October Fun

A few other miscellaneous October happenings that I actually have pictures of...

Our family went to see the Milk Carton Kids concert at Variety Playhouse at the beginning of the month.  This concert was much more the girls' speed than the Grace Vanderwaal concert earlier this year.  We could sit down, relax, and enjoy music that wasn't overly loud.  It was a great concert!

 I had the pleasure of chaperoning Mia's recent class field trip to the Atlanta History Center.  It was a fascinating day learning more about the Civil War and Atlanta's history.  I always love time with the girls' classes; it's such a fun way to see them interact with their (awesomely amazing) teachers and their classmates.

 On the same day I went with Mia's class, Lily's class had a field trip to the Holy Spirit Monastery.  It was a beautiful day, and they enjoyed learning more about the monastic life and history of this monastery which is only about an hour away from us.  I wish I could have been in two places at once so I could enjoy this with them!

The middle school Pathfinders went hiking at Amicalola Falls one day; Lily had a great time.

 Sweet Mia got braces!

 The girls helped Brandy and Aberle with their "trunk or treat" at their church.  Mia was excited to wear her Ironman costume while Lily went more casual with jeans and her skeleton shirt.  How cute is Aberle as a hot dog?!

 A peasant and fair maident ready for school on Reformation Day.  Mia's great friend, Sophie, had a beautiful dress too!

 Lily with a few of her friends at school.

 Lily went home with Avery after school to spend the night, and they had fun dressing up as Hogwart's Prefects while trick or treating around Avery's neighborhood.  Mia had a great time trick or treating as Ironman around our neighborhood with lots of friends.

 Lily loved her first D-Now weekend at JFBC!  Here she is with her small group as they got ready to perform their "fruits of the spirit" skit where they told fruit jokes and puns.

 I don't have pictures of playdates with friends, Ryan's time in FL with David, Hollis, and Debbie, or the time I had to spend working to get to the October 15th deadline!  It was a beautiful, fun month!

Happy 12th Birthday to Lily!

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but Lily just turned 12 years old.  That's right.  12. Years. Old.  Where in the world has time gone?  

We love this girl to pieces, so we were quite excited to celebrate her!  Her birthday was over Fall Break, so she enjoyed having the day off from school.  I took the day off from work, so we could have a great family day together.  We were really glad that Grandpops had flown in from Chicago the night before.  On Thursday, we had a small lunch and then went over to Parkway Point.  Grandpops surprised the girls and got them arcade tickets for Main Event, so they had lots of fun playing there for a little while.  After that, we headed upstairs to see the movie Small Foot which was pretty cute.  We enjoyed hanging out together that afternoon, and then finally we met up with Granna and Papa at Golden Corral for dinner.  Lily loves "GC" as she calls it.  We had a fun time.  Afterwards everyone came back to the house to open presents and take a few pictures.

 Lily was very excited about all of the presents she received, but she couldn't believe it when she opened this gift from Ryan and me.  It's a Hogwarts castle with over 6,000 Lego pieces!  She immediately dumped all 39 bags out on the floor and start working to put it together.

 On Friday, we had breakfast together at J. Christopher's, and then Ryan and David headed out towards Gainesville.  They drove down to go to the UF/LSU game with Hollis and Debbie.  They had a great time!  The girls and I stayed home, and Lily made herself a birthday cake.  It didn't turn out exactly as she'd hoped, but it was still delicious and had a pretty icing on it.  Finally, around 3:30, her best friend Emory arrived after a day at her new school.  It didn't take long before we were singing Happy Birthday and digging in to the cake!

 About an hour later, the girls got ready, and we headed on out.  We went to Figo for dinner which is always tasty, and then we drove on down to Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center.  They were playing the second Harry Potter movie with the ASO again which is just such a cool experience.  This was the perfect way to celebrate Lily's birthday!

We had great seats and enjoyed watching the movie.  We snuck out when the credits started because it was already after 11:00; we were tired!  We made it back home, and Lily loved having Emory spend the night at our house.  They stayed up for a bit later, but then drifted off to sleep.  On Saturday morning, the four of us girls went over to Studio Movie Grill to have brunch and watch The House with a Clock in Its Walls.  A little creepy in parts, but overall entertaining.  Unfortunately we had to take Emory home after that, but this was a wonderful way to celebrate our girl!

I always like to ask the girls for some favorites on their birthday.  Here are Lily's current favs:

Color - Purple

Movie - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

TV Show - Kids Baking Championship

Book - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Drink - Dr. Pepper

Memory from prior year - Our surprise trip to Universal Studios in Orlando

Best Friend - Emory McKeeby

Bible Verse - 1 Peter 3:3-4

School Subject - Latin

Food - Dad's mac and cheese

Activity - Playing with friends

Place to Go - Anywhere with Emory

Game to Play - Scattegories

Restaurant - Figo

Animal - Otter

Most Thankful For - Friends and Family

Goal this year - Learn how to do a split

We are so in love with Lily, and we are so proud to call her our daughter.  She has many great qualities.  She's incredibly witty, responsible, insightful, intuitive, loyal, honest, trustworthy, motivated, creative, and beautiful (inside and out).  She's fun to hang out with.  She's a good cook and baker.  She's going to be a great wife and mom someday.  I can't wait to see the path she walks as she continues to grow and mature; I know it will unfold quickly before us.  Lily Hooks, you are adored and loved more than you know.  Happy birthday!

Mountain Getaway

Happy Fall Break!  This is always a nice little week's break from school.  We headed up to Mineral Bluff in the North GA mountains for a few days.  It was perfect and beautiful weather!  We were all happy for an easy drive up, but I think Mia was pretty excited to have Decker ride with her like this most of the way.

 Such a beautiful view!

 Two of my favorite views...a good book in one and my girls in the other.  Love them both!

 This cabin is great for our family.  The girls love that they each get their own bedroom, and each bedroom has a tv in it; I can see why that's a fun vacation treat.  We all enjoy the hot tub that sits outside to enjoy the beautiful mountain views.  We also have fun with the two arcade games and the pool table in the entertainment room.  This is a very comfortable and enjoyable home!

 Our friend recommended the game Superfight to us, and we had a blast with it.  It's arguing which ridiculous situation would win in a fight.  For example, would the Queen who is incredibly sticky and has t-rex arms beat a Boy Scout with an invisible jet who can clone himself?  Hilarity ensued, and we had a million laughs together.  It was fantastic!

 One morning we went up to hike Fall Branch Falls.  They had closed the regular hiking trail, so we ended up on a side trail that was more difficult, but we made it.

 Taking a break with Mia for a few minutes.

 We made it up to the beautiful falls; there was no one else around, so we enjoyed the quiet and the lovely views.

 I think we all enjoyed relaxing here.

 It was fun to explore and watch Decker figure out the water too.

 We were only able to stay a few days up here, but it felt like it was a million miles away.  It was the perfect little getaway for us.  We can't wait for next time!