Nashville Visit

It's travel time again for Wesley! This time, he headed for two weeks to Armenia and the Republic of Georgia. Jackson and I made plans to travel up to Nashville for a week while he was gone. It was a blast! We spent all our time with family and had a great visit.

Here are some of the highlights of the trip:

Happy Birthday, Rebekah!

On Saturday Susan had Rebekah's 2nd birthday party. She was so cute and I think enjoyed all the attention - especially the presents.

Drubby, Joshua and Caleb spent the afternoon looking at the World Atlas. The boys love finding out where people have been so Drubby went through all the states and countries he had visited.

After the party, Susan's neighbors took the little ones over to their train room. Jackson loved seeing the model train and wearing the engineer hat

Harpeth Hills Picnic
Sunday afternoon, Emily and Ryan invited us to join them at the annual Harpeth Hills Church of Christ picnic. It was a perfect night for a picnic and we were able to see lots of familiar faces.

Part of the festivities was pony rides. I didn't know if Jackson would like that or not but we decided to try it out. Ryan was able to get him up on the horse for about 3 minutes but right before the ride began, Jackson wanted off! We did have a chance though to grab a picture!





Bubbles
For this visit, Jackson and I crashed at Emily and Ryan's new house. It is adorable! I love the floor plan and the yard - oh! I miss having a yard! It was so nice!


In their master bathroom they have a whirlpool tub. Emily and I thought it would be fun to let Jackson try out the bubbles. Well, this tub makes amazing bubbles. I have never seen so many!!







We did so much more but I didn't have my camera around for all the fun!

SURPRISE! Happy Birthday, Jackson!

We have the best friends!!

Earlier this summer, I casually mentioned to my friend Katey that I wasn't feeling good enough to throw Jackson a birthday party. We were going to celebrate with Wesley's family but I didn't have it in me to organize and plan a party for Jackson's friends. It was a simple conversation and really I didn't think of it again... until...

This morning we had plans to meet for a play date at Ashley's house. Jackson and I arrived right on time to find everyone else already there. We walked in and were immediately escorted to the living room where my friends had decorated for a SURPRISE birthday party for Jackson!!!

I was speechless and looked over to all my friends. They knew I hadn't felt well and wanted to make sure Jackson had a party. It was so sweet!! They had decorations, presents, cupcakes and all centered around Jackson's favorite, Elmo.

It was a great morning and I was so grateful for my friends' thoughtfulness. Jackson had a wonderful party, and I again was reminded just how blessed we are with such wonderful friends here in Cumming!

Thank you, Girls!

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

Mommy and her birthday boy!

They even made goody bags for all the kiddos!

Let the party begin!

Cupcake Time!

Birthday Boy with his cupcake and cookie!

Alayna

Sam

Addie

Addison

Tucker

Male Bonding

Wesley and our friend Todd decided it would be fun to start a tradition -- camping with the boys. By boys, I mean two-year old Jackson and (almost) three-year old Tucker.

Now, to me, camping in the woods with toddlers does not sound like fun but Todd and Wesley were all about it!

Last night, they loaded Wesley's truck with coolers, a tent, bug spray, first aid kits (supplied by the moms!), clothes, toys, diapers, and sippy cups. It was a sight.

Ashley and I were not given much information about the night - just that our boys would be well taken care of. I didn't even know where they were going, but I knew they would have fun.

And fun they did have. They arrived back in Cumming this afternoon, and Wesley has been sharing countless funny stories of the adventure.

My particular favorites involve two grown adults and two toddlers sleeping- or in the adults case attempting to sleep - in the same tent. Both Tucker and Jackson tossed and turned all night until they popped out of bed at 6:00 am. Seems there were some ducks on the pond that started quacking early this morning. Not wanting to miss out on anything, Wesley said, Tucker and Jackson jumped up, looked out the tent window, and started quacking along. Wake-Up Time!

I am so glad that Wesley and Jackson were able to enjoy last night. It is so good for Wesley to get out with his friends, and it is fun to see Jackson begin to develop friendships on his own.

It is also such a blessing that Wesley desires to start these types of traditions with his son. Jackson is one lucky kid to have a dad that loves him so much!

The campsite

I think this is dinner which for Jackson was chicken fingers and ketchup

Bright and early this morning

Wesley said the boys threw rocks into the lake for two hours this morning!

Playing in the dirt

Best Buds!

Car Show

Sunday evening the church up the street from us had a car show. We saw the advertisements for it and decided to check it out.

Though I am not big into cars, Wesley and Jackson are! They really enjoyed walking around and seeing all the unusual vehicles.

The car show was a great community outreach for the church. They had a great crowd and in addition to the car show, they were giving away prizes and free dinner. That was an unexpected treat - no cooking for me!

Two little boys put on a show with their mini-cars. I didn't see it but Wesley took Jackson over to watch and he had a great time. Afterwards, he was able to "test drive" the cars himself!

Time in Knoxville

This week Wesley, his brother Joel, brother in law Ron and Dad traveled to Chicago for a leadership conference. Since I am still not feeling 100%, Jackson and I ventured to Knoxville to stay with my mother -in-law for the time they were gone.

I am so thankful we were there - I had a few rough days and my mother-in-law saved the day! She watched Jackson all day for me Wednesday and Thursday so I could sleep it off. She was another one of my pregnancy lifesavers!

By Friday I was feeling much better so my Dad came by for a visit with his dad. Jackson and I really enjoyed eating lunch with both Pop-Pops! Here are some pictures from our lunch outing to Sam and Andy's (yummy!)

Jackson's favorite part of lunch was the bag of Doritos his PopPop gave him!

92 years separate the two but they really enjoyed being together!

Leanne, Jackson, my Dad, and my Pop-Pop

Jackson and his Great Pop-Pop

Falcons Training Camp

One of Wesley's co-workers, Nancy, has pretty good connections with the Atlanta Falcons and for the past two years has invited us to Training Camp.

This morning we traveled to Flowery Branch around 8:30 to watch the team practice and then were treated to an autograph session and lunch.

All three of us enjoyed the morning and it got me very excited about football season!

Jackson and Wesley watching from the sidelines

And here they are on the field - I found out after snapping this picture that we were supposed to have cameras on the field - whoops!

Down, Set, Hut! Do you think we have a future player on our hands?