Grandpa Max & Tutu's visit

Around February, when I had decided on a date for Abby's baptism, I called my dad to see if he wanted to come out and baptize her. Lucky for us, he did. I didn't tell the kids they were coming because if something happened and they couldn't come, I didn't want to deal with the aftermath so I've kept it a secret for months.

Dad & Susan flew out on Thursday, October 14th. I had picked up both kids from school and told them that Todd needed us to pick up some girl from the airport and drop her off at the auction since there was no one around to do it. We waited in the parking lot for a bit until I got the call. We then went in and waited. It was a fun surprise for the kids. *See video at the end*


Thursday:
played baseball & golf
swinging on swings
grilled bbq chicken for dinner
talking

Around 11pm, Todd was moaning in the shower so I went to check on him and he was in pain due to a kidney stone. Luckily we were able to leave the kids with the parents and run to the ER. The ER in D'ville was crappy so we left and went to Tanner in Villa Rica and got right in, drugs on board, CT scan and home by 3:15am.

Friday:
Up at 7am to take Sam to dentist at 8am-running on no sleep
baked 150 muffins for Abby's baptism
ventured off to Atlanta for lunch at Gladys Knight's place
(it was so-so)
put together 4 breakfast casseroles
called 911 for my sick neighbor and kept their kids til midnight

Abby's baptism! It was a very special day.

After the baptism and clean-up, Abby & Tutu found this sewer pipe in the field and made a fort for the kids. They had a great time!

We then made a special trip into Atlanta again, this time for
the best ice cream in town - Morelli's
(we enjoyed east india kulfi, earl grey, salted caramel, mint chocolate chip & bananas foster)

Sunday:
Tellus Museum
The Fruit Jar Cafe

The guys played plenty of golf in the back yard and on Chapel Hills & Mirror Lake Golf courses

Monday:
We went to Clinton Park to play & hit the mall for lunch


Tuesday:
Dad & Susan then had the opportunity to go stay at my in-laws beautiful beach house for 3 days

Friday:
Dad & Susan got back from Florida and we carved jack-o-lanterns
made homemade ice cream

Saturday:
Sam's baseball game (he hit 3 homeruns)
lunch at ihop
drop off parents at airport - boo hoo!

Video of the airport

I am so grateful to have parents who are willing to come and support us. We had a great time and can't wait to be together again.

Abby's Baptism

I started thinking/planning for Abby's baptism months ago. I wanted to make sure it went well and that she would remember her special day. I began working on the video and it takes time to scan all the old photos and then get them just right, choose the right music and videos. In the end, I think everything went really well on her special day.

Here's the video:




I've wanted to have her pictures taken along Cochran Mill Road for close to a year and when she finally had a day off, I told her we were going to take her pictures and her response was, "Can't we just take the pictures on the stairs?" Um...no.

Here are a few of my favorites

No trick photography here...a real butterfly landed on her arm

Her baptism invitation

The program

Aunt Rachel made her baptism book. Scrapbooked photo pages for guests to write Abby little notes. I love having these memories preserved. Rachel also was kind enough to have all Abby's cousins, aunts, uncles & grandparents sign it for her before mailing it.

I set up a couple days in advance knowing we'd be very busy!
(Many thanks to Jennifer & Danielle for helping me!)

I chose a fall theme for the decorations and they were simple but nice

On the menu:
Praline-topped french toast
Christmas casserole
Pumpkin muffins
Sweet potato muffins
Orange muffins
Applesauce muffins
Fruit
Chick-Fil-A chicken minis

Abby got her own new set of scriptures with her name engraved & Aunt Rachel made her a darling scripture tote
(Funny story about the engraving...I took the scriptures to the local Christian book store and when I picked it up I gave them my name and the lady said, "Oh, the Mormon Bible?" Yep, that's ours.)

Display in the Relief Society Room

My cute dad (and Susan) came out to baptize Abby. It was really special to have them here.

The after-PARTY! (spiritually-speaking)

Sam

Aunt Annie & cousin Jonathan

The trouble makers, Sam & Uncle Larry

Grandma Judy, Aunt Lisa & Aunt Annie

Gina Whitfield (Abby's primary teacher) and the girls in her class
Abby, Abby, Ali, Samantha, Monica & little Maggie

My cousin Laurie and her cute kids, Andrew, Rebecca & Gabe

Cindy, Dawn, Jacki, Sis & Bro T

Lacey & the Adams family

We were really blessed to have so many friends and family members come and support Abby at her baptism. It was a wonderful day for our family. However, I failed to get a photo of said happy family. Dang it!