While the Girls Were Away

 Ryan and I had a ton of fun while the girls were at camp.  We decided not to travel this year since we had just spent a week and a half on vacation, so we were just hanging around the house.  I of course worked several of the days, but we had something different each evening.  Most things we didn't take pictures of.  I had dinner with my parents while Ryan had dinner with our friend, Jamey, one evening; another night he had dinner with our friend Brian while I enjoyed a quiet evening at home.  We went to one of Mark Miller's concerts up in Woodstock with Slade and Kim Casey who we haven't seen in too long.  We had a date to Cru one evening which was so delicious.  On Saturday, we stayed in our pajamas all day and binge watched The Chosen which is such a fantastic show.  We had lunch after church with the Pullens and dinner that evening with the Bishops.  We let the church host VBS in our front and back yards for four days; we love that our home can be used for ministry purposes.  These twelve days were so much fun!

Brian and Katherine Fox treated us to dinner at Nan, an amazing Thai restaurant.  We are so thankful for these two and their friendship.  It was a great evening to relive old memories and think about new ones to come.  What a fun night!

On Monday, after VBS left our house, Ryan and I decided to take a day trip up to Helen, GA.  We've always heard about this little Bavarian town up in North GA, but we've never visited.  It's most famous for how it turns into a German wonderland at Christmastime, but we thought it would be fun to go spend a little time there now.  It was a cute little place to visit!  We got up there about 1:00 and immediately went to the Hofbrahaus to enjoy lunch.  We had a pretzel with beer cheese dip, a chicken schnitzel sandwich with potato salad, and an apple strudel.  They say that their pretzels and strudel are flown in from Germany which is pretty cool.  This was a great meal!

After lunch we just meandered around town.  It was pretty warm but it was a lovely day.  We stopped in and purchased from two candy shops which was fun.  We did a lot of window shopping too.  It's a neat little town.

I can't resist cut out pictures like this!

This was such a fun way to spend the afternoon.  A little adventure, a little bit of yummy food, and a lot of quality time together.  It was great!

When Ryan and I drove back up to Asheville to pick the girls up, we made sure to leave enough time to go by The Chocolate Fetish to get our chocolate fix in (it's soooo good!) and by Malaprops bookstore so I get a couple of "blind date with a book" purchases.  It's always a fun surprise.

We also tried a new to us restaurant called White Duck.  It's a taco joint, and it was delicious.  I'm always up for tacos.  We spent the night at Ridgecrest Conference Center, and then we were so excited to pick the girls up on Friday morning!

We missed these faces!  We went to Tupelo Honey for brunch and then headed home.  As much as we enjoyed our time together, we love having our family together!

Camp Crestridge - 2021

Ryan and I were thrilled the girls were able to return to Camp Crestridge after it was cancelled last summer.  We love everything about this place.  It's set in the beautiful NC mountains, they have awesome counselors to encourage them, they meet interesting people, and they learn some cool skills along the way.  The girls were a little hesitant to go back this year, but we could tell from the letters they wrote us and the pictures we saw each day that they were having an absolute blast.  When we finally picked them up 12 days later, they couldn't stop telling us about all the fun they'd had.  They can't wait for next year!

Mia with her Hawksbill 22 cabinmates.

Lily with her Roan 39 cabinmates.

Here are some pictures that the camp took of the girls in some of their skills.  Mia took riflery, horsemanship, woodworking, sewing, cooking, and rock climbing while Lily took mission skill, riflery, crafts, cooking, grilling, and child & babysitting safety (which gives her a two year certification from the American Safety & Health Institute).

Both girls received their newest honor bands in the Council of Progress.

Here are a few more pictures of the girls around camp.  I don't know the other people or even what they're doing, but they look happy and that's enough for me!

Thank you for another great camp experience Crestridge!  Until next year!

50 Years!

May 29th marked Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary.  How amazing is that?!  I love seeing these pictures from their wedding day.

To celebrate the big day, Wayne rented a big house over on Lake Oconee for his family, our family, and Mom and Dad.  He pulled his boat over too.  The ten of us had a great time hanging out, talking, looking through photo albums, boating, eating, and just enjoying being together.

We enjoyed gorgeous weather all three days.  It was perfect for being out on the water.

Mia enjoyed trying her hand at driving the boat.

Mia, Molly, and Zac had fun climbing up and jumping off the big rock.

We were able to fit Mia, McKayla, Molly, and Zac on the tube behind the boat!

Mia and I took a turn on the tube together and had a blast.  I reminded her that it would be Wayne's mission to throw me off so she needed to hold on tight!  We had a great time bouncing all around and swinging from side to side while holding on for dear life!  We stayed on the entire time until Wayne stopped the boat to pull us in; when he did, the front of the tube dipped into the water which very quickly flipped us over.  I guess he won!

We enjoyed several gorgeous sunset cruises.

We are very thankful for this family.  Wayne had the perfect idea to get us all together for a few days; what better gift could there be?  Mom and Dad have set such a great example for us in what a marriage can look like.  They have a put forward a wonderful legacy, and we look forward to making more memories with them.