Spring Voice Recital

Not sure if I've mentioned on the blog yet but I started teaching here in TN last fall and been loving every minuted of it. I've had 6 students this year and to show family and friends their progress, we decided to have a recital here at my house back in May. Two students were unable to perform that day so it ended up being short and sweet. I was very proud of each one of my students! Every one of them rocked their songs. :) And it was so nice to visit with everyone's families afterwards over refreshments. I'm definitely going to do a recital every spring (and maybe a fall one too) but probably not in my house again. It turned out perfect for the amount of people but I've already gained 4 more students this summer so I doubt we will be able to fit everyone next time. That's definitely a good thing, though. :) 

My house transformed (student Justin practicing beforehand).. we moved our furniture to our extra room and brought in folding chairs. Oh and thanks to Sam for accompanying everyone:

With all my students! L-R Trinity, Rachel, Hilarie, me, Sarah, Justin, and Jennifer:

A BIG thank you to Steve and Sarra who helped with preparations for the afternoon AND for watching Ivy for us. It was so awesome to have the extra help for getting everything ready. Thanks again Steve and Sarra!!

Memorial Day Weekend

A few days after we got back from Indiana, Steve and Sarra decided to venture down to TN for the long weekend before Memorial Day. It was SO fun to have them visit and be able to do lots of outdoor activities. When they came in December, it was freezing and raining practically the entire week so we didn't get to do much. This time around, Sam and Steve were able to do some mountain biking and we all joined in to do a good hike or two. It was also fun for Ivy to have the girls around. She was so excited when she woke up each day to find her cousins still there. :)

Friday afternoon, we hiked up a trail in Cumberland Gap park called Sugar Run. I think the boys got more of an exercise than anyone, hehe:

 Visit to Pinnacle Overlook on Sunday:

My favorite pics of Ivy and her daddy:

It was so much fun to have family in town! Thanks for coming to visit, Steve and Sarra! Miss yall already! 

Steve and Sarra had to take of Monday morning but just wanted to include a few pics from later on that Memorial day. We went on a hike with some good friends of ours and let the kids play in the stream for a while afterwards. Ivy was in heaven! by then end, she was stripped down to her diaper (she hates when her clothes are wet) and was having the time of her life:

Visit to South Bend, IN

About a month ago (I know, trying to catch up!), we headed up to South Bend Indiana for Steve's MBA graduation from Notre Dame. It was a short but very fun weekend trip and we are so glad we went! We got there on Friday afternoon, had a nice little bbq at the park that evening, then graduation festivities were on Saturday. Sunday morning Steve took us to walk around campus a bit, then that afternoon we headed home. So glad we were able to see everyone, including Mom and Dad R. who both came out for the festivities!

At the park for our yummy BBQ:

On the right, Sarra with one of two sisters who came to visit for the occasion:

Graduation day! Wtg Steve!

The right picture is where Ivy and I spent most of the convocation. So many people and all the activity was a little overwhelming for her, lol:

Later on, we had a dinner with family and friends in the clubhouse of their complex. Cousin Julie drove up with her family for the party! It was so good to see her, Matt and their 4 kids! It has been too long!
Steve and Sarra's baby Luke:

Ivy with her second cousin Amelia, these two are only a few days apart in age:

Showing off their bellies (Julie is expecting her 5th!):

The next morning Steve gave us a great tour of campus.. It was gorgeous! Very clean and the architecture of all the buildings was amazing. Pic on the right is of the basilica on campus:

Left pic is the basilica again and the administrative building (the dome). The right pic is inside the dome:

Super fun trip! And I guess Steve and Sarra didn't get enough of us because they came down to visit TN the next weekend (Memorial Day weekend), hehe! More posts to come.. (just trying to catch up!) 

Late Spring in Harrogate

We had a fairly long winter this year which led to a late and drawn out spring season full of all sorts of exciting blooms around our house. The lady who used to live here really put a lot of love into every part of our yard because the season was full of continuous surprises. 

It started with lots of tree blooms, daffodils (fairly common around here), and tulips. Didn't get pics of the daffs but I did get one of these two lone dark red tulips in the back. I've never seen tulips this color. they were such a deep rich red:

Then came the azaleas, lilly of the valley, and irises (TN state flower) a week or two later. I wish I got a good pic of the white blooms of the lilly of the valley, they are the green plant on the right in the pic:

My good friend walked around my yard one evening and identified most of our plants before any even bloomed and I was so excited when she told me I had lots of peony plants. I was so anxious for them to bloom and when they finally did, they did not disappoint! This was probably my favorite part of our yard. So gorgeous:

The right pic is from my phone, what the plants looked like after most of them finally bloomed:

 Then came the rose bushes. Just a few in the back and they were beautiful:

And finally just the other day I noticed a couple more amazing surprises.. Some little orchids popped up in the same bush where the peonies were, at least I think they are orchids of some sort. And some orange lilies also bloomed on the side of our house:

I feel so lucky to have such beauty around us without even putting any work into it. We do have a small garden area next to our house that we planted marigold's and a few other flowers. (as well as some zucchini plants). They are just starting to bloom so I will have to do a post on that later..  I am amazed at the type of flowers that people are able to grow here.. There are even a couple hydrangea bushes in our neighborhood that I just love driving past. 

And just because she's cute, had to include a couple pics of Ivy. She would explore the yard with me whenever I went out to take pics. The big tree stump is one of her favorite spots to play: