Busy, Busy, Busy!

Wow.  I haven't blogged in such a long time!  We've been so busy over the past few months! 


Here's a quick update:

In September we hopped on a plane and flew to Tennessee.  Erica's Aunt Donna and Uncle Rich have a farm near Nashville and we spent Labor Day weekend with them.

I've been a huge country music fan since I was a teenager and one of my dreams came true as we got to see a LIVE show at the Grand Ole Opry!  

Of course we had never heard of any of the singers (except Billy Dean) but we got a backstage tour and it was a lot of fun (Ironically, the day we left Nashville, Rascal Flatts, Alan Jackson, and a bunch of other famous artists performed.) 

We had a great time hanging out on the farm with Donna and Rich.  Donna has cancer and is beginning a serious round of chemotherapy this week.  We know she'll rebound quickly and be ready for us to visit when REBA performs at the Opry!

As we flew out of Nashville and into Richmond, we noticed the leaves were definitely changing.  I've lived in Virginia nearly three years and have never been on a hike to see the autumn leaves...until now!

Our good friends Kristen and Kyle Duncan are outdoor enthusiasts and know the perfect places to hike.  One Saturday we jumped in the car and drove to Charlottesville with their dogs Daisy and Lucy Moo.  The hike was a blast, the lookout was amazing, and the Duncan's have almost convinced me to get a dog.....yeah, right....

A week after our hike, Arianne (my sister), Ben (my brother-in-law), and Elanor (my niece) came to visit from Texas!  Erica and I had never met six-month-old Ela and we both agree she's one of the happiest baby's we've ever seen!  She always had a big grin on her face and was so cheerful.

We had such a fun time with the Coltrin's.  The highlight of the trip was visiting Monticello and seeing Jefferson's home...then eating delicious apple cider donuts at an orchard overlooking the Charlottesville.

Having a happy baby around has almost convinced us to have one of our own....

yeah, right....

After the Coltrin's left, we left for St. Mary's, Pennsylvania to celebrate Erica's grandma's 80th birthday.  Grandma Cuneo has 10 children and all but one were able to be there! 

The family rented the country club for the night and we had a huge Hawaiian luau party. 

The decorations were incredible and the roasted pig was scrumptuous!  Erica did a great job creating a really nice slideshow of Grandma's life.  You can read more about the party on Erica's blog here.


Now the holidays are here and we're getting ready for Christmas! We had a fun Thanksgiving with Erica's family and spent HOURS shopping on Black Friday!

I think we visited every store between Richmond and Williamsburg and we got some AMAZING deals.  The best part about it is 95 percent of what we bought is now for sale on Ebay! 


More on that in my next post.........