birthday celebratin'

Gehr had quite the few days celebrating his entrance into double digits in May.  Aunt Gretchen gave him tickets to the new College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta and he got to invite Gentry to come along too.

Gench spent the night before to help with the early waking for our day trip, so we opened gifts that evening.  He knows him well!  Foam golf balls for the budding golf enthusiast :))

Afterwards, we went to the Links to drop off the girls to stay with them, and the guys took the opportunity to get a little practice in ;)

Since we didn't do a party or even a cake, the boys got birthday-flavored cakepops when B and I stopped for coffee on the way home :)

Up early and on the road!  They were so excited to get there :))

Burgerfi lunch...so yummy

And getting ready to head inside...

Oh, the wall of helmets!  768, I think.  One for every college football team and constantly updated as the team updates theirs.  And so much electronic fun....as you enter your information in their system, it codes your wearable pass so that the entire experience is customized!

Next up, the field of play.  Lots of field goal kicking and running routes.  A former NFL-er threw passes to them and gave them tips throughout.  Really so neat :)

The actual Hall of Fame!  They found their favorite :)

And Gretchen and Charlie arrived to join us!  Cutie cousins :)

Heading to the green screen!  They got a turn on Gameday and it was all emailed to us later that day...

B and I got a turn too haha ;))

Boys :)

And an opportunity to coach...this area allowed them to put together all parts of a college football team as if they were the head coach.  And then graded their efforts...

Calling their favorite famous play..."Lindsay Scott!  Lindsay Scott!  Lindsay Scott!"

Fam :))

Cameramen

And a little stroll through historic moments of the game...

Artifacts...

A group shot...

And Xs and Os...seriously, this was a dream for them!

A little silly game action...

And some face painting for the biggest fans :)

Fight song karaoke!  They let me sing and cheer alone for a little bit...silly boys ;)

Happy day, buddy!  It was so much fun to have this day with you!!

And because this was their favorite (and because the Links were awesome to have the girls home and not with us bored), we went back to the field at the end.  The boys and their former NFL buddy literally played for an hour straight.  Such joy :)

Big city boys

And their reaction to Gentry spending another night :))

We got back in town, picked up the girls and happened to be leaving the Links right before an amazing fireworks show was starting in town to honor our servicemen and women.  We pulled off and parked to watch, pjs and all :)

Such an incredible, fun-filled day!  Then on the day before his actual birthday, the Links celebrated with him while B and I went out on a date.  Love them so much :))

Hard to beat all of that!  So thankful for our 10-year-old and for great experiences for him this birthday.  More about him coming in the next post...stay tuned :))

last book club and a fun addition for the day

For our last book club of the year, Jenn invited each child to bring a favorite book and corresponding snack.  Garner chose There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books and we brought back our old bookworm birthday party snack :)

Our addition for the day was our buddy, Robin.  He hung out with us while his mommy worked and joined us for book club too.  So cute and fun...the kids adore him :)

Waiting for the friends to arrive...they look so growny

Robin and Gray

Craft time.  And really, the ponytail cuteness is killing me ;)

Such a sweet crew! We have enjoyed this time with them so much

Can't believe he's getting big enough to join in now!

You've never seen a more loved teacher than Jenn with these.  She is amazing with them and they adore her :)

Fun variety of snacks!

And super fun outside play stations for everyone afterwards...on a beautiful day.  Love :))

Mama time too :)).  We are so grateful for all the time that Jenn has put into this year of bookclubs for our family.  So much fun and learning and cuteness for us all!  She is the best :))

Finishing up the afternoon with some guy time.  These boys are the cutest buds.  Love our days having him!

mother's day 2015

So undeserving of their love and grace for me.  Thankful...

national day of prayer

I've had this post started for weeks and really can't find the words to fully share about the sweet time in our church prayer garden on the National Day of Prayer.  Our staff beautifully set up multiple stations to represent different elements of prayer with sweet music playing and hands-on activities to make it all so tangible for old and young.

We started by writing our favorite attributes of God and then praying together, praising Him for being eternal, grace-giving, shepherding, redeeming, holy.  How incredible that such a great God hears our prayers and longs for communion with us.

We added gifts to the gratitude tree and gave thanks for our many blessings and then headed to the cross.  Here we wrote sin that we wanted to nail and leave there...fear, being mean, selfishness, judgmental attitudes.  And then a time of confessional prayer...and marking stones at the foot of the cross with hope.

There were pictures of places and people in government, school systems, etc to kneel and pray over. A map of the world to mark and pray for peoples in other lands. And salvation bracelets to make and take home to remember our lost family, friends and neighbors that we prayed for there. Hearing the kids pray with such love for people and things that I didn't even know were on their hearts brought me to tears at every stop.

We ended at the firepit, writing a list of supplicating prayers for us and people in our lives.  Garner asked to write down the names of her friends to pray for.

Then we offered them all up to Him, leaving it all at the altar...

Again, hard to describe or convey the preciousness of the time with them, but I never want to forget it.  Easily, one of my favorite times with them ever.  

My mama heart overflows with joy to think on it again even now...

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.  1 Chronicles 16:11

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  Psalm 145:18

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.  Colossians 4:2