Chase's First Fish

Okay....this was a big moment. Chase got a new fishing rod and we were off to Uncle Stan's pond in Alabama to attempt catching his first fish. He was sucessful. You should have seen his little feet stomping the ground with excitement. He was running in place. He was not the least bit scared of the fish and had no problem touching and holding on to it. He loves fishing! Uncle Philip was there to provide the celebratory "ding dong" which ended up all over his face....ha. One of these pictures shows all of the Martin men (brothers Tim, Philip, Darryl and their sons Graham, Ryan, and Chase), except for baby-Martin-to-be, ofcourse.

Fun time with the Martins!!!

Easter 2009

Easter 2009 was magical considering Ryan has finally gotten the concept of the Easter egg hunt. The Rivers invited us to a small neighborhood hunt and backyard party. (BTW - Evan Rivers is Ryan's best little friend and we have become great friends with his parents. We are so thankful for them.) It was a beautiful Saturday and everyone had a great time. Chase was too busy discovering the candy in each egg to go hunting for more. It was quite funny.

We spent Easter Sunday in early church. We were home by 9:30 and spent the rest of the day feasting with friends and playing in the yard. It had to have been like this on the real Easter Sunday....sunny, breezey, and absolutely beautiful. I attempted my first baked ham. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. We missed being with family this year but were so thankful to spend the great time with our friends the Rivers. We enjoyed some backyard baseball after lunch and wore the kids out. Everyone in our house had a glorious 2 hour nap afterwards.

He has risen, indeed.

Last Schoonbee Visit

We visited with the Schoonbees the last weekend in March. It was the week before they were to return to South Africa. We barely went out of the house because they had a lot of rain, but it was fun. Johan, Darryl and Jim managed to sneak off for a little fishing. And Terese and I did sneak off for a bit of last minute Easter shopping. We also had a fantastic lunch at PFChangs. And we didn't have to cut up anyone's meal. I hope the Schoonbees are settled and having fun back in the bush.

Snow!! In the ATL??

Can you believe we had snow in ATL this year. It was a Sunday morning and afternoon. He had a blast. We went over to our friends, the Rivers, house and all the neighborhood kids went to throwing snowballs, sledding, and acting crazy. Ryan was especially into throwing snowballs.

Birthdays

Ryan and Chase's birthdays are 2 weeks apart. We had a couple of friends over for each guy's Birthday. They each had their favorite foods for dinner. Ryan had burritos and Chase had pizza. Ryan requested an Auburn cake, yuck. And Chase had a train cake. It was unseasonably warm on Chase's Birthday so we decided to take the party outside and have a picnic. March 10th is pretty early for 75 degrees but we loved it. We were so thankful for the good times with good friends. Oh yeah, Ryan was 4 and Chase was 2.

Here are a few pics from each get together.

Winters Catchup

Say, yes the Martins are alive and well and have had great winter and even better spring. In lue of my promised weekly posts which have been non-existent throughout this winter, I am going to begin a series of posts to get everyone caught up with where we are.

First of all....our Valentines visitors.

We were fortunate to have the Schoonbees come and visit us for Valentines Day weekend. It was Janie's first road trip and she handled it like a champ. I have to show off some pictures of that sweet baby girl and her brother. They are precious. And all the kids had fun being together. Johan and Darryl even managed to escape the chaos of the 4-kids-under-4 and make a trip to Savannah to pick up yet more taxidermy. They went to get our kudu and gemsbok from our first trip to Africa in 2001. The taxidermist is Paul who does the taxidermy for the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in DC. Check it out...

Janie and Neels

mischievious...

our super romantic Valentines Day dinner...

the crew.

What a fun time!!! Come back Schoonbees, come back!

Traveling Blues

It is an understatement to say that Darryl has been on the road a lot lately. He has had so many business trips and one other trip lately. Funny how it all comes at one time. Admist the craziness that comes with a traveling husband, it is neat to see how God provides in small ways to help out. We are really blessed this week to have Darryl's mother staying with us and helping me with the kids. Halelujah! When she said she was on her way I felt like doing a happy dance and I think I actually did. The kids love spending time with Nonna and so do I. In addition to this great help, some dear friends of ours have offered to babysit this Friday, so Darryl and I are going to have a REAL date. Cool. No diaper bag, no kid-friendly menu, no wiping hands and mouths, no climbing on the table next to us. Can someone remind me what to do again? It almost makes me think that him traveling is a great thing. Nah. I miss you babe.