Home Again, Home Again.......

It has been a few weeks since our last update, so brace yourself for a lot of pictures.   We enjoyed the rest of our time in Tennessee and spent another week in Georgia before flying to DC to meet Peter at our new home!   We are settling in as nicely as we can considering we don't have any of our furniture.   Nor will we until mid October.    But Peter spent a couple of weekends here before we arrived and did an amazing job of creating a livable home without any of our things.   The girls were especially excited about their new bunk beds and their new toy kitchen.   Our new neighborhood is so friendly and we are feeling extremely grateful and happy about our next three years.   Here are some pictures of our recent weeks.....

Susannah finished her Barnyard Bonanza camp with Ellie.   She had a wonderful week and loved her teacher.   

One of her favorite activities was making this pig mask that went with a funny story that they read about a pig that said "moo."

SA and I found ways to entertain ourselves while Susannah was at camp.   This morning we went to the mall and played on the indoor playground.  

And rode the train around the mall with Grammy.

We spent several afternoon at this great park behind Grammy's neighborhood.  

It was shaded so the heat was a little more bearable.   

Lyndsey's mom, Betty, had us over for a Friday night pool party and Mexican food.    It was such a fun and memory-filled evening.   Thank you Betty and Bob! 

And thank you to Lyndsey's brother Thad for taking the girls on their very first tractor ride!

They loved it.   

SA loved wearing all of this gear and had the best time in the pool.

Susannah loved Thad's dog.   

And she loved swimming too.  

Lyndsey sent me this awesome instagram collage of the evening.    Another example of things I'm missing by not being on social media......

We spent a few evenings playing ball in Grandmama's backyard.   

And the girls slowly grew accustomed to spending lots of time driving in the car from place to place.  

Dont let this sweet face fool you........she has some big lungs and isn't afraid to use them when she is tired of being in the car-seat.  

While we were having fun with friends and family, Peter was spending his weekends getting the house ready.   Which included putting these bunk beds together by himself.   I told the girls about it and Susannah must have really taken it in because when she said the blessing at Sunday lunch, she prayed; "And thank you Lord for a big strong Daddy who can put my bunk beds together."   Sweetest.   Blessing.  Ever. 

Sarah Avery was very selective about who trusted out of all the new people during our family visit, but Uncle Andy was one of the winners.   She loved reading with him.  

And just like always, Jim was her other favorite.   

The girls practiced a little piano at Grandmama's too.

Susannah is just like her mommy and adores Grandmama.  

We spent one other day over at Lyndsey's house and this is what SA did.....she loves playing in the kitchen.  

She also disappeared into Ellie's room for a long time.   When I went to check on her, this is what I found.    Hilarious.   

Susannah loves having her grandparents read to her.  

And Sarah Avery loves reading with Susannah.

We visited Grammy at work one day.

And spent our evenings over at Grandmama and Jim's.

The girls loved helping Grammy water her flowers every night. 

They had to stand on a chair to help with the ones on the back patio.

Dance parties with Grammy were definitely another favorite of our visit.  

All three of them had so much fun this night. 

The girls love their Grammy.

They made lots of lego creations and wanted to send pictures to Daddy.

One day we drove up to Dandridge and Newport to visit some friends and see my cousin Andy's new house.   Susannah was a big fan of their dog, Bella.  

Grammy took the girls to the Disney Store one day and let them pick out one thing each.   (Which of course ended up being two things.)

Susannah took forever to decide, but SA knew she wanted this stuffed clock after thirty seconds in the store.  

They both seemed to grow so much this summer.

Grammy bought them both new nightgowns and they wanted to pose in them and send the pictures to Daddy.

Such a funny little toddler. 

Sweet smile. 

Susannah seems so grown up lately.   It makes me so proud and so weepy all at the same time. 

And Sarah Avery is so sweet and so funny.    She is shy and gets frustrated easily when she can't communicate what she is thinking, but her laugh melts my heart.

After three weeks in Knoxville, it was time to head back to LaGrange.   We stopped for lunch at, where else, Chick-fil-a.

We settled back into our rooms at Shoo Shoo's house. 

And were so excited when Aunt Liz and cousins Clara Kate and Jack arrived.   

I was horrible about taking pictures, so I'm including this one even though it is blurry.   Susannah and Clara Kate were such buddies.   They had the best time.   And so did SA when they decided to include her.    Jack was the sweetest little boy and we were so happy to finally meet him.   

Clara Kate tried to teach Susannah how to rope swing. 

Shoo Shoo has the most beautiful yard. 

If only they would all look at the camera and smile.   

SA wanted desperately to play with Susannah and Ck.   She was so happy when they obliged and so devastated when they didn't.   The plight of the little sister........ 

These two cousins were such good friends.   It made me so happy seeing them make memories together.  

Shoo Shoo bought the girls some new crayons one day.

Possible the highlight of our entire week was when we visited cousin Hannah's farm.   The girls almost died over the kittens.  

And the baby pot-belly pig.

They were beside themselves.   Truly.

And when they didn't think it could be any better.......we headed to the barn and saddled up one of the horses.

Peter grew up around horses and on a farm every weekend so this life is in their blood.   And it was evident by the way they LOVED every minute we were there.   

Riding.  

SA rode with Susannah first, but she wanted to ride by herself too.

Jack even got in on the action.

I practically had to physically remove them from the kittens when it was time to leave.   Thanks Hannah for such a fun afternoon!

Sweet cousins in their pjs.

Susannah and SA loved going on walks around Shoo Shoo's yard with Honey and Shoo Shoo.

And they loved walking to Mimi and Poppy's house every afternoon too.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the airport for one last flight to our new home.   Peter picked us up at the airport.   We were so excited to see our new house.   

We were most excited about being back together with Daddy though.

The girls have been having a blast playing here since we have so much wide open space.

The fireplace is a great stage for performances.  

And Daddy bought them a new table and chairs.

We've been walking to the playground behind Susannah's new school every evening after dinner.   

The girls love it. 

And I've been so surprised by how friendly everyone is.   Each night someone has introduced themselves and given me their phone numbers.    

 

We are thinking it is going to be a wonderful three years!

We all love the new kitchen.   By far the fanciest kitchen I've ever had.  

And the girls love their new playroom.    

We are so grateful to all of our family and friends who hosted us and loved us and welcomed us during the last five weeks.   Seeing all of you was such a blessing.    As soon as our furniture arrives, we can't wait to return the favor and have you visit us!    Much love from Virginia!