Thanksgiving at Nana & PopPop's

Matt, Jay, and I left Wednesday morning after breakfast to drive to Nana and PopPop's house 3-1/2 hours away. We beat the traffic and enjoyed a smooth, easy, and beautiful drive (no rain!).

Matt and I came down with terrible colds, so Nana and PopPop were especially gracious to host us "sickies."

Here are a few pictures and a video that captured part of our time together.

Jay "helping" PopPop grate some cheese for Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, Nov. 26.

Here are PopPop and Jay playing with the cardboard box "tunnel" PopPop set up just for Jay. Jay loved putting various toys and shoes inside the box. And finally later on all on his own he decided to crawl all the way through. So fun!

Jay became quite good at crawling up and down the stairs.

Above: Jay playing with the bar stool. Just moments before I took this photo he had his leg, his arm, AND his head stuck in between the rungs.

Below: Nana playing a great "beat" with the silverware. As you can see, he loves playing with Nana and PopPop.

We left this morning to drive back home. We were again blessed with a beautiful day and great traffic.

Thank you so much for hosting us PopPop and Nana! We love spending time with you. All your meals were so nourishing, delectable, and beautiful. I'm just sorry I didn't feel well enough to help out more in the preparation of them! The rest, relaxation, love, and fellowship was priceless. We love you!

Our Friends' Atlanta Wedding

Matt and I flew to Atlanta on Thursday. Our flight landed about 15 minutes after our friends Phil and Ashley's flight from California. We met up with them at the rental car place in perfect timing. They had just finished the inspection of the Volvo stationwagon when we pulled up in the rental car shuttle bus. We drove straight to our hotel and checked in.

Meanwhile our friend/bride-to-be Rachel called us and spur of the moment invited the four of us to join her groom-to-be Mark, her, and her parents for a BBQ dinner at her parents home. That sounded great to all of us, so that is what we did! We arrived at their home shortly after 7 p.m. EST and enjoyed a delicious meal and fun fellowship/conversation for several hours.

Friday morning we enjoyed a lazy start to the day. Late that morning we met up with Phil and Ashley and groom Mark. We decided the guys should go pick up their tuxes from the local mall. Ashley and I went along and browsed through some stores while the guys tried on their tuxes and got squared away. From the mall we headed toward downtown Atlanta and found a great hole-in-the-wall place for lunch called "Twisted Tacos." When we drove by the place we saw lots of people out on the outside patio eating so we figured the food would be good. And it didn't disappoint! After lunch Mark headed back to the hotel since he had "groom" responsibilities to attend to. Phil, Ashley, Matt and I headed to the nearby botanical garden to enjoy the gorgeous afternoon.

Phil and Matt


Me (Mindy) and Ashley w/ downtown Atlanta behind us


Me and Matt (Yes, I'm starting to show at 12 weeks!)

Rehearsal at the church started at 5:30 p.m. It went very smoothly. It was such a big, beautiful church. I took a few photos of the rehearsal since cameras were not allowed during the actual wedding ceremony the next day.

The bridal party - all in their "spots"

Left of Rachel are her sisters - co-matrons of honor

Right of Mark are his co-best men - Aaron and Matt

Mark & the co-best men waiting for Rachel's walk down the LONG aisle

Beautiful Rachel escorted by her Dad

Although blurry, I'm glad I caught this sweet moment

Rehearsal dinner followed at nearby Chastain Horse Park. It was a terrific evening filled with great food and touching toasts.

Groomsman/friend Rick and co-best man Aaron

Me and Matt at rehearsal dinner

Groom Mark giving his thank you speech

Bride Rachel giving her thank you speech

Groomsman/friend Greg and wife Dara Saturday at the wedding reception

Matt and me at the wedding reception Saturday evening

The newly married couple cutting their cake

Matt, me, and Phil ringing bells as the couple departed the reception

The happy couple in the back of Rachel's Dad's Impala convertible

(In the front seat - Rachel's dad is driving and her Mom getting in the front passenger seat)

A parting shot of the front of the church sanctuary where Mark and Rachel were married.

Sunday morning our flight departed back home. It was SO NICE that our flight was incredibly smooth and that it landed 45 minutes early (how often does THAT happen!) which meant we arrived home to reunite with Jay at the time our flight was supposed to have landed at the airport. Hooray!

We were so glad we were able to attend Mark and Rachel's wedding. It was a blessing to be a part of it, too. We look forward to continuing to spend quality time with them - now as married couples! :) And we are so grateful for Nana and PopPop who sacrificed lots of travel, time, and energy to care for Jay here at home while we were away. What a blessing!!!!

Exploring the Fridge

Matt and I just returned from a trip to Atlanta - WITHOUT JAY - the first time I've been away from Jay for more than half a day since he was born. Nana and PopPop kindly did a road trip last Wednesday to stay with Jay while we were away. We just returned late this morning and Nana and PopPop are driving back home this afternoon.

Earlier last week I took some photos of Jay. While I was in the other room, Jay got mysteriously quiet. When I found him, this is what I saw...


I like the look of trepidation on his face in this second photo.

Thankfully he decided to just take out the jars and containers on the bottom level of the fridge door and nothing more. He shook the bottles, but all the tops were secured, so no mess other than putting the containers back in the door.

Trip to Texas

Last Thursday morning we took an early morning non-stop flight to Texas to visit Matt's sister Traci, husband Keith, and our nieces Samantha and Sydney. Matt's other sister Shawn, husband Mike, and our nephews Alex and Joshua flew in later that day from Oregon. Matt's parents (from Oregon, too) had flown the day before and came to pick us up from the airport in their rental van.

This was our annual family gathering - this year in Texas vs. our annual trip to the Oregon Coast at the end of August. With Keith and Traci's move to Texas earlier this year, we all opted to go see them in their new home where ALL of us stayed (quite comfortably - it is a big, beautiful home).

The three siblings, Matt, Shawn, and Traci catching up in the kitchen

Sydney opening her birthday gift from Shawn's family and our family

(Her birthday was the week before)
A funny photo of Sydney asking her Mom for scissors

A new skateboard!

Above: Video of Sydney unwrapping her gift

Below: Alex & Joshua unwrapping their Xmas gifts from Traci's family

Shirtless Jay (he got too warm in his long sleeved shirt)

An impromptu family photo Thursday night

(missing Mike on the far right and Traci who is taking this photo)

Friday night PopPop and Nana treated all of us to dinner at Babe's -- a must-go-to restaurant if you are in Texas.

Saturday morning Matt, Jay and I drove about 30 min. and met up with our good friends Joe, Jennifer, and their daughter Elisabeth (she'll turn 3 in December) for breakfast. We learned they are expecting Baby #2, too, and to all of our amusement, they are due with their baby the exact same day we are expecting our Baby #2!

Saturday afternoon Sydney had a soccer game. Everyone went to watch her game, but Jay and I stayed back at the house for our afternoon naps. Following Sydney's game we enjoyed eating out at Pei Wei (the cheaper, more casual version of P.F. Chang's).

On Sunday we attended church and listened to Chuck Swindoll give a wonderful message (what a treat and blessing for Traci's family to attend his church and sit under his teaching) followed by a delicious Thanksgiving meal Traci had planned for all of us. After coming home from Pei Wei Saturday evening, we had all helped out in the kitchen preparing the various items for the Sunday Thanksgiving meal -- PopPop and Nana did the stuffing, Samantha made a yummy no-bake turtle pie, Shawn and Nana peeled the potatoes, Mike and I helped put together pumpkin bars, and Traci prepared the turkey and other miscellaneous items.

The kids made daily trips to the nearby park and community pool. Jay being his very independent and busy self, walked pushing the umbrella stroller the entire way there and back almost every time, but one time he did a face plant on the concrete. Nothing a little love, witch hazel, and neosporin couldn't fix. Jay LOVES being outside and put up a fuss most times when it was time to go inside the house.

We had a very relaxing, wonderful time with our family. We miss Traci's family so much so it was REALLY terrific to spend quality time with them.

We flew back home Monday afternoon. Matt and I quickly learned we'd been doing it right to tackle air travel in the mornings. On this final flight Jay's energy level (since it was in the afternoon) was definitely on the active side vs. his more lathargic mornings so it was a bit more challenging keeping him occupied and happy, but he was still a pretty good traveler. We were tuckered out yesterday (Tuesday) recovering from the trip, but all is back to status quo today.

More and better pictures of our time were taken by PopPop, Shawn, and Traci, so I hope to post more pictures that they took in the week to come.

PopPop and Nana, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this special trip and Traci, a HUGE THANK YOU to you and your family for your hospitality. You did so much work to get everything ready for our time there which was truly wonderful. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family members. We love you all so much!!