Roberts' Family Bakery

There is a yummy new bakery in Gate City, where Grandma and Grandpa live.

Isaac really liked his cookie from the bakery.

Whatcha doin', Isaac?

Sorry, Briley - I think I'm going to eat my whole cookie!

Isaac's first Braves game

Dad's birthday is coming up, and since we live much closer to Atlanta now (about 3 hours), we went to a Braves game one afternoon. It was Isaac's first major league game, and he really had fun! He sat through the entire game (with a few concession stand breaks, of course...)

Even Charley was ready to go to the game (though he waited in the car)!

Dad taught him how to watch the game - it's a very serious endeavor...

Go Braves!

A really big baseball

He enjoyed watching the game on the field, but he REALLY liked the jumbo-tron (which he called "Baseball TV")

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Isaac's "prayer"

We are trying to teach Isaac the "God is great, God is good" prayer before meals. So, this morning after breakfast, Isaac said, "Let's pray, Dada." This is what he said.
(We think it's something about "Mama snake," spoken in rhythm to the "God is great" prayer. He has since done this a lot, repeating, "Mama snake" an indefinite number of times, and then saying, "Amen.")

Mowing the lawn

HUGE new lawn that Garin has to mow (heheh)

Dad and Isaac on the mower!

Water night with FW Friends

On Wednesday, they had "water night" at the church. They put a huge sheet of plastic on the hill, and let the kids slide down it. The kids seem to have fun!

The water slide down the huge hill

Isaac mostly enjoyed watching the big kids slide...

Isaac had more fun just playing with the kids.

When Dad got there, though, Isaac tried to be brave and go down the slide.

He didn't really enjoy it so much.

Big steps

Isaac was being very quiet one day, and so we went in search of him and this is what we found:

Isaac had pulled out his step-stool and climbed up to the sink, picked up his toothbrush, and was trying to put toothpaste on it (with the lid on).

He "brushed his teeth" for about 10 minutes (really, just sucking on the toothbrush).

A visit from Cam...

Our friends Natalie and Cam came to visit us on Thursday - Isaac and Cam had a great time together!

Outside our house

Playing on the church's playground, next door to our house.

Isaac loves tickle-time

Snack-time...

The 2 PKs (Preacher's Kids) playing the piano

Going for a ride in the wagon

Shaving cream night at Sandy Plains Baptist Church

On Wednesday night, FW Friends (not sure what the "FW" stands for, but it's the summer kids Wed night activity) had a shaving cream night. Needless to say, the new preacher was a target (after he finished teaching the Bible study, of course!)

Garin's "inauguration" into the church - getting blitzed by a dozen kids with shaving cream as their weapon of choice.
(Check Isaac out in the top left corner - he was none too happy about this!)

Putting the finishing touches on the new preacher

Isaac was on the fence about the whole experience - he spent most of the time watching the other kids and rubbing shaving cream on Mom's legs, but seeing "Dada" attacked mighta just pushed him over the edge...
(still, look at his cool mohawk!)

Isaac's 2nd birthday

On July 9, Isaac turned 2 years old. Happy Birthday, Isaac!

Isaac's birthday cake - it's a stadium with little sprinkles for the people!

"Happy Birthday to Isaac"
(his favorite song - he's been singing it ever since!)

For some reason, Isaac decided to eat his cake this way - with no hands.

Isaac's present from us - a plush Tyrone, his favorite character from his favorite TV show (The Backyardigans).

Our little patriot!

Tuckered out after 4th of July festivities!

Isaac's song

On Thursday night, we went to a baseball game and Isaac's friend Ty gave him a baseball. He was playing with it in the car, and Daddy told him, "Don't throw the ball, Isaac." Isaac promptly threw the ball, and so lost it. We told him, "Daddy told you don't throw the ball," and so Isaac made up this song:



He sang this song for maybe 5 minutes (we think he's saying, "Daddy told me don't throw balls. Daddy told me don't throw rocks." over and over again...)

Our new house in Shelby

Here are some pictures of the parsonage, sent to us by one of the many "worker-bees" who are getting the house ready this week. They've done A LOT to it - it looks a lot better than it did both times we saw it, and we are starting to get excited about moving in.

This will be sort of a "virtual tour," but to get the real tour you'll just have to come see us!!!

Front of the house - the church is about 200yds to the left of the person taking this picture.

Side-view and carport (yay for not getting wet anymore while carrying groceries in the rain!!!) - the front of the house is on the left, and the yard slopes down to the right of the carport to the backyard and entry to the basement (most of the house is on the first level, but the basement leads to the backyard).


The kitchen - the door on the right leads to the carport.


The rest of the kitchen - the door to the carport is now right behind the person taking this picture. If you walk forward and take a left, you can either go downstairs to the basement or straight into the front dining/living room.
Let's go to the basement...

Down the stairs - this is the first room you see in the basement (the backyard is visible through the windows and door). Look left and you'll see...

...this storage area (not sure why there is a fridge there - if things stay the way they are, we'll have 3 refrigerators. Two is okay, but I'm not sure we need 3...!) Okay, now turn back to your right and go through the doorway into....

...the big basement/playroom!

Isaac doesn't know it yet, but this is going to be his favorite room - most/all of the toys will be kept down here - the messier the better!

Straight through the playroom/basement is this room - most likely the guest bedroom, though it is VERY big (it may end up housing home/office stuff, too).

Downstairs bathroom with a shower, next door to the guest room

Okay, now let's go back upstairs...
After walking back up the stairs, turn left into the front room - it's a dining/living room area - the door to the outside (top/left of this pic) leads to the front yard. (They are still working on finishing the floors - they put hardwood everywhere, which I am VERY excited about! I'll never have to call Stanley Steemer again!!!)

There are 2 doors into the living room from the rest of the house - one is in the kitchen, and the other is in this breakfast nook, which connects to the hallway to the bedrooms.

The order of rooms as you walk straight back the hallway is: bedroom on the left, across from the boys' bathroom, then bedroom on the left across from the master bedroom. Isaac will probably have the first room, so that he can be across from the bathroom for potty training, as well as farther away from the noise of the new baby in October!

The boys' bathroom...

One of the bedrooms (without furniture, I have no idea which one this is!!)

Master bathroom (with a tub for Mommies! Yay! Our current master bath only has a shower - boo!)

So, there it is! It's hard to get the full picture virtually, so consider this an open invitation to come see us ANYTIME! The Charlotte airport is close, and so is Asheville and Spartanburg, SC, so come on by!

Dolphins video

This is a video of the dolphins we saw off shore. They are mid-screen at the very beginning of the video, and then right toward the end they jump one more time, about mid-screen to the left. Only their fins and backs show, though... (Evidently our camera lens needed cleaning - sorry!)

Carolina Beach trip - day 6

Our last full day here, so we started the day with Britt's donuts (we were told by several people to try Britt's - it definitely lived up to the reputation!)

A Britt's donuts toast!

Isaac played with this bucket of water for a really long time today. Also, we saw dolphins today off the shore - maybe 200yds out. There were 2 of them. So cool!

Mom and Isaac's toes in the sand

Yes, Isaac is eating the crab dip with a fork. (It WAS really good, but still not as good as Aunt Julia's!)

He found another ramp to run up and down on the boardwalk...

At the lake across the street from our condo

This is the view of the lake from the balcony outside our bedroom (the wine is a special, "last night of vacation" treat!)