Words for Wednesday...What is a family...

"The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you." ~Kendall Hailey

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Really, it is. I love August because it brings with it the promise of so many things in the coming months and it brings with it the return of our sweet students. I feel like that quote from Hailey sums up our group rather nicely. We are often asked how we ended up hosting college students in our house, are we associated with any organization, and why would we go out of our way to feed that many mouths on a frequent basis. Well, here we go...

When my youngest sister, Caroline, was at Berry she started bringing her friends over for dinner. It started with just a few people and from there they decided that they'd love to do it on a regular basis. They enjoyed getting a chance to eat a home cooked meal and some much needed time outside of the 'Berry Bubble' as we like to call it. We enjoyed being able to open our home to them. Family Dinner was born and has slowly grown in to quite the gathering. 

As for the question about who we are associated with we just say no one. To which we usually get a lot of questions about where we 'get all these kids'?!? To which we smile and share how tightly knit of a community Berry is. At Berry you know everyone even if you don't know them on a personal level. That's just how it is and it's one of the things I love about it. So, students come over and they bring friends who bring more friends. Or alumni who know Andy and I pass along our info to incoming students and tell them to come join us. It's really amazing to look at the way our stories have been woven together and the way it all works.

Why? Simply put: because we love college students. Big answer? There are many, many reasons why we do it. God has been gracious to provide us with a space in which to entertain large groups. When we bought this house 5.5 years ago I had no idea that I'd be serving up Thanksgiving for 25+ people and doing it comfortably with the way our living spaces are connected. God knew and I'm grateful that we can continue to grow and serve. Two, we are grateful for the people who took the time to invest in us when we were students because it helped shape and mold us in to the people we are today. Our hope is that we might be able to pass that on to every student that sets foot in our house. It's a joy and an honor to know them. To be part of their college experience. For them to know that they have a place to retreat to and call 'home' even when they are away at college. That they are valued and loved. Unconditionally. And that even once they graduate and move on that they still have a place to come back to. We love it when former students return 'home' for Mountain Day or just because. Three, we want our kids to grow up in a house where they see what it means to be a servant to others. Plus, it's amazing to see the bonds that our children have developed with their older 'siblings'. Four, it's a way for us to give back to Berry. Martha Berry's vision was that students would not only receive an education of the head but of the heart and hands while in school. Consider time spent over here as an education of the heart if you will. And sometimes an education of the mind depending on who is at the dinner table, Dave Thomas. And then there are times when it's an education of the hands and they join us to do stuff around the house or watch our kids. Again, we just love college students and love the chance to serve them.

Here's a look back over the last few years. For some reason blogger put them out of order and I'll be honest I don't have the time nor the patience to rearrange them/re-upload them. 

To our current students...we CAN NOT WAIT to see you seated around the dining room table in few weeks. We are excited to have you home in Rome and are looking forward to another year of shared experiences, funny moments, laugh out loud stories, and the chance to be a part of your lives.

To our former students...we CAN NOT WAIT to see what you do this year in the real world. We also hope that your path will somehow bring you back to Rome for a much needed visit. We'll leave the light on for you. And remember this...

We'll be seeing you very soon...

...Disney! Yes, we now have another trip on the books. Last minute but we are actually really excited about it and it's come together quite easily. Here's what happened. Andy's mom has a timeshare with Marriott and each year she has an allotment of points to be used/banked well they also have a shelf life and expire after so long. This summer we were looking at things and there was a bunch of points slated to expire at the end of this year. So, we booked our girls trip to Williamsburg at Christmas time and that chipped away at the total but didn't take care of it completely. Everyone else was available to go somewhere in September but due to schedules and UGA's football schedule we weren't able to go away with them. They booked a few nights at Hilton Head for late September and there were still a few points left. Andy's mom, very generously, gave them to us to use in October. I was able to book us for four nights and use up the last remaining points! We'll be there the week before my 29th birthday. We decided that if there was availability at any of the resorts during AG's fall break that we would go then since we'll be pulling him out for a week to do our surprise Christmas trip. 

We decided that since it will still be warm in October that we wanted a Marriott that has a great pool setup for the kids. Our first choice was Marriott's Harbour Lake because of their Pirate pool and splash areas geared towards smaller kids. (Click on the photos in the above link and you'll see what I'm talking about.) Plus, they have a putt-putt course on-site for us to use which we knew AG would love to use. They had exactly what I wanted and for the dates that I wanted so I booked it without delay. We're excited to try this resort out since the last two times we've stayed at Marriott's Grande Vista...just to see how they compare/try something different. We have an afternoon/evening built in to our trip to be able to just hang out at the resort doing whatever the kids want to do.

We plan to spend lots of time in Fantasyland this trip. Avi-Kate has yet to ride Dumbo and AG missed riding it last trip since it was closed due to the remodel. We are also hoping to get AG on his first roller coaster aka The Barnstormer since he'll be tall enough. We'll see. We are already talking it up. If he's tall enough we may attempt Splash Mountain with him...we know he would love the actual ride thru scenes...we just aren't sure about the huge drop at the end. ;) I have no doubt that if AKs was tall enough she would do it hands down because she is fearless!

 I was able to get all the dining reservations that I wanted for the trip. We have plans to eat at the Liberty Tree, again, because it's one of our favorite meals in the Magic Kingdom. The rest of our reservations will be new to us. We are trying out Garden Grill and Hollywood and Vine. Both are character meals. Hollywood and Vine will be for breakfast and includes Disney Junior characters. Garden Grill is in the Land pavilion at EPCOT and actually overlooks the ride Living with the Land. This ride was probably one of AG's favorite rides from the last trip. Which we found slightly humorous since it's all about gardening and you ride around a hydroponic greenhouse. AG likes to call it the Vegetable Ride...I figured he might like eating at the Vegetable Restaurant this go around. They actually serve food produced on the ride in the restaurant. The other place we are trying out is Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom. AG is all about Animal Kingdom and 'jungles' so we thought this might be a great fit. I've eaten at the Rainforest Cafe in Texas but never at Disney. It'll be a first for everyone else. Lots of great eating this trip plus we have our sites on several quick serve locations. We love Cosmic Rays and the last two trips we've not made it there so we are planning to eat there for sure this trip.

Lots of time in the jungle and a full day at Animal Kingdom since AG has really become quite taken with it. This trip we are planning to spend very little time at Hollywood Studios. A breakfast before they open and then a ride on Toy Story Mania...that'll be the extent of our time there this trip. I did this on purpose since I have us spending a huge chunk of our Christmas trip there to see all the holiday lights. We'll have two days at MK, a couple hours at the Studios before hopping over to Animal Kingdom for the rest of the day, and one day at EPCOT. Obviously this is all flexible and we can hop around if the kids would rather do something else. We are also planning to try Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party one night. It's a big trick-or-treat extravaganza that they do on certain nights during the fall. AG has requested a Peter Pan costume and that Avi-Kate needs to be Tink so that's what we are going to do. They should be really cute.

 I'm really excited to see everything decorated for the fall season because it's suppose to be the next best thing to their Christmas decorations. My dear friend, Evan, absolutely LOVES going in October and so we are ready to try it for ourselves. We'll actually be arriving the day that they are leaving to come home from their fall trip. One of these days we'll actually have a trip planned together...right Evan?! :)

So, there you have it. Disney for AG's fall break. Should be pretty inexpensive since we will only have to pay for our food, gas, and the few souvenirs we buy every trip. I think a perk of being an annual passholder is we don't feel compelled to buy every single thing we see because we know we are coming back. We tend to pick up a few things but that's really it. I'm planning to start scoping out things for Santa to 'pick-up' while we are there for gifts for the kids. I can't wait. This summer has been a roller coaster and we need a few family days at the happiest place on earth with our kids. We'll see you soon Mickey!

Thankful beyond measure for nights...

...like this one. This is what Thanksgiving looks like with our college family:

I know I say it often but I LOVE that we get to serve and love these kids. They are something else and it's wonderful to see how they each bring something unique to our family. Andy jokingly told the group this is the only family you get to pick. We all laughed but it's very true. We are grateful that they choose us. That they allow us to be a part of their college experience and life after college. (Dave...so glad you were able to make it home for dinner! It was a treat having you back at the table for the night.) Oh, dear readers I wish you could be a fly on the wall and experience family dinner. It's incredible really, to see all the beautiful friendships that have developed just because we all sit down and eat together. It is one of my favorite days of every month during the school year.

So, I'm thankful on this week of thanksgiving that I get to love and serve these amazingly talented and unique individuals.

Short on words...

Don't know when I'll post again...there is a massive storm racing toward us after the one that we already suffered this morning. We faired well this morning but our beloved Berry didn't and if I think about the images that I've seen today I may start to cry. The reports on the news don't begin to touch the scope of the actual damage at our alma mater. Today I was reminded about the magnitude of our God's infinite powers and reminded of his grace and mercy as no one at Berry was hurt.

I'm a ball of emotions and contractions.

Praying without ceasing. Psalm 121.

AG's on the mend and we are grateful. Off to gather the last of our supplies...pray for us.

Thankful...

...for my husband and my child's health.

AG has been out of sorts the last two days and earlier today I commented to Andy that something didn't seem right. Well, tonight AG and I ran to pick up dinner while Andy cut the grass. (In preparation for our next round of inclement weather tomorrow.) We got home from picking up dinner and AG started acting weird when I pulled him out of the car. We made it inside the door before he threw up everywhere. Thankfully, I was able to yell for Andy and he came running to help me. We got AG in the tub and then Andy graciously went and cleaned everything up for me. Normally, I'd clean everything up but I couldn't do it tonight...my super sensitive nose couldn't take it and I was instantly nauseated.

So, tonight I'm grateful for a husband who doesn't mind cleaning up throw up and helping pick up my slack while I'm pregnant. I don't know what I'd do without him. Lastly, as I bathed AG tonight I thanked the Lord that he is not sick often. I'm very grateful for all that the Lord has done and continues to do.

Hoping AG feels better in the morning and that we all get a good nights sleep since we didn't last night. My original plan for tonight was to get the blog and FB caught up on pictures. Clearly, that didn't happen. :) Maybe tomorrow...we'll see...the weather is suppose to be bad again. I'm hoping we don't lose power for the third time in less than a month due to the weather.

AG's not a fan...

...of his parents having Jury Duty.

In August, I had Jury Duty for the first time and was selected to serve. The night before I reported we were up all night dealing with AG being "sick" which eventually we determined was not a 24 hour bug but a parasite. So, I had no sleep and drank a Coke for breakfast which is something I NEVER do first thing in the morning.

Well, today, Andy is at the courthouse for Jury Duty. Apparently, AG got the memo. Last night he was up on and off for two hours crying. Since Andy had to be somewhere I tried to handle it but Avi-Kate thought she needed in on the action. I had gone to bed nauseated and when AG woke up I was still nauseated. All night nausea and a crying toddler...does it get any better? Ha. Andy helped me out...for which I'm very grateful. When he finally settled down sometime around 4 AM I thanked the Lord that this time at least didn't involve a parasite and I was grateful for both of my children. I then passed out till Andy kissed me good-bye this morning. Thankfully, AG's still snoozing and I'm going to let him sleep as long as he wants this morning. He needs it after last night and staying up late all weekend with family. We are taking it easy today around the house and I'm going to try and get some cleaning done.

Thankful in the middle of the night...

Well, AG's first Thanksgiving has come and gone and what a memorable one it was. We joined my family at our mountain house this year. We brought one of our college students home with us since he is originally from India. Anyways, the morning of Andy, Viraj, and my cousin Clint joined my Dad for the Turkey Bowl. (My father started the Turkey Bowl close to 30 years ago with a group of his employees from CFA. They all get together and have breakfast at Waffle House before playing a couple of games of football.) Then it was off to the Mountains. We had a delicious meal and despite the weather we braved the winds and ate outside. My father said it made our meal more authentic. Regardless, AG enjoyed eating turkey, ham, mac n cheese, broccoli, apples, and whatever else anyone slid his way. When he was finished he leaned over the side of his highchair to share his remnants with Samson who happily "cleaned" up his brother. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out and playing the Wii. We even got AG's GranNan to join the fun. She did great cycling and bowling...Andy even captured some video with my phone. She's Canadian and he told her to "Do it for Team Canada!" It was fun to watch.

That night due to numbers Andy and I split up...he joined the guys in a room above the garage and I slept in the childhood room I shared with Meg and Caro. It was quite the zoo in the girls room...we had AG in his pack n play, Bear and Murphy (Meg's Yorkies) in a crate and Samson on the floor. At about 3 AG felt that it would be a great time to have a party in his pack n play. Now had we been at home we would have left him in his room and turned off the baby monitor. However, we had so much company in one house I couldn't do that. So I tried for an hour and a half to get him back to sleep before packing him up and going for a drive. We drove all over and Samson rode with me. After driving for an hour we got home and I got him back upstairs...as soon as I put him in his bed he woke up ready to go for round two. at this point I was near tears because I had been up for 2.5 hours and my husband was tucked away in the garage bonus room that can only be accessed via outside. I called and woke him up and he came to join me...we packed AG back up and stuck him back in the car. When we got out to the car Samson gave me a look like "are we really doing this again? We just got back and I've had a hard day of running in the woods." He hopped in and rode with us for another hour. By the time we got back it was almost seven. AG crashed and slept for two hours or so before waking up for good. This would be the first time that AG has EVER done something like this and I guess it caught me off guard. Despite my lack of sleep I was and am grateful. Grateful that my child is here, happy, and healthy. Grateful for a wonderful first year of so many memories. Hard to remember life before him. It was a memorable Thanksgiving.

Here's to Team Canada!