Brody's Birthday!!

It is so hard to believe that Brody is a year old already!! On the one hand it seems like Brody was born yesterday, but on the other hand it is hard to remember a single time in life when he wasn't part of the family!! We had so much fun having family visit and throwing him a party. Here are a few snap shots from our fun filled birthday weekend!


Grandma and Poppa cam up on Thursday night, so on Friday Brody got to be spoiled by them and he thoroughly enjoyed it.Checking out the gifts.
Tractor/Truck/Tonka Toys was the theme for the big day.
Here are Brody's BFF's. ;) All enjoying some mac'n'cheese and ham!
This is Judah. He just turned one a week ago!
This is the special cake. A big thanks goes out to Aunt Carrie for the inspiration (well actually for the whole idea...)
Daddy and Grand-Daddy.
Balloons!!
The boys enjoying some play time after lunch.
More balloons!!
Caleb helped Brody open up his presents and I think enjoyed seeing all the new toys as much or more than Brody. :)
And then it was time for the birthday cake! Funny thing is that Brody didn't really want any at first. I assumed all babies just sort of dive in to their cakes, but I guess he just took his time enjoying it.
yummmm.... finally getting into it!

And here's the clip of his cake eating experience:

Our Trip to Charlotte

John, Brody and I were so blessed to spend last week with the Dirks family. Carrie and Tyler just had our first nephew and we just had to go see him and get in some quality cousin time. Brody and Maggie were definitely two peas in a pod. The first Saturday we got there JWU had a cook out for students/visitors and so we went, listened to a band, ate hot dogs/pizza/cake, and the kids played on the playground. So much fun and just the beginning of our adventure with Carrie, Tyler, Maggie and Henry.
.

.
And now I would like to introduce to you (for those of you who have not met him yet) the wonderful,... the adorable... the oh so sweet... HENRY LEWIS DIRKS!!!

Just having some special Aunt Christine time....

We spoke of many things together...

For the first weekend we were there, my parents came up to visit too. Grandma and Poppa just couldn't possibly be away from all this cuteness! I'm pretty sure the pile of red things in the background were the amazing Carolina sweat shirts that Poppa goto for all of us (except the babies). THanks Poppa!!!

John and Tyler took Maggie and Brody to Discovery Place while Mommy D. and Mommy T. went to Bible study at their church. From what I heard it was a wild fun time.

John. Brody and I snuck away one night to visit John's cousins, Jen and Rod Kinsey. They have two absolutely cute boys named Buddy and Eli (AKA John-John). Here are some pics from that excursion.

Back to the Dirks camp... good old diaper time. I think it was almost bath time so we let them romp around without clothes on for a little while.
This was a common occurence on our trip. Aunt Carrie reading to the dynamic duo.
We had so much fun that week. Praise the Lord for fun family and fellowship. Thanks go out to Carrie and Tyler for letting us come and crash your baby pad for a while. We love you guys!

Cousins are Awesome

Here's a clip from John's birthday party weekend. These two were so sweet the whole time.

Busy, busy, busy

Well-I cannot really give good excuses to why it takes me so long to blog! A big sorry goes out there to all our loyal readers. But-we have been busy. I planned a surprise weekend for John's birthday (that was a big success). His brother, sister-in-law, mom, dad and neice all came up for his birthday. It was fabulous. But, before they all came Brody and I have been busily playing with our sweet neighbors, the Garner boys. Below is Judah in the jumperoo and Caleb (his big bro.) and Brody enjoying a good jump as well (just on the outside).
Here Judah and Brody take a ride in the wagon. Life is good.

Aunt Lizzy brought back some clothes for Brody from China. She bought the "extra large" baby outfit for him. And by extra large I mean-extra large for a two year old Chinese baby! :)
Fits like a glove.

So here are some pictures from our adventure into Norfolk. We got to walk around and see the boats and even get on the giant Navy ship at the port.
Here are some pics from the surprise party for John. He didn't even see it coming! :)

We had a five dollars or less rule for all the gifts John recieved. I think he really racked up. Below is his durag (that also came with "hair food") and a signed autograph from Pat Robertson to John Taylor. Sweet.

Tristin was told not to put her fingers in the cake, so instead in perfectly normal toddler logic-she shoved her face into the cake and took a bite of icing! It was holarious!!
Like grand-daddy, like grand-son.


I would just like to add the most exciting news for the Zaepfel family right now... Henry Lewis Dirks is here! My sister gave birth to little (or should I say big... 8 lbs, 12 oz.) Henry on his due date, Oct. 7! Way to go Henry! We are all so excited for them and pray that the transistion home goes smooth and is a huge blessing to the whole family!

Brief Update

While thoroughly enjoying our role of parenting a toddler, we have neglected to keep the blog updated. John accepted the job offer from Sweeny, Wingate & Barrow, P.A. He will begin sometime in August as an Associate upon completion of the South Carolina Bar Exam. John clerked for the firm over the summer and thoroughly enjoyed his work and fellowship there. It is a great place to be mentored and discipled. The firm's regular attendance of Wednesday's lunch service at First Pres. is just one example of the fellowship that exists at the workplace.

Brody is walking. Everywhere.

Finally, Christine threw a surprise birthday party for John last weekend. His suspicions were raised by her sneakiness. However, when his parents and brother's family arrived it satisfied his investigation into the surprise. Clearly, they were the surprise. So, when approximately twenty close friends were gathered at the Shaftner's house, John did not see it coming. Surprise parties are generally given for people turning sixteen or for those turning 40 or more. And John is definitely not sixteen. Pictures from this event can be seen on Facebook and will likely be posted to this blog shortly.

baby steps to a career, baby steps to recovery, baby steps...

A lot has happened in a short amount of time. First, we are praying hard as we consider job offers from two different firms in Columbia. The challenge of having to make a decision is a huge blessing! The great thing is that it is impossible to make a “bad” decision because both are great firms full of godly people.

Second, our scooter was stolen last week. Snake Farm, uhh, I mean State Farm has denied our insurance claim under our renter’s policy and is begging for a lesson on contract law from John and his insurance law professor. In the meantime, John’s bike is working just fine.

And finally, the news most of you want to know: “how is Brody doing?” Please see the following video…



Not bad for 10 months.

Yesterday, Brody and I decided to play a little catch with the football. Much to my delight, he found this to be extremely funny. Excitement for football season is growing in both of the boys in this home. Christine and I have already watched this video at least 20 times.

Pool Fun

Brody wore his awesome warm-up suite the other day, so like a good mom, I thought, "Photo op!". He just decided he was not going to cooperate. Oh well.

We all enjoy some good time outside. Brody loves to chase the soccer ball around or play with the Noah's Ark set his Grandma gave him. This is a picture taken from our little patio area.

We went to the pool the other day and of course the Brodsters had a great time. He seems to be the entertainment of our group of friends.
Here they all are sitting around watching him in the pool.


The funniest thing that we did on Sunday was to give Brody a good lesson in skiing. See for yourself...