fall break shenanigans

At the beginning of this month, Allie and I immensely enjoyed my time off with some traveling and time with family and friends.  First we headed to central Ky for some Christmas fun.  Yep.  Every year we celebrate with my grandparents before they leave for Florida for the winter.  This was Allie's first time for this particular celebration... Last year, she had only been home with us for a few days when the family got together, and there was just no good way we could have taken such a big trip that soon.  This year it just so happened we celebrated Christmas on October 1st, which was the anniversary of the day we met and brought Allie home.  It was so special reflecting on this while being with my family and seeing how much they love her.  I doubt I stopped smiling the whole day.

For as long as I can remember, kids flock to my dad.  They flock, they adore, they pile on...

Then we spent some time on the farm.

Seeing my daughter sitting and playing the piano I grew up playing gave me allllll the feels!

Allie loves her grandmama so much!

Then we headed to northern Ky to visit my friend Carolyn from college and her little girl, Charlotte.  Carolyn and I roomed together for a couple years, served in ministry together, were in each other's weddings, and while we live hours apart, we talk at least weekly, if not more.  Charlotte and Allie are two months apart, and it has been an absolute dream to watch them grow together!

Off to the Cincinnati Zoo!

Luke got to join us for this part of the trip.

It was a perfectly beautiful day!

Not a huge fan of the carousel just yet.

Hands down one of the coolest pics I've seen in a long time.

And probably the closest I've ever been to a lion.  They are so beautiful and majestic.  They have this way of making you want to stand there silently and still, taking in their beauty.

Don't ever stop being brave, little ones!

We spent the remainder of our trip at Charlotte's house, playing, going to the park, shopping, going for ice cream, and marveling at our girls...

#nopantsnoproblem

After Charlotte was born I traveled up to visit, so incredibly happy for my friend, and not having a clue my own baby girl would be born two months later.  Hindsight can be so humorous.  The days following Allie's arrival to our home hold some of my most favorite and sacred memories, not only because of those first moments with Allie, but because of the many phone calls and facetimes we spent telling our news to family and friends while nearly bursting from our joy.  I will never forget facetiming Carolyn.  I told her I had some news, that I wanted her to meet my daughter, and then panned my phone camera to show Allie, who was in my arms.  Carolyn's mouth dropped open and within seconds she was weeping.  I mean full-on WEEPING, you guys.  And I started laughing, not at her, but at how crazy this whole thing was and because I was so full of joy and let's face it, also from sleep deprivation.  And she just kept crying tears of joy, and I think I realized in that moment just how invested she was in my life and happiness and how deep her prayers had been for us.  And in classic Carolyn fashion, she said, "I might have to go pull myself together and then call you back."  But she didn't, and we just kept talking and rejoicing over this bundle of life in my arms and her story.  And inevitably we realized our dreams were coming true, dreams we'd talked about late at night in our college apartment, where we'd have daughters who'd grow up together.

And here I am, crying as I type.  This is one of the reasons I love to write about this stuff... Because in the midst of work and busy days and rough days, I'm reminded just how overflowing with goodness God is and how abundant His blessings are.  How He must have been listening to us back on those late nights in college, smiling so big and thinking, "Oh, girls, if you only knew..."