast, and gave her lots of hugs and kisses.


On Sunday Abby and I gave Mommy a photo album we made for her of all the fun times we have had together so far and there is a voice box in the album to record special messages from us. We also gave Mommy a nice photo frame and picture of Abby and her together that will make her smile when she is not in a smiling mood at work.

Abby and Joshua

Christina and I were able to meet up with Angela, Jimmy, and Joshua a few weeks ago to catch up and hang out. Our original plan was to go hiking at Prince William Forest Park, but the weather was calling for bad thunderstorms in the VA area.
So we all decided to meet up at the Potomac Mills Mall, since it was the halfway point for all of us, and it was pretty much the same distance if we were going to go hiking as well. We all had a great time, and it was so funny to watch Abby and Joshua interact. They are exactly one month apart in age, but Joshua wears 9 month clothes, and Abby is in 12 months, that little chunk. I think it might be how they cut the girls clothes.

There was not a whole lot of play places for Abby and Joshua, so we found a big store and went to the baby section and sat down and played with them for about an hour. It is funny bc Joshua loved to just watch Abby crawl and get into everything. But by the end of the day Abby had burned herself out and Joshua was still plugging away!

All in all, we had a great time, and will be doing it again. Hopefully this time we will actually be able to go hiking.