For my mother-in-law

The menu tonight consisted of Calico Beans and Hoe Cake Bread, both of which are recipes given to me by my mother-in-law. This was my first time trying them out, and I had to give her a couple calls with questions. She hadn't made the bread in years, so she wanted me to take some pictures of the process. First off is a picture of the calico beans, which turned out great. They have a nice sweet flavor to them, are easy to make, and cheap, too!

Of course, Anna Ruth wanted to help with the special meal, and she wanted me to get a picture of her with the bread before it went in the oven. ...And the final product!

Everything turned out well. Thanks Anne!

P.S. If you would like the recipes, let me know!

Church Creek Presbyterian's own John Olson making headlines

Our pastor, John Olson, is causing quite a stir in the media. Check out the story here.
(After the video loads, click on the play button on the bottom.)

Anna Ruth loves cousin Sullivan

They had a lot of fun together when we kept him for a day. Sullivan enjoyed pushing around the stroller, especially with Anna Ruth in it.

And they had a fun time on the wagon ride. (While I sweated profusely pulling their weight on a hot morning!)

Time to catch up

I have been soooo bored with our blog lately, so I'm sure y'all have been, too. I've been trying to stay updated, but it never seems to work out. So, I'm resigned to the fact that from time to time I will have to do these "catch-all" posts with lots of different things all combined. But hey, at least I'm getting these pictures out there. Not that I'm very sure people are actually checking anymore.

Anyway, the summer has been busy and flying by very quickly with birthdays, anniversaries, family visits, VBS, and fun outings. Rich celebrated his 29th birthday on June 21 and is now enjoying the last year of his twenties. We enjoyed an awesome meal complete with an amazing margarita at Juanita Greenberg's in downtown Charleston. If you come visit, you've gotta go, and if you live here and have never been, shame on you!

My oldest sister and her brood came down here for July 4th weekend, and we had fun (and the kids had even more fun) swimming and grilling out.

the Hamlin fam dressed up for Independence Day

Daddy and Anna Ruth love swimming together

Anna Ruth and cousin Sullivan attempting a hug

On July 9th, Rich and I celebrated 4 blissful years of marriage and enjoyed an evening out while his parents kept Anna Ruth.

The Happy Couple

I volunteered my time and energy to help out with VBS at our church this year, and I was assigned to be The Craft Lady. A lot of work and planning went into getting the crafts ready for the kids, but everything was so much fun. It was very rewarding to see the kids' faces and hear their ooohs and ahhs when they walked in the room and saw what craft we were making each day. And before each craft, we explained how it correlated with the Bible lesson for the day. The children were all extremely receptive and participated well. The week was tiring, but lots of fun for me and for Anna Ruth.

The 3-5 year-old group on the last day

Just today, my mom, dad, mother-in-law, and Anna Ruth and I visited Rosebank Farms where they have fresh produce and seafood, flowers, a petting zoo (the main attraction for us), a small museum, and art displays. Anna Ruth loved all the animals, especially the mule (which she called a horse) and the ducks and roosters that were roaming freely. Here are some highlights of the day:

The horse/mule named "Blue Belle"

Anna Ruth standing in front of the miniature horse

(shortly after, he tried to eat her ponytail)

One FAT pig

One of the more interesting exhibits

Anna Ruth kept talking about riding on the horse, and though we weren't allowed to take rides on the real one, we found this metal one which satisfied her just as well.

Anna Ruth having a seat and drinking some much-needed refreshment

(Did I mention the 108-degree heat index?)

And now I think I'm finally caught up! Are you tired of reading yet? OK, good. I'm tired of typing and sitting here while the pictures take forever to upload. Adios for now.

Reunion Recap

I just wanted to write a recap of the first-ever 10-year Charleston Christian School (CCS) reunion. When Rich and I found out we were moving back to Charleston, I realized that it would be a great time to organize a reunion for my 8th-grade class, since May 2008 marked 10 years from our graduation. I began searching for my classmates, and found out that many of them are still in the Charleston area and were very interested in coming. I also realized that there were students who had been in our class for many years, but did not end up graduating with us that also were excited about the idea of seeing people again. So, it ended up being more of just a CCS reunion rather than specifically 8th-grade class. (which was great!) Anyway, the reunion was held at my house to lend a more intimate setting, and we all had a great time talking about old times and remembering stories from our days at CCS. We had BBQ sandwiches, chips, potato salad, beer, some really nice wine (provided by Mandy DeVries, who is a specialty specialist for EarthFare), and a variety of desserts. We partied late into the night, and the last guests left around 12:30am. We felt like the evening was a success, and everyone agreed that we would NOT wait another 10 years to get together again!
Below is a picture of those who attended (including spouses and significant others of the CCS-ers).
(Standing, from left to right): Greg, Mindy DeVries, Ian, Mandy DeVries, Ashley (Deaton) Russell, Jon Russell, Brian Muller, Michael Campbell, Rob Moller (cut off, unfortunately)
(Seated, from left to right): Lauren Edewaard, Stephanie Blanton, Olivia (Moller) Hamlin, Rich Hamlin, Joe Faust

It's a Boy!!!

We just returned from our 18 week doctor's visit and ultrasound, and we found out we're having a little boy! Everything else looked perfect, too, so we're thankful for that. Anna Ruth is getting used to saying "baby brother" and is talking about "giving him a kiss on his little cheek." Here's one picture that shows his face and body outline pretty well.

Waterfront Park

Ok, so this is a little bit late, but things have been busy around here (well, to tell the truth, it hasn't been that busy, but I've been so tired) and it's taken me forever to get these pictures off the camera. I guess to start the story I should mention that my Dad usually has a summer job, but this year it didn't pan out, so he's been taking the summer off involuntarily. BUT, it has been good timing, since his past school year was so rough. Anyway, since he doesn't have a job, he was able to come with Mom to spend time over at my house. The week that these pictures were taken we decided to have an outing downtown, which included shopping and lunch at Waterfront Park. We thought Anna Ruth would love splashing around in the pineapple fountain, but her unpredictable self decided that she was scared and did not want to set foot in it. So, we got this picture of her in front of it, and that about sums up the experience.

We ate our lunch over where the swings are (in the shade), and then swung (swang?) for a while with a cool breeze refreshing us. Here's a pic of Dad and me with Anna Ruth and then one of Anna Ruth with Lita and Pop-Pop. Did I mention how great it is being back in Charleston with parents around?