Visist with family and friends

We took a trip to Atlanta a few weeks ago, like we do every 3-4 weeks ;), but this time we got to see two of Adam's Army buddies that are down at Ft Rucker, Alabama.  It was a holiday weekend so the guys came up to Atlanta for a visit.  One of them brought their 5 year old son, so we took the kiddos to the Georgia Aquarium.  I had never been before (even though I use to live about 10 miles from there?!?) so I thought that was a great idea!  Except for the fact that it was a rainy holiday weekend and everyone else in Atlanta thought it would be a great idea to go to the Aquarium as well!  You could hardly even move without bumping into someone, but we all had a good time anyway.  The only pictures we have are some from my mom's phone which are not the best so I did not bother to put them on here.

 Adam and his friend Dave.

We also got together with our friends, the Muschara's, that weekend and the kiddos played outside in the "jumpy house" they got for Christmas.

Colt, Marley and Cohen:

Then we celebrated my Aunt's birthday at my parent's house.  Cohen always has such a great time with our family (and we do too!).

Charlotte Bridge Home--Southern Spring Show Gala

Most of you who know us have heard us talk about "Charlotte Bridge Home" (http://www.charlottebridgehome.org/).  This is a non-profit organization Adam and I were introduced to a little over a year ago.  We visited Charlotte multiple times when we were still living in Clarksville before Adam retired from the Army, learned more and more about Charlotte Bridge Home and then became "recipients" of their organization.  They help veterans and their families successfully transition from the military into the civilian world (which can be much harder than you would think, especially with a wounded solider/marine/airman, etc.) and help provide resources to connect them to the local community.  The organization was started by just a few people, very wonderful people who are near and dear to our hearts now and are like family to us!  These people realized that there was a need to help veterans and now the organization has taken off and has many people who volunteer their time and services to help run the organization.  When it started it was a local venture but now has "national" attention and is being "studied" by the department of defense in hopes of using the program in cities across the country.  Anyway, it is a wonderful organization and one of the main reasons Adam and I chose to move to Charlotte.

Every year in Charlotte there is a "Southern Spring Home and Garden Show" that runs for about 5 days where thousands of people come to look at all the great new ideas for their home and garden for the upcoming year.  On opening night there is a Gala to raise money for a non-profit organization and this year Charlotte Bridge Home was the beneficiary organization.  I have no idea how much money was raised but the turn out was amazing, around 600-700 people attended the Gala!  We had a great time and were able to meet some wonderful people in the military community as well as local community here in Charlotte that want to help with the organization.  My parents came up for the week to visit us and to attend the event and we all had a great time.  We only took a couple of pictures before we left for the evening and were so busy at the event we did not take any pictures.  Adam barely even made it past the front door and spent most of his evening meeting different people in the community.