Sophie turns SIX!!

So last week, my sweet Sophie Lu turned S-I-X!

Crazy right!?!?

S-I-X!

Six years ago, the world became a sweeter place when this five pound, blue eyed, blond haired beauty made her grand debut! She is a true blessing from above and a constant reminder of the Lord's goodness and faithfulness to us!!

Sophie woke up to streamers dangling from her bedroom door and all of us were there to greet her with hugs, kisses and birthday wishes. 

 

She asked to sleep in sponge rollers the night before so she could sport sweet ringlets on her big day!

She begged to open a few presents before heading out the door to school.

What did she get?

Anna and Elsa, of course!

Later that afternoon, I headed up to school to enjoy lunch with the birthday girl. 

 I stopped by SAS cupcakes on my way to school, and surprised the new SIX year old with a special birthday treat! 

Last Sunday afternoon, our family and friends gathered at our home, and the birthday celebrating continued!

Our sweet friend, Leah, blessed us by making Sophie an ADORABLE Olaf cake. 

It was quite the hit;)

It was soooooo cute...and delicious too;)  

Sophie LOVED it!

This girl is so blessed to have so many friends and family who love, adore, and treasure her. 

Happy Birthday, Sophie Lu!! We praise God for the work He is doing in your life and are so thankful for a front row seat as we watch His plans unfold!!

Welcome to the world baby, Emery!

Friday night, at 9:23pm, our family welcomed it's newest member. My sister B, and brother-in-law Matt, added this SWEET 7lb. 12oz tiny miracle to their precious little family.

 

B and Matt now have two boys and TWO girls.

 Emery Caroline evened things out for their crew, and Brooklyn (finally) got the baby sister she's dreamed about!!!

On Saturday afternoon, after Riley's season opener, we headed up to the hospital to meet sweet Emery!

We were ALL dying to meet this newest bundle and
as we made our way into the hospital room, my kids were bickering with one another over WHO was going to be the FIRST to hold Emery;)

There should be NO surprise as to WHO ended up getting first dibs;)

HA!

Riley got to hold her next and from the moment she was placed in his arms...

 he was completely SMITTEN!!!

As his turn came to an end, he wasn't quick to let go and begged to hold her a little longer.

Others were waiting, so he reluctantly passed her along.

But as she made her way around the room from person to person, 

Riley stuck close by.

He just ADORED Emery!

Hudson was pretty proud of his newest cousin too! 

He giggled with joy as she wiggled and kicked in his arms.

My amazing parents are now the proud(est) Mimi and Papa to a grand total of NINE grand babies.

Oh, what JOY new life brings!!!!!

Apple Picking Fun, 2014

 On Saturday, Corban had a soccer game scheduled in the mountains of North Carolina.
The fields were about two hours away from our home.

So instead of just driving up for the game, and then right back home again when it was over, we decided to make a day of it.

 We realized that our very FAVORITE apple farm was only a short 30 minute drive from the fields where Cor played.

So as soon as the game was over,
 we loaded up our little troop and headed to 

Sky Top Orchard.

This was our fourth year visiting Sky Top...

and it's certainly become one of our family's favorite fall outings.

 I mean nothin' screams "FALL!" more than a fresh picked apples, right!?!?

The weather was a bit dreary, but the cloud cover kept us cool as we made our way through the orchard. 

The kids (and Shane) were great at hunting for the ripest and tastiest of apples.

 Sometimes finding the BEST meant a little taste testing was required.

 And with so many helpers picking...

 it wasn't long before our two big baskets were full to the brim!

Just as soon as we picked our very LAST apple, the clouds opened (as if right on cue) and the rain began to fall.

 The kids thought it was great fun as we quickly ran for cover, all while doing our best not to spill or bruise the bushels of apples we just picked.

Once under the covered porch, we sat down and enjoyed a HOT apple cider doughnut!

 Forget the apples...

 these delicious, melt-in-your-mouth doughnuts, are what keep us going back to Sky Top year after year.

  I may or may not have had TWO;)

They are THAT good. 

And now that we're home, I have 35 pounds of sweet and delicious apples that I need to do something with.
So...bring on the crisps, pies, muffins, and breads.
The temperature outside may not quite "feel" like fall yet, but at least my kitchen will SMELL like it;)  

Adios to Summer

We enjoyed such a FUN summer. It was slammed packed and we loved every.single.minute of it. My only complaint was that it went by WAY...too fast. 

Oh well, all good things must come to and end, right. 

And our summer was definitely GOOD. Actually it was GREAT!
So here's a little "catch up" post on how we spent our last few days of summer vacation...

A trip to the Columbia Zoo!

 We were joined by our dear friends, the Robinson's, for an exciting day of sightseeing and animal lovin' fun!

 The kids had an absolute BLAST seeing all the different animals!

But the high ropes course, 

and feeding the animals were definitely THE highlight of the day!!

The last week of summer, we also made sure we visited the Panther's Play 60 Kid Zone at Freedom Park!

 

It's such a great place and so...different than any other park we usually frequent.

My kids just LOVE it! 

But the grand finale to our summer vacation was an AWESOME weekend camp out to Cane Creek Park.

We hiked,

 we swam, 

we roasted hotdogs,

and made s'mores!

 
  It was the PERFECT way to say goodbye to such a fun and memorable summer!