Last lovin' on the cousins

Goodbyes came too soon for our time with the Gillies. At least the girls got several days with them while we were in Texas, but we were so sad to see them go and will be missing them terribly til next fall. We got one last night with them before they flew back to New Zealand, and they soaked it up. Joy and Luke ran laps in the house and sneaked a few hugs along the way.

 You should hear how precious it sounds for little Luke to say in his precious accent, "Where's Joy Bird?"

Abby Jane taught a little school, since the Gillies boys were on holiday and, well, because most days are good days to Abby Jane to teach school, ballet, or gymnastics.
Then it was lots of hugs and I love you's, and plans for skyping. We sure love these precious ones, love any time with all of them that we can get, and love the memories these dear little cousins are building on such fun visits.

A&M with dear people!

God gave us very dear friends to do life with in our LA years. We have loved getting to reconnect with so many of those folks over the last few years on trips back out there relating to Jake's doctoral program. With that degree all wrapped up now, though, it's gotten much trickier to make it out there. Thankfully, the joining of Texas A&M to the SEC has cemented at least once a year that we'll get to see two of the families who were so very special to us, as they are A&M alum, or "former students" as they call it over there in College Station.

Just Jake and I flew out for the weekend, and this time around, just Jake and Lesley Roberts were able to meet us there as our other Aggie friends, Gil and Stew, were preparing to move from LA to College Station. Which means... a free place to stay in two years in College Station when we go back out there!  We LOVED getting to experience A&M. Auburn folks, if you missed out this year, make the trip. It is such an excellent gameday experience in an incredibly tradition-rich school, filled with people who were so hospitable and welcoming. We absolutely loved getting to hear the stories behind everything... and there are stories for EVERYTHING.

Clearly the game was fantastic. Every day is a lovely day to be an Auburn tiger, but this one was an exceptional one. But I would also encourage you to youtube the Aggie band. It was almost as intense to watch as the game. Really unbelievable.

The real highlight was exceptional time with exceptional folks who refresh and encourage our hearts in such a deep way. Thankful for the Roberts and the gift of them in our lives! Looking forward to hosting them back in Auburn next fall. Is it football season yet?? Eight months and counting...

A festival and a party

One lovely fall night in October, we had the hosts from our community group over for a such a fun evening. We absolutely love being at Passion City Church, and we're thankful for the role our community group has played in making a big church feel small. That night our back yard held 50 fabulous new and old friends, and we loved getting to connect and reconnect as we jumped into the fall together.
*Side note: If you have a massive 19th-century oak tree in your back yard, take down your fun lights before lethal acorns start bombing the bulbs. Operation bulb replacement coming soon!

We had so much fun at Abby Jane's fall festival at school later that week. Despite the rainy weather, the girls loved getting to see what it was all about and get a little more acclimated to life in a big kid school. The twins of course think everything having to do with Abby Jane is the best thing since sliced bread, so a huge school-wide party just blew their socks off. We're thankful to be in such a sweet school with an extremely active PTA that really pours into the school- the hard work of the community is evident!

As I write this, I'm reminded of our running theme of being grateful for our community on all counts. We are certainly in a sweet season!

First stitches

A few weeks shy of turning four, Joy was standing on a chair, fell off, and did a doozie of a number on her eyebrow. She apparently got all her tears out when it first happened, because she was such a champ in the urgent care (I reversed the camera for this, so it was actually her left eyebrow that was injured). Maybe she's just awesome like that, or maybe it was the two popsicles they gave her.

She never cried while they were putting the stitches in, and she was literally telling little jokes to the staff while they were working on her. Bless her sweet soul. Then she got home and completely fell apart, fell asleep, and woke up ready to take on the world with her stitches in.

She has a little scar there now, and Jake thinks it's the coolest and super appropriate for Joy's full-on personality. I honestly keep forgetting to put anything on it, so hopefully she'll forgive me if it's still there when she's a teenager and instead just own it like a champ. I've got a feeling these won't be our family's only stitches, but it's probably a good thing to keep our house of pink a little on the tougher side!

Painting projects

We decorated some baby pumpkins... it's funny to see how consistently the twins still mix all their paints together, and consistently Abby Jane's palette looks neat and tidy when she's done painting. Developmental stages are fun to watch! Also fun to watch... your treasures outside on a beautiful fall day warm enough that you seek shade for art projects...

This is the artwork that hangs in our bathroom. I figured their intentional art would look kind of cool and abstract if I only gave them the blues, greens, and turquoises I wanted displayed, and I loved the final product. The girls took a lot of pride in these, so it was fun to make a big deal about their beautiful work and how perfectly it happens to coordinate with our main bathroom!

Pumpkin Patch Day

The pumpkin patch is a day we look forward to for a long, long time in our family. I have a lot of "very favorite" things about fall, and this is near the top. We LOVED that JUST in time before pumpkin patch weekend, our fabulous New Zealand family came home for a visit. Their visit would be another one of my favorite things about the fall. We loved kicking off their visit here!

Abby Jane and her precious buddy Cade. These two are thick as thieves. How cute is that kid??

Waiting for the tractor- can you believe how Luke has grown up in the last year? Such a little heartbreaker! Handsome boys plus Kiwi accent will make a recipe for trouble when they get older. We'll just eat them up while they're precious little guys though!

Talk about being thick as thieves. So thankful for what dear friends our moms are to each other. It's so easy to get great pictures of them laughing together because it happens all the time.

Big blustery Joy is a pansy about animals unless she's on Daddy's arm.

Betsy is such an excellent mom, and she's an excellent boy mom, too. I'm so thankful for such a precious sister-in-law, and I love when we get to do life together on their visits. She is truly a treasure, and I love these boys with their favorite lady in the world!

Back at Mimi and Bop Bop's, riding the gator. It actually belongs to the boys, so they make up for lost time when they're Stateside!

It wouldn't be a hot day at Mimi and Bop Bop's without a cooler of ice to eat and throw at each other!

And it wouldn't be a fall day at Mimi and Bop Bop's if there wasn't a trip to the Canes' football field to play with the world's best Bop Bop.

We ended the day by celebrating Jake's birthday that had just happened. Jake Gross is my favorite man, and there are not enough words to describe how I value and respect that guy. He excels as a husband and father, and I could not ask for a better best friend. Love this guy!

Cabin, Apples, and a bday!

We followed up the camping weekend with a cabin weekend, thoroughly getting spoiled with time in the mountains.

This was the moment we discovered that you can hang upside down and see each other through the drainage pipe. It became popular.

Look how God leaves us little reminders in creation that He loves us.

Story time!

Here we are feeling a crisp fall morning, about to get our apple-picking on. They were not excited in the least, can you tell?

The apples did not disappoint. We love Mercier Orchards!

Joy at an apple orchard is Joy double-fisting. Happy happy Joy Joy!

My favorite treasures!

Jake and I grew up learning how to shoot, and this was the first weekend we introduced guns and GUN SAFETY to our girls. It was a lot of fun, and it brought back memories for both Jake and I of shooting with our daddies growing up.

Jake's birthday was that weekend, so the girls and I spent some time making his favorite apple crisp with apples straight off the trees from that morning.

Celebrating this guy is so much fun. There are not enough words for the hero he is to me and the girls. He is an excellent man, husband, father, and best friend, and I could not respect him more.

 It is an honor and privilege to be married to this guy and celebrate his life!

Best-ever customized cards on birthday morning! Thankful for this sweet weekend away in such a sweet place!