September 2022

 September has flown by. I honestly didn't even realize it was October until today (October 2nd.) We've had a lot of fun this month! From getting back to UGA football, to beach trips, to flag football, to birthday celebrations, to Boosterthons, to wine trips, it has been an exciting month! 

Labor day weekend brought a quick SSI trip with football throwing on the beach of course. 

The weather was perfect and the beach crowd was minimal which made for a perfect family football set up.   

Mack and Emma even talked Worth into renting them some beach bikes for 30 minutes. 

Labor day weekend also meant the start of UGA football again!!! We set up a charcuterie platter to feed us for the first game! 

The kids even got commemorative "UGA National Champions" coke bottles for the occasion. 

Ellie's GA history teacher asked them if they would be traveling anywhere for Labor day. Ellie mentioned that she would be going to SSI, so her teacher told her to get a picture at the Bloody Marsh site because they would be studying that soon. We delivered. 

We got to see Papa to celebrate his 74th birthday after we got back from the beach. 

Mack crushed his boosterthon fundraiser at school. 

He wouldn't stop long enough during the run for me to get a picture, but I got to grab one at the end. He was a hot sweaty mess. 

Emma had to make a food for her Ag class that included a Georgia commodity. She chose pecans, and made pecan pie muffins. They were delicious.

Flag football has begun and ended in September.

Mack's team won the championship again this year. Maybe next year I will not miss the tackle football sign up like I did this year. At least we squeezed in for the flag football league. 

Another sweet mom sent this to me. I never seem to have my camera rolling when Mack is doing something exciting on the field. 

Next up was Ellie's 14th birthday party! Her options for parties were limited because of her dance schedule, but we were able to squeeze in a small sleepover one night. 

Elle's food requests for breakfast. Muffins, bacon, and pigs in the blanket. 

Sweet friends: L-R: Ellison, Sarah, Ellie, Vanessa, and Nadia

The cookie cake for the 14 year old. 

Typical Ellie

They were singing Happy Birthday to her. 

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

On her actual birthday, which was a Monday morning - Ellie was greeted with gifts from Emma and Mack and her grandparents. The gift from Worth and I had not made it in by that morning at 6:45am. Mack was so proud of this Lego birthday sign he made her. 

The siblings were enjoying watching. 

Our 14 year old! I'm still in denial, so maybe I will discuss it more on another blog post:) 

Her gift from Worth and I made it in before she walked out for dance.  It was a new phone. Hers was pretty outdated and was having issues, so she got an upgrade that she wasn't expecting. 

We had to celebrate her birthday somehow on the actual day. We decorated a piece of left over cookie cake and met her at the door when she came home singing happy birthday to her. 

Excuse my country and terrible singing voice, but this was Ellie's birthday this year. 

This girl right here is working her butt off. She was determined to continue with dance this year despite 12 hours a week of rehearsals and classes which meant she had to drop all other activities. School has been so tough this year as she is taking 4 honors (9th grade level) classes, and she is slaying it. We are so proud of our first born and hope that she stays this determined and hard working in obtaining her life's goals. 

Emma was wiped out by mid September.

Ellie in one of her favorite t-shirts one morning. She looked so teenagery, I had to stop her for a pic. 

Mack is into a fade haircut right now. 

Mack also headed to SSI with the church last weekend for Kidzquest weekend. 

It was his first time in a camp situation and he did great! 

This month Worth and I headed to wine country with our UAB friends. We stopped off at Half Moon Bay to see the Pacific Ocean on our drive up from San Francisco Airport. The sand was so different, the waves were huge, and the water was cold! 

We went to some awesome wineries - we conquered 9 in 3 days. It was so fun and the company was even better. 

Most of our wineries had food pairings. The food was phenomenal, fresh, and paired perfectly with the wine. 

Tasting the actual grapes off of the vine is something I think everyone should do. We got to try a few varieties at a couple of the wineries. 

Did I mention how good the food was? 

The boys that started it all - minus Russell. The Stuermanns couldn't make this trip. 

I took so many pictures of the other couples for them that I went back to look at my pictures and realized that this was the only picture at a winery that I got of Worth and I. 

The weather was great and we were all exhausted by this 3rd day but we hung in there to finish out the tours. Katie and Eric were on their 6th day of tours because they had come 3 days early to tour with Eric's parents. Overall, a great trip that I highly recommend to anyone. Even if you don't like wine, the experience is unforgettable.