Susannah is 8!

It seems absolutely unbelievable, but our Susannah turned 8 years old Tuesday.  We told her the story of the night she was born and Peter and I both had such a hard time comprehending that we are eight years past that monumental evening. I know it is trite, but bitter-sweet is the best terminology I can find to describe watching your child grow. Susannah is such a kind, creative, hilarious, imaginative and happy girl.  We are so proud of her and were all so excited to celebrate with her.   Here are the pictures.....

We started the day with a special breakfast treat:  waffles!

Then Daddy surprised her by coming to the school for lunch.

That evening she opted for pizza at home so we had a little family party and she opened her family gifts. 

Sarah Avery was almost as excited as Susannhah was.

This little four year old is growing up fast too.   

Cupcakes!

Susannah and I are taking a break from Harry Potter so I got her the Chronicles of Narnia series for us to read while we wait for Harry Potter book 4.  She also received lots of new earrings and a vest that she wanted.

On Wednesday, Sarah Avery and I met a friend from her class at an indoor playground.  Her friend brought barbies so SA was in heaven.

These two have become big buddies in pre-k.

Saturday was Susannah's birthday party.  We had it at our community pool.   They had this awesome obstacle course set up in the diving well.  

The girls had a blast.   

While they swam, I set up the party room. 

Safeway always comes through with good cakes.

We gave hair ties as party favors.

The girls were exhausted but so happy!

Whee!!

We had pizza and fruit to recharge after all that swimming.

The girls took turns telling jokes while they ate.

This one was so excited to be included with the big girls.

We are so thankful for the sweet friends that Susannah has made during our time here in Alexandria.

Of course we needed a silly picture.  

When we came home, Susannah was so excited to open her presents from her friends. 

She loved this Princess Ray headlamp.  After presents, she had another birthday party to attend.  Needless to say, Sunday was a good day to sleep in a little bit. 

And then when we were all awake,  I had a breakfast helper. 

We spent the afternoon planting the fairy garden Susannah got for her birthday.  

Susannah, we loved celebrating with you. We are so proud of you and we love you to the moon and back a million trillion times! 

Thanksgiving 2018

Thanksgiving 2018 was kind to the Mallory Family. We traveled to Georgia and had such a fun stay with Uncle Hollis, Aunt Kristy and baby Presley.  We saw lots of cousins and aunts and uncles and Mimi and Poppy too.  It was easy to feel grateful for time with so many family members and friends that we don't get to see very often. Here are the pictures from our trip and the week before and after. 

I led Susannah's Brownie troop's November meeting and we did our names in Braille.  SA wanted to do one too so here she is displaying proudly.

We had a random and unexpected snow the week before thanksgiving.  SA was out of school and Susannah was delayed.  

It was beautiful and probably totaled 3 or 4 inches.

Another day, we  helped our good friends move to a temporary apartment while they renovate.  Peter lifted furniture while I watched the girls. We went to the coffee shop to color and eat cookies. It was a fun day. 

This picture is insignificant but I had to post because these faces speak a thousand words with one image.  This so describes the dynamic in our house lately.  

We arrived in La Grange to find that the amazing Ginko tree Uncle Hollis has in his yard was in full autumn color.

We loved seeing the brilliant color against the blue sky.  And that little Presley was the happiest baby we had ever seen!

The girls loved playing with her and "helping."

We spent one gorgeous afternoon at Cousin Hannah's farm.  

The girls look forward to this every time we visit.  SA rode a horse named "Hollis".

And Susannah rode Patsy.

It was a beautiful afternoon and we had so much fun.

The girls love the animals so much and are so comfortable around horses...which they get from their Daddy.

We got to see Lena the pig again.  She was even fatter than last time.  ;)

I also let the girls ride a sled behind a four wheeler in the pasture.  Note the helmet.  ;)

The girls were so excited to spend Thanksgiving day with Clara Kate and Jack. 

Cousins!

The weather was pretty warm so they spent lots of time in the backyard making a feast of mud pies. 

And I got to hold our newest cousin, baby Luke, which made me the happiest.  

The feast.

Uncle Hollis found Shoo Shoo's wheel chair and took the kids for rides on it.   Presley's face perfectly illustrates how much they loved that.  

We were so happy to get to see our cousins on Mimi' and Poppy's side too.  After lunch, we headed over to their celebration for dessert and more cousin time.  

We flew back on Friday to cold temperatures so we had a fire and took out some Christmas stuff.

Sunday after church was sunny and mild, so we headed out to the country to find our perfect tree.

Sarah Avery helped Daddy saw.

It was a fun afternoon.

The farm had goats to feed so of course we participated. 

They also had a huge barn full of corn for the kids to use as a farm version of a ball pit.   They loved it, but we brought home so much corn in their shoes.  

We came home and got to decorating. 

We had a lights mishap and a tree stand mishap, but the finished product turned out ok.  (Until today, that is, when it fell over when I was watering it.)  

In other news, Susannah had expanders put in last week.  

She was really brave and after a few days, she seems used to them.  

Last weekend we watched UGA football (which we won't discuss any further) and worked on our Christmas cards. 

And Sunday night, the girls performed in the church Christmas choir concert.

It was a great night full of Christmas cheer.

The girls sang their hearts out.

So thankful for these two beauties.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

We hope all is well with you.  Today is also a special day because Susannah turned 8!!  I'll post another blog next week with pictures from her pool party that we will have on Saturday.  Love and miss you all!