Hey dears! It was a busy weekend for us but we got so much done and it feels amazing.

We’ve been spending lots of time with Ben’s family this past week since his mom is here visiting from Thailand. We usually only see her once a year during the winter, but thanks to a family wedding, we get to see her during the summer this year too! We met the family at the park on Friday night for Seneca Farms chicken and fruit pies for dessert and watched the kids chase seagulls and had lively conversations. One of the things I love most about my in-law family is the freedom to talk about anything and even if you disagree about something, you can still passionately expound on your point of view and at the end of the conversation, we all still love and appreciate each other.

Saturday was a big packing and loading day for us. Ben and I both woke up early and sat on the deck with hot teas to watch the sunrise…probably the last one we’ll see like that before we move. We talked about how much we loved living in this home and how much we’ll miss our lake view and how much of a blessing the two years spent in this spot was for us. But we also talked about how excited we are to be in our new home and create new memories and have new experiences.

Ben’s sister and her family are actually the ones buying our house from us, which is so nice! It’s great to keep the house (which ben’s mom actually built) in the family and know that it will be taken care of and we can visit again. We spent Saturday loading up our furniture, bedroom, and other big items in our moving sheds, and unloading Myron and Joleen’s stuff into the basement where most of it is stored until we officially move out on Thursday. They have a camper parked in the backyard and are staying in there until we leave, and we make funny jokes about our little family commune, hehe. Now I basically just have the kitchen and our personal stuff to pack up this week, and my mom will be coming up on Tuesday to help me finish up, so woot! It’s happening.

We spent Saturday evening at farewell party for one of our friends who’s leaving to work at the same boys camp that Ben did a few years ago (which is when we met!), and it was such a beautiful evening with friends and grilled steaks and homemade ice cream to top it all off. Ayla made it through most of the evening before the busy day and activity and short naps caught up to her…she was so exhausted, bless her heart.

Ben left in the early morning on Sunday for a work conference in San Diego, so Ayla and I spent the day being as relaxed and low-key as we could. The family came over for lunch and then spent the rest of the day just hanging out at the house. The kids got out water balloons and we grilled hamburgers for supper and sat in the yard and then called in an early bed time. The past week has been a full one and Ayla hasn’t been sleeping as well at night…I think just all the stuff going on makes her a little more unsettled or something. She won’t be awake for long but then I just have a hard time getting back to sleep. All this excitement, you know! So we catch some extra sleep when we can.

Have a great week, dears!

Here are five things I love:

– this funny thing
– this cool tip
– this inspiring article
– this pretty necklace set
– THESE POPSICLES

What about you: what is your ideal weekend?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Ah, the weekend.

It went by in a flash and we were busy little bees working hard all weekend on cleaning out corners, packing up belongings, and starting to load up the sheds that will haul our entire lives down to Nashville. It felt almost surreal to actually be taking stuff out of our house to move, and in all honesty…I started getting really, really excited. Sorta like a nervous excited…the kind you get before embarking on something you know will be amazing but you’re really not totally sure how it will all go and feel…that unknown excited kind of thing. Ok, and let’s be totally honest…I’m mostly just pretty excited to get to Nashville and go drink coffee at some of the local hipster spots, hehe.

We spent most of the day on Saturday packing and loading, and then had a bunch of our friends over for the evening for brisket and burgers and conversations on the deck. It was a fun evening for us, and made us realize all over again how much we will miss the friendships and relationships we have here! There is really nothing like being around people that you know and trust and understand. I know we’ll make new friends in Tennessee, but we’ll miss the ones from here too.

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day with sunny skies and perfect temperatures. We woke up and had our morning snuggles with Ayla, waffles for breakfast, and then listened to a podcast sermon. We thought we just wanted to spend the whole day at home together since it was our last Sunday in New York together (ben will be on a work trip next weekend)…but we suddenly decided we wanted to get out and do something since it was such a beautiful day. We packed a lunch and drove to Geneva to have a picnic by the lake…it was the perfect thing! About halfway through our lunch, we noticed a crowd was gathering on the point to our right and then they started singing worship songs and ended up having a baptism right in front of us. It was such a neat thing! You don’t see that kind of public display of Christ very often in this part of New York, so it was a pretty special thing to witness. Ayla enjoyed the outing for the most part, minus a major meltdown soon after we set up our picnic. We rigged up a semi-private nursing corner with a tree behind me and the stroller beside me and just made it work, hehe. I’m not super comfortable with nursing in public (just my own personal preference), but desperate baby cries calls for desperate nursing measures! The rest of Sunday was back at home for naps, a walk, and church in the evening. Our church did a little prayer send-off for us during the service, which was so special and as we drove away that evening, we just looked at each other and agreed once again that we’re gonna miss this.

Here are five things I love:

– this pretty case
– this blog post
– this super sweet moment
– this easy diy banner
– this cake recipe

What about you: what did you do this weekend for fun?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!