Ain’t Nothing Sweeter Than Homemade Apple Pies, Sparklin Birthday Eyes & No More Goodbyes

Oh my heavens... Did somebody say APPLE PIE!!?? Just something about fresh apples picked hours before, washed & peeled & placed into a pie shell with sugar  butter & cinnamon... That just sounds heavenly. As DELICIOUS as the pies all were, the BEST part actually was the hands of the ones who gathered together to make them. My sweet sister in law had all these apples on her trees in her yard & thought how special it would be for us all to get together, put our aprons on & roll out dough & cut out leaves for our decorative pie crust topping. I got a little emotional at one moment as I was rolling the dough with a rolling pin. I look up & around in a precious kitchen with my 3 sister in laws & my mother in law & just thought WOW!!! I have dreamt of moments like these, cooking in the kitchen with family. It felt surreal to be there. To get to be a part of what they do back here in the hills of Tennessee. I felt overly grateful at that moment once again of the Lord bringing us here. Thank you Lord for the best recipe! Apple pie ain't got nothin on Homemade Family. 

More family to be even more grateful in our hearts for with lots of  birthday celebrations!!!! Gunner turned 10 & our niece turned 2 & my sister in laws turned 34. The pictures of these little faces just make my heart burst into a million sparks of happiness. Family all around for birthdays, for sports, for school programs, for Life. Some of my favorite pics are us driving on Papa's tractor through the woods, up the hill on the road & down into the woods to be with family for a visit.  It makes life feel slow and memorable. The kids rode the ranger & me & Nate had a tractor date. I could go on one of those a whole lot more! This post is full of family which is why looking back at the pictures and writing about them & remembering the times makes my heart feel extra full! God is good!

“Stairsteps To School”

Summer is over...It is time to settle down & settle in to NEW SCHOOLS! Be Still My Heart... Here We Go! Dear Lord, Please be with each of these Orange babies! Starting school is always hard because even with the chaos... I love them home. Moving means sending them to new places and having to start over. If they can do it and be excited and have those smiles... Surely I can! With the start of school also means FOOTBALL! Noah had his first season as a Cub. Lots of hard work & I am so proud of him to be so dedicated. I loved having family come watch & I loved the old memories hearing the band play & LOTS  of cowbell!!!! Lots of cheering from those young & old. The cherry on top was Noah got to have Nathan's old number!!!!! #19 Talk about Special!!!!! The funny thing is Noah wasn't there when he passed out numbers. When he returned it was him & another boy & the coach handed the boy #19 & Noah #45. Noah asked him if he wanted to trade. Nope. The boy was fine with his #. Noah comes home and tells me this! I am like you have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! All of those #'s were passed out & #19 was left!!! I said Noah you have to have that number!!! What are the chances!!!??? I said ask him if he will trade & tell him it was your Dad's # at this school! He was like I already tried. So I am texting Nathan and told him what had happen. It's like I could feel his feelings through the phone & he was in high school all over again!!!! He said Noah has to get that number!!!! I said Honey he tried, I don't think the boy wants to trade. Nate said everyone has a price!!! 😂😂😂😂 I said WHAT!!!?? I am just dying inside seeing how bad he wants this to happen & Noah have his # for the next four years. He told Noah he would pay & his max was $50.... BUT he expected Noah to get the best deal. Ok can we just pause here! I just fell in love with my husband All. Over. Again. The next day Noah tells the boy he would give him $20. The boy was like nope. Noah then jumps to $45😂 & got the boy's attention a little more. He then wanted to know what other numbers were available. Noah went & did the leg work to find out. One of the numbers was #81 in which was the boy's uncles number. Noah was like See.. You can be your uncle's  number!!!! The boy was still thinking as Noah would flash the money at him. GAH Lee.... Could we go to jail for this!!??! It feels a little wrong! Finally Noah comes in & the boy had changed his number out and now had #81 on his locker. Noah raced to the coaches a little confused why the boy never told him and persuaded the Coaches to let him have his Dad's old number! One of them actually played with Nate & joked with him telling him he better be good cause his daddy was! Noah sent us a picture of his locker with # 19 & the story could continue. Happy Orange Family! 

The rest of the pics on here are as always... our animals! Baby cousins & BBQ's, bowin & mowin, creek fun & just more country living. By country livin... I mean getting my hair done down at the beauty salon called Southern Grace. It is a tiny box of a building & use to be an old bank. But inside that tiny cute box are the SWEETEST ladies!!! As soon as I sat in the chair I knew it was my new place! It isn’t far down the road & just makes me happy every time I get to go. Oh & You know you must be home when you go to a BBQ & see all your old teachers, basketball coach & even my aunt & uncle! The longer we are here the more reminded I am of how EVERYBODY KNOWS EVERYBODY. Haha! Love being here & know there will be so much more to experience with the kids.