Camping!

So we have had a lot of camping gear since opening our wedding presents, but it seemed that I was always really pregnant or having a newborn when we could have camped. We drove about 1.5 hours to Lake Norman State Park, and both Izzy and Clara loved our adventure! The Fawcett family camped near us, too, and came over for smores Friday evening. Izzy and Maggie Fawcett went back and forth between campsites every 10 minutes it seemed. They were soooooooo happy in the outdoors! We brought our two dogs, which was fun. Paris was a little scared not having the safety of her fence, but Hank was happy as could be running around our site. Oh, Clara started walking Friday! She had been taking steps for a week or so, but on Friday she decided she was going to be walking, falling, getting back up, walking, falling, getting back up! I was so shocked when I was switching laundry loads over before leaving for camping, and Clara walked right into the laundry room!

Izzy learning how to throw logs on the fire:

Izzy asked for a picture to be taken since we all had our legs crossed. ;)

Justin cooked ALL the meals! I did a little prep, but he was our main chef. We had grilled hotdogs, sauteed potatoes and sweet onions, and baked beans once camp was set up. For breakfast, he made pancakes, chicken and apple sausage, and scrambled eggs! We did not go hungry.

We are luxurious campers with our comfy air mattresses! The only things we had to buy for this trip were the sleeping bags, mattresses, a handful of utensils, and food! I couldn't believe how many supplies I had stored in our camping bins over the past few years.
We are going camping in two weekends with Justin's family, but it will be cold up in Stone Mountain, NC! Izzy can't wait!!!

Joel's Baptized!

Our nephew, Joel Mathew, was baptized a couple weekends ago at our church. Both of Jennifer and Calvin's families are members at our church, so it was a special time for two sets of grandparents and all the aunts/uncles/cousins. Izzy LOVES Uncle Calvy, Aunt "Jean", and Baby Joel so much!



Everyone pitched in with food preparations, and we had a huge gathering of about 30 people at the Clark home for a delicious Sunday lunch before heading back to our evening service at church.

Live Music

Each weekend, Blakeney shopping center has live music on their patio. All kinds of people bring dinner and drink to enjoy the evening. The Mittens invited us to join them two Fridays ago. Little did we know, our more-towards-shy Izzy would be talking to all kinds of people, pushing Ella Grace in her stroller all over the patio, and even get to talk to the main singer!

Naphtali was trying to improve Izzy's dancing skills, but I'm not sure there's much potential... ;)

Ella Grace LOVES dancing!

After the Mittens left, Izzy got this blonde, the main singer, to sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider and another kids' song (can't remember which one) in front of the whole place! We were shocked, cause she did this all on her own accord. :)

Daddy Daughter Date Night!

Chick-fil-a Arboretum had a date night for dads and daughters last Monday. Izzy wore her tulip dress from Grammy, and it came with a matching baby dress. ;) Everyone was supposed to make reservations, but CFA didn't realize that 300 "couples" were going to show up! Justin said Izzy had a blast once they were seated and eating. :)

Getting spoiled by Daddy with a big ice cream!

Look at these two sisters!
I love them so much!!!

We ran our first 5k in uptown Charlotte. I had missed the first 5k I was supposed to run with my family in June in Hershey when Justin had an emergency appy, so he said he'd get in shape to run a 5k with me here. I wasn't too fond of the crowd-type running, but I'm happy that I can run 3.1 miles. Justin's parents came to cheer us on and to keep the girls. Katelyn and Hannah, both from our church, ran the race and definitely beat us, too. :) Afterwards, Justin, Clara, Izzy, and I walked around the city, showed Izzy where Justin works in some of the big buildings, and ate some BBQ! Justin is going to run the 8k (5 mi) Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning!

Last stop before home...

I really had to go to the bathroom on our drive home, but I waited long enough to get to the McCloud peach orchard and farm in McBee, SC. I had a good time showing Izzy that peaches grow on trees. It's so strange to have to do that, since I grew up with a fruit orchard that included peach trees. Anyhow, we bought a small basket of peaches and walked to see the peaches on the trees. And then the light went on in Izzy's head...

Three sweet peaches (haha):

So... peaches don't just come from the grocery store or farmers' market??? ;)

Reeeeeeeelax.

We relaxed so much on our beach vacation and really didn't DO much. Homemade breakfast by Justin, play/nap, pack a lunch and go to the beach for about 4 hours, showers, dinner, walk/play on the beach. Repeat.

Well, except two nights we threw a big wrench in that hectic schedule and got ice cream before walking on the beach. :)

I think Justin just might take 10 days next year...

What a blessing our children are to us!

Raising children is not easy. It is not quick. It is inconvenient. It can have its difficult days.

But I wouldn't trade any of it for life without our girls. We put a lot of work into instructing them, loving them, playing with them, giving them new experiences, helping them figure out this huge world, disciplining them, praying with them, reading to them, and nurturing their spiritual lives. All of that takes a lot of time, patience, and flexibility, but I'll take all that inconvenience for being able to ENJOY my children. They are such a blessing to us!

You two little girls make my heart swell.

The Justin Clark Family

Here we are!
We've been married for 4 years. Izzy is 2 1/2 years, and Clara just turned 1 yr!


First time in 4 years to go back to a goatee!

Condo

The condo we stayed in is a humble, comfortable place with good memories for us. Izzy started crawling when we stayed their our first time. It has 2br/2baths, a kitchen, dining table, and living room with a balcony. Izzy and Clara slept in the same room for the first time and had no problems with that. :) I will say that when we walked in the door of our house, we felt like it was HUGE after having been in a smaller place all week. We didn't really notice it until we were back home. The condo is owned by one of Justin's customers, so he gave us a discount on the weekly rate. We are thankful to have had a comfortable, affordable beach "home" for a week!

Day with the Grands

Poppy and Grammy came to the condo for breakfast Friday morning, went to the beach with us for several hours, and then took us out to dinner that evening. Izzy had been looking forward to their visit! She reminded us all week that they were coming "at the end." The rough waters were gone on Friday, so we got to swim out in the ocean a lot more.

Breakfast with Mama

Mama Melissa, Justin's grandma, lives just a few minutes away from our vacation condo, so when Grammy and Poppy came down for our last day at the beach, she came over to the condo for breakfast with all of us. She had the perfect gift for Izzy--BUBBLES.