Celebrating and Reminiscing

Fellow picture lovers, you should enjoy this post! :) We are celebrating kinds of folks… we love to throw cook-outs, parties, game nights, you name it. People’s birthdays, births, weddings, holidays, gotta new job days, my you look lovely days, hallelujah it’s Friday days… whatever it may be, it’s fun to remember it in a special way. Even macaroni by a little candlelight makes for a memorable evening in my opinion! I find it especially fun to be on the planning and executing end of it all, but oh how humbling when others take time out to remember you. That’s exactly how we’ve felt in the past few months as we prepare for the second baby Martins to join our family.

Back in March I thought my friends had ditched me when even my daughter headed to the upstairs of our Girls’ Weekend cabin while I was left alone with my muffin and fruit salad. Luckily that didn’t last long before they called me to join them for a surprise shower in the loft! We’ll never forget it, friends, and we love you!


Then last weekend we took a too quick trip to Asheville for a shower thrown by my family (wishing we could have seen EVERYONE… but someday, right?!) When my aunts called for a little poetry help on the invite, I loved the final result: “Boy or girl? Only God knows as inside Mommy this sweet one grows!” Our green and yellow picnic afternoon made for a fun, treasured time. My mom has 4 sisters (6 now including two sis-in-laws and 8 including two very close family friends) and you can see that no one went hungry. This is quite typical for all family gatherings, first to Joe’s shock and then to his great delight, and I proudly claim the pregnant woman’s plate featured below! Thank you everyone... wish I could post pictures of you all!







Nana coordinated the decorating efforts… every little detail so precious right down to the corsages for both Hope and I.



It is touching how others remember Hope during all of this. Here are a few pics with some of the thoughtfulness as she hams it up and tells you how big she is… “SO big!”



All the excitement of being at Pop Pop and Nanas, going to Uncle Biwee’s new house, hanging out with so many people, and operating on one crazy nap schedule wore Hope out. No sooner did we put her in the carseat while we said our final goodbyes than she was counting sheep. To give her more time to sleep we drove around since Joe and I lived in Asheville for two years just after we were married. With the windows down on a beautiful spring evening we were flooded with memories. So many of those memories were in the old farmhouse we rented. Can you believe this field was our front yard and the Blue Ridge Parkway practically our back one? (Seriously, we had bear claw marks on our trashcans at times when the wildlife came down for midnight snacks!)



We used to go for walks most evenings, but especially on Fridays, through this neighborhood when Tucker was just a puppy. While we’re reminiscing… here he is as a “baby” on the first day he joined us (ahh, our firstborn!) Isn’t it obvious why we couldn’t say no to this side of the road rescue? Below that is a view from the Blue Ridge Parkway where our first home is hidden just beyond all those trees.




The view we had each morning on the way to work as first timers in both our professions... though we were pretty stressed at times, we could always feel God near us when we stopped and considered the beauty that surrounded us. Heading the opposite direction on that same road would take us to my parents where a homecooked meal awaited on many of those worn out weeknights… we know, Dad, you added them all to our “tab.”



What seasons we go through… and goodness, how the time flies. I’m thirty-two weeks tomorrow, so it’s not much longer until we add a whole other addition to our story. Talk about celebrations… that surprise party in July is sure to be one of our very favorites. And you’re all invited to watch it unfold!