Lights of the South

Since we missed out on Christmas tree shopping together this year, we were so glad to have a fun Christmas evening with the Links (we missed Matt!). Jenn, Madi, Pat & Joyce came to move some of their things back to Augusta (yay!) and spent the night with us. We went to see Christmas lights on a hayride and opened presents together. In this season and always, we are so grateful for them!

The Christmas spirit.

Waiting in line for the hayride.

We loved how they used John 3:16 to tell the Christmas story.

Hayride!

Joyce, Madi & Jenn.

Playing on the wooden train afterwards.

Siblings as far as they know.

Gehrig named Matt's dad 'Pops' and his mom 'Grandma.' He loves them!

Gabe

It is not easy to put into words the heartache that we feel for our new friends, Garrett & Traci Grubbs. God brought us together through their sweet baby Gabe and B & I have learned so much from Him through their witness the past two weeks.

We have watched them glorify and praise Him through the hardest thing any parent could experience. We have truly seen what it means to have an eternal perspective despite their enormous love and pain for their child. They have encouraged and ministered to us even while we have wanted to be there for them. They have displayed the most positive attitudes that I have ever known. They have given us a greater thankfulness for the blessings that we have in our children. They are the picture of grace.

Today our hearts are hurting, aching to be with them as they celebrate the precious life of Gabe. We know that it will be a time of great joy, sadness and praise to our Lord. He is now healed and home, Traci! We rejoice in that and look forward to seeing him again one day!

We feel like we have known them longer than two weeks. Thank you, Steph for sharing your friends with us. We are forever changed.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/tracigrubbs

Catching Our Breath

Last weekend was jam-packed! Here's a rundown...

Bebe graduated with her masters in teaching/math. We are so proud of her! All of us surprised her by coming into town. Here is her cute expression when she first saw us there! :) Britt & Margaret babysat Megan, Nathan, Gehrig & Greer...thank you!! They had so much fun.

After the ceremony. We all then went to Rob & Teena's for Mom's reception and to spend the night. It was great to visit with them!

We went to meet baby Drew Summers Friday. Oh, he was so cute and cuddly! It was great to visit with Briana too and the big boys could've played for days!

We began our annual girls' weekend Friday afternoon. B dropped me off at Jenn's Atlanta apt and took the kids back to Bebe's for fun extended family time with everyone. I wish I could've been in both places! Jenn, Katie & I enjoyed some yummy tapas for dinner and then junk food, game-playing and girl talk into the wee hours. It was a great way to spend the birthday that I almost forgot about! :)

Jessica and I ran the Jingle Jog early the next morning. My worst time yet, but it was still fun. I now know the reason for all the preparing and training that Jen M and I did for that first race! :) Afterwards, Katie, Jenn & I got ready and met Kelli & Kim for lunch at the Flying Biscuit. I could've stayed there all day with them, but finally we made our way with the rest of the world to Lenox for some shopping. It was crazy crowded and still fun. Can't wait for next time, y'all! And Suzanne and Steph, we missed you so much!!! Hope to see you soon!

Our sweet Augusta friends, Jessica & Eric met me at Lenox to stay with us and go to Buckhead Church on Sunday. We first went to Margaret's house for her and Britt's engagement party. It was great to celebrate with them...they are so sweet!

B & Eric then hit the dome for the state finals while Jessica and I took the kids back to Bebe's. We had a great time visiting and playing the game of the weekend, Loaded Questions when the boys and Lindsey got home. So much fun and very little sleep! It was the first time too that I really got to see Lin & the twins. I miss them! Here are a few fun family pics...Greer wasn't into the grandkids picture!

Sunday was Buckhead Church (amazing as always), lunch with the fam, Robin, Jess & Eric at Taco Mac (wish we had a table pic) and a trip home in time for a fun Christmas party. We loved every minute and are thankful for a more restful week and weekend coming up!

Santa Contest

Before we blog about the weekend's events, we wanted to share a fun pic from last week's FCA Christmas bonfire party. Each group picked one person to be their santa and could only use red & black bulletin board paper, masking tape and cotton batting for the costume. It was great fun and we were so impressed with their creativity! We love these students!!

Crazy Day

So, we started the weekend off with our Sunday School Christmas party Friday night. Much fun with great folks and yummy food while the kids had a blast with Mammaw. Then, Mammaw & Pots spent the night so that B & I could run a 5k Saturday morning. That, a haircut and watching the big game with friends were the extent of our plans for the day!

First, a very scary early morning picture of us at the race. Boy, do we need some sun!

Right after we finished the race, B's sister called with tickets to the SEC championship game! Now, it started at 4pm and is 2 hours away. And my haircut appointment was at 10:45. We were still in our running clothes and the kids would need another babysitter! See the issue? But, it was my team...and they were ranked #1 playing #2, so with the help of B, Mammaw & Bebe, we made it work!

After a whirlwind of activity, we made it to the game! It was so exciting and fun to be there. I'm very glad that Bama showed up and only wished they would've played as well in the 4th as they did the first 3 quarters. But, Florida is just good and they deservedly came out on top.

Slade and Jessica were there too and it was great to have time with them. (Will get a pic of the 4 of us soon!) We stopped in the park on the way to B's sister's afterparty event with Ludacris & Soulja Boy at the Tabernacle. The park is gorgeous at Christmas!

We had VIP access to the Ludacris event. (Just a funny sentence to write!) It was great to have somewhere to sit down, relax and eat after such a crazy day! Gretchen did a great job putting it all together and it was a huge success. It was fun to see her at work and the place was packed!

Here we are looking down from the VIP balcony. I am probably the person who is least in touch with music today...unless it is something the kids listen to or some really great contemporary Christian music that someone has given me. So, I really had no idea what was going on, but it was interesting and as someone old and out-of-touch would say, the music was "quite catchy." :)

Here's "Luda" as everyone was calling him.

So, a crazy day that was fun and disappointing and tiring and great, all in one! Thanks, Gretch for the tickets and thanks, Mammaw & Bebe for all the help! We need some rest now...

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Christmas is just more fun with a 3 yr old. Here is our story of starting off our Christmas season by visiting the tree farm down the road to get our tree...

This is it! Gehrig and his tree...

Now all of us.


Such a big helper! That was hard work.


Helping the guys get the tree to the car.

Cutting the strings.



Getting smacked by the branches!

Here it comes!!

The annual pic in front of the tree.

Hanging ornaments. "Mama, I had so much fun putting ornaments on the tree tonight."

Hanging his stocking.


The finished product!

This is how I found Gehrig the morning after. He got his clothes on in record time and raced to sit under the tree just to look at it. It melted my heart.

OH NO! What we came home to later that day. It is amazing that nothing was broken!

After putting up the tree a second time...Merry Christmas!!!

Thankful

We enjoyed our annual trip to Virginia to celebrate Thanksgiving with B's family...well, except for the hours in the car with a 13-month-old who isn't enjoying her carseat at the moment and the challenges that come with all staying in one hotel room together. Otherwise, it was wonderful to see everyone. We are truly grateful for such a wonderful family.

These are B's first cousins...they are so much fun! We didn't get a full family picture with all of the other cousins and aunts and uncles and friends. Too many to round up!

A family shot at the park in Lexington. (Note B's new glasses!)

AND, I am thankful for a forgiving husband who didn't get frustrated when I told him that I forgot about the turtle/storage box on top of the tahoe from our travels and pulled into the garage like normal. Another thing for the Christmas list! :(

November pics are posted...will try to do better about keeping the blog updated this month!! Happy December everyone! :)