Cotton Anniversary

The 2nd Anniversary rolled around a couple months ago.  We decided to keep with doing the "traditional" wedding gifts for each other.  This year was the "cotton" anniversary.  We took that idea to Savannah, GA - the old Cotton Capital of the World.  It was hot, it was rainy - and it was busy.  Let's review...

Nigel and I hit up the Botanical Gardens while Matt was at work.  Here are some flowers that were in bloom.

We also headed to Ft. Pulaski for our history lesson.  Matt wanted it to look like Nigel was being shot out of the canon.  I'm not sure if we accomplished that.

Look at that tongue!

The lighthouse on the island:

And the reason for it all... The Old Cotton Exchange. 

This one's for you, Maam:

Nigel was getting a lot of sympathy from passerbyers since it was HOT so we popped in a dog shop and bought him his first taste of doggie ice cream.  I'm a sucker for this boy :)

On the Big Screen

Nigel stars in his first featured film.  I'm sure this is just the beginning of a very long, successful career for him.  Credit given to Uncle Josh - Nigel's biggest fan.  Make sure you put on some adult diapers... you'll probably pee your pants.  Enjoy!

Long Overdue

Months ago Matt's parents came for a visit and it was a whirlwind of a working weekend.  We got a lot done and then I never took pictures because I forgot, had snakes, was lazy or a combination of all of the above.  But I took them this past weekend!  And then I'm also including pictures of some other stuff we've done.

The retaining wall came down and a new one went up.  The pile still remains, but it looks a LOT better.  The old one was falling down.  Not doing much retaining.

Weeding and trimming was done!  This is also a picture of what is left to do.  See the bush/tree on the right?  That's the height they should all be at.  So we just need to go down the line and cut them back.

 Matt dug up the two ponds and filled them in with dirt.  Slow work, but it's gonna look awesome as a flower bed!

Matt also put a ring of stone around a few of the bushes along the fence line.  Makes it look more professionally landscaped.  And they were just rocks that were scattered around the yard so that means a FREE upgrade!

The lower deck is ready for some S'more roasting!

And here's our helper running to help out with the next project!

The Shaffer-Love Olympics

About a month ago I returned home to visit the fam.  Dad had been hospitalized unexpectantly so I wanted to go see everyone.  I felt like everyone needed an opportunity to have fun and hang out with each other since I'm sure everyone had been feeling a little stressed leading up to Dad's discharge from the hospital.  Insert my awesome idea.  The Olympics were going on in London at the same time so I figured we could bring them here to the States.  We had several events - The Bozo Game, Balancing Egg Race, Balloon Words and Marshmallow Head.  Oh, and of course I provided medals.  What's the point in winning if you don't have medals?  Mom and Dad's house was also called the Olympic Village.  I may have taken the Olympic theme a little too far.  Enjoy!

Yes, I know the lines are back in the pictures.  No, I'm not sure why it's happening.  They don't look that way when I download them to the computer.  Only when I upload them to the blog.  I don't really know how to fix it.