Corn Maze

Thursday, we decided spur of the moment to go to the new corn maze here.  This is the first time our county has ever had one.  Marissa and Daniella had riding lessons at 1:30.  They got in, grabbed a snack, and we headed over.  Well, Mom here remembered to make sure what time they closed, but never thought to look at what time they opened!  Thankfully, we were only 10 min. before opening.  There was no where to park outside the gate, so we pulled a little further up the road to a country church parking lot.  Right next to it was the church cemetery, and James and the little girls spent the time walking through the gravesites reading names and dates.  A little history on the side! 
They did a good job with the maze, and it had a neat scavenger hunt~items that had to be found in a certain order.  The hayride was fun, and even went through a section of woods.  They called it the Enchanted Woods, and had hidden stuffed animals in the trees along the path.  Even the adults had fun trying to spot them all!  The day was pretty, though a little overcast, and the temp was great.

Finding a clue
And, just in case you notice the black bands on Marissa's wrists, those are motion sickness armbands.  She gets sick on all of our curvy backroads.


Ring the bell when you finish the maze.

Playing bean bag toss


The hayride


The Pumpkin Patch

Loving Horses/Dollywood

The girls are LOVING their horseback riding lessons.  Ashley, too, although, I don't have any pictures of her yet.  She drives herself over, but next week I'm going to go over and get pictures.  Anyway, here are Marissa and Daniella riding Dusty.
Marissa

trotting

Trotting~learning to balance and hold on with her legs, not her hands.
Daniella
trotting
Daniella balancing
Monday, my nieces came over with my parents, and we all went to Dollywood.  They enjoy spending the day together.  They get to see each other usually about 2 or 3 times  year. 

Did I Really Say That?

A few people have mentioned how close together Ashley's and Briana's birth days are.  Three years, 7 days, 37 min.  That means birthday celebrations are one week apart.  It has been quite exhausting some years.  Occasionally they had parties together, but many years they were seperate.  The worst were the years I had slumber parties 2 weekends in a row!  : )  They were worth it, though, and gave the girls great memories.  Another hard part was gearing up for the 2nd one.  I always felt like Briana got my mental leftovers!  LOL.  No matter how old they are, I still find myself celebrating Ashley's birthday, then going, "Ack! It's Briana's birthday, and I'm not ready!"  I'm a slow learner. 
   Did I *really* say that having older children was easier than younger ones?!!!  Since July~barely over 3 months~ Briana has had a meltdown over what she wanted to do with her life, changed her major and her plans for this year, moved out of the house on extremely short notice, faced several decisions and challenges with new things, and we're about to start touring new college campuses!    Since July~barely over 3 months~Ashley has gone to Guatemala, had a time of stress and concern about her college (now resolved), changed her major, her sister and best friend moved, has had (and still has) a 32 year old Guatemalan man attempting to court her via email (he's a nice missionary, but she's not interested), and is trying to decide between (or all of) 3 different mission opportunities presented to her for this next year~Israel, Kenya, and California!   Hey! and we had their birthdays a week apart during that time, too!  LOL.  
   Actually, having older children is easier, for the most part, than younger ones...for me at least.  Not easy, though.    Watching them push their wings the rest of the way out~the work and stress it can cause to show such beauty~ and knowing what your exact role is as they step out on their own is not easy.  Learning how to still guide and talk to them, but knowing they are at the point of making their own decisions about their lives....important, possibly life changing decisions... takes hard, discerning prayer.  Knowing when to still be "the mom", and when to let go.  It's also a great time, full of exciting possibilites.  They become my friends more each year. 
  After getting to visit Briana over last weekend for her birthday, we are looking forward to her coming home this weekend for a week long fall break. 

Bri was so very tired from her week of dancing, and had to dance the day of her birthday, we just went out to eat that night.  The next day, we all went bowling. 
At the bowling alley~

Baby Girl

            

Briana turns 19 today.  Even though she's the 2nd child of 4, she will always be "the baby" because there are 8 years between her and Marissa.  "Our baby" is also our first to leave home as you experienced with me this August.  As much as we miss her, we are all happy that she is training for things she has dreamed of for many years.

Briana is outgoing, funloving, and a child at heart, but it's tempered with a Godliness and desire for Him.   When it comes to her faith, she is no-nonsense. 

This is Briana in the middle, doing what she loves~musical theater.