Nowlin News: November 2017

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Arkansas Thanksgiving 2017

Mom and Dad were excited to host Thanksgiving in their new house and it was perfect. There's just nothing better than time with family and good food. Add in some gorgeous weather and it's gravy on the dressing.

Arlie conked out mid-Cheerio

Fire out on the deck to start the day

Cousins

Fire out on the deck and s'mores to end the day.

On Black Friday, we took REI's advice to #optoutside and hit the hiking trails instead of Wal-Mart. It was such a beautiful day and the view from the top of the bluff of the White River and surrounding area was fantastic! No bald eagle sighting but a great view nonetheless.

The weather was so nice again on Saturday, that we decided we should take advantage and see what other adventures we could find.

Only one pair of boots meant James carrying everyone over the creek.

We hiked to this super cool cave. It was huge and used to be home to the Native Americans. You could see black soot on the roof of the cave from where they used to burn their fires. Super duper cool.

from the inside looking out

Way back in the very back of the cave (we had to crawl for a bit to get there and it was dark)

Such a great couple of days full of food, family, fun and adventure. It couldn't have been any better. Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family. We are truly thankful for you!

Monday, November 20, 2017

Harding Happenings

We had a great time at the Happy in Memphis 5K! I even brought home the first place trophy for my age group (35-39). There obviously wasn't much competition, ha!

Baylie and Emery

This crew is ready

Case got 2nd in his age group and ran it in 29:53. Not bad!

The kids also had their big program at school this week. It was Superhero themed and was so cute. They have been practicing so hard and singing the songs at home for months. Proud of these two superheros for doing a great job!

Friday, November 10, 2017

Miscellaneous Fall Happenings

After school bug hunt at the Memphis Botanic Gardens

Emery had a fun soccer season! Case is playing too, but since his is nearly year-round, I don't feel the need to take pics very often.

Lexie, Millie, Katie, Emery, Mary Claire and Addison

We all four chaperoned the Highland Youth Group (HYG) fall retreat. We had planned to just stay the day but they needed adults to stay the night, so we just all four stayed all night. The kids made it great!

Case's class went to the Pink Palace for their field trip and it was one of my favorite field trips ever. We explored the planets in the planetarium (way cool), explored the museum and watched "Wild Africa" at the IMAX theatre. Such a fun day with these 3rd graders!

Liam, Carter, Case, Aiden and Gabe

And then last, but not least...I headed to the lake for our annual Harding University girls reunion weekend. Such a fun time catching up with some of my best college girlfriends. So glad that we do this every year!

Me, baby Mirabel, Mandi, Trisha, Emily W., Brittany, Melissa, Emily R (and baby Reagan)

Halloween 2017

We had a very happy halloween this year and celebrated many, many times over. By the time all of the festivities are over, I'm ready to move on to the next holiday. I'm just saying....

Picking out our pumpkins for the front porch.

Emery wanted to be a cat this year and completely disregarded all of my costume suggestions. She wanted to go to Target and pick out all of her own clothing and accessories. She and James went to Target (with a budget to stay within) and this is what she ended up with. I called her the fashionista cat.

Pre-Halloween festivity #1: Trunk or Treat at White Station

Piper and Emery

Jordan and Emery were both cats

Pre-Halloween festivity #2: Haunted Hayride

We all had a great time and hope we have the nerve next year to try the haunted corn maze instead. I've heard it's extra scary and I really didn't want to pay $15 for Emery to hide her eyes the whole time which is basically what she did for the bulk of the hayride.