Captiva Island!!

Who ever said that spring break is only for kids in school?! John and I were pretty spoiled Easter weekend and were able to take a trip to Captiva Island, Florida with half of the Jonker family! John's parents rented a house down there and we got to join in on the fun with his parents, the Shattos & Herweyers! It was so great to be able to spend so much quality time with them- after being in North Carolina for almost a year now, it's unbelievable how much the kids change each time we see them!

We had one day with awesome waves- definitely not suitable for the kids (without life jackets) but the adults loved it! Jill, Darren, Jayne, Matt, John & I got to play in them for a few hours in the afternoon- I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard! We got tossed around and bruised up a bit, but it was totally worth it! :)

The house we were at was the perfect location for a lemonade stand- which the kids did an amazing job of for a few afternoons!! How could you say no to these cuties?

John LOVED his McLleyton time and I think it's safe to say MC enjoyed his time with John as well! They are great buddies and it's so fun to watch them interact together- John loves this picture where they are walking in sync

I love these boys! It was so fun to see how much Jacob had grown up since the last time we saw them and how much more he is talking! Jacob and MC are starting to become good buddies! 

I just loved this pictures of Matt & Stennson on the beach! How fun!

These kids are all so great- and only half the clan John and I have been blessed with as nieces and nephews! Each of them have their own unique personalities but I can't imagine what life would be like without every single one of them!

There was a great pool at the house, and uncle John was good for a few good tosses every day! It always blows Johns mind how adventurous Monreau is!

That sweet girl can definitely hold her own! She's turning out to be more of a fish than John is!

I am SO thankful to have such a wonderful husband who loves spending time with family as much as I do!

Jayne set up an awesome Easter egg hunt for the girls (what an great mom!!!)- it was so fun watching them read the clues and work together to do a little sleuth work to figure out where the next egg was at!

Stennson was so ready for his picture to be taken! It was so much fun to get some quality time with Jayne and see how much Stenners personality has developed- he's a smiley little guy!

We were so glad that Poppy was able to come too! 

Thanks Nanny & Poppy for such a wonderful spring break!!!

Birthday #25!

So, I made it- another year older and another year wiser! I've got a husband who loves me, family and friends who support me and a job that I really enjoy- it's pretty hard to deny that I'm pretty blessed at 25! We had a couple mini "birthday' celebrations- but I just looked at the event as an excuse to get together with great friends!!

The weekend before my birthday, a few of us met for dinner at a local restaurant called 'Sticks & Stones'. It was the perfect little birthday get together (that John did a great job of orchestrating if I might add!)

Eva, Lauren, Danielle and me- we were so bummed that Ashley was out of town, but so thankful that Brian came to represent the Kiser family! :)

And the boys- Brad, John, Brian and John. John and I are so so thankful that we found these wonderful friends here in Greensboro- we'd live a pretty boring life if it weren't for them!

My actual birthday fell on a Wednesday so I had to work all day- but we left for Florida the next day, so it wasn't all that bad! One of my friends here in Greensboro, (who my mother- in-law introduced me to) Janice, was kind enough to have lunch with me .

She has become a very dear friend of mine here in Greensboro and we try to get together for lunch every other week or so, so it was perfect that it worked out on my birthday!
I mentioned in an earlier post that the woman I worked with when I first started working at Creative Snacks is away on maternity leave so I'm the only woman in the office now (and I make sure the men know the place would fall apart without me! :) ). When I  returned to the office after lunch and was fully engulfed by my work, all of the guys started singing "Happy Birthday" and......

had picked up gluten-free, dairy-free cupcakes!! :) I definitely didn't see that one coming! They were teasing me afterward that they wished they had video taped my reaction because they say it was confusion/shock/'What the heck are you doing?!' all rolled into one facial expression.

Being the incredible husband that he is, John also surprised me with a dinner out! When we got home from work and I asked "what do you want to do for dinner" he replied with "I'm taking you out"- which was music to my ears! He picked a restaurant here in Greensboro that I had never been to- and I didn't have to make a decision- he had it all figured out ahead of time!

I'm a pretty lucky girl to have such a thoughtful husband!!! Here's to my next 25 years with him!

Date Night

A few weeks ago John and I went on a kind of spontaneous date night- and had so much fun!! 

For Christmas we had been given a giftcard to Bonefish Grill and had been meaning to use it for a while so we finally found a night that worked! In the middle of dinner, our friend Janice called to say her and her husband had tickets to a Michael W. Smith concert in Greensboro at 7 that they weren't using and we were welcome to use them! John's first response was "He's still around?! I haven't heard a Michael W. Smith song since like middle school!" So, we quick finished our dinner and headed to the concert!

The concert was at a church here in Greensboro, and somehow we found seats in the 5th row! It was a totally random event, but John and I knew several of the songs (thanks to our moms!!). On the way home we were wikepdia-ing (is that an official word yet? :) Michael W. Smith on how old he was because he hasn't changed much from what we remember growing up!

I love spontaneous date nights with this guy!!!