Birthday Visit from my Parents

I was again blessed by my parents being here on my birthday and my Mom's birthday which are a day apart. I can only count two times in my life, all 31 years, where my mom and I have not been together on or around our birthdays. It is such a blessing to me, since in our family, birthdays are very special! Since my parents flew this time, they got to stay a week, Saturday to Saturday.
We had a lot of fun. Mom and I got to have a girl's shopping day, courtesy of Papa John and Justin watching the kids for us. We went to Raleigh and enjoyed lots of looking and eating at On The Border. We also took the kids to the Marble Museum in Raleigh, for the first time. They had a blast. There was so much to do that Karis was running around like a chicken with her head cut off to all the different places, and Noah just followed her wherever she went. Here are some pictures from our trip:

Click on the collage to enlarge

We did more shopping at the Smithfield outlet mall, where Noah and Karis got some clothes and of course I got to eat at Zaxby's. Friday we hung out most of the day since my parents were leaving on Saturday. We did get to have a date with just the grown ups, thanks to Nancy coming and babysitting. We went to eat at The Beefmaster, a place where you can only get steak, baked potato, and salad. It was very good and we had a wonderful birthday dinner thanks to Papa John footing the bill! Thanks Dad!

I am so thankful that my parents come and visit us. We always seem to pack a lot into a few days, but the time is always memorable. I love you guys and so do the kids. Noah still asks to kiss Amma and Pop John before bed!