Returning Home

We traveled back to Pensacola for my Nana's funeral. I hadn't been back since she moved here and it was bittersweet.  While I have lived over 30 years of my life here in Georgia, I still call Pensacola home.  Even after we moved I spent many weeks each year with my Nana and Papa.  I have such special memories of that time. 

While we were in town we went back to see the home I lived in.

And this is the park that I know I spent hours playing at.  Of course the playground equipment is newer, and I don't remember much about this area, it was a sweet time of reflection on where God has placed me in life. The girls had a fun time playing, and we enjoyed a family walk as well.

And even when it is November you still stop by the beach.  We were only able to stay about an hour before we had to head home, but it was wonderful.  The water was crystal clear, the sand was powder soft, and the sun was brilliant and warm.

The girls had the best time, and they have asked to visit again.  I'm sure we will.  I realized I had forgotten a bit how special Pensacola was in my heart.

Celebrating Nana

On October 29th my sweet Nana went to be with Jesus. We have been so blessed to have her nearby for the last 10 years.  The girls grew up having Nana here, and I'm thankful that she made the decision years ago to move up this way. My babies loved her, and she loved my babies.

We loved to hear her stories.  She grew up in the Great Depression, and that shaped the woman that she was.  She was strong and resourceful.  She loved her family. And she was a bit stubborn as well.  I'm thankful that gene didn't get passed down to me. ;)

This red dress is one that Nana made for me when I was young, and then my girls were able to wear it.  She made many things for my sister and I, and I'm thankful to still have a few of them.

She made the best chicken and dumplings.  She used canned biscuits, and I have always used frozen ones.  Kayla was amazed when she learned this, so I promised her we'd make some Nana dumplings soon. 

She could catch flies with her bare hands. I bet her kids had to watch out when they were in trouble. I bet she was fast! 

One other thing we like to joke about in our family is toilet paper.  My mom ALWAYS had a large stash of toiled paper in the house.  It wasn't until recent years that she found out both her brother and sister also keep large stashes at their homes.  It turns out they all have vivid memories of running out growing up and having to resort to using catalog pages in the restroom.  That would make anyone keep a large supply at home!

Nana will be missed here, but we are all so grateful that we will have eternity to spend with her.  When we told the girls that Nana was with Jesus, Brooke immediately smiled and said, "now she can walk again!" Yes, she can.  She is walking around with Papa and her oldest son Bobby.  She is having an amazing life right now, and she is just waiting on the rest of us to join them. Oh, how thankful I am for Christ and that I have heaven to look forward to. The trials and sorrows of this world will be no more. Nana, we love you, and we will see you soon!

Fall Festivals

This year the girls ended up with a Star Wars theme for their costumes.  Kayla was BB

8, Macy was Rey, and Brooke was Queen Amdala. We had fun with the costumes this year.

Fall Festival #1 at Antioch Church just down the road from our house.

Fall Festival #2 was at Mt. Zion Baptist Church while Kayla was at church for Awake Weekend.

Someone really loves cotton candy.

And Fall Festival #3 was at a friend's church in Cumming. We love joining the Robert's family at this event each year.

Middle School Awake Weekend

We hosted a group of middle school girls for a discipleship weekend called Awake. We had a super sweet group of 8 girls.  They spent the night here and we drove them around to their various events.

We had a funny story about our transportation for the weekend. We originally had 10 girls in our group plus their leader that we needed to transport.  We were set up to drive one of the church vans for the weekend and Marc was super excited about it. Unfortunately it wouldn't shift into drive so we ended up scrambling for a way to get these girls around town. One of the youth ministers and his wife brought kids to our house, and then Marc arranged to get his parent's van.  He strung up some Christmas lights and this became quite the swagger wagon.  The jokes that came out of this ride were hilarious. They laughed at the sound of the horn, and the fact that it was the Sport Edition among many things. It was affectionately named "The Green Machine."

The girls had a great time we loved opening our home to them.  They slept in the basement, although I'm not sure how much sleep they actually got.  Sunday afternoon Kayla crashed and took a nap for a couple of hours.  That never happens so I know she was exhausted!

Pumpkin Patch

Every year it seems we are just squeezing in a visit to the pumpkin patch.

Corn maze fun.

Until you hit another dead end.

The girls love going to this little family owned farm down the street from our house, and I love that it doesn't take an entire afternoon from our already busy fall.  I love the fall season, and I wish we weren't so busy, but I cherish every moment we have as a family.

Sleeping

I just love going in each night after the girls have gone to sleep.  My night routine doesn't feel complete unless I sneak in and kiss each of my sleeping babies. These days Kayla is often still awake, Macy is sometimes awake and sometimes not, but Brooke is always out cold. That's probably why I have many more pictures of her sleeping than the others.

So tired she couldn't even put her book on the nightstand.

She came into our room early one morning.  Once Marc got up he couldn't have come back even if he wanted to.

Every so often we will wake up in the morning to see that this one has moved to the couch in the middle of the night.

Or sometimes she comes to the chair in our room to finish sleeping the night away.