Once in a lifetime trip

In September, Derek, Barrett and Derek's dad, Bob went on a whirlwind baseball trip.  Derek had been wanting to take his dad on a trio lie this for some time, and it finally happened.  The boys visited 3 cities and 3 ball parks in 3 days.

 They hit up Independence Hall

The Liberty bell

The 1sr Supreme Court

Then headed to Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies game.

B tried a cheesesteak

The guys had a fun time at the game

 On Saturday morning, the guys headed on a train to New York City.

Here are B and GrandBob at the train station.

On the subway to the game

Seeing Yankee stadium

 Watching some batting practice at the Yankees game

After the game, the guys headed to the Empire State Building

They hit up Times Square- I don't know who was more excited- Barrett or Bob

Barrett was so tired that he fell asleep during dinner

Early the next morning, the guys drove to Boston. They headed straight to the Red Sox game.

Barrett got to go on the field and run the bases after the game.  He was so thrilled!

They went to Fannuel Hall after the game

They ate at the oldest restaurant in Boston and Barrett got some yummy dessert! He was spoiled the entire trip! 

What wonderful memories for these guys.  So glad they got to on this trip!

In mid-August, a project was presented to our small group at church. 

Lifeworks is a non-profit organization in Austin that helps troubled youth.  It teaches them, trains them and helps them get a fresh start in life.  They have this Home Improvement Challenge where clients apartments are cleared out and completely redone.  A mini extreme home makeover, if you will. 

Our small group jumped on board quickly wanting to help with this.  Our team needed designers to plan out the entire project. Being a designer was alot out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to try it. Luckily, my friend Amy was willing to do this too. We worked on the design together, but lots of people helped out- with their time, or donations. 

 Our client was Johnny Vega, a  19 year old, getting his start in life.

Last Friday, we spent the entire day painting, cleaning, and setting up Johnny's apartment. It was an amazing time spent with friends, working together to complete this project. It took alot of people to make this work.  Johnny was so happy and seemed to love the look of his apartment and all of his new things.  He kept hugging us and thanking us.  This was an incredible experience and I am so happy to have been a part of it. Here are some pics from the day!

Starting school

School started this week. Brooklyn started Kindergarten and Barrett 3rd.

Brooklyn was beyond excited to go to school.  The whole week before school, she would wake up and ask if today was the day for school to start and then be disappointed when it wasn't here yet.  She was so happy on the first day of school and couldn't wait to leave for school.  She had a fabulous day and enjoyed meeting friends(though she couldn't remember any names) and being the line leader.  She saw Barrett during the first day and that made her happy.

Barrett wasn't as excited about school.  He told me he was feeling 60% excited, but I think that went up as the day went on.  He said he had a great day.  He has lots of friends in his class and is looking forward to his third grade year.

The kids rode the bus home the first day and thought it was awesome!!  They have been riding the rest of the week too and think it is fun.  Hopefully the novelty won't wear off.

The first week of school had been a great week! its so hard to believe that both my kids are in school.  Where did the time go? I am so glad they enjoy going to school.  Here's to a wonderful year!