our saturday

Yesterday we went to Holly Springs to celebrate Katie's youngest daughter, Quinn's, second birthday. She may just be the cutest (female) two year old in history. She is so laid back and super sweet and got so excited about every present (like fake hyperventilating). I just loved watching her. She has such a sweet spirit, and I have to say, I wouldn't be mad if she ends up being my future daughter-in-law. 


(But for that to happen her future husband is going to have to get over his bad-birthday-attitude blues and learn to share. No nap did not work in his favor yesterday.)

Well, we're off to church. I would have been more than happy for Jesus to have come back yesterday, but since he didn't (shocker), that means He is still has work for us to do. Hope you enjoy your beautiful Sunday and find a way to love on others.

**And if you can't think of anything, I know of two little boys who could use your  $5.00.** :)

quinn and jonah

Katie brought the girls and came for a visit on Wednesday. She helped me take about a million photos of things I need to sell on Ebay for Anton, and otherwise, we just hung out. The kids did great! I just wish they lived closer. Katie is so amazing about driving the almost two hours each way to visit. Some day I'll be in a better place to do the same, I hope. Love you, Katie!

Rory, Quinn, and Jonah

Jonah and his girlfriend.

fun fun weekend!

We are having an AWESOME weekend. Katie, her husband, Nathan, and their two girls are here for the weekend. We've eaten SO MUCH and the kids have played well together. Yesterday morning, after dressing change, we went to downtown Kernersville and I took some photos (with Katie's direction, she's the one who really knows what she's doing) of their family. Since Katie's always the one taking them, they have hardly any of the four of them together. We had a good time, despite the cold, and got a few super cute ones! The boys (minus Jonah, who was overdue for a nap) went to the Wake vs. Virginia game (WAKE FINALLY WON ONE!). Katie and I put Jonah and Quinn down to nap and we...


... acted like 15 year old girls, put on girly dresses, leggings, and boots, went out in the yard and took photos of each other. Yep, we sure did. And it was so fun, and we laughed A LOT. Katie did super great clean edits and I played with my Totally Rad presets and turned us funny colors. Cause that's just how I roll. Here are a few of my favorites. (And oh my word, I am DIGGIN' my haircut. Shannon at Mane Event rocks my socks.) These are Katie's edits.

home again

We're home from Elizabeth City. I'm glad to be home but sad to not be with Katie. It was hard and sweet and terrible and beautiful. She's lost her hero and one of her best friends. I didn't know her dad that well, but I can't believe how deeply you can feel loss and sadness and mourn with and for your friend. I'm so sad for her whole family. 


Jonah snoozing on the way down... a whopping 45 minutes of the four and half hour drive.

 Jonah, cute in his collared shirt at the funeral home. Post bloody nose incident (don't ask).

Jonah did pretty well in the car on the way up and back, but last night and this morning (dressing change) were rough in the hotel. He slept restlessly for a couple hours when Matt first put him down and then woke up screaming around 11:30 or midnight. Well, you can't let your kid cry it out in a hotel, so we got him out to try to "rock" him to sleep. It backfired. Homeboy woke up and was WIDE awake in our bed, kicking, talking, laughing, jumping on us until 2:00 am. Rough. 


But it was completely and totally worth every minute. Matt was awesome and really took over Jonah Care so I could be with Katie as much as possible. We spent some time together at the funeral home, afterwards at her house, I sat beside her at the service today, and maybe another hour this afternoon, sitting outside on a blanket, before we left. So thankful. And I'll never forget when Gabe died, how it felt to hug Katie when we saw each other at the funeral. Yesterday and today, I needed to be there just as badly as she needed me to be. It's a sweet co-dependence we have goin' on. :) 


Thanks for all your continued prayers for Katie and her family. I know, from my grief with losing Gabe, that some of the hardest days are once everyone goes home, your family scatters, and your house is too quiet.


Thanking God tonight for true friends and the bond of Jesus and his promises. I love you, Katie.

last weekend

Last weekend, Matt's parents came and Granny watched Jonah so Grandaddy, Matt, and I could work out in the yard. We've lived here for three years and have planted a couple dogwoods but I've been wanting to plant shade trees for a long time. So we finally did it... now all I have to do is keep them alive. Ahem.

We planted two inside our fence. A maple...

And a peach tree. Matt hates peaches. His wife loves them. Guess who picked out the trees?

Here's our backyard from our deck steps. That's Gabe's garden in the back.

We planted two in the side yard (we live on a corner lot). Another maple...

And a flowering plum.

And two in the front. A Flowering Cherry...

And a cute little River Birch. 

Our cute little house. We put the fence up in the spring. Southern Living, you are KILLING me.

The left side (used to be just grass).

The right side.

Our steps decorated for Fall.

Oh yeah, we have these wildflower seeds from Gabe's funeral that I never planted. So Gerry did this little raised bed just for them. We put some Mums in it just so it wouldn't look so bare...

but hopefully in the Spring, we'll have pretty wildflowers. We'll see.

We also planted lots of bulbs. I'll be excited to see how it turns out. (Or I'll go into a spinning depression if they don't come up... Just kidding... sort of.)

____________________________________

I'd like to ask for prayers for one of my best friends, Katie. I've blogged about her some. We're super close and were college roommates. Anyway, her dad suddenly and unexpectedly died early Friday morning. He was 53. Matt, Jonah, and I will be heading to Elizabeth City Tuesday afternoon so that we can be there for the visitation Tuesday night and for the service Wednesday morning. I just need to be there, ya know? Anyway, it's kind of a whirlwind trip so I'm in packing/planning mode, but I'm happy to have something I can DO. I can't wait to hug her. So if you could be in prayer for her, her mom (Blanche), and her brother (Jimmy), it would mean so much. Thank you.

our weekend and also, i still hate computers

We've had a good weekend. On Friday, my best good friend from college, Katie, and her two sweet girls came for a spontaneous visit. (I called Katie on Thursday, told her how much I missed her, asked her what she was doing the next day, and she rescheduled an appointment and came! Good friend. :) ) We had a great day, and in the afternoon, after the kids' naps and Jonah's lunch tube feed, we went to an adorable bakery in our cute downtown for cupcakes, then to a gift shop (mistake: that was breakables central... luckily our kids didn't break, but it was stressful), and then to the public library. It was Jonah's first trip to the library (and my first one to the library in our town - three years... shameful), and he had a great time. He played with one of those big wooden cube toys that has a different activity on each side and then sat in a big boy chair and worked on puzzles. He was so cute and had a blast! He really was a joy the whole time. And I can't tell you how much I love Katie and how great it is to spend time with her. She's one of those friends you just pick up right where you left off with, tell each other exactly how you feel or what you're thinking, and it's completely okay.


Then, on Saturday, Matt hung with Jonah for about four hours while I went shopping... for me! I had a great time, and it was so nice to get to browse and actually try things on. I met Kathryn at Marshall's and we had a good time getting to hang out for a little bit. They were remodeling though, so Kathryn and I had to share a TINY dressing room, and there was only one mirror for all of the three dressing rooms, so that part was a little inconvenient. When I went back a second time to try on pants, I just went to a back corner and tried my stuff on. I don't know about you other moms out there, but since I've pushed two kids out of my hoo-ha, I don't have the same view of modesty I used to have. My how life changes.


Saturday night, Matt and I went with our neighbor friends, Eric and Barbara, to a local church that is offering marriage talks combined with dance lessons. We had a great time and learned to T-A-N-G-O. We have three weeks left, and we'll learn more Tango and then have two weeks of Salsa. We had a great time, and I think it was really good for our marriage. Learning to let Matt lead is a good lesson for me. I'm sort of a control freak... in case you didn't know.


This morning, we made it to church and then just kind of hung around here this afternoon. It was the first day cool enough for Jonah to be outside, but it was pouring down rain, so we were still trapped inside. It's okay though because this week is supposed to be MUCH cooler and I think the rain is supposed to be gone by Tuesday! HOORAY FOR FALL!


I took some photos today. I downloaded the trial version of Lightroom but after importing the photos, even though I can see them right there in front of me, it says the photos are "offline or missing." I can see them but it won't let me edit them. Very frustrating. It has been a really crappy technology week for me. So I'm going to post unedited photos. And I don't like doing it, but I won't withhold the Jonah cuteness from you any longer... so here he is... in all his unedited glory. :)


UPDATE: I figured out Lightroom and edited them. I couldn't help it. It's a sickness really.