Giving Thanks from the Beach

Matt spent many of his traditional Thanksgivings at the beach with his family.  This year, Matt’s mom decided it was time to start a new tradition of going back to the old tradition and taking a beach vacation the week of Thanksgiving. She rented a condo that was large enough for all of us in Gulf Shores and we had a great vacation and holiday with the Quarles. 

I got a lot of Christmas shopping done at the nearby outlet mall in Foley, we went into Pensacola one day for some specialty boutique shopping, ate lots of seafood and played on the beach.  All in all, it was a great week just relaxing.  I got every morning and went for a little jog and had some great quiet time.  The condo had an indoor pool and gym so that was nice to have but mostly, I appreciated having the time to recover from the Summit and I’m thankful that Matt’s family encourages us to just be lazy and do whatever we want to do without having a schedule of planned events.

Here are pics from our vacation week:

Papa Q took Campbell to the beach every morning.

Campbell and Dad on the beach.  Although Campbell has been to the beach before its been to the bay and not really long white beaches, waves rolling in kinda beach experience.  She was so excited!

Building sand castles with Clairee. 

Papa Q is a serious castle maker.  Gotta dig until you hit water!  Campbell was more interested in kicking the sand back into the hole after all his hard work.

Getting to swim in November? The condo building had a steamy indoor pool.

I think these souvenir places are so hilariously family-vacation-at-the-beach-old-school-cool.  Campbell didn’t know what to think about those teeth!!

 And the Octopus right next door.  We assured Campbell this big purple octopus was friendly and not “that mean octopus” from The Little Mermaid.

Campbell playing at the park in her turkey t-shirt.

can we say “Wide-Eyed and Bushy Tailed” ???!!!

Iron Bowl 2008 Prank

Well it was a sad Iron Bowl this year, at least for me. Yes, we live in a divided house. Everyone knows that Matt is a huge Alabama fan and that just makes me an Auburn fan even more!

Matt was disheartened to find when he moved to Troy that most of our friends are also Auburn fans. What can I say, we have smart people in Troy!

Anyway, for the past several years, there has been an unspoken but come-to-be-expected prank amongst Matt & his friends. And while Matt is the enemy on the football field, I actually indulge in whatever creative way he comes up with to get them. After all, it is my house & husband involved in the revenge. However, he totally comes up with his own plan and executes it all by himself. Here’s his pictures of some of his work:

Eric’s Car

The issued warning posted.

Couldn’t forget the Nelsons either.

WOW! That must have been a big elephant.

War Eagle, anyway! :)

Thankful for Friends

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Kristy hosted a very small group of us girls in her home for a Friends Brunch.  Kristy is a total Martha Stewart (in a good way) and is a wonderful hostess. Her food is not only delicious and her home beautiful but Kristy’s impeccable eye for detail and careful attention to make everything very personalized and intimate is a true talent.

She says hosting events like this give her a good excuse to get out her china, silver and recipe books. But I know Kristy has a true servants heart and by serving her friends, she is serving her soul with purpose.

Anytime we get together I laugh tons and always have a great time. But we also are not afraid to be really honest and open and inevitably all conversation boils down to family, faith and friendship. Which is so refreshing. 

Kristy presented us each with a tiny journal and asked us to jot down things throughout the next year that we should be thankful for.  The idea is for our Thanksgiving Brunch to become a traditional celebration of our friendship but also a time to give praise and thanks and reflect on the blessings of the previous year.

Stephanie, Laura, Jessica & Kristy 

The beautiful table

 Our personalized favor and place card at each setting

The centerpiece, a mixture of fresh flowers & berries with dried flowers  and even spray painted leaves.

The table setting with Kristy’s china and silver.

 

Thank you my friends for your time and love.  You continuously entertain me, inspire me, refresh me and encourage me. You are among the blessings I thank God most for this Thanksgiving. 

 

To my blog readers-I pray you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year and that God blesses you with the family, friendship, food and fellowship as I have been.

Happy Homecoming

 

Troy University’s Homecoming was Saturday, November 8th. 

Since I am on the Chamber Board Exec, we get the luxury of sitting in the grandstand at the parade which gives us the perfect seat.

Campbell loves a parade!!  The marching bands, the cheerleaders, the “princesses” (any girl in a crown), the balloons and shakers mixed with some beautiful weather created the perfect festive atmosphere for football!

After the parade, we tailgated with friends and then went to see the game. Troy beat Western Kentucky 17-7. Go Trojans!

 

 

Steph, Campbell, Kit & Lola

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Campbell watching the parade with her buddy Cade in the background.

Campbell with Gracie Barner, sitting on the steps to the grandstand after the parade.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Although the costume has been worn so much I had to actually make some stitching repairs and we’ve been at an all time sugar high for almost a week now, the real Halloween officially came and is over! I can honestly say that next year I’ll eat my words about parents spending too much on costumes and won’t mind getting Campbell a nicely made costume now that I know how many times she’ll wear it (and we didn’t even hit the “big” school carnival!) so that it can hold up to all her activities.

Well Friday night was the big night! I went all out with the front lawn decor. A “graveyard garden party” was my inspiration with lots of graves, moss, cobwebs, cats, owls & crows. It’s a tradition that Kristy comes over and helps with the spoo-ooky decorations outside.  And Matt really got creative with his menu. Here’s a few photo details (another mental note for next year: take pics before it gets dark!):

The “entrance” was marked with a fence and graves. Owls, cats & cows (and a few bats!) could be found hidden in various crooks, corners and limbs. 

The candy dish…it was the good stuff for grabbing if it didn’t grab you first. 

 

The dining room table

 

Matt even made buffet name plates for his “yucky” dishes! The mummy dogs are always a crowd pleaser.

 

 

 

 

 

We entertained lots of friends and my parents brought over a wagon filled with hay so we loaded up the kids and rode them around the neighborhood.  Thank you Papa & Honey!! We always get a big kick out of seeing our visiting treaters and their creative costumes! Thanks to all for joining us and making it a great time for all our families. See ya next year!

Laura & (most) of the kids on the hayride.  Campbell & her Papa (and sucker…that she held onto ALL night.. combined with that long red wig hair—what a sticky mess!)

Kristy & Lola. This was Lola’s first Halloween!!

The Cartees 

Even Uncle Christopher dropped by to check out all the madness, 

Al & his little bumble bee Addie 

The Windham mouseketeers

 

Campbell & her Honey

It ain’t Halloween without one screamer in the kid photo… 

I think next year that Anna should dress like Sarah and Sarah can be Anna!

The Baker & Drinkwater girls

Campbell with Teresa & her clan of tricksters. 

 

THEN…when we finally turned out the porch light and thought we had seen our last trick-or-treater the doorbell rang.  Who could that be at this late hour….

a visit from a hippie-chick and…could that be.. the famed MICHAEL PHELPS! 

This is Denise & Barbara, some fun & crazy women that work with Matt. They stopped by on their way home from the country club costume party to show off Barbara (aka Michael Phelps) award-winning costume.  You can’t tell from the pictures but she had on a full-body wet suit!  I hardly recognized her myself-she totally deserved to bring home the gold!