Fright fest

We got back from Georgia on Friday, and on Saturday did some service and then hit up Six Flags. 

We met up with our ward family at Sotterly to help with some yard work. 

We pulled weeds and also played. 

See? They worked a little. 

Papa came to document it, and before he left we took a group picture. The gathering alway takes a bit. 

But it’s always worth it. 

Then there was more frolicking. 

I hope Adi doesn’t grow up anytime soon. It looks like I’ll be in luck for a long time. 

I’m so glad we went to 6 Flags because the decorations were so so cute!

We invited friends, but only Abby and Ellie were able to come with us. 

It was a perfect weather day. And this “corn maze” took then about a minute to walk through. 

On the girls fav mini drop tower we ran into friends from church. 

Their parents divorced a few years ago, and they were there with their dad, who we also know and love, and the kids quickly let us know they would be joining us for the rest of the day. 😂

And so they did. This is the first time we’ve ever seen a character there. Vampire Bugs. 

 All of our crew got talked into riding the Ragin’ Cajun roller coaster. This one has always looked fun to me, (and most importantly, not too high) but it spins towards the end and I can’t do spinning. I was assured it wasn’t too bad, and it actually wasn’t. I did it twice and that was my limit, but it’s super fun pre-spin. On our second go around the ride shut down for a few minutes with our crew stuck on it. They earned a front of the line pass for their troubles. 

D didn’t want to ride something, so we checked out another area and she found this smoke machine that she loved. 

And then played in for the next 5 minutes. 

She’s a trip. 

But so fun. 

This was the ride D wasn’t down for. 

The park was giving away these amazingly cute hats and our whole crew was all like, yes please. Yay. 

Pretty sure D orchestrated this one. 

And a nice worker walked by and offered to get one with all of us. 

Everything was really cute. We were all excited to drive in the dark. 

Our car situations were weird. Delaney wanted to drive Brian (🤷‍♀️), Ellie - Alli, and Mia - me. Frankie and Quinn drove by themselves. 

The next day after church we got to hang out with bubba. 

They love each other. 

Graduation day at last!

Thursday was graduation day. They had a really cool ceremony planned for an outside stadium, but then it rained all morning, so they had to move it inside and dumb it down. We followed Bubba’s directions and got there early and found good seats. 

These pictures are all courtesy of Papa. 

It was a short ceremony, so that’s kind of nice. And then families had time for pictures. 

Papa, mom, and baby boy. 

Just two Army guys, hanging out. 

My only baby boy. Love him so much. 

Jeanne has been so good to him since he’s been gone. She’s a nice girl. 

Christian was able to have 4 people, Matt, papa, Jeanne, and I. 

They tried to gather all the guys from their troop, but this is as far as they got. They were missing around 8 soldiers. These guys went through hell together, they fought, and learned, and sweat, and cried together. And now they’re all off their own separate ways. Christian is the only one from the group stationed at Ft. Drum, so that’s kind of a bummer. 

After, we had the best lunch at the Black Cow. Fried green tomatoes and goat cheese, pimento bacon cheeseburger, and finally the perfect apple pie ice cream in a waffle cone from Kilwins. I’m not even the biggest fan of apple pie, but it was so delicious. 

After lunch we walked down to the river. All the rains had made it very muddy. Almost hard to believe the water that summer had been so clear and refreshing that I wanted to drink it. 

Bubba and Jeanne came over and visited before they headed on their road trip home. Matt and I went and walked our cool trail and then found a good spot to drone. 

Flat rock park complete with a lake, trails, and rocks to climb. So fun and interesting. 

That night we packed up, finished off our food from the grocery store - which I planned perfectly - if I do say so myself, and tidied up. 

Friday morning we left our cute little house by 5:30 and had an easy drive to the airport and back through the maze of the rental car lot and trains. The whole trip was easy and smooth, and I’m so glad we were able to go show support and love for Christian. 

And papa made a friend at the airport. He was taking pictures, like he does, and got to chatting with the lady in pink. I tried to get a shot of them chatting, but masks make it hard to tell. 

We had a turbulent flight home which is always nerve wracking, but we made it safely and we’re grateful for that. We had an easy drive home, where everyone was healthy and happy with Aunti Alli. A+ quick jaunt to Georgia!

Family day

We were so excited to wear our new Army love.  

And the next morning we did! It was in the 70’s, so not especially cold, but I kept mine on all day and was only hot for a few minutes. 

Wednesday was family day, so we met Christian at their bay where they sleep. None of the soldiers have had their phones, but for a few minutes every Sunday, so they all sat on the curb with their phones waiting for their families to check them out. 

I tried to catch the papa hug, but I was a few seconds late. 

We grabbed some pictures with some of his besties. 

And with Smith’s family. Smith and I wrote back and forth to each other and I just love his wife and sweet baby. 

So happy. 

Our first stop was lunch at the food court. He had 7 hours, but could only leave base to go to the infantry museum. 

We meandered around the exchange and then the infantry museum. 

I have to admit that I wasn’t super excited, but it was actually really well done and interesting. 

And Christian was a good little tour guide. 

We left Chris and Jeanne a few hours to spend together and went back to the house. Matt and I found an awesome trail near the rental and we went for a nice walk on it. Then my dad got me started on Downton Abby, a few years after everyone else, but that’s just the way I roll sometimes.