Sunday, October 9, 2011

The Roberts come to Georgia

The Roberts family came to visit us recently for five fabulous days, and it absolutely blessed our socks off.  Jake and Lesley are two of our dearest friends in LA, and little Sam has basically been betrothed to Abby Jane since birth.  Though they haven't been together since they were 13 and 18 months old, respectively, they had zero warm-up time... this was just a few minutes after they first saw each other!

Judah arrived last May, and we loved getting to love that sweet little chunk of preciousness!
 The girls supervising baby Judah...
The morning after they arrived, I organized a playdate for several of my dear local friends to meet Lesley.  I love when friends you love all immediately click and enjoy each other!!
 The six moms and eleven kids who played that morning.
 Then we took off for the north Georgia mtns to The Cabin, where we spent the remainder of their visit.  Joy and Sammy wasted no time getting into the creek.
 Uncle Jake has always had a special spot in his heart for Abby Jane.  Even when she was a reflux-y, picky little newborn and before they even had Sam, he would scoop her up and give her some love. I loved capturing this moment of him helping her with her shoes- Jake has such a servant heart for everyone.
 Judah is SUCH a smiley, happy little man, and when you spend time with that family, it's no wonder why their sons are so naturally joyful.

 This is classic.  All the kids splashing in the water.  But then...
 Joy started getting everyone else as wet as she was, and they all moved en masse to the other end of the dock.
I don't think her feelings were hurt.
 With my precious friend, whose presence refreshes, blesses, and delights.
 Jake  Sam and Abby Jane did the dishes.  Check Sam's hairbow (sorry for the expose, Sammy!) You never know what might be funny to you when you spend too much time with girls!
 Jake blew out his second set of candles for his birthday week, but this time on his apple crisp made with fresh Mercier Orchard apples that we grabbed on our way in town.
 Porch time on a crisp morning.
 Going on a hike.
 The buddies.
 Jake G swinging Judah while...
 Jake R hauled around these two monkeys.  Look at those smiles!!!! They played together beautifully the whole weekend, and it was precious to hear their little conversations, things they wanted to show each other, tell each other about, and just lots and lots of laughter.
 Speaking of monkeys, this is how the twins do Greek yogurt.
 Fires and s'more time!  It got down to upper 30s and low 40s at night!
 Apple picking at Mercier orchard.  I L.O.V.E. Mercier- not crazy crowded, tractor ride out to the picking areas, fabulous apples, fun store, and about 10 min from the cabin!  Joy hearts apple picking, too.  I think she had to have fully consumed at least six apples in a two hour period, ending with at least one cup of apple drool soaked into her hoodie.  Totally Joy, totally joyful.

 Boo is not as messy, but she probably ate just as many as Joy did! My sweet girl.

 Sam looks like an ad here.
 Me and my babes.
 These, friends, are pink ladies. They are not ripe until after the first frost, so we still have a few more weeks before they should be picked.  Pink ladies are my very favorite apple, but I met my second favorite that weekend- Limbertwig.  Mind-blowingly delicious.
 Look at this: now...
and then!
  
 Brilliant Uncle Jake R made them a little footbath when their feet were cold after playing outside in 30 something weather!
 The whole crew right before heading out.
 We stayed up late every night and were still not finished talking when they left five days later- we are so grateful to the Lord for the Roberts' friendship, and we look forward to walking through life with them, even if it's from afar!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Goodbyes for now

Well, it's official.  The Gillies moved to New Zealand last week, and we spent that last week with them on this side of the pond with some last serious precious family time.  Cade and Abby Jane put out fires on the gator...
 We played with ice...
Joy and Luke proved that they're dangerous riding partners when Joy bailed while Luke was driving at full speed.
 We celebrated my fabulous amazing hot husband's birthday.
 Now fellas, don't get too jealous, but Betsy gave him a hoozie.  I think it ranks with some of his all-time favorite birthday gifts. Yes, he practiced putting a beer in the built-in coozie.  For what it's worth, you can put your iPod in there too.  But I see some happy fall/winter grilling ahead for Jake in his hoozie.
 I made photo books for everyone to record the last three years of cousinhood, and this is how successful Mimi was at looking at hers with all those monkeys running around.
 Blythe turned out to be a better driving partner for Luke.
 We used up every single kid chair one last night...
 and ended this particular season with an all-out throw-down, no holds barred dance party.
The kids danced til they started melting down, so we decided to call it a night for the last time.
Betsy and the boys have now safely arrived in New Zealand, reunited with their precious husband and daddy, and are adjusting to their new life there.  

It is so special to have family that you don't just hang with because they're family, but because they're friends. You don't just love them... you like them a lot, too, and you're the better for having spent time with them.  We are so blessed to have all the siblings the Lord gave us, and even as we venture into this new season of having 2/3 of them overseas, we are grateful for the absolutely golden times we have had as we look forward to the incredibly special times we'll have in years to come.

Zoo-ing it

Now that it's a cool high of 80, we have ventured back to the zoo.  Our first time back, the Gillies joined our normal Monday playgroup friends.  Here are Cade and Abby Jane checking out the parakeets...
 Aunt Bets and Joy feeding the parakeets...
 Mimi giving Joy the one-on-one attention Joy would love to continuously have at the zoo.  Big boisterous Joy is not so big on animals.  We're working on it.  In the meantime, the new baby giraffe, Lily, is just too cute for even Joy to dislike!
 Gillies/Gross cousins...
 Me and my little man, Cade. You might not know from this picture, but that kid and I are tight. Panda exhibit behind us.  There is also a baby panda, and the big news at the zoo right now is that they just found out he is a male panda instead of a female.  They decided to let him keep his female name, and are now checking the other pandas from the same zoo in Cheng Du to confirm that their "known" gender is correct.
Our little friends Grant and Dylan are much braver than the Gross girls at the petting zoo.  This goat sandwich was not posed.
 Neither was Grant, when he plopped down in the goats' hay to give some love to the brown goat.  Here is Irritated Goat giving Grant's neck a little nibble.  Note to self, don't sit in goat's food.
 Here are all three girls checking out parakeets another day...
 This giraffe was so close and just appeared to be watching the people watching it!
 Abby Jane has a fixation with these put-your-head-in-a-hole photo ops and will run ahead to get to one, then just wait there with her head in the hole til I get there.  Then it is required that I photograph her.  This one kind of looks like she just got her wisdom teeth taken out, but I think that's an apple slice in her cheek.
LOVE all that the cool of fall brings!