OLIVIA!!!

Last weekend I had the great privilege to go back to North Carolina and visit my sister Stacie and her husband Jesse, and to see Charlie, Annette, and my first baby...Olivia! What a fun and long overdue visit it was. I wish Travis could have gone with me, and so did Olivia who asked about "Trav" all weekend! We had the best time catching up, playing and just being together. Stacie and Jesse only live about an hour from Raleigh, so they came and stayed with me all weekend at Charlie and Annette's. Olivia is of course, darling...I'm totally biased....and she had us all in stitches the whole time. I am very proud of her and very thankful that we've maintained our relationship from Minnesota. Not only do I miss her very much, but I also miss her parents and it was so fun for us to spend some time together. Annette and I have become great friends and we had so much fun pulling out our scrapbooking stuff and staying up way too late laughing and talking! It was also great to laugh with Stacie and Jesse. We went out to eat at a restaurant Travis and I used to love, which was fun, and Stacie went with me to our old Church on Sunday and to see the house we used to live in! It was a great, whirlwind weekend and I am so glad I could go. Isn't Olivia the cutest little thing you've ever seen?? I'll tell you one funny thing she did all weekend...she's always been into books, I'm sure because we all read to her constantly and still do. Because of that, her vocabulary is quite something for a 4 year old and I found myself stunned at some of the things she would come up with. My favorite however, was the answer she kept giving us whenever someone would ask her a question that demanded a response. When I said, "Olivia, would you like to read this book with me?" she answered with this: "Yes Stephie, that would be ABCDelightful and stupendous!" Can you stand it??



The two of us in her very pink bedroom with a pink elephant I gave her


Can you believe her beautiful, brown hair? She is not the little girl I left!


Annette and I...after 15 shots at least!! We're picky scrapbookers for sure!


We had a tree-trimming party, which Olivia loved, and we did too.


Olivia came into my bedroom every morning to wake me up...I loved it!



Jesse, Stacie and I at Kanki in Raleigh...after a very yummy meal!