Progressive Dinner

On Thursday night our small group had a progressive dinner. Unfortunately Stephen had his surgery shelf the next morning, so he stayed home to get some last minute studying done. We started out at Alyssa and Matt's house for appetizers. I brought a hot spinach and artichoke dip and Alyssa made a shrimp cocktail platter and veggie pizza. After about 45 mins we progressed to Ryan and Anna's house where we had dinner and listened to a reading from Luke. The last leg was at holly and Bens where we had a dessert and the couples exchanged white elephant gifts. It was a great time of fellowship and wonderful food!


The girls at Alyssa's


The guys- minus Stephen : (


Hanging out at the Reese's, house 2


Eating dinner


Ryan reading from Luke


Mandy and Brad


Matt and Alyssa


Ryan and Anna in their matching sweatshirts : )

Over the river and through the woods...

To grandmothers house we go! Here is my sweet grandma. Her name is Eulean (my middle name- pronounced like "you lean") and she is my mom's mom. She is 91 and lives in NC. I went with my parents and Layna to see her a couple of weeks ago. My grandma gave Layna every piece of junk food she could find including a gingerbread man cookie and a lolli bigger than her head. It was really fun to have so many generations in one room together.

Our Christmas Tree

This picture was taken right before the AOA Christmas party last night.

Mountain Weekend

A few weekend ago, we went with our small group to Dillon, GA for a mountain weekend. We all chipped in and rented a beautiful log home. We had such a great time just getting away and enjoying some great fellowship. We went for a beautiful hike and Stephen got some really great pictures. On Sat night we all went to the Dillon house for dinner. I have never experienced anything like it. You dont order, you just pay a flat price and they bring out bowls of everything to pass around the table. The just keep on refilling everything. The food was really good. It was all homecooking country kind of stuff. We had a blast the whole weekend.

Halloween Party

On Halloween night our small group had a halloween party at Matt and Alyssa's house. They live within walking distance to us but we had never met until we joined their Monday night small group. Getting to know them has been wonderful. They have been such a blessing to have in our lives and we are really looking forward to getting to know them better. Before the party, our wonderful friends Ben and Christy came over to watch a little of the Clemson game and hang out with us. Then we headed over to the party. We had such a great time. Stephen and I both feel extremely lucky to have found this wonderful group of people. We love them all so much! On Monday nights the girls meet for a few hours and the guys meet separately, so it was definitely a treat to spend time all together as couples. Here are some pics : )

Carving Pumpkins

Here are the pumpkins we carved for Halloween! Stephen did the mummy and I did our last name with a tiger paw.

Fun Family Visit

The weekend before last, Stephen's parents came to spend a few days with us. They got here on Thursday for an award ceremony for Stephen and stayed until Sunday morning. We had such a great time with them. Thursday afternoon we went to the beach. We fished, walked on the beach, and had a great time. Friday morning they bought and installed blinds for our porch. We are very thankful and it has made the porch much more enjoyable. That evening we grilled artichokes and baked sourdough biscuits for an appetizer (yes it was kind of strange but delicious!) and then went to the Crab Shack for dinner. Saturday morning, Stephen and his dad woke up really early and went fishing on the peer. His mom and I woke up a little later and then brought them breakfast. After many hours, Stephen caught a HUGE fish (see picture below). That afternoon we watched the Tigers beat Miami in a very exciting game. We had such a wonderful weekend and are so glad his parents came to visit.