This weekend is one that I look forward to every year.  It was also our 10th time taking a trip like this, which not only made us feel old, but it made us grateful for the time we’ve had to spend together with such intentionality.  Most of us first met our freshman year in college in the basement of the freshman girl’s dorm at Clemson for a bible study.  That was over 17 years ago now.  And here we are, 9 girls, 8 husbands and 17 children later (with two on the way!) and we relish this weekend each year!

And I think what Natalie said as we were all on our way back home was that the most relaxing part of this weekend each year is that it is so comfortable… we’ve known each other for so long and are so familiar with each of us that it’s truly a time that we can get away, relax, be vulnerable, be goofy, be ourselves, and know that we won’t be judged (although we may be laughed at!).

This year was a little different though because 3 of the girls just had babies in the last month, so they kept those little ones at home.  We took Catherine with us, which was so much fun and a little crazy at the same time!  But since she was the only baby, she loved getting all the attention… as well as having new real estate to explore!  We also arrived a day later than everyone else because we spent the end of last week in Asheville on a leadership retreat with our church.  But we didn’t want to miss either opportunity so we loaded up the car and headed to the mountains before heading to the beach for the rest of the weekend.

As I mentioned, two of our group are expecting little ones this spring so we did some maternity photos before the sun went down Saturday night…

This is Wes and Allison.  She is a super talented woman who owns ThreeThreadsSC (and you should definitely check her out!).

Ah!  This one’s such a favorite!

They’re having their third little boy this spring… and he’s going to be just as cute and adorable as their other two!

Allison, you were glowing this weekend… so beautiful!

This is Kristen and Jason.  Somehow, she managed to find a Gamecock fan to bring into the group.  But we like him so we decided when they got married that he could stay :-)

The three in our group who just had babies all had girls… but Allison and Kristen are both having boys!  Kristen and Jason’s first is a little boy and he is SO adorable!  I can’t wait to meet this little man in the spring :-)

First, I love that shirt, K.  Second, I love how sweet you guys can be!

Um.  Wow.  Hot mama!

The sky was just beautiful as we wrapped up our little mini sessions!

Her current obsession is the remote.  As well as cleaning of any table she is currently cruising around.

Sunday morning we had brunch with this view of the golf course and the ocean.  So of course we took some photos while we were there.

We used the self timer for a few, but then a kind lady came up and offered to take some for us!  It’s a smaller group from last year, but it’s still my favorite photo from the weekend (we missed Jason though… he had gone to lead worship at a church in Hilton Head that morning!).

And then the kind lady told us to do something crazy.  So we held our baby upside down. Ha!

Girls, please don’t hate me for posting this one… but I was cracking up when editing because I look like I’m taking a breath to try and tell everyone what to do.  And Jill looks fed up with all of us!

Last year we all wore Clemson hoodies for our photo and decided that we wanted Allison to make our shirts for this year… so we all got different colors and (since we’re in South Carolina) had her monogram them.  Under the tiger paw it says Clemsongang :-)

There’s always one in the bunch…

We’ve been at the same beach house for 4 years now and I keep falling in love with this view from our deck!

Sheesh, even my daughter thinks we’re all crazy…

I didn’t take nearly as many photos this year, but they’re still ones that I treasure.  And this one of the sunrise made it completely worth being up so early our last morning there!