December Items (non-Christmas ones anyway)

Some non-Christmas related items from the month:

Just two sweet pictures of Decker that Mia took.

Lily had the high school Progressive Dinner at the end of finals week.  It's a fun semi-formal event.  She borrowed a beautiful dress from Hannah.  Lauren came over so they could have fun getting ready together.  We dropped Lily off at the school, then they caravanned to the Martin's for appetizers.  Next up was the Miley's for dinner, and then they finished up at the Johnson's for dessert.  It seemed like a pretty fun night!

We're already reading something fun over here.  Mia absolutely loves The Hunger Games series.

Lily's Spanish class went to the Lower School one day to carol in Spanish.  This is just a cute picture Mrs. Hanbury snapped of Lily and Hannah before they left.

I treated the ladies that work with me to a Christmas lunch at Ray's on the River.  We shared some delicious appetizers of fried calamari and shrimp and also some pimento cheese fritters.  I enjoyed a honey glazed salmon as my entree, and I think the others enjoyed their dishes as well.  None of us felt up to an individual dessert so we decided to share these four: key lime cheesecake, brownie with ice cream, blueberry lemon tart, and hazelnut ice cream in a praline basket with berries.  They were all amazing!

Our church was decorated so beautifully for the season.  We liked the photo booth area they had set up near one of the entrances, so we took a picture one afternoon.

It's been a busy month! Of course there's all the holiday happenings going on.  Work has a lot of year-end activity to account for.  The girls had finals week which was pretty stressful for them, in addition to their extra-curriculars; mock trial for Lily, Junior Theater for Mia, and school drama production for both.  We all have church on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, and then Ryan and I have small group Thursday nights too.  On top of all that, Ryan has been dealing with a severe sinus infection for over a week which has him feeling terrible.  It's been quite the month!

More November Fun

 There have been some other fun November activities going on.

One Friday, upper school went on a couple of outdoor adventures.  Mia went with 7th and 8th grade for orienteering on Red Top Mountain.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that outing.  Lily went with 9th and 10th grade for a hike at Amicalola Falls.  She (and everyone else I talked with) said it was a pretty strenuous hike, but the views were beautiful.

The school had their annual Color Run fundraiser recently.  I think it's safe to say they enjoyed it.

Ryan and I went to Costco one day.  Imagine how thrilled we were when we saw that they had Serrano hams for sale! We couldn't resist buying one of these 14 pounds legs of goodness.  It came with the carving stand and knife too.  This deliciousness lasted us for weeks!

Lily went to the JV/Varsity volleyball awards party at Coach Anne's house one evening.  Only two awards were given for the season: MVP and Coach's Award.  We were so proud of Lily being awarded the Coach's Award! This is given to an athlete who has demonstrated hard work over the whole season; Lily definitely earned this one!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year.  Our family gets up to watch the Macy's parade; I am like a little kid waiting to see the Rockettes and Santa! The floats and Broadway productions are fun to see.  We enjoy our sausage croissant casserole and hot chocolate while we watch too.  It's just a nice tradition that I love.

It was a beautiful day to celebrate Thanksgiving at Sid and Elaine's house.  I love that we gather and can take time to all say something we are thankful for.

Love this group!

So.Much.Food.  It's all so incredibly good though! I could live off the appetizers alone, but I couldn't resist snapping a picture of my plate this year.  This is probably a sampling of maybe just over half the items available for lunch.  It doesn't even show the appetizers or desserts!

What a beautiful month it's been!

Happy 13th Birthday Mia!

 I cannot believe my baby is 13 years old now!  Wow, times sure does fly by.  I am so thankful for Mia.  She is one of the most generous people I know.  She's super smart and works hard.  She loves her God, her family, and her friends. She is so kind to people and animals. She loves musicals (Hamilton, Beetlejuice, and Into the Woods are her favorites), and is often singing their songs.  She loves acting which is great since she is preparing to be in both Sounds of Music with the school and High School Musical Jr with JTF. She's always got a good book to read and enjoy. She's always willing to try new things; for example, she has decided to take up whittling as a hobby to see if it's interesting. She is such an awesome person to be around. 

Here's a list of some of her favorites right now:

• Favorite color - Yellow
• Favorite movie - Into the Woods, but she is very excited to see The Hunger Games which we told her she could read (and then watch the movie) once she turned 13.  Side note, the day after her birthday we went to see The Eternals, and she said this was her favorite.
• Favorite tv show - Amphibia
• Favorite book or series - Currently the Wingfeather Saga but she thinks it may change to The Hunger Games series.
• Favorite drink - Coke
• Best Memory from last year - Our trip to Disney, specifically Hagrid's Motorbike Ride; also, camp
• Wants to be when she grows up - An actress
• Best friend - Abigail Fox
• Favorite Bible verse - 2 Timothy 1:3
• Favorite school subject - Bible with Ms. Colvin
• Favorite food - Bob Evans mashed potatoes or Ryan's smashburgers
• Favorite activity - 4 square with friends at school
• Favorite place to go - Home
• Favorite game to play - Madden with Dad
• Favorite restaurant - Willy's
• Favorite animal - Hawk, squirrel, and tiger
• Most thankful for - My family
• Goal for the year - Get all A's in school all year

It's so fun to see the amazing young lady she is becoming.  Ryan and I love her so very much!  I thank my Lord every day for this girl!

Our family had a great time celebrating Mia at The Melting Pot in Kennesaw.  Fondue is always fun and delicious.

While We Were Away

We were very thankful that Liz was able to come stay with the girls the entire 2.5 weeks we were out of town.  That was such a huge blessing.  I think they had some fun while we were away!

The most exciting thing to happen was the Braves won the World Series!!!  How amazing!  We couldn't believe that we missed the entire series.  The night we stayed at El Palace in Barcelona, they had a chance to clinch the title.  The hotel actually had Fox as one of their many channels, so we woke up at 3:30 to watch the second half of the game.  Unfortunately, the win didn't come that night. Two nights later, they were in Houston with the chance for the win.  We didn't have a way to watch, but Ryan happened to wake up around 4am.  He saw online that they were up 7-0 in the bottom of the 9th.  He woke me up, and we tuned in via 680 The Fan's app.  We heard them win!  We were laying in bed silently screaming and chopping so we didn't wake up anyone in rooms around us.  It was so cool to be a part of this even from so far away!

Before we left on our cruise while the NLCS was still going on, I texted my dad and asked him to please take the girls to the World Series parade if they actually won.  I remember vividly going with him when they won in 1995, and I wanted my girls to experience it too.  I was so appreciative that he and Liz were willing to check the girls out of school and take them to watch this!

Papa bought them shirts to wear to mark the occasion. 

Mia's small group at church went over to Gretchen Ayres' house one evening to make Halloween cookies.  Gretchen runs a great little cookie business, so I know this was fun and delicious!

Lily had the chance to go to the Elevation Worship concert with several friends to celebrate Mary Preston's birthday.  This was her first truly big concert (we've been to a couple of small ones), and she loved it.

Mia had fun getting to go to Danielle's house with her friend, Kiev, where they had a cooking competition.  They made cupcakes and had to use approximately 27 ingredients.  Mia said they had a lot of fun but they tasted terrible!

Mia had the opportunity to go rock climbing in Alabama with Pathfinders one day.  She had a great time even though it was a pretty rainy day.

Mia's friend, Frances Schultz, invited her to her home for trick or treating.  Mia was very excited to get to wear the Gryffindor outfit from Universal.  She had a lot of fun with Frances and her sister.  Lily decided to hang out at home instead of going out this year.

Look at this awesome Up paint by numbers picture Lily finished!  How great is it?!

Of course, they continued on with their regular activities too.  We were so glad it was a calm time while we were away!

Europe (7) - San Sebastian

As soon as class was over on Friday, we all hopped in Manny's van and headed up to San Sebastian in the Basque Country part of Spain.  It took a little over 4 hours to get there, but it was a beautiful drive up.

We dropped our bags off and then headed into town.  We walked around just a little bit; it was pretty cold outside.  We stopped at a traditional Basque restaurant for dinner.  I had one of the best steaks I've ever enjoyed.  For dessert, I tried a regional speciality.  I wish I knew what it was called!  It reminded me of a creme brulee but was even better.  Such a delicious meal.

As we checked into the Mercure Monte Igueldo which was beautiful.  This welcome sign inside our room made us laugh.  Apparently, we are demanding guests.

The view of the city from our room at night was stunning!
    

Sunrise the next morning was just as amazing!  It was so cool to watch the fog roll over the city and into the sea.

Most of Saturday was spent in a marriage conference that was led by Ron and Randy.  We enjoyed learning from them, and Ryan helped with their technology.  Over lunch, Manny took several people to lunch, but we opted instead to walk around the city and see more of it.  This city is gorgeous!  In this picture, that's our hotel up on top of the hill.

We found our way to jamon bocadillos and enjoyed them in a little park.  We sat near this pavilion which gave off major Mary Poppins vibes.

We discovered a nearby farmers market and treated ourselves to churro donuts.  Because, why not?  We also found an adorable and colorful candy shop.  They have a great little shopping district here.

After eating and exploring for awhile, it was time to make our way back to the conference for the afternoon session.  We stumbled upon a high school football game, so we enjoyed watching it for a little while until it was just about time for the conference to begin.  What a fun way to spend the afternoon.

After the conference was over, we ended up going back to the same restaurant as the previous night.  Not a problem at all as we all just ordered different dishes (with the same dessert though!).  We enjoyed walking around for a little bit afterwards, and then we headed on back to the hotel.  Unfortunately, it was time for Ryan and me to pack up.  Early the next morning, we headed to the train station.  It took about three hours, but we made it back to Madrid.  We dropped our bags off and went back to downtown.  We were so surprised at how many more people were in the squares; it was packed!  We assumed it was because it was the weekend instead of the weekday.  We were honestly a little tired at this point, so we bought another round of Napolitana de Chocolate to have as our dinner for the night, and then we bought two jamon bocadillos to have for breakfast the next morning.  We had to take quite a bit of time to repack all our bags as we had been gone for 2.5 weeks at this point!  We got everything settled though and headed to bed for the night.  The next morning came early, but an Uber took us the airport for the ride home.  We had a layover in NYC at JFK airport and then headed to Atlanta.  It was so wonderful to be home and be with our girls again!  

This was the trip of a lifetime for us.  What a fantastic way to celebrate our 20th anniversary and then serve a ministry in another part of the world.  We are so grateful we had this opportunity!