Over the Weekend

Friday was the fourteenth anniversary of 9/11. Each year the MOMS Club that I

belong to does a little something for the local firemen and police men in remembrance

of all the first responders that died that day.  This year  we baked cookies and cupcakes and

delivered to the fire stations and police department. Raphael brought home cookie cakes 

for each station too.  

Saturday was the first official soccer game for Rebecca. This year is a bit different- the girls are all

older, so now they play 5 against 5, there is a goalie and a referee. The field size is bigger too.

I think they all did great, considering the new changes and they only had one practice so far.

Her coach, is super nice and seems to know what is going on. His name is Dave, so the team

name is Dave and Chipmunks :)

After soccer, we drove straight to the tennis courts. Rachel played her first official

tennis match. I signed her up with ALTA and she played doubles with a girl from

her tennis academy group.

Nyla and Rachel.  

Nyla is a great player and has played matches before, she was so nice

 and helpful with Rachel. Rachel was very nervous and there are a lot of rules and details to remember for tennis. Thankfully, the girls won their match! A good confidence booster

for Rachel. 

The weather has been picture perfect for fall. So after church the girls and I went to the park.

They ran around for a while and then we went to check out an old grist mill and pond.

It was a good weekend!

Labor Day Weekend 2015

We had a busy Labor Day weekend and did a bunch of fun stuff, but still had a little time to relax.

Saturday night, we went to Atlanta to celebrate our anniversary.

I picked a restaurant called Einsteins and the food was so good. We were able

to eat outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. 

Then we drove down the street to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to look at a special event they have going on this summer and fall. It is called "Light in the Garden". And each night at dusk thousands of  colored fiber optic lights turn on all around the gardens.

It is really hard to capture in a picture, but it was beautiful. This was a "forest of lights" and all the lights changed colors. Really pretty to see and walk through and get an up close look.

I was surprised at how many people were at the gardens to see the lights. At Christmas time, they have a display with Christmas lights, so we might go back with the girls to see it this year.

Sunday we went to church and then we headed over to Six Flags Amusement Park. It had been a couple of years since we had taken the girls, so we went for a day of fun.

                                                                 Don't they look excited!

Rachel and Rebecca planning our next stop while we waited in line. We rode a couple of the smaller roller coasters and had lunch together.  Rebecca is not quite tall enough to go on the big roller coasters yet.

Raphael and Rachel went off to ride the big rides and I took Rebecca on a few more of the smaller rides. We went on the train and a fun balloon ride, she was in love with the balloons.

We had a great time at the park and headed home to get ready for Monday. I didn't take a single picture on Monday.   We had our friends the Curry family come over for lunch and just ate and talked while the girls played.  Then Naomi and I picked up another friend and we went to see the movie War Room.  Good movie and strong reminder of the power of prayer.

And that was our weekend!

The High

When school started back this year, Rachel moved up into the middle school group at church. The middle schoolers have their Sunday school class at the 9am church service.  We have been going to the 1pm service for a long time, so it has been an adjustment for us. But, a good thing, is that we have the rest of Sunday to spend together as a family.

We have lived in Georgia for nine years and had never visited The High Museum of Art, so after church  we took the girls.  The High is hosting an exhibit about The Pigeon books. Rebecca discovered The Pigeon books in preschool and we love them. The pigeon is so funny.

It was not quite what I expected, I figured it would be a bit more interactive, but we learned all about how The Pigeon books are written and drawn.

It happened to be "Sunday, Family Fun Day" at the Museum, so they had different activities for the kids to do and look at. We wandered around and took a look at some of the different exhibits.

             There is an exhibit by Alex Katz there right now. He paints really big pictures
We followed along with a group and learned how to "feel" the paintings. It was a little silly, but the
little kids seemed to like it.

This lovely red triangle was in the modern art area. There was also a green square and blue circle. Rachel wasn't sure what to think about it all.

More modern art and furniture to look at and study. Rebecca thought all the chairs looked uncomfortable and I with her.

                                          This was a big sculpture of fruit on a picnic blanket

It was time to go, but first we checked out the Los Trompos exhibit outside. They were this big huge
spinning tops made out of ropes. The girls loved them and I went for a quick spin.

We ended up buying a family membership, so we will be back to the The High sometime soon!

Photos from my Phone Friday

    Lately, Lola has been wanting to walk to the bus stop with me in afternoons to pick up Rebecca.

We had new carpet put in our house! I still can't believe how much I love the new carpet. A crew of guys showed up and re carpeted the whole house in just a few hours- it was impressive.

I have been on a reading kick lately. This book was amazing. The story of a pastor and his family that had one of their daughters die unexpectedly at age 5. No doubt, this family loves Jesus.

           And this Jen Hatmaker book was so true and funny. Lots to think about in here.

                                         We went to Lake Lanier for the last time this summer.

                                  The girls and I went to a wedding for Judy and Pete.

Judy and Pete were married, had several children and then ended up getting divorced. For years they didn't talk and didn't see each other.  A couple of years ago, Judy was in a car accident and severely hurt. She and her ex-husband started talking again. And a long  story short-- they got remarried! There was not a dry eye in that church because we all knew what had occurred to get them back together. The pastor reminded us all " God can fix broken things!"

Judy and Pete and all these kids! Judy has taught children Sunday school and AWANA for years. The kids all love her and she loves them. She wanted a picture with all her "kids".

                               The girls tried out the photo booth at the wedding reception.

                               

And today is our 16th wedding anniversary!!