Cheerio! It's a Royal Affair

Yes, I got up at 3 a.m. to watch the Royal Wedding (well, actually I couldn't sleep, so I just stayed up and moved out to the couch about 1 a.m.) I have been so excited, it is pathetic. I've been following it on the Today Show for months and am a bit embarrassed to admit I even downloaded the Royal Wedding App on my phone!

I have never had much interest in the British monarchy...it has always seems complicated and a bit stuffy to me, but along with the rest of the world I guess, something about William & Kate's romance has captured me. Other than the Olympics, I cannot really think of another event that unites the entire world for a positive occasion.

Felicity was all in for the historic event too. Decked out in her pj's and hat, we spent the morning snuggling on the couch soaking in all excitement. Our favorite parts of the grand affair were Kate's beautiful gown, the second kiss on the balcony and their exit in the Aston Martin.

Now, I've got to go order some Royal Wedding tchotchkes and memorabilia to remember the historical event...and go buy a fabulous fascinator. I am LOVING the head wear!

Cheers to William and Catherine!

Easter - #2 already!

Sometimes it's hard to believe that this was Felicity last Easter...

What a difference a year makes...

Justin and I traveled to Longview after our anniversary trip to Fredericksburg to pick up Felicity and spend Easter with my family. Other than the party we had for Harry when he returned from Afghanistan, this was the only time my entire immediate family has been together since... ever! So this picture below of ALL of us is very special to me {and a bit shocking that everyone is actually smiling and looking decent :)}.

It looks like someone has had enough of the picture taking. I think I should let her know early on, that since she is part Gillam, this will be an inevitable occurrence at every family gathering.

"What did the bunny bring me? Among other things, a little mermaid cell phone that I can talk to Ariel on? I am in heaven!"

Another (failed) attempt at a family photo with the Easter basket...
"Not. going. to. happen. mom."

Now the fun begins - Felicity's first egg hunt! She spots her first egg...

"Ok...now what? This isn't as fun as you guys made it sound."

The little gatherer is starting to get the hang of it.

The faithful onlookers...a lively bunch

On a mission...

One proud little lady...(and a proud Poppy too).

{Are they supposed to still have this many rolls when they are 13 months? Oh well, we love every one of them. :)}

And still trying to seize one last photo. I couldn't resist capturing the insanity of my family's attempts at making Fe smile. I love it.

1,460 days

That is how long we have been married (on April 21)! We celebrated our 4 year anniversary by taking our first trip without Felicity and headed to Fredericksburg. I really slacked off on taking pictures while we were there. In fact, this one below is the only one I have of the two of us together when we hiked up to the top of Enchanted Rock.

After climbing down we thought we'd do the couple mile trek around the park. We hadn't gotten very far when we saw this:

People, do you see what's going on here? Let's take a closer look, shall we?

A SNAKE - ATTACKING AND EATING A LIVE FROG. We stumbled upon this when we noticed these guys peering over this water and then we saw what they were gawking at. Then these fools   proceeded to pick up the snake, like they were Bear Grylls or something. Not cool. We continued along the trail until we got to a really shallow body of water that we were going to have to cross and I spotted another snake in there...needless to say, I was out of there. Show me the shopping and wineries, please!

I didn't really take any other pictures of our adventures, but it was such a sweet and much needed break. I told Justin what I was looking forward to most was eating a meal, staying seated throughout the whole thing and not having to cut up tons of food into tiny little bites. It's funny how your perspective changes and what you find relaxing once you have kids. Thank you sweetheart for a wonderful vacation and lots of warm memories!

1 year portraits

Here are some of the best of Felicity's 1 year photos...

Welcome home, Harry!

I'm not even sure I've mentioned on here that one of my brothers, Harrison (aka Harry) is an officer in the Marines and was deployed to Afghanistan last July. I am so proud of him for how he serves our country. He is truly one of the most patriotic people I know...and those seem to be getting harder and harder to find these days. Anyway, after serving nearly10 months over there, he returned safe and sound. We greeted him at the airport where he met Felicity - for the very first time. He is regularly stationed in Japan, so he missed her birth and I was so happy that he finally got to meet his only niece!

"Hi, Uncle Harry!"

 Harry and Mom

Our entire extended family came over to our house for a welcome home celebration/dinner.

Harry loves eggnog more than anyone I know and he wasn't able to have any this past Christmas over in Afghanistan...so, as welcome home present, I (shockingly) was able to find a bottle hidden away on the shelves of Wal-mart in February (high quality, I'm sure). Anyway, here's a pic of me and Fe with my brothers + the nog. I felt bottle he's holding up in the picture deserved an explanation.

The whole Gillam clan

On the floor are our cousins, Brad and Aaron and on the couch - Justin, Felicity, me, Ryan, Harry and his girlfriend, Sandra

Date night

Justin and I helped serve in Merge, our church's premarried ministry earlier this year and had the sweetest group of couples at our table. It is so encouraging to see couples who are truly starting off their marriage on the right foot, grounding themselves in the Lord. We had them all over to our house for dinner and games a few weeks ago and it was such fun. After Merge was over, as a thank you, the girls came over to babysit Felicity, so Justin and I could have a fun night out. They even got us gift cards to La Duni and the movies! I asked them to snap a quick pic of our little family of three before we headed out. Thank you so much Gerardo, Ivonne, Sarah, Robert, Brittney and Jeff!