Nov. 1st - 21st, 2013

Hi Everyone,

Hope you all are looking forward to Thanksgiving next week as much as we are! Spending time with loved-ones over the holidays is the best part. Though we would love to spend the holidays with both sides of our family every year, we have had to come to grips with the fact that we can't be two places at the same time. :( So, we decided a few years ago to start alternating between spending either Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day with one side of the family and then the other the following year. So far, it's working out pretty well. We are certainly blessed to have family close by to spend time with!

We had a good trip to Nashville a few weeks ago. Not gonna lie here, it did prove to be a little challenging to have three kiddos in a very nice hotel for two days. :) But, thank goodness, the hotel had an awesome outdoor kiddie pool that was heated. So that helped the boys get a lot of energy out. 

 Mr. Sunshine in the back seat. :)

 Hair slicked, name tag, all ready for the convention...

Look who we got to meet while there!

 It's hard to capture in pictures how HUGE as well as how GORGEOUS this place was! The property covered more than 60 acres. It houses over 2,300 rooms and if all the panes were taken out of the glass ceiling and laid flat, it would cover 7 football fields! Not joke, we did get lost at least once. :)

 One of many exploration trips while Micah was busy. 

 Just one of many amazing garden areas at the hotel. 

 We spent an extra night in Nashville so we'd have time to do a little sight-seeing. One place we visited was the Parthenon, a to-scale replica of the real one in Rome. Very impressive. Especially, knowing that it was constructed in the 1897!

 Happy Traveler

 Blake posing as...himself.  :)

 And Seth. :)

 Love this picture!

 Quick walk through Downtown Nashville before heading home. We kept hoping we'd see someone famous...we did, even got a picture with him.  ;)

 Back home...had a 74 degree day last week! Seth was much relieved to not have to wear his jacket that day. The baine of his existence!

 Owen's first hair cut at 8 and 1/2 months old. Just a trim really. :)

 Little Drummer Boy. Look at those arms go! He loves to play with anything that makes loud noises. 

We made a leaf maze yesterday to pass the time. 


A few funnies...

       When attempting to teach Seth that he needs to "Treat others the way he wants to be treated", his response was, "But, I don't want to be treated".   :)

      "That's why cars have to turn on their night lights" one of many astute observations from our dear Blake about what vehicles do at night when it gets dark. 


Well, hope you all have a good Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to seeing again Jonathan (he's coming down from Fort Meade, Maryland) and Will too (coming from Virginia). There is certainly a multitude of blessings we are thankful for this year. The biggest one being that we know Who holds the keys to our future and thus have no reason to despair.

Love to you all,

Kari, Micah, Blake, Seth and Owen