Since School Has Started

 Now that school's back in session, we're falling into more of a routine which works well for us. 

Mia auditioned for Shrek Jr. She landed the role of Donkey which is super exciting! She's never been the comedic relief before, so this will be something new for her. Donkey is such a fun character, so I can't wait to see this production in a few months. She's rehearsing a couple times a week plus the occasional Saturday.

Lily tried out and made the Varsity volleyball team at school again this year. Yay Lily! This team is a lot of fun to watch play. They've already had a few games at this point. I love these girls, and am amazed at how much their skills have grown over the years.

One evening after a far away game, the team stopped at Truett's Luau for dinner. I've always wanted to try this, so I'm admittedly a little jealous! Lily said it was really good. Seems like she and Raegan enjoyed the shakes!

Another evening after a late game, the team enjoyed some Waffle House together. I think moments like this are some of the most fun parts of being on a team together.

The school recently had it's first "home" game at Pearson Middle School. It's so cool to have a game actually by the school! Unfortunately, neither Ryan nor I could attend that evening, but we were glad Granna and Papa could! The school made it a Hawaiian themed night, and handed out leis to everyone who came. All concession proceeds for the evening when to support the Maui Strong Fund as they are reeling from recent wildfires. We loved visiting Maui just a couple of months ago; it is heartbreaking to see the town of Lahaina, which we absolutely adored, in this state of destruction. I'm thankful our school found a little way to serve those who are facing such a hard time right now.

Woo-hoo! 11th grade is jumping for joy that the new modulars have arrived at school (Lily is almost dead center here)! This will give some much needed space for our growing school.

Lily and I had a very fun time going to see the Barbie movie recently. It was really cute!

Lily enjoyed it so much, she happily went back a second time a few days later with Mia.

Our friend, Bryan Ayres, had a few friends together at Jim & Nick's then Top Golf to celebrate his birthday recently. I have never played golf before, so I was pretty nervous beforehand. Ryan gave me a few tips though, and I actually ended up hitting the ball better than I expected to. This was a really fun evening, both from trying something new and for being with friends!

I took one Friday off to simply relax at home. Decker and I enjoyed quite a bit of time outside together. While I read, he enjoyed keeping watch on the front porch.

The Upper School had their retreat a few weeks into school. Lily actually opted not to go this year, but Mia went, and she had a great time with her friends. They had some team building activities, s'mores, and time to just have fun together. Overall she had a really fun time. Ryan went as well since he's the 7th grade homeroom teacher, and he enjoyed being with his teacher friends and students.

Just two more pictures of Decker because he's adorable.

I'm so thankful for our family's life!

Two in High School!

 I can't believe I have two kids in high school! I am so proud of these two. Lily is starting in 11th grade while Mia is coming into 9th.

Our annual "when I grow up" pictures. This year we have an actor from Mia and lawyer from Lily.

Yay for 20 years of Stonehaven! It's a little hard to believe we're starting our 13th year at the school. It's not perfect, but we sure are thankful for this place. I love the annual picture of Lily, Avery, and Nate as they begin another year together.

Ryan left about an hour before I even woke up on the first day. He's starting his second year, and he's looking forward to it. He'll have 7th grade history along with 7th, 8th, and 9th boys' Bible like last year. He's also teaching systematic theology this year, so that's going to be a really cool one.

I pray this will be a great year for all three of my favorite people!

McKayla and Bennett Got Married!

I always love a beautiful wedding, but it's even better when one of the people getting married is someone I love! We were all so excited for McKayla as she and Bennett got married on August 5.

The weekend before the wedding, Mom, Elaine, and I hosted a luncheon for her bridesmaids at Galley & Garden in Birmingham. Look how beautiful the invitations are! My friend, Anna Michelle Hanks, made them for us, and I thought they were gorgeous. Anna Michelle even hand sketched the restaurant drawing on the top. She's so talented!

Mom, Elaine, and I drove over together on Sunday morning. The room was already set up so nicely, but we had a couple of hours to put the finishing touches to it. I loved the menu that Mom set. It all looked delicious, but I was very pleased with my choices of fresh fruit parfait, chicken and waffles, and key lime mousse. It was wonderful!

The flowers were absolutely stunning! Liz works occasionally with a florist friend of hers, so she connected her with Mom. Aren't they stunning?! We couldn't stop staring at them from all angles because they were just so lovely. They fit the ambiance perfectly.

Elaine had made gift bags from Simply Southern for each of the bridesmaids. They had all sorts of wedding day essentials included, such as safety pins, bandaides, and chocolates. They were so cute!

Each place setting looked beautiful with its individual flower, gift bag, and table setting.

I was glad to be with these ladies today!

The big day itself arrived on Saturday, August 5. The ceremony and reception were at Fox Hall in Douglasville. It was incredibly hot outside, but they had fans going to help cool things down a bit. The ceremony itself was so beautiful. These two looked so very happy, and our cousin Lee did a great job in honoring the Lord with this ceremony. McKayla looked so beautiful! I'll admit I got choked up when I saw Wayne and McKayla walking down the aisle! He is such a proud dad (and rightfully so!)! He had a beautiful tailored suit on, but I loved that the lining had been changed so it was filled with tons of pictures of him and McKayla. Wayne gave an excellent father-of-the-bridge speech to welcome everyone at the reception, and they had a very sweet first dance together.

Lily choose to dance the night away on the dance floor with most of the other guests. I think she had a blast!

The sweet couple. I don't think this day could have gone any better! I'm confident this was a wonderful way to start their marriage adventure together. I look forward to seeing them grow closer to together in the years to come.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Strange!

July Happenings

July has been a fun month though it's hard to believe summer is coming to an end. Here's some of the fun things we did this month.

After dropping the girls off at camp, Ryan and I drove over to Black Mountain Biscuits for a yummy brunch. Then we drove into Asheville because we can't miss our two favorite shops. At Malaprops, I couldn't resist buying two new blind dates with a book. I think I picked wisely; they are outside my norm but look really interesting.

Of course we walked across the street to Chocolate Fetish as well. We couldn't resist a dozen of their milk chocolate caramels with sea salt. Who am I kidding? We also bought several other truffles to try too! These are always SO GOOD.

We spent the vast majority of our time while the girls were away cleaning. It felt so great though to clean out closets and drawers where stuff has been accumulating over time. We enjoyed having my parents over to celebrate July 4 with us, and we met Jeff and Elizabeth Smith at Bad Daddy's one evening; it was so good to catch up with both of them. We had a date night to see Mission Impossible one night; that was a really fun movie! We also had a great date night at Rathbun's one night which was delicious. Of course, we made a couple of yummy dinners at home including this fabulous meat and cheese spread one evening and Ryan's fantastic philly steaks another.

We were all very excited to celebrate my dad's retirement from Northwest Exterminating one day! He came on as their CFO in 1999 after selling his tax practice. He has helped it to grow into the tremendously successful company that it is today. It was so kind of Northwest to honor and celebrate him. We loved hearing several people speak about what a great business leader he is and also what a great man he is. I am incredibly proud to be his daughter!

We were glad to pick the girls up, and then we headed straight down from Asheville to New Smyrna Beach. It's our family's annual beach trip! We were actually missing about a dozen people this year, but we were glad Grandpops was able to drive over for hot dog day/family picture day this year; it's always good to visit with him.

A huge thank you to Randy and Georgia who are so kind each year to play a money game with all the kids (high school and younger) to get some birthday money. I can safely say my girls are real big fans!

Ready for hot dog day!

We enjoyed cousins' dinner at SoNapa this year. It was delicious and fun!

The weather the first few days wasn't great, but it was pretty wonderful the last few days. Lily and I managed to sneak in some good beach reading time which we always enjoy.

Peace and quiet one morning before the chairs and tents went up.

The day after getting back from the beach, Ryan, Lily, and I went to see Avery Hobson in Once Upon An Island musical where she played the goddess Erzulie. She (and the whole cast) did a great job! It's always fun to see a musical, but it's even more fun to support our friends!

Ryan and I enjoyed a dinner date at Lazy Dog afterwards while Lily went over to Katie Brooks' house. The two of them hung out for awhile then they actually went to the evening showing as well. They met up with some other friends who all wanted to support Avery too. We are always thankful for friends.

We took one day to drive to Greenville, SC. We all went to watch Oppenheimer at a local theater; man, it is so good! We ate some delicious burgers at Windy City Burger. Then we headed over to the Peace Center to watch Six. We all enjoyed this show when we cruised New England last year, so this was a fun new way to see it.

We decided to have a little extra fun this time and actually bought box seats. Ryan and I have always wanted to see a show from a box like this! It was really cool!

I think it took some effort for the girls and me not to sing along to this one! It was a fun show, and we were all glad for this evening.

Just a few days before school started, Lily had the opportunity to spend some time in federal court with our friend, Katie Klimko. Katie clerks for a judge, and when Lily expressed interest to her about becoming a lawyer, Katie invited her down to watch the trial that's going on. She told me afterwards that it was a 3-defendent trial surrounding tax conservation easements. This is right up my alley! She really enjoyed seeing the whole process, meeting the judge and clerks, and getting a feel for what a real trial is like. We all appreciated that Katie gave her this opportunity!

It's a little surreal that summer is wrapping up. Ryan is starting pre-planning days at school; we're so excited that he's actually picked up a new class to teach this year. In addition to 7th grade history and 7th, 8th, and 9th boys' bible, he will be teaching Systematic Theology to seniors in the fall then juniors in the spring. He's in the process of writing the curriculum now. I can't wait to hear how this class goes! It feels like there's still a lot to do for all of us to get ready for the fall schedule that is quickly approaching; hopefully there will be a little bit of rest in there as well!