The Bestie is Having a Baby

 And at her gender reveal party...we found out...it is going to be 

 a bouncy, bubbly 

 Baby Girl

Lily James Hilliard will debut just around Christmas time.  

29

 So my birthday came and went.  I felt a little sub par this year, but as always we celebrated for a long time.  For some reason instead of a birthday cake I wanted a coconut cream pie.  I just hadn't had one in a long time and thought how great it would be.  It was delicious.

 After the family celebrated of course, I had to celebrate at school and so mom tried her hand at gumpaste and made a magnolia.  It wasn't her cakes that were masterpieces of the past, but it was pretty and everyone at work enjoyed it.  Next year, it better be a bit more ornate.

From Mississippi With Love

I traveled all the way to Minnesota to see these two crazy kids get married. 

 We had a bit of a Principal Corps Reunion and it was good to see everyone again.

And not 12 hours after this picture was taken I made the 14 hour trip home.

Boston

Right when I finished school in June and started my new job, I was ready for a vacation.  Cullen and I have talked for years about going to Boston.  So we booked a vacation for the Fourth of July and went.

 When we first got there we walked around, shopped around, and took in the sights.  

 Apparently Dunkin Donuts is what Boston runs on and we had it a lot.

 Of course we went to the original Cheers to see what it was like and wound up eating one day at the replica Cheers.

 On the Fourth we went to the Esplanade and saw the Half Dome where the Boston Pops played later that night.  We wound up getting a blanket and hanging out all day with about 10,000 other people to hear the show later that night where Jennifer Hudson headlined and to see the fireworks.

 The next day we spent walking the Freedom Trail.  From the first public school site to the Old North Church we enjoyed the hospitality of everyone and really loved Boston.

 The next day we went to Cambridge and saw Harvard and then for Cullen's favorite part of the trip we went to Fenway and watched the Red Sox and Yankees play.

 The Green Monster...I realize I have on Yankee Blue...that's because I really am a Yankee fan.

Cullen was super excited to be in Fenway...he acted like a ten year old.  For Cullen's birthday back in February, I decided I would give him tickets to this game.  Well, I got nervous about buying them too far out and he was skeptical I would follow through, but I did, and we went, I would go back tomorrow.

Mea's 20

The little girl I babysat from the time she was six has had another birthday. I'm sure this means something about my age but lets focus on her! Her parties once were Sunday afternoons scorching by the pool while a bazillion kids screamed, laughed, and splashed. Now, they are a filled with family, memories, and life plans for these grown up kids! I miss the splashing, but I love the laughs even more now than then.

It is Finished

This group of people is all smiles, because we finished our year long program.

The summer started with smiles and we struggled through class, but thank the Lord we finished.

And all of us with walked off the Ole Miss campus with signing bonuses and administrative jobs.  Praise the Lord it is finished.

Amber's Diaper Shower and Dinner

At the end of June, just as I was finishing school and right before we went on vacation Molly planned a shower for our friend Amber.  Amber has a precious little girl Anniston and is due to have a baby boy before summer's end.