no longer a teenager

My younger brother isn’t a teenager anymore, since Sunday…this is sorta hard for me to grasp.

Like seriously yesterday we were…

playing cowboys and Indians together

arguing as we hauled maple sap back from the woods together

gleaning corn for the cows together

cleaning his room together, more like I was cleaning and he was watching and talking 

hunting white-tail deer together

swimming in flat rock river together

running all those roads around our old place together

And now that all over and he’s grown living in Tennessee six hours away. We text weekly and call some. I miss him but know this is the way life is indented to go.

 

And this weekend I went to visit him in TN with Christina…enjoy the few photos I remembered to take=) I had all these glamorous ideas of actually writing this post up during our drive home on Sunday. But I regretfully didn’t get to it and so it’s here a day later than I planned but oh well=/

The only picture of me…I know I know…without a schedule and a structured life, I can’t even remember to take a photo!Home at last!!! To lots and lots of snow and sub-below zero weather…just wonderful…

So here’s a quick recap of our trip…

Friday –

Christina came home from work saying her car was acting up.

I test drove it and moved the rattling pens in the console. Moral of the tale the car was fine…really fine!

Started on our six hour drive at 7:00 a.m.

Stopped to buy a sleeping mask for my tired “shot gun” rider. (so yeah it was a quiet and a very boring drive)

Met Samuel in Loblesville, TN. (Think a perfect redneck haven and you will have just begun to imagine what it’s like) TN had just suffered an ice storm and we all know what ice does to southern drivers, so Samuel led us in a less hilly way to his home.

Crashed at Sam’s house. (It’s so small and adorable)

Dinner at the Stoll’s house. We couldn’t drive up the hill due to the ice and snow so we walked up their mountain…I developed a head ache, which made my night miserable. Plus they served pasta and I had cuts in my mouth from a accident driving horses a few nights before. I’ll just stop there. (we were suppose to actually stay with these people for the duration of our stay but it was canceled due to their pipes freezing, poor people were without water for days. Which equaled no showers for them either)

Saturday -

Woke up at 4 and my siblings didn’t start stirring until 10:00 a.m.….I was starving!!!!

All the restaurants around opened late due to the weather….so no breakfast just shrimp alfredo

It was dumping buckets of rain all day long. And that on top of the ice made the road conditions worse.

Shopping…the only thing left to do. Christina and I got some wonderful deals at Goody’s.

Ate frozen pizza and cake at Sam’s house while watching his favorite you-tube singing clips=)

Then back Stoll’s house to watch “The Good Lie” btw: a very very good movie! The ice was still bad so we again parked and trudged to the very top of that pathetic hill.

About ten, after running to a friends house to shower the parents came in saying we were flooded in. GREAT! All the rain and temperature rise had creation yet another problem. Did I mention how much I love Indiana?!?!?

This bad new called for something chocolaty…freshly baked black bean brownies soaked in chocolate syrup did just the trick to cheer us all up.

Slept on their couches, and watched movies all night long. Needless to say we became very good friends with ALL the Stolls,

Sunday – Samuel’s 20th Birthday!!!!!!

Again, I woke up before everyone else.

Christina agreed to walk down and see if we were still flooded in.The water had all gone back down and the roads were clear. Also the hill was melted enough to drive up (so glad we didn’t have to walk that again!!!)

Ate a late but wonderful brunch – they made Belgian waffle with blue berry topping…so good!!!!!!

Everyone hurried back to their places of running water to clean up, then meet at the bowling alley in Dickson.

Samuel opened all his gifts from home that we brought with us=) while Christina and I hurried with our showers and makeup.

Samuel won the only game Christina and I had time to play with them. They continued to bowl long after we left.

Homeward bound by 4;30 p.m. (difficult leaving that sad face, of Samuel, behind us…but thankfully his friends were staying with him the rest of the day…..to help him celebrate his day=)

Home by 11:30 (They last hour I slept…but it was more like a series of a million nightmares. Seriously all the stuff I had to do this week kept playing through my mind)

12:30 p.m I sat in a daze on my bed thinking…inwardly vowing to never leave for a weekend again. even though I know I will…and I’ll regret it then too. Mainly because of ALL the work before I leave and after I get back is so stressful.

All and all it was a wonderful trip. Getting to see the wonderful smile of Samuel and celebrate his day, actually, with him was oh so worth it. All of it.

It was such a memorable weekend=)

 

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BTW: here’s a few pictures from the making of my first cake, frosting and all=) sadly I only took some on my phone…it was late at night, so I’m giving myself a break. Samuel loved it!!!

One Republic/ Come Home cover Sammy Atherton

Here's a little treat for you=) My brother just put this up last night. I am his older sister, but I totally view him as being older...

I'm so proud of him=)

Hope you enjoyed! 

and please feel free to leave a comment on his video so he can see it=)

Ally’s birthday party!

My family is wild and that is an understatement. Maybe crazy would describe them better, yeah let’s go with crazy=) But crazy in a good way…at least I think so. Just look though the photos below and you will know what I’m talking about. This was one of the loudest party’s so far and that’s why it was so much fun!

Balloon popping, eating, laughing, joking, picture taking, and loads of fun sibling conversations=)

We all headed out on the front porch, after the party, to relax. We came out just in time to see a double rainbow…each color so distinct and they both had a complete viewable arch. So naturally everyone ended up out in the yard with phones, camera etc. trying to capture this magnificent view. Mine attempts sadly didn’t please me enough to end up on this blog…

I stayed up till midnight talking with the birthday girl…Alexandria=) I was reminded of how blessed I am to have this incredible girl as my sister. As the oldest she held our family together, back when I was still too young to remember (and before that). She had to take on a lot of responsibilities at a young age…that I, at 20, still haven’t had to face.  She was literally the glue that held this family together for a long time. And now, if I ever need to talk, she ALWAYS has time for me. She calls me at least once every few weeks just to make sure I’m doing okay…She’s amazing=)

I love you Zay=)

Yeah I admit it. We did get a bit carried away with the camera…=)

Happy Monday!

And she’s 25=)

Hannah’s birthday is the last in a row of three and sometimes I think she gets left out a bit because of this fact…by the time her birthday comes around everyone is tired of sweet, gifts etc. The night before her day, I asked her if she’d like to take pictures when I got home from work the next day…and…she was all for it!

So that’s just what we did. When I got home and she was in the bathroom asking for just a bit more time to curl her hair=) So I ran a few miles and then we were ready. It was pretty windy but we managed and I believe we captured the best of her personality and beauty.

Hannah is a true servant and sometimes get’s run over because of it. She can clean very well and kinda does it for a living at the moment. When she went to Florida, a few weeks ago, we all missed her terribly - the house was such a mess. I love her for just who she is…such a sensitive beautiful girl. Hannah, I hope all of your dreams come true.

Happy Birthday to a Wonderful Sister!

Let me know which ones you like the best=)