Chattanooga Reunion

A few weeks ago, we went to Chattanooga for a mini reunion with our old small group.  It was SO fun to get back together with these friends who were so dear to us during a few really vital years.  We met after we all moved to Chattanooga from different places.  Since then, almost everyone has moved away from Chatt (some multiple times!) so that made the reunion even more special.  We hadn't seen a few of these people in six years!  It was awesome that people made the effort to get together - from Indiana, Georgia, Virginia, and Kentucky.

Being in Chattanooga on a beautiful spring day made me miss living there.  Seriously, that is one of my favorite cities! I even randomly ran into two friends there.  It made it feel like we never left.



Clearly we were unprepared for 80 degrees and the fountain being turned on!  It took all of five seconds for my girls to be drenched head to toe.






No trip to Chatt is complete with a stop at Clumpies ice cream.


                                        Waiting on their ice cream cones!









When we first met, there were 11 adults and 2 babies in utero.  Check out the group now - 11 adults and 10 kids!




Such a fun reunion with some dear friends!  Thanks for planning, Kristen, and for everyone who made the effort to be there.

Cousin Reunion 20-12

One of the reasons we went back to Iowa when we did was for a big reunion with my cousins on my mom's side of the family.  Every few years we do a big whole family reunion and several years ago, my cousin in Nashville started a reunion for the cousins.  Before finding out we were moving to the ATL, Justin and I proposed an Iowa City cousins reunion.  Every.single.member. (aside from my seven year old cousin) came.  It was unreal!  The lengths people traveled to be together amazed me!  There were 20 cousins/spouses and 17 cousins' kids.  People came from Idaho, California, Tennessee, Georgia, Washington D.C., Illinois, and Iowa.  I love that my family loves being together.

 We stayed at a hotel downtown on the ped mall and had rooms next to each other that opened up to a common area next to the pool.  It was the perfect set up.

We caught up with one another, shared real life stuff we are all going through, prayed together, challenged each other, and reflected on the amazing legacy our grandparents left for us. 

Dancing to the live music at the farmers market.

***Random sidenote.. Blogger won't let me enlarge any of these other pictures... annoying!  You'll just have to look at them small...


Painting at the farmers market.

Loved watching these two sweet cousins play together.

Emma with my cousin's daughter Lauren.  They are just a couple of weeks apart!

The girl cousins... 2nd cousins I think.

Tim on one of the ped mall pianos.

Boys.. playing dress up??

Celebrating Lauren's 2nd bday.

The girls!

                                                                     And the boys!

                                        I love this picture... all of the second cousins... 17!!

My super smarty cousin Benno and his wife Molly put together this timeline/family tree of our whole family.. starting with Jim and Millie.  What an awesome testament to God's goodness!

Super fun weekend with awesome company!

Chatt Town!

The girls and I took a quick trip to Chattanooga on Monday to visit their AMAZING children's museum and to visit some good friends we hadn't seen in several years.  We will definitely make trips to Chattanooga often since we are only two hours away.  Such a beautiful, fun city with tons of kid friendly options. 

It was great catching up with my dear friend Ashley.  She has three precious boys and the girls were totally lovin on baby Warner!

Claire and Garrison digging in the sand

Brody and Claire as doctors

Emma loved holding Warner!

...and of course Claire did too!

Bubbles!

After the museum, we had ice cream with another friend, Sarah, who I taught with when we lived there.  She and I were both in tears as we watched the girls playing...She reminded me that seeing these girls in person is such an example of God's faithfulness.  She cried many tears with me while I struggled with losing our first babe that year we taught together so being able to introduce her to my girls was such a joy!

My heart was full being reunited with friends who are so dear to me!