Da Beach

As every year, we went to the family beach house in Holden. This year we got to take the Chaunce. He absolutely LOVED it! We have always known that he loves the water, but watching him swim in the ocean and pull out shells was one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. We had a ball eating crab every night, surfin' the waves with sting rays (except paranoid me), watching dolphins, and chasing the Chaunce on the beach. We even changed things up this year and hit up Myrtle Beach where my family used to vacation. Turns out the only thing goods about Myrtle Beach anymore are all the awesome Putt putt courses. As always, it was a marvelous week at the beach!













Until next year Holden(or until we find a time to sneak in :)

Arrivederci Italia!

Okay...NOW I can get back to the trip. We took the last week and drove from Milan down to Roma where we flew out.Driving was great because we were able to view the country side.We saw some B.E.A.Utiful sites. We even saw a small city up on a hill and took a detour up into it. We drove between the buildings just like we were in the movies. I felt really cool ;) We made other pit stops in Venice and Florence before made it to the Amalfi Coast. We scootered along the coast which was personally my FAVORITE thing we did while in Italy. I can't even begin to describe how magnificent it was. I also can't believe we managed to live through it. We ended in Roma and spent 3 days saying good my to my favorite place in Italy...Here are some pics of our great trip.























I was so grateful I got to share this with my dad. We made such wonderful memories while in Italy and I am beyond thankful that GB and I were able to experience life abroad before the tiny humans come along.

Pompeii

I really should be better at blogging. I have yet to blog about our last week in Italy and what we have been up to since we have been home. My dad and step mom came out for my dads work and got to travel Italy with us for a week. We had a really good time, but its always a blast with my dad. We went to a few cities, but this city deserves its own post.

Pompeii!
This place was incredible. It blew my mind and I absolutely loved it. For those of you who don't know what Pompeii is, it is a city by Mt. Vesuvius. When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD the ash spread down to this wicked city and smothered everyone to death. The ash preserved all of the city and remains into casts. These casts have now been dug up and preserved. Being that I am extremely passionate about anthropology, I was in heaven.
Once we passed the Colosseum, we entered into the main city, where a sweet man who worked there gave us a personal tour. We learned all kinds of cool history. He even took us to a closed of section that was being excavated and we were able to view the remains of a HORSE!!!! Oh bless you sweet man, bless you. This was an amazing day!!!!



These poor 3 families died while trying to escape their vineyard.



Around the City



This is where they keep all the artifacts that have yet to place. I would cut off my right arm to be able to go through all this stuff!



If you can't tell, I LOVED this place!!!

Its a "ruff" life

WARNING:
The following post is intended for those with a sense of humor and contains photos that may be disturbing or slightly offensive. Viewer discretion is advised.
Last Tuesday I subjected my sweet, loyal puppy to the social convention of dog neutering. Originally when I got the Chaunce I planned on doing this right away. However, GB convinced me not too since he later wanted to breed him. BAD MOMMY.

In the 3 years since I purchased my beloved pup and decided against neutering, we have yet to breed him. Because I neglected to have him de-manned earlier he developed some naughty habits. Well, his marking had gotten out of control so I decided it was time to get this pup neutered and calmed down. So I bit the bullet and took him in. Talk about heart break. He gave me the saddest look when I dropped him off. Picking him up....SO MUCH WORSE! He was all loopy from the drugs and sick to his stomach from being nervous. He had this bloody slit down his twig and...his berries....oh his little berries.

Is anyone else aware that when they neuter pups they don't actually "chop off their sacs"??? Well, they don't. There is a good reason why you neuter them when they are pups...BEFORE their part "descend". Chauncey now has saggy scrotum's. Its horrible! Its so pathetic only a picture could do it justice.

See??? and this is almost a week later. In case you are unable to tell from the picture, those suckers are big and flat. Now I know why they offer testicle implants for older dogs. I can't believe I didn't take care of this when he was a baby. I am a horrible human being. My poor poor pup. Mommy owes him big time.

The best things in Life

Growing up my Grandmama used to have a quote hanging in her kitchen. It read, " the best things in life aren't things."

I LOVE my family! I know everyone thinks that they have the best family, but I really do have the best family for me. I know I am beyond behind in my blogging but we have been busy since coming back home and I really haven't had time to post yet. Since being home I have spent a lot of time with my mother in law as well as getting to go back to TN and spending time with my moms family. Having been blessed with the opportunity to travel and see all the beautiful places heavenly father made, family is by far the most beautiful. There is no greater feeling in the world then sitting in a room with family and being able to feel an overwhelming amount of love.

From an anthropological standpoint my family is communal. Your cousins are like your brothers and sisters and your aunts and uncles are like parents. We all take care of each other and love one another the same. I love it. Sitting with my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma, and grandpa you can feel the love we all have for one another. Its overwhelming and undeniable.I love it. Nothing, absolutely NOTHING makes me more happy than being with my family. I feel so blessed in every aspect of my family life. I was born into the best family and I was blessed with equally wonderful in laws.
This weekend we celebrated my cousin Grant's graduation. I can NOT believe how big he is now. It makes me feel a little old and a little sad. I just want them all to stay little forever. My baby cousin Cade is 3 and I kept remembering when Grant and Tyler were that little. Nothing melts my heart more than a sweet little child, especially one who lays with me in bed and wraps their little arm around my neck and says, "I love you so much." Oh my heart. After he laid with me for a little while he got up to go lay with his mommy, before he closed the door he said, " Are you gonna be okay?" I told him yes, I was just gonna be lonely. My sweet little cousin smiled and said, hold on ill get you my George. He ran into his bed room and brought me his Curious George doll and said." Here Meagan, George can sleep with you tonight." He then turned to his monkey and said," You stay with Meagan George and don't let her be lonely." Oh my Cade, you make it so hard to wait to have babies.

How grateful I am for the gospel. I makes me so happy to know that I can live with my family forever.I often think of that sweet quote my Grandmama had hung...its so true. Family is the greatest thing in my life.