OBX...

dressed for the beach

Happy 4th of July!

Good view of the fireworks from Daddy's shoulders

sharks at the aquarium

Don't worry the gator is not real but Mason didn't know it

Zoe dressed for the beach... babies her age aren't suppose to wear sunscreen

Bike ride. Mason loved it, fell asleep 1/2 way through

So cute!

Horses on the beach in Corolla, NC! What!?!

Little man...Big chair

For those of you who don't know what the OBX is, it is short for the Outter Banks. North Carolina has a chain of barrier islands. Some you can drive over bridges to and other you have to take a ferry. Some are also known for the best beaches in the world (true look it up). Duck, a quaint little town, was voted best family beach by Travel Channel, so of course we had to check it out. If you all remember we took Mason to Asheville NC for a week when he was just 7 weeks old. It became a sort of family bonding experience. So we decided that it was only fair Zoe should have one too at the ripe old age of 6 weeks. And bonded we did in an awesome beach house that sat on a lake/pond with turtles and was only stroll away from the sand. Great views!!! Oh and it was 4th of July week too, so of course we watched fire works over the water. Mason LOVED it!!!

Kiemeney Family Visit

The Kiemeney Clan all came out for a week to see their new niece/granddaughter, nephew/ grandson and to celebrate Mike's graduation/completion ceremony from residency. We did a lot of hanging out. Spent a little bit of time down on the inner banks in little Washington. Opa helped with research in purchasing our new car that arrived in our driveway two days after they left. Good times. Good memories. Here's a couple of pix we captured.

Mike's Graduation

Graduation!?! Wait what? Yeah people, Graduation. A momentous day. A long awaited day. A day that took 11 years to complete ( I guess technically 29). I was "lucky" enough to join him on it during his second year in. It's been tough. Not all roses you might say. The time and sacrifice on both our parts has been difficult at times. We've always lived in the future, striving to complete the next goal which usually entailed some sort of graduation. Now that all graduations are done and careers are in full swing we can now concentrate on our family and living in the moment rather than in the future.

One of my favorite Mike quotes ever... After just receiving his first "real" pay check and noticing that the government took 40% of his wages Mike was heard saying, " Well I guess I just became a Republican." Never short on laughter in our house hold.

Bringing home baby

Here are some moments captured at home with our beautiful new baby girl...

Daddy showing Mason how to hold baby sister...









Daddy doing daddy duty...










2 days old... on the way to her first doctor's visit...













Baby blue eyes...melt your heart


















Mason peeping over the edge of Zoe's bassinet... so precious...

Mason getting a good look at baby sister. Funny thing though, she's just as fascinated by him as he is with her:)

Staring contest...

Gave into a kiss...

so cute... on the way to church

posing with big brother

being cute... so fun to dress girls