Goodbye to The Oaks

 We went down in April for A-Day and the last rolling, as I'm sure many of you did. If you didn't read this article about the trees, it is fantastic and so well done.

 This day went a lot differently than I expected. Usually when we're in Auburn, we've coordinated and planned and we're meeting up with folks and there's tons of hanging out and catching up with friends. On this particular A-Day, we didn't do any planning and the only friends we saw were the ones we ran into... which there were plenty of, since it is Auburn and no matter how many people are there, you always see friends.

 I thought it was going to be this fun time of letting the girls roll the trees and enjoying the day and experiencing sweet Auburn.

But it was so much more than that. Because we weren't spending time with friends and it was just our family going through the day, we really soaked up and reflected on the full meaning of the day so much more. It was the perfect thing for that day.

Over 86,000 people showed up for the spring scrimmage, and I guarantee they weren't all there just to check out our new line-up. All these folks were rooted in Auburn and these two trees meant something deep and intrinsic to them.

 We watched the game, and it was the twins' first time inside the stadium, which was so sweet to share.

 Our little Auburn women.

 They played tackle on the field after the game.

 But when all the hoopla was done, we passed back by the trees on our way back to the car. The main festivities were about to begin, but the girls were done after a long day and we needed to start the trip home. Here's the transcript to David Housel's speech, which perfectly encapsulates the moment.

Just being honest, we snapped the girls into their seats, and I went around to the back of the car and cried for a moment before we got into the car. It may seem silly if you're not an Auburn person, and it may seem like they were just two trees, but Jake and I started the walk that ended in our engagement under those trees, and that's not even the tip of the iceberg of all the history that has passed under those trees. It is simply such a sad loss in the history of Auburn. But the beautiful thing is that there will be more history to come, and it's an honor to be a part of the Auburn family and be a part of that history in the making.

Observation Day

This little lady. This little lady thrills my heart. She amazes me daily. We were supposed to observe her ballet class this day and see the girls practice their recital piece. But I was really just observing my girl growing up.  I'm a big fan of this kid.

Twinsies

 These two crazies are my favorite littlest buddies. They are made complete with Abby Jane, who perfectly completes the trifecta, but just the two of them are pretty big buds. I honestly just want to just squeeze them to pieces.

Campout at Grammy's

 In April we had a camping trip planned with Jodi and Chris, but wouldn't you know, it got rained out. So we re-routed and did a weekend at Camp Grammy instead. As chances would have it, it didn't rain there, so we had a great outdoors spring weekend, complete with canoeing, paddleboarding, and fishing. Not to mention have some fabulous family time!

 Katie is a paddle boarding queen, and she has even placed in a creative writing essay contest with a story called "Paddleboard Fun" about the first time she ever went.

 Joy and her main squeeze.

 The "triplets" on a canoe ride.

Abby Jane and I were out on the paddle board for a cruise and were pulling up close to the shore where Jake was fishing. I was pulling back the paddle to splash him when his line went taut and he pulled a large-mouth bass, definitely the biggest fish he's ever caught in years of fishing on Mom's lake.

 There is no end of delight I get from this.

 Ian went for his first ride on the paddle board...

 And this is about how that went down. He thought it was awesome.

 Teaching my Blythey how to cast...

 Other than great times on the lake and great times with family, another great plus to our camping weekend getting re-routed was Grammy providing babysitting for a date night out for Jo, Chris, Jake and I. It's so much fun being such good friends with your family that you want to double date with your siblings. It was a good, good time.
On that note, T-minus-just a few weeks until the Elliotts get in town for the summer and the whole Elliott clan will be reunited. Wooohoooo...

Ppl For Freedm

 "Ppl for freedm Jake, Joy, Blythe, Emily, Abby Jane! X [sign for End It Movement]"

 Many of you have heard by now of the End It Movement that our church has launched, but if not, check out the link and watch a video on what it's about. On April 9, there was a Shine a Light on Slavery Day, and we took a note from the page of this amazing little girl named Vivienne by having a lemonade stand as we stood up for freedom.

 It was their first lemonade stand, and a fantastic experience.

We had been in the neighborhood less than two weeks, but our precious neighbors showed up in force and we were out of several pitchers of lemonade in an hour and a half!

It's a sweet thing to let the girls learn about wanting to help the people who are "not free to be free", as we say it to them, as well as have a little block party with the neighbors while we were at it. Check out the End It Movement!

Spring '13 Cabin trip

 The first weekend of April was our 4th annual spring trip to the cabin with Mimi and Bop Bop! Aunt Boo and Uncle Wayne, now locals up there, were gracious to let us move back our trip, which was originally scheduled on moving weekend two weeks prior. This turned out for the best, though, because moving weekend was miserably cold and rainy, but this weekend was sunny and beautiful!!

Somebody walked out the door to go to the cabin in a tutu and nobody noticed til we got out of the car in Blue Ridge! Who brings a tutu to the mountains?? That would be Blythe.

 Mimi and Bop Bop arrived in style, as always, bringing the Gator with them!

"Marshing marshmallows" a.k.a. roasting s'mores is a vital tradition for the girls at the cabin!

 The ability to run free and play so independently is one of our favorite things up there.

We found our friends Peter and Polly again. Polly let us feed her all the grass and weeds we could get our hands on.

 Not pictured is where Polly got tired of grass and did a little nibbling on Mimi's hair and shirt sleeve! It was pretty hilarious.

 Jake took Abby Jane out to the pasture to work on riding a bike minus training wheels. It was so sweet to watch this momentous first lesson unfold in such a special place. Look at the focus on that face, looking straight ahead at the fence like her daddy told her.

She had several good runs down the pasture and did a really great job, but for the sake of honesty, she hasn't wanted to try again to really get it down since then. A Daddy/ Janie bike lesson is on the docket to happen soon.

Three lucky ladies with two precious grandparents!

 Shenanigans on Grandaddy Elliott's chair!

 Bop Bop had a birthday while we were up there and many willing candle-blowing helpers!

Creek-playing is of course one of the most important things to do when you're at the cabin, and that freezing cold water didn't slow them down!

I would like to say she was contemplating the majesty of God's creation, the importance of making family time a priority, how thankful she is for her family, the gift of salvation... but I'm pretty confident she's admiring her pink and purple toes. I'm thankful for those precious baby toes, that messy curly head, and the silly little girl who wears a tutu to play in a creek!

 Unpictured is some lovely visiting time we had with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Boo. We had lunch with them one day and got to swing by their home on our way out. They are such precious family to us, and we always leave their presence feeling refreshed, thankful, loved, and so glad that such special people are related to us. A side note to anyone vising Blue Ridge anytime soon: there's a olive oil and vinegar tasting room downtown now that was absolutely fascinating. It's like wine tasting for olive oils- I ha ndo idea how much flavor could be packed in a bottle. This is a must-see, must- experience spot.

Going out of town right after moving was a little nuts, but it was really the first time we had slowed down in months, between school, birthdays, the flu, packing for the move, moving, etc., it was really great to be physically separated from the to-do list and given the opportunity to rest our bodies and souls and soak in family and the Lord for a weekend!

Tour and Dodge Ball-erina

Right after Easter was the Teddy Bear tour of the school where she will begin kindergarten this fall. There she is on our front step, holding Uni the unicorn she chose to bring as her stuffed animal buddy for the tour (how cute is that??). There is the school over her left shoulder. Sooo fun, right?

 She loved every bit of the tour and was so focused on going where we were being led and seeing everything that she totally had no regard for me- no hand holding, no sticking close to Mom, not much paying attention to a couple of kids she actually does know who were there... I had to weave through parents to catch up with her. I'm so thankful for her excitement, and we're so thankful to have a great school to send her to!

One thing the girls love about the new place is a really soft living room floor! It's perfect for wrestling Daddy.

 It's also perfect for a new sport in our home called "Dodge Ball-erina." Dodge Ball-erina is a sport Jake invented in which little ballerinas run and leap across the living room floor, and Daddy tries to peg them with the soft football when they run by. It's extremely popular in our home.

 One morning Blythe was barely awake when Jake was heading out the door to work, and she said in her falsetto little voice, "Daddy, can we play Dodge Ball-erina real quick?" Who can refuse to peg a little girl as sweet as that? After a couple of run-by's and peggings, she was satisfied and Daddy was allowed to go. All in a dad's day of work.