{iPhone Rewind} :: November

I sure do love this tree. I don't love how many leaves it drops in the fall, but I love how beautiful it is when it changes colors...

Maddie was so excited to build her little bunny garden night light

Got to attend the DTS Centennial Celebration dinner at the Museum of the Bible with some CBC people

Maddie's cute little poem

We have had a couple of squirrels who enjoyed the pumpkins we put out on the front porch. It's a good thing they were free, and we were not hoping to keep them for the season!

I got a fun surprise in the mail from Laura! She sent a box full of fun goodies, a "Survival Kit for Ministry Wives." It was a sweet and thoughtful gift that came right at the perfect time.

Playing chess with Daddy :)

A quick lunch trip to McDonald's

Second grade phonetic spelling is the best :)

Hit my deductible {plan year started Nov 1}. And this medication is actually more expensive, I just have already had a couple of doctor appointments this month that ate up part of my deductible. I am so thankful for insurance, but this is criminal. This is ONE dose. I need one dose every 4 weeks.

We celebrated Mike's birthday with homemade cards, enchiladas, salsa, and chocolate cake!

The day after Thanksgiving, we got all the Christmas decorations up!

Celebrating 11 Years

This past weekend, we were able to celebrate our 11th anniversary! 

It actually started earlier in the week when Mike came home a few days with some fun gifts...flowers one day, a cookie another day, and chocolates another. Just sweet surprises when he came home to let me know he was thinking of me :)

We exchanged our gifts on our actual anniversary {a whiskey sampler for Mike, and a Mama getaway for me}, but went out to celebrate on Sunday. We decided to try a sushi place in Arlington; its fancy-ness was probably lost on us, but we still enjoyed it. 

Bluefin tuna with hokkaido uni

We then went around the corner to The Little City, an arts and humanities district in Falls Church, where we got some ice cream at Lil City Creamery. 

Mike asked me if, when we got married 11 years ago, I could have imagined celebrating our 11th anniversary at a sushi restaurant in Virginia...and I can't say that I could have haha. When we got married, I signed up for McKinney, TX. Virginia was not anywhere on the radar. Nothing outside of Texas was. But God had different plans, and I wouldn't change any of it. I love our life together, and I'm grateful that God knows better than we do.

We're so thankful for one of our elders and his wife for volunteering to watch our kiddos while we got a fun date night out. The kiddos were having the time of their lives building paper airplanes the whole evening! :)

Tennessee Adventures :: Part 2

On Wednesday, we headed to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for a hike. We kept it pretty easy with the Cataract Falls Trail. The trail was almost completely tree-covered, which made for a cool hike.

Throwing rocks into the river

We made it!

We found a Paw-Paw plant!

Even though it wasn't a very difficult hike, and Cataract Falls is only 25 feet tall, I'm still going to count this for my 40 Before 40 list. I'll try for a hike that requires more effort before I'm 40, but just in case I don't make it, I'm saying this counts ;)

After our hike, we met back up with Michael's crew for a round of mini golf at Hillbilly Golf. This was a really cool course up on the top/side of the mountain. It was also the first time the kids have done mini golf! Let's just say they like to play by their own rules, but everyone had fun, so that's what matters. Eli even had a couple of hole-in-ones!

Heading up, up, up to the top!

After a long day of outdoor fun, we headed back to the cabin for some rest, a movie, and grilling. 

Papa, the Master Griller with a killer view

Grandma in her happy place; kids in their happy place with her

Thursday we headed to English Mountain Trout Farm. They have a trout pond, where you can fish, and then they grill it on the spot for you. Honestly, it's the perfect set-up for kids; it's super simple to catch a trout {so there's no waiting}, and it was delicious! 

Michael and his crew headed back to Texas on Friday, but since we only had one day of travel, we got to stay an extra day. It was National Donut Day, so we couldn't pass up the chance to celebrate! Papa wasn't complaining :)

Grandma and Papa offered to babysit so Mike and I could sneak in a date! Some rain rolled in, but we still decided to brave the wet weather and head into downtown Gatlinburg. We walked around in the light rain, grabbed a quick lunch, then waited in line at The Crazy Mason. We actually didn't even know that it was a "thing," we really were just enjoying sitting and talking, catching up on life {kid-free} while we waited for it to open. But then people started lining up outside the door, so then we were committed haha.

Love him :)

We had such a great, full week. Lots of family time, lots of fun adventures, lots of laughter. Thank you, Grandma and Papa for an amazing week! We miss you already and look forward to seeing you soon :)