2014 birthdays | abigail & noah

the past few years i've begun to take my siblings to do something in celebration of their birthday instead of just giving them a gift. sometimes we go out to eat. other times we go do something fun together (see a movie, ice skating, laser tag… whatever it is they are interested in). the hope is that we get to spend some intentional time together instead of me just buying them a toy that they'll forget about in 3.5 days:) at this point, i think most of them would prefer the toy… but (for the boys especially) getting a meal out of the deal is almost just as great:) 

abigail and noah's birthdays are 3 days apart so we combined their outing this year and went out to breakfast one morning. i asked them a few specific questions while we were eating and their answers totally show their personalities:) noah thought of the most random things (which is what i love about him!) and abigail gave me the bare minimum answer, even after i prodded for something broader:) i didn't realize she was so interested in photography until this conversation though… so when i upgrade, i might have to train her on my old camera and start bringing her on shoots:)

keep scrolling to read their answers!

 What did you like about being 13?

N: Learning to be patient, waiting for cake & presents

N: Playing in the snow & cold weather

N: Going to the Young's Halloween party

N: Going to the Thomas's fall party

Why are you excited to be 14?

N: To come to breakfast in the morning (I can attest to this one-- This boy eats 3-4 breakfast every morning!)

What do you want to do while you're 14?

N: Go to golf camp & play golf with you, Emily

N: Go to Camp Riley

If you could do anything this year, what would you do?

N: Have a garage sale & sell all my clothes to little boys who like clothing.

 What did you like about being 9?

A: I didn't like AHG because they teach me stuff I already know. Like last time we were using scissors to cut out a project and they made us go over to a special table because they were afraid of us getting hurt with scissors.

A: I like cheerleading

Why are you excited to be 10?

A: I'm  a decade

A: I might do gymnastics

What do you want to do while you're 10?

A: Cheer again, maybe

A: Go to kids camp

If you could do anything this year, what would you do?

A: Get a camera and be a photographer

valentines tea

i really do love valentines day!

 if you can manage to block out all of the world's negativity & self-centeredness and avoid the commercialism, it's a really fun excuse to do all things pink & heart shaped for one day each year! (singles awareness day? please. you are SURROUNDED by people that love you even if you don't have a special someone). obviously we're supposed to show love all throughout the year, but i do like having one day to be especially positive about it & remember the Creator of this beautiful thing we call love. "this is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." (1 John 3:16)

 we never did a whole lot for the holiday growing up… some years we would make valentines for each other & some years we forgot to. other years mama & daddy would surprise us with special treats & such. but then 7 years ago we got snowed in and mama threw a little impromptu valentine's tea for us girls and the neighbor girls. we had so much fun that we remembered to do it the next year and it's been a tradition ever since! we host other teas throughout the year but this is the one that we really have fun with and do more than your typical afternoon scone & treat. i love that mama always did little tea parties for us girls growing up and cultivated that aspect of etiquette & femininity in us… and now it's really fun to help do that for my little sisters and their friends! 

the boys always complain about getting kicked out for a while but they honestly love it just as much as we do, if not more, because they get their share of the treats:) and if noah could have had his say, he would have been sitting right there at the table with us this time! such a ladies man! haha

in true throwback style to our first year, the snow DUMPED on us as we were preparing the tea and a few of our friends weren't able to make it. but i'm so thankful for those who braved the yucky roads & celebrated with us! 

the sun rise is beautiful this morning (it always is after a big snow) and after i finish my giant mug of tea (that's the only downfall to tea parties > only getting little amounts of tea at a time! haha) i'm going to bundle up and go shovel some snow! stay cozy my friends!! (why did i just get a flashback of a liquor commercial?! hahaha)

pat's homecoming!!

last saturday night we all met up at tillbert's (michael & craig are currently housemates/roommates/whatev  until michael & chloe get married & so that's a mashup of their last names/what we call their house) and then pilled in the big van to ride to the airport & welcome pat home! he's spent the last 7 months in afghanistan serving in the marines and has been missed an awful lot by everyone! we were so excited to finally have him home for a few days! sonny and sara made an american flag out of a bed sheet that we all signed-- chlo went for the stars and i'm pretty sure we were all wondering why we hadn't thought of that first:)

pat's parents invited us all back to their place that evening to hang out for a while which was such a blessing! we ate pizza, watched the olympics & the boys had a pow-wow about michael's bachelor party:) haha

then after church sunday, we met at tillbert's again for a late brunch. s+s brought long's donuts (win!), jimmy & michael made a yummy breakfast, girl-scout cookies were abundant thanks to cody & several chess matches went down:) 

so thankful for a weekend of life lived with these friends. they are top-notch & i'm treasuring every opportunity we have for get-togethers like these. 

welcome home pat!!