Today I went to register Alison and Nicole for dance classes. Alison took ballet a few years ago (when she was about 4) but Nicole has never taken any classes. Both of the girls have wanted to take dance for a couple of years so Chris and I finally gave in. We thought it give the girls (especially Alison who stays extremely STRESSED OUT) an opportunity to have fun, unwind after a hard day at school and get some excercise too. Alison has said for a while now that she has wanted to take Hip Hop so it was a blessing that they were offering a class that worked with our schedule...needless to say she is thrilled! Nicole originally said that she wanted to take Ballet but when Alison said that she would have to dance to slow music, Nicole changed her mind. Next Nicole decided that she wanted to take Jazz. She and I talked about Jazz all the way to the dance studio. I asked her several time if she was sure that she wanted to take Jazz. She tends to change her mind alot so I wanted to be sure before I signed her up. All the way to the dance studio, Nicole insisted that she wanted to take Jazz...she didn't want to even talk about Tap or Ballet. When we got to the studio, I filled out all of the paperwork and when I got to the place where I had to write down which class the girls would be taking, I again asked Nikki if she was sure she wanted to take Jazz. She assured me she did and so I wrote her name on the paper beside Jazz. Well about that time, one of the teachers, who was talking to another mom about clogging, picked up a pair of clogging shoes...that was all it took. Nicole heard the sound that the clogging shoes made, her face lit up and I marked out her name next to Jazz and wrote it next to Clogging!! So now, Chris and I are going to have a Hip Hop dancer (who potentially could drive us crazy with the music) and a Cclogger who WILL drive us crazy with her clogging shoes!! Should be fun!

Today was a little eye opening to me...I went to the funeral home to say goodbye to a very sweet lady and then to the hospital to see a brand new baby girl. I thought it was a bit unusual to do both in the same day but it did remind me about how God is in control of our lives. He ordained our days even before we were born. He knows everything that will happen to us from the time we are just tiny babies until the day we leave this earth.

I went to the funeral home to say good-bye to Lena Pate. Mrs. Pate is the mother to one of my friends, and coworkers - Jeannie Evans. Mrs. Pate fought a hard battle with cancer and actual lived a lot longer than the doctors thought she would. Mrs. Pate baked the best cakes that I have ever eaten and fortunately I was treated to her delicious deserts many times at school. When I went to the funeral home, the family had printed some of there favorite recipes to give to everyone and they were burying her in her apron...I thought it was very sweet. God's timing was good as Jeannie was able to spend the summer with her mom, creating special memories (without the stress of school) and care for her in her final days. Mrs. Pate was a faithful follower of Christ so even though her time on earth is through she is now living with Jesus. A place I am sure she longed for!

After leaving the funeral home, we went to the hospital to meet a precious (only a few hours old) baby girl - Callie Faith. Callie is the daughter of our friends Larry and Christy Dickison, and the little sister to one proud big sister, Karisse. When we walked in the room, the room was full of friends and family and you could just feel the love in that room. It was the sweetest sight to see Karisse sitting with her baby sister just hugging and kissing on her. Karisse couldn't stop loving on Callie. When she wasn't loving on her, she was talking about Callie. While I was holding Callie, Karisse (and Nikki) climbed up on my lap so she could love on Callie some more. Seeing this family together with their new baby, along with Larry's parents was just precious. Again, God is good. He brought Callie safely here and kept Christy safe during the delivery!

So as I sit and reflect on today, I thank God for the assurance that when his followers leave this earth, they are taken to a better place where there is no more tears, crying or pain. A place where we are reunited with loved ones that have gone on before us and a place where we can see JESUS and worship Him forever and ever. I also thank God for new life and for the hope that it brings. Each time I see a newborn baby I am amazed at how perfectly God creates us...even if we aren't perfect on the outside, to Him we are perfect. I thank God for friends and family...how in the world would we ever get by without them. So at the end of today, I find myself just being content and being incredibly thankful for God's goodness and blessings...which I don't deserve AT ALL!!

A few weeks ago, Alison took a week long cooking class at the Southeast Culinary Institute. She learned all kinds of neat things and ended her week by cooking lunch for a group of parents and other special guests.

CHEF ALISON

On July 26th, Alison had her 10th birthday party at the Freedom Hall Pool. The Freedom Hall Pool is a great place to have a party!! You get an hour in the party room and the staff takes out the trash and sweeps the floor for you!!! Alison had several friends from church and school along with her family! Everyone seemed to have a great time!! I can't believe that she is 10 years old...it seems like only yesterday that she was a tiny baby!

It has been a while since I have posted anything here so I am going to try and catch up over the next two days.

We all survived out trip to Atlanta. While in Atlanta the girls and I went to Chuck E. Cheese. Nikki won these crazy glasses there! She was quite proud of her choice of prizes!

On the way home, we stopped not to far out of Atlanta for lunch. This cool Kentucky Fried Chicken was at our exit. We were all fascinated by this sign because the eyes on the chicken were turning and the beak was opening and closing. It's not everyday that you see something like this so I just had to take a picture.

We made a stop in Chattanooga on the way home from Atlanta and we all had a great time there. We went to Ruby Falls which the girls both thought was really cool. Then we ate at my very favorite pizza place in the world...LUIPI'S. It is right downtown so if you are in Chattanooga be sure to give it a try. We also visited the aquarium before heading to Bristol.

Inside the cave at Ruby Falls.

Ruby Falls

The butterlies at the Aquarium were so pretty! We spent a lot of time watching them. Chris even had a butterfly land on his shirt. It actually stayed there for some time...I guess the butterfly liked him or maybe it was just looking to hitch a ride out of the aquarium.

Our favorite exhibit at the Aquarium was the Penguin exhibit. We had fun watching the penguins swim and then jump out of the water in there own funny sort of way!

I have a few more things to post but I guess this one is long enough for now. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get all of my posting up to date!!

So the 2nd half of our 1st day in Atlanta went much better than the first part of the day. After our lunch fiasco, I wanted something good for dinner. We went to Bahama Breeze which Chris had eaten at in Raleigh, NC on a previous business trip. The food was really good - our service wasn't that great - but the good food made up for it. Then we were off to Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta. That was kind of a neat place. There were a bunch of kiddos playing in the water where the Olympic ring fountain was so you couldn't really tell that it was but we did spend a little time playing in the park and that was fun.

Part of Downtown Atlanta from the Interstate

The CNN building (taken from Centennial Park)

After our stressful day yesterday, I decided that for MY sanity, today we would have a low key day. We went to the movies and saw WALL*E. It was a really cute movie and there were only 5 people in the movie theatre (counting us) so that was fun. Then we went to Barnes and Nobles and then we were off to the pool. The girls were the only ones in the pool so they really enjoyed that. Tonight we ate dinner at a place called Slope's Barbecue. It was recommended to us by my sister. The food was good AND the service was good (I found it amazing that we actually had both) but traffic was terrible - even is Roswell, GA. I am not sure what we will get into tomorrow but hopefully it will be fun and stress free!!

Here are Alison and Nicole outside of the American Girl Boutique and Bistro...prior to our lunch ordeal yesterday, but already tired of being at the mall.

We arrived safely in Atlanta (well actually Alpharetta) last night. Traffic was crazy at times but we made it. The girls and I came along with Chris (he has a class here this week) and so far our trip has not gotten off to a good start. Today the girls and I were supposed to eat lunch at the American Girl Bistro. We had to make reservations a week ago and couldn't get in FOR LUNCH until 2:30. We arrived at 2:30 (after wasting all morning killing time) only to have to wait a little longer for a table while others around us were being seated right away...mmmm...Finally we got a table, even the girls' American girl dolls had their own seat. We waited and no one came to take our order...then some people sat down beside us and a waitress immediately came to take their order and explain how everything worked at the Bistro. At this point I am a little more that frustrated. After about 5 more minutes of waiting (still no service) we left. The girls were hungry and tired so we went through the Wendy's drive through and then back to our hotel...Not exactly the "fun" we had planned. Hopefully tonight will be better!

Last night, Chris and I (along with Alison and Nicole) went walking at a track near our house. The girls always enjoy playing in the field while we walk. They played ball, did gymnastics and then made "salad" out of weeds...does anyone else remember doing this when you were a kid? After Chris and I were finished walking, we decided that we could play with the girls for a while before heading back home. We kicked the ball around for awhile and then I decided I would do gymnastics with Alison (what was I thinking???). I did a backbend for the first time in probably 20 years and then I was doing cartwheels...again...what was I thinking? Anyway I was actually quite surprised that I could still do a cartwheel...who knew!!! How precious it is just to spend time having "fun" as a family without having to worry about all of the stresses of life!!!