Posted in Family Life

What a beautiful week it has been here in Minnesota.  The sun has been shining, and the cool Autumn air warrants a light jacket, as the kiddos play in the leaves and Father's get the yards ready for the long winter's slumber.  There is something so majestic about Autumn, and it has always been one of my favorites.  This time we were able to celebrate its beauty with my Mom, who flew up to Minnesota from Dallas, to celebrate Pure One's 12th birthday.

She called me two weeks ago and said she bought the ticket and wanted to surprise Pure One.  Then on the 24th, after church, we called dd to come over to a corner just outside her JBQ room.  When she saw Grandma she started to cry.  It was such a touching moment and as soon as I upload the pictures I will add them to this post.   The next day we celebrated her family birthday party at Rainforest Cafe, at MOA (Mall of America).  Our friends Mel and Hannah surprised us and joined us for the evening, which made it even more special.  Afterwards Hannah and Pure One rode the amusement park rides until the park nearly closed.  They ran and ran and giggled and hollered.  What a great evening of fun!

The next day we celebrated Pure One's birthday again by having a party just for she and her closest girlfriends. The theme was a "Tween Spa & Pampering Evening," but it ended up morphing into something altogether different, with the girls designing their own pizza's and cupcakes, playing lots of games and just enjoying one another (more giggles and hollerin :-).  My friend Mel blessed us by bringing over a wonderful line of skin products for the girls to pamper their hands, called Artistry.  Let me tell ya . . . it smelled wonderful!  Then the girls painted their nails.  All in all it was a great night, and the celebration didn't stop there . . . .

all of the girls making silly faces for the camera :-)

On Saturday we ventured out to a local Apple orchard.  Mom hadn't been to one since she lived in New York (Texas isn't known for it's apples - LOL). She had a blast feeling like a kid again.  

Sunday was church and Home Life Group (which was absolutely fantastic btw!).  The Lord has knitted us with some great families and we are so blessed to be able to have the authentic relationships we have been praying for.  I love the transparency and vulnerability that is shown to one another.  I am still working on that in my own life, as I have been a bit more guarded than normal due to some situations that happened last Spring, but I love how God is working in all of our lives and we get to watch it all unfold together - being a testament of one another's lives.

Mom leaves tomorrow (boo hoo :-( ), however our time with her has been extra special.  Thank you Mom for a wonderful week full of blessings, lots of love and snuggle time.  May the Lord bless you in return, and give you safe travels back to cowboy land (tee hee).  YEEEEEE HAAWWWW

P.S - I'll post pictures as soon as I can, and HAPPY birthday to my SIL Kim, whose b'day was October 28th.