All sorts of October happenings

So much has been going on this month, in addition to Lily's birthday and our trip to Denver.  Here are some highlights.

I love that Lily's teacher, Ms. Keesee often takes pictures during the day and sends them to parents or posts them on social media.  She sent these two to me recently.  On the left is Lily as they were learning how Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel.  On the right is a group playing Lily's board game that she invented for her Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler report.  Lily is loving 4th grade!

 This picture was posted on the first day back to school from Fall Break.  Lily and Avery were thrilled to be back together again!  4th Grade is in charge of a garden at school, and they were helping one another carry a watering bucket out.

  The girls and I made unicorn bark for fun one afternoon.  It was pretty tasty and fun to make!

 Playing Harry Potter Clue.  Fun times!

 Decker turned 1 year old while we were in Denver, so Liz helped the girls throw him a little birthday party.  I think they all had a good time.

 We were glad to have tickets to the final Braves game at Turner Field on 10/2.  We've had lots of great memories here every since the Olympics game in 1996.  We're looking forward to the move to Suntrust Park though; it's only a few miles away from us.

 We went to Birmingham one weekend.  We were excited to visit with Ryan's family, and we took some family pictures together.  I can't wait to see the results of those soon!  We loved hanging out with everyone, and meeting our newest niece, Merritt.  On Saturday evening, we went to the BJCC Concert Hall to see The Impractical Jokers tour.  These four guys absolutely crack us up.  We watch their show every week, and we couldn't wait to see them live.  They didn't disappoint.  It was a hilarious and fun show!

 Before dinner, we were so thrilled to have dinner with Tay Drescher.  Ryan and Tay have been friends since he moved to Birmingham in 2nd grade.  She was my college roommate for 3 years and was the maid of honor in our wedding.  We love her dearly and loved catching up in person; it had been too long!

 We picked the girls up from school one afternoon and had Decker with us.  We though it would be fun to stop by the local church pumpkin patch.  We couldn't resist this picture!

 We always love it when David and Jan come for a visit!  We enjoyed having dinner together at C&S on Friday night, and then we had a beautiful Saturday together.  It was a gorgeous day, so we enjoyed time at the Smyrna Jonquil Festival.  After that, we hung out at home playing cornhole, building Legos and watching football.  We wrapped up the day with Ryan's grilled hamburgers.  What a great weekend.

All sorts of fun going on!

Trip to Denver

Oh my goodness, we just had the most fun trip.  Several months ago (like back in May), we had the idea to go with Jeff and Elizabeth Smith to an away Falcons game this season.  When Denver came up on the schedule, we quickly settled on it.  What a great idea!

We flew in on Thursday evening and headed straight to The Brown Palace Hotel which is an awesome historic hotel in downtown.  It really was a lovely place to stay.

 Looking down on the lobby.  We enjoyed listening to the band that played here a couple of nights and enjoyed some late night drinks after fun days.

 On Friday morning, we drove about 45 minutes over to Boulder.  Such a beautiful place to explore!  We drove through some of the mountains and took in the amazing views.  We went to the National Center for Atmospheric Research where we saw great views of the Flatirons.

 We strolled around the Pearl Street Mall which was lovely.  So many great stores to explore and we had a delicious lunch at Eureka (and then dessert at a fabulous chocolate shop).  We couldn't have asked for a better day for exploring.

 We turned in a little early as we were all trying to adjust to the altitude difference!  

On Saturday, we drove about 1.5 hours to Colorado Springs.  It was another beautiful day to enjoy.  We decided to take a Jeep tour around the Garden of the Gods.  It was so much fun!

 We had great views of Pike's Peak and Cheyenne Mountain

 The Garden was gorgeous, and had so many cool structures.  God makes awesome art!

 The tour also went through Manitou Springs which was a really cool little town.  They have 7 natural springs that you can simply walk up to for a water break.  The one we tried tasted a little like seltzer water, and honestly, we weren't big fans.  Fun to try though!

 We had lunch at the incredible Broadmoor Hotel's Italian restaurant.  Oh my goodness, we all loved this and wished we could have eaten every single meal there.  Amazing.

 This was a gorgeous hotel filled with old-world charm.

 Before heading back to Denver, we stopped at the Air Force Academy.  It was a beautiful campus, and we stopped by their famous chapel.  Unfortunately for us, they had weddings scheduled all day, so we couldn't tour the Christian part of the chapel; we did see the Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist chapels though which were lovely too.

 Sunday came and our reason for the trip arrived!  We Ubered over to Mile High Field and took some time walking around to explore.  It was a pretty cool stadium.

 Wayne had decided the week before the game to bring Zac out for his birthday.  Our cousins, Jeff and Parker, joined in from Atlanta and met up with our cousin, Kyle's, family who lives in Denver.  Kyle and Atticus joined them for the game.  We all met up to tailgate for just a bit beforehand.  We were here and hoping the Falcons would rise up!

 We had great seats, and all the people around us were so nice.  We had a fantastic time watching the Falcons win 23-16!  It was so much fun!

It took awhile, but we finally made it back to the hotel.  Ryan and I then went over to Kyle's house in Centennial, CO to visit with his family, Mandy, Atticus, Finn and Ella, not to mention Wayne, Zac, Jeff and Parker.  Mandy cooked a big pot of chili for us to enjoy.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves; what a great way to end the trip!

This was a great trip.  Clearly the Falcons need us to do this more often as they've lost the two games since this one.  We're already talking about next season's trip!

10 Years Old!!!

Lily is 10 years old!!!  How in the world is that possible?  She couldn't wait to celebrate with her two best friends, Avery and Emory, and she was gracious to let Mia tag along.  The girls came home after school with us on the Friday to kick off Fall Break.  After changing clothes and eating a little snack, they gathered around the table to decorate cookie cake slices.

 They loved all the different colors of icing and candies to top them with.

 They had a good time with this activity!

 We went to The Wing Factory for dinner.  Lily loves to go and play the claw machine, and as she said "This is one of Avery's favorite restaurants, and Emory's never been so it will be great!"  They each played several rounds with the claw game, and everyone won at least once.  Mia won 5 or 6 times, so she shared her loot with others.

 After dinner, we popped some popcorn and divided up the cookie cake.

 The girls loved relaxing with their desserts in the comfy chairs and watching a Cutthroat Kitchen marathon.  Each girl picked an episode to watch; they all loved it.

 Finally, it was time to head to bed.  They all piled into Lily's room and stayed up chatting for awhile.  They all drifted off to sleep around 11:30 or so.  This was such a fun afternoon and evening, and it was exactly what Lily wanted.  She loves being with her best friends, taking it easy and hanging out.  What a great way to celebrate!

Lily had her 10 year old check-up last week.  She's doing great and is a healthy, growing girl.  She's moved up to the 30% for height at 4 feet, 5 inches.  She's at 37% for weight at 68.5 pounds.  Her blood pressure, eye sight and hearing all good.  We're very thankful she's doing well.

I always like to ask the same questions each year to see how they are changing.  Here are some of her favorites now:

1.  Favorite Color - Lavender

2.  Favorite Movie - Harry Potter 2 (Chamber of Secrets)

3.  Favorite TV Show - Cutthroat Kitchen

4.  Favorite Book or Series - Emily Windsnap

5.  Favorite Drink - Dr. Pepper

6.  Best Memory from the Last Year - Going to Camp Crestridge

7.  Wants to Be When She Grows Up - Chef instructor for kids

8.  Best Friend - Avery Hobson

9.  Favorite Bible Verse - 1 Timothy 4:12

10.  Favorite School Subject - Art and Latin

11. Favorite Food - Macaroni and Cheese

12.  Favorite Activity - Read or Build Legos

13.  Favorite Place to Go - Lego Store or Michael's

14.  Favorite Game to Play - Clue (Harry Potter version)

15.  Favorite Restaurant - Figo Pasta

16.  Favorite Animal - Toucan

17.  Most Thankful For - Her Family

18.  Goal for the Year - Make as many friends as possible

We are so incredibly thankful for Lily, and the young woman she is becoming.  I love talking with her and seeing how she is growing mentally, spiritually and emotionally.  She's an amazing girl, and I am so proud of her.  I'm so glad she's my daughter.  I can't wait to see what this year holds for her.

A Few Other Items

The girls are still cooking like crazy which is pretty fun.  They make some pretty tasty items!

 Mia is super pumped about her new ninja costume!

 Lily went to her new friend, Isaiah Grace's, birthday party last weekend.  They spent the night downtown, went swimming, did makeovers and nailpainting, went out to dinner and watched a movie.  Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it!

 Both girls really enjoyed reading and watching the first Harry Potter.  They were excited to see all the fun things Barnes and Noble has relating to this franchise, especially the Sorting Hat!

 I was so excited to go on Mia's class field trip to the Monastery this week!  I love getting to be a part of Stonehaven activities like this, and she loved having me along.  It was a beautiful day, and this is such an interesting and fun place to explore.  Of course, bringing home monk-made fudge made it even better!

Love these sweet kids (and Sophie who missed the picture)! 

Gulf Shores Birthday Trip

Oh how I love going to Beach Club in Gulf Shores!  I have so many great memories from here.  I was thrilled when Dad said the condo was available over Labor Day weekend, and we could go down.  What a great way to celebrate Ryan's birthday!  Even better, the Henderson family came down to join us for the weekend.  We made this trip together for 4 years before our different school schedules got in the way.  It was so good to be back down here together!

Our family skipped school on Friday and headed on down that morning.  It was an easy trip, and we stopped for groceries on the way in and had an early dinner out.  When we got to the condo, we decided to head down in our clothes and just play on the beach for a little bit.  We saw the most beautiful sunset that evening!

 The girls were ready for some fun.

 I sure do love these two amazing girls.

 Nobody I'd rather be with and no place I'd rather be.

The Henderson's got in pretty late Friday night.  On Saturday, we all went down for awhile before all the great college football started.  I promised the kids I wouldn't bug them taking pictures all weekend, but I had to get one purely for this comparison.  This was from our second year down together, in 2010.  Lily would have just turned 4, Parker was 3.5, and Mia and Macey would have been just shy of turning 2.  Love, love, love these kiddos.

We headed in early afternoon on Saturday for a late lunch, and I'm glad we did.  The weather turned ugly a little bit later and stayed like that through Sunday evening.  We didn't really mind though.  We had fun hanging out together, watching football and going to see "Pete's Dragon" at the movie theater.  

On Sunday, Ryan had a surprise for me.  He had calculated how many days he lived before he met me (6,938), and then he figured out when it would be Day 6,939 (this day) meaning he had known me more days than he hadn't.  He gave me a beautiful new watch with this engraving to mark the occasion.  How incredibly thoughtful is that?  I love this man.  He is the most thoughtful person I've ever met.

We left a little before lunch on Monday because we had heard the roads were starting to flood, and we knew we needed to get home.  The trip took about 7.5 hours (2 hours longer than usual), but we made it back safe and sound.  Probably not the most exciting way to spend an actual birthday for Ryan, but the weekend itself was fun!