Thanks!

After working 7 straight days, Jeff managed to get three days off in a row! We've been looking for chances to go get started on the new house, so we seized this opportunity! We were very grateful that Tammy came up to help us! Jason, Tara, and the boys also popped in whenever they had a free minute too. In those three days, we finished painting all 3 bedrooms, the master bath and closet, and got a really great jump on painting the living room and hallways. Thanks to all of you for your help!

From Piney Flats to Pineville...

After our overnight in Piney Flats, we drove to Pineville, KY, and met my parents for the afternoon. We had lunch at the Pine Mountain Resort. Following lunch, we thought it would be nice to take a short hike through the woods. This was definitely not a stroller-friendly trail, so someone had to carry Noah the whole way! We had a great hike and even had a special treat of seeing two deer along the way, however, we somehow managed to miss the "loop" part of the trail and ended up going a lot farther than we had intended! I guess we can say that we got our workout for the day!

Papaw and Noah walked around the whole dining room!

Mamaw and Noah picking out dessert! Yummy!!

Welcome to Piney Flats!

After breakfast on Sunday, we left Asheville, and drove up to Piney Flats, TN. Jerry and Luc moved to Piney Flats almost a year ago, and this was our first time to visit their new home. It's absolutely beautiful there! The have a very neat old farm house that's full of history! While we were there, we got to meet the neighbors and take a walk up the hill to see the mountains. Jerry and Luc spoiled us with home cooked meals and hospitality! We were so glad to finally make it to their house, and are looking forward to our next trip back! :)

Noah scoot-crawled all over their house chasing their dog, Tolliver!

Tolliver did some chasing too! :)

The view from the hill...

Hubby & Wifey

On the Way Back Home

On Sunday morning, we packed up all our things and said goodbye to John, April, and Myra. Then we went to have breakfast with our very good friends Basel, Hala, Joanne, Daniel, and Raya. Jeff and Basel only worked together once at Ingles, while Jeff was training, and they were instant friends. We always have a great time at their house laughing and fellowshipping!

Basel, Jeff, and Noah

Basel holding their newest addition, Raya.

Hala and Raya

The boys enjoying some drinks together.

Daniel and Noah had a blast with all the wheels!

I think Noah was trying to "honk" Raya's nose!

Trip to Asheville

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Knoxville, Asheville, Piney Flats, Pineville, and Corbin! And we went all those place over the course of 4 days! Our first, very brief stop was in Knoxville, to meet up with Dad, and visit with Andy, Jess, and Josiah. Then we headed on to Asheville. In Asheville, we got to stay with our very good friends, John and April. (April and I taught 3rd grade together when we lived there.) Their daughter Myra, is only 4 months younger than Noah, and we had never gotten to see her in person! It was wonderful to finally meet Miss Myra! We had a great trip, and were able to see lots of friends and family along the way!

Noah and Myra played so well together! It was really fun to watch them!

The past two years, my parents have taken their Kettle Corn booth to the Brewgrass Festival in Asheville, NC. This makes their 3rd year at the event, and we decided to make an extended weekend trip out of it. I helped Dad the first year--we had no idea how busy we'd be--I hand-pressed a case and a half of lemons all by myself! (Whew, wore me out!) Since that first experience, we've had a better understanding of the event...and I've passed my job onto Jeff! So while Dad, Jeff, and Jerry were working at the Brewgrass Festival, April and I took the kiddos out for lunch with friends and shopping!

All loaded up and ready for a busy day!

(Don't you think they kinda look alike?)

Hey, what's she doing in here?

The Austin kids meeting Noah for the first time...

This is Noah A. holding Noah B.

(Noah A. was in my 3rd grade class while I was pregnant with Noah B. He was so excited to meet him, I think they'll be great buddies!)

Let ME do it!

I know this is only the beginning of Noah asserting his independence, but he sure isn't wasting any time letting me know that he can do things for himself! This morning while I was feeding him breakfast, he just reached out and grabbed the spoon from me. While I was feeding him, he had been protesting with some grunts and hollers...and the next thing I knew...he was feeding himself the yogurt!! :)

Look, I can do it!

And I'm not as messy as you thought I'd be, huh, Momma?

Is there any more?

Oh, yeah!

P.S. Jeff made it home late last night, safe and sound from his trip to Seattle. He had a great time with Jeremy and friends! Unfortunately, he had to step back into reality this morning and had a 12 hour day at work. Noah and I are both really glad that he's back! We missed having him around!

Grandparent's Day!

Monday and Wednesday of this week was Grandparents Day at the boys' school. Mamaw and Papaw were planning to come, but Papaw was very sick, so Noah and I were delegated. I went as Mamaw, and Noah was Papaw! :) It was really funny because I introduced us that way and the boys all thought it was hilarious! When I told the twins that Noah was Papaw, a classmate of theirs said, "Boy, you sure have a little Papaw!"

Eating lunch with the boys for Grandparent's Day...

After lunch they sent us down to the library to have our pictures taken and to view the Book Fair. Trystan said, "I want to hold Papaw for the picture!"

On Wednesday, Mamaw was able to make it! Here's the whole crew!

Sleepover!!

Jeff left yesterday for Seattle, WA. He flew out there to spend the weekend with Jeremy, his roommate from Purdue. The Boilers are playing in Portland tonight, and they decided to make a weekend of it! He's having a blast, I'm sure!

In the meantime, Noah and I decided to have a sleepover here at our house with the 4 Hayes boys! This was the first time they've all 4 spent the night with us...we've had one or two over at a time, but I've never been brave enough to try having all 5 boys overnight at the same time! Well, it went fabulously! I inflated the air mattress in the living room, and we watched Spiderman III until they all crashed.

Noah was already in bed and sound asleep when they got here, so he missed out on the party last night. But they more than made up for it in the morning! Everyone was up and at 'em around 7 a.m. I was trying to keep them busy until at least 9 a.m., when it would be a reasonable time to return them to Jason and Tara. So we had breakfast and then went for a walk/ride/roll through the neighborhood. Finally, it was close enough to 9 that I could load them all in the car and take them home! I want to send a special blessing to Jason and Tara for being great parents to 4 very active boys! Here's to all parents out there who have multiple children! I don't know how you do it! :)

Questapalooza!

"Quest" is the name of the church we go to in Lexington. This weekend was the Grand Opening of their new auditorium, along with their annual festival--Questapalooza! We had lots of family in town for the big event--Renee, Andy, Jessie, Josiah, Uly, Kim, Lexie, Jonah, Estelle, Stella, and Bill. My parents had to be in Atlanta, for another event, so they let us take one of their kettles to Questapalooza. Jeff, Andy, Jason, and Tara all worked the Kettle Corn/Lemonade tent while Jessie, Renee, and I watched the kiddos. It was a blast! There were games, rides, food booths, BMX bikes, raffles, and bands. Jars of Clay and Third Day were both there, so we were all really excited to get to see them in concert! At the end of the night, Quest's worship team lead us in worship while they shot off fireworks in the background! Way cool!

Our little man's got some rhythm!

Here are some more pics from the night...

Daniel Boone Pioneer Days 5K

This past week, I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth extracted! The surgery went well, and I got the go ahead from the surgeon to run the 5K that I had already signed up for. So on Saturday morning, Noah and I loaded up to head to the Clark County Library. Jeff had to work, and that meant that I would be pushing the stroller during the race! This was my first time to push Noah in the stroller for a race, and I wasn't too sure how well it would go...It must have been a smooth ride (probably since we walked part of it), because Noah fell asleep during mile 2. He slept through the finish of the race, and didn't wake up until we were on our way over to College Park to hear the race results!

Me, Kristen (this was her 1st 5K race), and Tara after finishing! Which, by the way, we finished in 41 minutes--only 3 minutes slower than our usual race pace. Not too bad considering...

The crowd gathered to hear the race results.

Noah clapped for all the winners!

Quite a turn out for the race (270 participants)!