the world's cutest baby bump

i guess you could say that hallie was my first real friend.  when i was five, we moved next door to her family in starkville, mississippi, and it was there that our families' lives became intertwined (along with that of our precious across-the-street neighbors).  and despite the fact that we moved away from starkville just a few years later, we've all remained friends across state lines ever since.

but back to hallie.  several months ago, she announced that she and her husband, jeremy, were expecting their first little one.  our portion of the old gang wasn't able to make it to starkville for her baby shower a few weeks back, so we all got our calendars out and planned a day to visit them in their now-home in huntsville (insert josh's favorite fact: jeremy is a bona fide rocket scientist with NASA.  jeremy, that makes you just about as cool as jack bauer).

we weren't there for long, but in true "old gang" form, we ate delicious food:

(izzy particularly enjoyed the cake that my mom had made.)

we took advantage of the gorgeous day by spending time playing outside:

(something tells me that my dad should have worked with izzy a little longer before he ended her frisbee lesson...)

as always, we reminisced about all of the fun times we've shared together:

we enjoyed the gifts the lord has already given us:

while we joyfully celebrated the beautiful life to come:

and last but certainly not least, i might have taken a few pictures in there as well.  this one was supposed to be of hallie and jeremy, but the little guys sat down before he could get there (at which point jeremy lovingly reminded them of this truth: "that's my baby, boys").  hee-hee!

our day with the growing family just couldn't have been any sweeter.  it's going to be such a joy to watch this amazing couple as they welcome their daughter, alice, into their lives.

the little ones pooped out on us shortly after we started driving so we had a pretty quiet ride back to birmingham with a beautiful sunset to welcome us home.

oh, and one more thing.  remember this picture from "wordless wednesday"?

yes, emma adores her daddy, but what could have possibly made her so particularly thrilled to see him in this photo?  click here to find out.  ;-)