My Anniversary Surprise

Well, I had just finished doing our anniversary post on here Saturday morning when my back door opened and my mom walked in. She was supposed to watch Addison later that night so me and Erik could go have dinner at Mansur's, so I was surprised to see her so early. When I asked her what she was doing here, Erik walked up to me and said, "Surprise! We're not going to Mansur's to celebrate our Anniversary, we're going to Natchez for the weekend. Get dressed and let's go!" Wow - he really got me! I had no idea!!

We packed up Addison and sent her on her way to Nana & Paw Paw's for the weekend. Then we jumped in the car and headed out. We stopped in St. Francisville first and toured the Rosedown Plantation. It was beautiful and probably my favorite place that we went all weekend.

Rosedown Plantation:














The gardens and grounds were so gorgeous.














































After touring Rosedown he brought me to eat lunch at Mammy's Cupboard. What a cool little place! They had the best coconut cream pie, yummy!




















Then we headed on to Natchez. We toured Longwood which is the largest octagonal house in America. It's 30,000 square feet! Although only the basement was actually completed. The Civil War broke out during construction and the inside was never finished. We took a picture of the original floorplan since Erik is all about building an octagonal house now, ha ha.




















































Then we went to check out the Natchez Historic Cemetery. We saw some really interesting and old grave sites. I definitely wouldn't want my headstone to say this:














Poor Louise!

After the cemetery, we checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Natchez Grand. It was beautiful. We had the suite with the biggest balcony overlooking the river. Our view was beautiful.














The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel, then set off to visit more of the antebellum homes. We visited Monmouth Plantation and then Stanton Hall where we had a fabulous lunch at their Carriage House Restaurant. We ended the afternoon visiting the Dunleith home. Then it was time to head home. We had such a great time that I didn't want to leave!
Just a few more photos from our adventure:
























































































I can't wait to go back. Thank you so much baby for a wonderful weekend!!

On this day, 6 years ago....

Was I nervous? Did I have butterflies in my stomach? Not me - not even for a second. I knew exactly what I wanted and exactly what I was getting into. Marrying Erik was one of the best things I've ever done. He's my best friend, my hero, my prince charming, a GREAT kisser, a great back rubber, a wonderful father and husband, etc, etc. I prayed for many years that I would find someone like Erik, now I thank God every day for answering that prayer.

We got married at Parkview Baptist on a beautiful sunny day surrounded by friends and family. It was supposed to be an evening candlelit service, but at 6:00 on a summer evening the sun is still high and bright in the sky! I did start to tear up right before I walked down the aisle, because I couldn't believe how lucky I was. Then Erik swears that I cried when I said the word "poorer" while reciting our vows, ha ha! We gave our moms roses, lit our unity candle, shed a few tears, and then walked down the aisle towards the rest of our lives.




















Then it was off to the reception! We had promised the bridal party they could ride with us in the limo to the reception hall, but the limo company sent us the wrong limo! We packed about 13-14 people in a 6 person limo for that 20 minute ride - one of my favorite memories! We goofed off the whole way. We walked into the reception to the LSU Fight Song - oh yes we did! Then our first dance was to "I Cross My Heart" by George Strait. And the cakes - well, they were just fantastic. We had so much fun that night. We ate great food, danced, and just hung out with our friends and family.
























It's fun reliving these memories. I hope they always stay as fresh in my mind as they are today. On this day, 6 years ago, Erik and I joined our hands, our hearts, and our lives. And we are still going strong.

There's a first time for everything!

Here it is, my very first blog post. For those of you that have been addicted to Addison's site - fear not! With this blog I hope to do more frequent, shorter posts. And I will still have plenty of pics for you to see. I'll also talk more about me, Erik, and life in general. But don't worry, I'm sure Addison will still get a least one mention in each post :) I will no longer send out an "update" email, so it will be up to you whether you want to read or not. Save this link to your favorites and check often so you won't miss an update! You can also still leave comments and please do! There will be a link at the end of each post that says comments and you can click on it and then be able to write to us. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, concerns, etc. And if any of you have a blog I don't know about, send me the link! I'd love to read all about you :)

We have a fun and busy weekend ahead of us. Tonight we are going to dinner with old friends and their kiddos. Then we are headed to an after party (sounds just like highschool!) at Lindsey's house. There the kids can play while we chat and have dessert. I love getting together with this group. There's nothing like having a support system of great friends.

Tomorrow is my 6th wedding anniversary. What a lucky woman I am! But that will get it's own post tomorrow.

So I'll leave you with some Addison love. She LOVES bathtime and she loves wearing her ducky robe. She's just about to outgrow it though.

Addison at 4 months old





















Addison this week at 19 months old.

























Come back tomorrow for an Anniversary post on me and Erik!