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.
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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.