The Big Move (Part 2)

As I mentioned in my last post, this past weekend my family drove down to Grandmother's house to help her pack and get ready for the big move to Florence. At first I decided not to post any pictures but to send any interested readers to my cousin Brooke's blog. However, as I looked through my pictures from the weekend I decided that there were some that were too good to pass up. Alot of these are duplicates from Brooke's blog, only Brooke has a MUCH better camera and her pics look a lot better than mine. That's okay though, looks like we'll probably be purchasing a really nice camera in the next few weeks. Which reminds, me- thanks to those who left messages on my blog post about what kind of camera to buy. We are thinking about the Nikon D5000. If you have any thoughts on the camera (good or bad), I'd love to hear what you think!

Anyway, back to the pictures...

My Grandmother's house from the road

The barn right outside Grandmother's house

These were some of Grandmother's old hats that she has kept from the 50's and 60's. Can you believe she kept all of this stuff!

I actually decided to keep the hat that I was wearing in this picture. I thought it was pretty cute and would make for a really fun hat to wear on "hat day" at school. Plus, I got a cute hat box from the 50's to put it in!

Me and Trey

Carter loved talking to Trey about guns and hunting!

All of the Great Grand-Kids on the steps of Grandmother's house

Uncle Tim, Aunt Vicki (who has lost 97 lbs by the way!!), Grandmother, and my Mom

Caley and Marah

(They love it when I braid their hair and both girls asked me to braid their hair before church at Grandmother's on Sunday night. Don't they look so cute??)

Joshua and Carter

Marah

The Bowerman Clan

The Crazy Clan

The Grandkids

(Paige, Brooke, Ben, Amy, and Me)

The Big Move

This past weekend I met my family down at Grandmother's house to help her pack her things to get ready for her move to Florence. Whereas I've known that this would happen for some time now, it's hard to believe that the time has finally come. It was my Grandmother's decision to move... she wants to be closer to her family and not feel so isolated in Millport, and she's got a great attitude and seems excited about the move. As much as I've tried to tell myself that this really is the best thing, it's hard letting go of the house, the barn, the pasture, the memories... This was my Great Grandmother's house beforehand (Mammaw), so it's been in the family for many, many years. Each year in May my Grandaddy's side of the family comes down for a reunion. We've always been taught that aside from God, family comes first and it's important to stay close and in touch with our relatives. I have countless memories spent at that house, and I'm having a tough time absorbing the idea of never going back.

On Sunday we all met at Grandmother's house and my cousin Brooke took a ton of pictures to document our memories. There is no way I could ever begin to describe Grandmother and Grandaddy like she did, so I encourage you to take the time to read her blog. She posts a Part 1 and Part 2 and I'm so glad she did!

Thanks for taking the time to read... please say a prayer for my Grandmother as she makes the transition to Florence and begins a new chapter of her life.

Brooke's Blog

My visit with Caroline (and Alicia and Christy, too!)

Last Wednesday after school I went to visit some of my favorite friends in the whole world... Christy, Alicia, and sweet Caroline. When I got there Caroline was taking a nap so I got to spend a few minutes catching up with Christy and Alicia. These are some of my dearest friends from Brookwood Forest and I miss all of our talks and laughs, so it was definitely a blessing to get together again and catch up! As soon as Caroline woke up, she was all smiles and ready to play.

You can't help but smile when you're around her... it's contagious!

Caroline loved snack time... as long as I kept the cookies and grapes flowing!

Christy is the Reading Coach at Brookwood Forest so she never misses an opportunity to bring Caroline books and take the time to read a few with her.

Alicia is typically behind the camera taking all the great pictures, but Josh came in from work and was able to snap a group picture before we left. I can't wait until we do it again!!

Trunk or Treat and Madi's Arrival!

This past Sunday night we celebrated "Trunk or Treat" at our church. This is always a really fun time for the kids and the Young Marrieds' group always has a fun time, too! This year our core group decided on a fishing theme for our trunk. We loved it because the girls got to sit in the back of the truck bed and pin candy on the fishing pole while the guys handled all of the kids. There were plenty of fun people, fun costumes, and fun trunks!

Me with my buddy John

(Our preacher's son)

Martina holding Colton at our "trunk"

(Don't you love the pier that leads up to our sea of fun?)

I caught Nemo!

The sign says, "Have you seen Falcon?"

Priceless!

Hal and Maghan brought Addison out for her first Trunk or Treat experience!

This is Kate (one of our little ones in our core group) with her mom Beth.

The girls in the back of the truck...

AND NOW... FOR THE MAIN EVENT...

WELCOME BABY MADISYN!!

Madisyn James Faucett was born on Tuesday, October 27th around 1:30 P.M. She weighed in at 6 lbs and 13 oz and is absolutely gorgeous! She actually celebrated her birthday with her dad, Ben. Here is Ben with a cookie cake for him and Madi.

What a great way to celebrate your birthday!

Bethany, Laura, Madi, Me, and Amanda

This is about as close as Trey got to Madi... I think he's scared it might be contagious or something... : )

Friends (and co-workers)

A.K.A. The Dream Team

We are so excited for Ben and Bethany and wish them all the best!!

Tricia's Wedding Weekend

This past weekend we celebrated Tricia's wedding and had so much fun! On Friday morning we went over to Mrs. Lynn's house (Mrs. Landry's best friend) for the Bridesmaid's luncheon. The food was delicious and, although boys wouldn't understand this, it's just fun being girly sometimes and eating girly food and drinking girly drinks on girly china and getting girly presents. Get my point? : )

The Bridesmaids with Tricia

Samantha (one of our BFF's from church), Allison (Tricia's cousin), Alissa (another BFF from church), Catherine (Tricia's best friend from college), Tricia, and me

Me and Tricia

For bridesmaid's gifts, Tricia gave us gold jewelry to wear with our dresses. She also gave us a clutch with a special message attached to the fabric inside. She chose fabric to fit each of our personalities so that each clutch was unique and different from all the others. I hate to be biased, but I think mine is the prettiest!

After the rehearsal at Homewood, we headed over to the rehearsal dinner at Avondale Villa. I had never been to this place before, but it's basically an empty looking church-like facility with gorgeous windows that was set up with tables and chairs to eat at. The setting was beautiful and the dinner was delicious!!

Karen, Me, Tricia, Sam, and Alissa

On the day of the wedding the bridesmaids got to the church around 11:45. Tricia had a make-up artist from MAC come to do her make-up and it looked amazing. If I had the money I'd buy all MAC make-up... but unfortunately I don't so I guess I'll stick with Maybelline.

This is Tricia and Jason right after they saw each other for the first time. It was supposed to be all sweet and romantic but Tricia tripped going up the stairs. ha! Don't worry Tricia, at least you didn't barf at your reception like I did. (People say I'll laugh about it one day... I'm still waiting.)

Our flowers... aren't they gorgeous?

My sweet sister drove all the way from Flotown to be there for the wedding. I was really glad she came and had a lot of fun with her in the short time she was here visiting! (Doesn't she look great?! She's lost 18 pounds!!)

Right before the wedding began, Craig came in and prayed with Tricia.

I thought this picture was precious.

Tricia's cake was ordered from Olexa's in Mtn Brook. Notice the detailing... it is Amy Butler fabric! (Tricia's favorite!)

Me and My Handsome Husband

Karen helped make sure that everything was just right for the reception. She did a fantastic job and looked gorgeous doing it!

These lamps were made by Tricia's mom and hung over each table at the reception. These lamps are also made out of Amy Butler fabric to match the cake and the programs. It's all in the details! : )

Just chillin'...

The reception was held at "The Loft at Flower Stems." This was the staircase that led to the reception area. It was such a cool place for a reception. It's downtown off University Blvd... I highly recommend it.

Just Married!

Punkin' Day

On October 16th and 17th I drove to Florence for Mars Hill's annual fall festival called Punkin' Day. It's always a lot of fun to see old friends and teachers from my middle and high school days at the Hill. We set up a booth called "Pro-craft-ination" (my sister's idea... funny, huh?) and had a blast hanging out and talking to everyone that passed by. Martina joined us on Saturday and brought a lot of her cute monogramming!

Our "boof"

Martina, Me, and Amy

Me and the Sis

Colton

I had to throw in a picture of my daddy-in-law just for kicks.

I thought this picture was hilarious!

Welcome Baby Addison!

Last night Trey and I stopped by Maghan and Hal's to see their newest addision to the family, Addison Lynn Craig! She is, quite possibly, one of the most beautiful babies I've ever seen. I'm so happy for Maghan and Hal and wish them all the best with baby Addison!