A concentrating face...he's a great pilot.

This is the beginning of Smith Mountain Lake.

Near our house!

Bow had his first birthday on Friday! We celebrated by giving him a treat and taking his picture with a homemade birthday hat on his head. It was a difficult task. We took about 20 pictures...here are a few examples of the misfires:

We never got a good shot, so we tried a video:

Jenny (1st grade) and Sarah (Title 1 Reading)

On Saturday I went to a wedding on a farm near Salem for my high school friend Katie. It was gorgeous!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a close-up shot of the bride and groom. Katie's mom had made her dress...it was perfect.

I thought the wedding was at 2, so I arrived at 1:45. It was at 3! I was the only person there. I ran in to the wedding coordinator, who is someone I know, and she told me I could sit at the guest book table until the guest book attendant got there. Well, no one ever showed up to relieve me! So I ended up being the guest book attendant :) It was bizarre. I'm sure the bride still doesn't know about it.

This weekend we had some NC visitors. Bryan, David, and Jonathan came to hike with Aaron on the Appalachain Trail. They started early Saturday morning and hiked 19.6 miles until after dark on Saturday night. They had planned to spend the night in the wild, but I got a call around 7 about them coming back to the house to sleep in the warm beds :)
When they got back, one was limping, one was crying out for aspirin, and they all went to sleep immediately. The poor fellows. I think they still had a good time, though. Maybe even making plans to do it again next year?! I know that the view of the fall foliage was probably worth it.

Are you taking a break already?

Don't be so gloomy, David. It looks steep, but you're almost there!

At the top! This is McAfee's Knob.

On Friday night Aaron and I drove to Raleigh for several purposes. One was a baby shower for dear Kristen! She is due with her first child on December 1, and I was thankful to celebrate with her and other friends on Saturday. She got lots of useful gifts. She is going to be a great mom.

Baby McCutchen got lots of new books! Allison, on the left, helped give the shower. She is due with her 2nd child any time now. If I can remember correctly, there were 8 pregnant women at the shower. Something's in the water at Providence Baptist Church...drink up, ladies!
We all watched with dire anticipation of each gift. :)Afterwards, Kristen and I rode to her house so that I could see her nursery in person. They have done a lot of work to get it ready and it looks great!

We also went to Raleigh to visit with Jeffrey and Jennifer. Aaron grew up with these friends in the youth group in Nash County. They live in Apex now and are great hosts! It was so relaxing to stay with them in their beautiful home. Aaron was invited to sing at their church on Sunday morning for Pastor Appreciation Sunday. The pastor, Jeff, was Aaron's youth pastor and they were very close. He has started a new church in the last 2 years in Holly Springs, Destiny Life Church. It was a complete surprise for Jeff that Aaron sang on Sunday morning. We enjoyed the service and catching up with him and his wife Tonya afterwards. Jeffrey and Jennifer. Jennifer led the worship band in a practice on Saturday morning and then they grilled and served lunch for us. That night they took us out to eat in Cary, and of course we went to Marble Slab for ice cream!

Jeff and Tonya. Aaron really admires this man of God.

Our Sunday School class started a new study two weeks ago. We are reading some chapters from this book, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. There are a number of authors that contributed, but it is edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem. We are trying to gain a better understanding of our roles as male and female in our family, in church, and in everyday life. We are learning so much...we have to recommend it!

We had a relaxing weekend in Salem, VA. We stayed at home for a change! On Saturday we had lunch with Tyler and Jenny, gave Bow a haircut (he looks so handsome!), and enjoyed Grandma's company at the Flores house. She fried some fresh fish that she caught at the beach, and then the guys went swimming while the women stayed at the fire pit. On Sunday, we kept the toddler group in the nursery at church. It was entertaining and enlightening :). We had lunch with good friends, and that evening I accompanied Aaron across town for a volleyball game that he'd been invited to. He is playing in a league now...it's getting serious! We had dinner with the Flores family again (minus Grandma...she had to get back to Raleigh), and it was fun to hang out with Stephen and Michael. They were in town for fall break from UVa. These are great days! Now it's back to work!

We love fall decorations. A few weeks ago Sierra and I went to a Southern Living at Home party and I got this door hanger. I went to Michael's to find something to fill it with. Aaron said it was "on point". I like it, too! If you're interested, the door hanger was really discounted when I bought it...maybe it still is!