Monday, November 18, 2024

Lovely November

November seemed to go by quickly. Here's some of the things that were keeping us busy.

Brylliant's fall production was The Addams Family. Mia played one of the ancestors. This wasn't her favorite role, but we still enjoyed getting to watch her perform.




Mia and Ancestor Gabby Fogas.
Lily and I had fun shopping and then packing Samaritan Purse shoeboxes.
I can't help it; I think Decker is so cute.
Mia's class photo and individual photo. Ken Rada Photo did a great job!

Mia had a fantastic opportunity to go with many other upper school students to serve in Jackson, MS, with the group We Will Go. A lot of their time was spent at a food bank where they sorted literal tons of canned goods and fresh foods. Mia became an expert lime sorter on this trip. They also talked with and prayed with those who came into the food bank, and they spent time tutoring some younger students. This was a great time of service for these kids.

They did visit a Bass Pro Shop one evening, and who should they meet but Santa!
Speaking of service, Lily served our family really well one evening. Decker came in at one point, and he smelled absolutely terrible. It didn't take too long before we realized he had been eating poop! It was all over his mouth, face, and neck. He was disgusting. This has never happened before! Lily volunteered to wash him in the shower and brush his teeth. I tried to help by feeding him little treats to keep him still, but she did the hard work by far. Ryan and I were incredibly appreciative of her volunteering to do this.
We were all excited to go see Wicked in the theater. It was a great movie!
Lily and me on a Trader Joe's run one evening. We've both come to really like this place.
Again, he's just so stinking cute.
LILY GOT ACCEPTED INTO SAMFORD!!!
We all felt confident she would be admitted, but it felt really great to get that actual acceptance email. She had already been accepted to Berry and Mercer, and UGA and Clemson would accept her a couple of weeks later, but she's known for awhile that Samford is the right school for her. This is going to be such a great fit for her; she's going to thrive here next year. We're so excited for her!
We made a little congratulatory basket for Lily. She was actually in Charleston with some camp friends when she found out about her acceptance. We were excited to give this to her upon her return. It had lots of fun little Samford items in it like a hat (plus a Taco Mama hat), pajama pants, fuzzy socks, etc. Mia made her a cute Samford pillow too.
We had a lovely time at Sid and Elaine's house on Thanksgiving Day. I'm thankful for my extended family and was happy to see everyone.
Lily and I continued our after-Thanksgiving tradition of going to see her friend, Katie Brooks, in her annual production of The Nutcracker in Sandy Springs. She was the candy cane queen this year, and she did an excellent job. I'll miss going with Lily to watch her perform next year!

Mia's 16th Birthday!

Happy 16th Birthday to Mia! It's hard to believe this precious girl is 16!

Mia's birthday fell the Monday after her Addams Family performances, so we had a lowkey evening. She was happy with her oreo ice cream cake though; those are always good! 
Ryan took her the following Saturday to the DMV where she scored a 100 on her driving test. Way to go!
Earlier this summer, Ryan and I were talking about how we wanted to take the girls to New York City at Christmastime. We then began to think about the fact that Mia loves all things related to musical theater. It just so happens that two of her favorite actors, Jeremy Jordan and Eva Noblezada, are the current leads in The Great Gatsby on Broadway. It came together perfectly. We were able to get front row seats for the show in early December! We surprised Mia by giving her a copy of The Great Gatsby book which seemed a little odd for a birthday present, and she was a little confused by. We told her to flip to page 16, and that's where she found a souvenir ticket giving the details. This was a fantastic gift!
I always like to ask for favorites around a birthday, so here's Mia's:
Color - Red
Movie - The Fall Guy
TV Show - Only Murders in the Building
Books - Ember in the Ashes (both the standalone book and the series)
Drink - Coke
Food - Dad's Wagyu NY Strip Steak
Friend - Lily
Bible Verse - Psalm 71
School Subject - Chemistry
Activity - Listen to music or sleep
Place to Go - Home
Game to Play - 20 Second Showdown
Restaurant - Willy's
Animal - Tiger
Memory from the last year - Our day at Disneyland Paris
Most Thankful For - Lily
Goal for the year - No specific one

The four of us had a good time celebrating Mia a few days later with a couple of rounds at Puttshack. That place is so cool!
I had a lot of fun gathering these pictures to post on social media of Mia over the years. There are quite a few good memories with these pictures!













We are so thankful for Mia. She is tenderhearted, incredibly bright, and a lot of fun. She works hard, whether that's at school or for one of her roles in a production. Sixteen years with her have gone by in a flash. We are so proud of the young woman she's becoming, and we can't wait to see what the upcoming years hold for her.