Fall Family Weekend!

This weekend was one of the most beautiful I've seen yet while living here in NC! The air was crisp and cool (weellll...VERY COOL to be exact:-) and the sky was that shade of blue that lets you know that campfire and cookout season is just around the corner! 

Yesterday, Stephen was able to get finished with his work a couple of hours early ( a first in about 9 months or so:-) and we packed up kids and a picnic supper and headed to South Mountain State Park for a picnic and hike! Well, we didn't hike far because it was quite cool and Caleb was ready for bed by the time we had hiked about 20 minutes. And if you know him at all, you know he ABSOLUTELY has to have his bed when he's sleepy or you'll be sorry!! lol! 

We enjoyed the trip though immensely and the best part of being in the mountains is just being in the mountains! The drive is always worth it:-) Thankfully, South Mountain is only about 30 minutes from our house, so we didn't have to listen to him cry for too long:-)

As you can see it took me several tries to get all of them to mostly look like they are trying to be still for a picture...oh well:-) 

We had a fun evening together and can't wait to go back when we have more time to hike farther up the trail.

This morning, we woke fairly early and got ourselves down to Columbus, NC for the towns annual Fall Festival. It was amazing at how very cold and windy it was there! We got there about 11:00 and I'm guessing it was around 55 degrees...the wind made it feel MUCH colder than that. The day was so beautiful and we had such a good time that after a while we really didn't notice the cold much. Although, I did have to run over to the local 2nd hand store and get a pair of leggings for the girls because they were slightly chilled;-)

Buddy the Clown was there entertaining all the families that came through Crossroads part of the festival (they headed up family games for FREE!) He made all kinds of interesting things....hats, swords, butterflies, etc...for all the kids who came through. He also put on two 30 minute shows and rode his unicycle all around the festival at various times. The kids loved it!

The wind was really whipping hard and fast at one time during the day, and I could NOT resist taking this picture of our dear Pastor trying to keep the tent that housed the prize area from blowing away....lol!

He and Mrs. Jenny were finally able to move near downtown Columbus last week and they are loving it! The Lord answered so many prayers concerning their move there, and although we miss them, we are so thankful for their ministry and for the lives of others that have already been touched through the ministry there! 

I didn't get to take a picture of the awesome farmers market that was there, but oh my goodness, the goodies that we came home with! Sweet corn, green beans, spelt baguettes, butternut squash, shitake mushrooms, to name a few:-) Besides the farmers market, local businesses and local artists had set up tables with all kinds of neat things for sale and there were even a couple of covered wagon rides going on as well! It was such a neat experience and we loved being around those "farmin' people"...the plethora of overalls and plaids just iced the cake:-) It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the fellowship with dear friends and family and are looking forwards to many more of those days to come as my parents will be moving in November to Columbus as well! 

Well, it's off to finish the soup for lunch tomorrow and to ready myself for the early morning dash to get everyone up and off to church! Have a blessed evening and Lord's Day in the Lord's House tomorrow!