Trip to Italy

Heather and Savannah were lucky enough to be off track when James had to go to Italy to a dental conference.  It is the same conference he and I attended last year.  When the opportunity came around again, I was unable to go because we have sweet Ashlyn.  James didn't want to go alone so he took Heather and Savannah.  Worried that the girls would be bored or lost during the dental conference, I encouraged him to take his parents along to help watch the girls while James was busy.  The five of them set off for ten days of Italy.

They all had fun together.  From what I've heard, one of their favorite things was the hot chocolate they had in Florence.  They also had fun at the leaning tower of Pizza.  Savannah says her favorite thing was eating and seeing all of the "amazing stuff."   Heather also liked the food and spending time with her dad.

Getting ready for Halloween

Halloween is always a fun time of year.  Because we have three birthdays in the month of October, we especially look forward to this time of year.  It usually takes a couple of days to get all of the Halloween decorations put up inside and outside.  Ashlyn didn't seem to mind the spookiness at all!

Ashlyn and Savannah

Savannah and Ashlyn (or better known around here as Savs and Ash) have a special bond.  Since the day Ashlyn was born, Savannah would race home to see her.  Usually she would wake her up from a nap to hold her.  Their bond has grown stronger and stronger.  Savannah can always bring a smile to Ashlyn's face.

Luke is 15

Luke's birthday came and went with some excitement and fanfare.  Birthdays tend to be a little calmer when they are on Sunday which Luke's was this year.  James came back from early morning church meetings to help serve Luke breakfast and then he opened his presents.  Shopping for Luke's birthday this year was the easiest by far.  Luke went online, picked out what he wanted, ordered it, and it was shipped to our front door.  I merely had to provide the credit card and approve the spending.  I admit there wasn't a lot of thought put into it by me, but at least I knew he liked what he got and he had fun doing it.

I have probably mentioned before that Luke has a friend who shares his birth date and another friend who's birthday is two days before.  Because these young men all live in our same neighborhood and share many of the same friends, they usually have a party together.  This year was no exception.  The weekend before their birthday, everyone showed up at our house for a party.  With teenagers you just have to provide food and supervision so the parties are easy.  They have a good group of friends who have hung out together for years.  The group has gotten bigger as they entered junior high but they still have a great time.  I have enjoyed watching them grow into remarkable teenagers.

How grateful we are for Luke.  He is an example to all of his younger siblings and a big help to us.  It is fun watching him grow into a young man.  He is a bright, out-going, happy teenager.  He definitely keeps us busy trying to keep up with him.  Happy Birthday Bud!

The birthday boys-- Chandler, Tyler, Luke