merry christmas! (i made an e-christmas card b/c mailing out christmas cards of just us would be lame)

Parker and I have been so blessed this past year! We've been blessed with great family, friends, good health,   wonderful callings, a cute little house, and jobs we both love. I am always amazed at the blessings our Heavenly Father gives and am so grateful for His personalized plan for us. We are about to head off to our biggest adventure of the year- a 10 day trip to Thailand. Parker served a two year mission there and he is so excited to go back and see the places, eat the food, and visit the people again. I have to say I am definitely most excited about the food. and riding elephants :) 

Merry Christmas!

Click here for a taste of the true Christmas spirit.  

a beachy thanksgiving

fall.

We took our 2nd annual trip up to Blue Ridge parkway. We were a little early this year, but the drive had just enough fall colors and smoky mountain charm to make the trip worth it!

the navigators.

Some old mill. Pretty cool.

We made it to the 29th annual Lexington bbq festival with some friends this year. Unfortunately the bbq festival had very little bbq... but it was still a good day!

this is his, why is there not more than just bbq sandwiches at the bbq festival?! face

in case you forgot we live in the south, go ahead and take a look at the list of deep fried foods...
and yes, that does say deep fried butter. 

Oakley dragged her mat from her dog bed out to the middle of the lawn to take a nice nap haha.

 love the fall colors in our backyard!

busy bees

Just when I think life can't get any busier it does. I can't even remember all that has gone on over the last couple of months...Here are a few little snippits.
Parker had a birthday shout hurray!

I found these pictures from the Hopper's game we went to when all of the Haderlie clan was here:

 We've still got our cute little she-devil dog Oakley. Anyone want a dog? (Just kidding, but seriously)

We've had lots and lots of youth activities for our church over the past two months. This weekend was the first weekend in a long time we didn't have one to go to. Last weekend they had a Fall Fling complete with hay rides, caramel apples, cotton candy, and games. Of course we had to get in on the caramel apple/cotton candy action. 

And in other news, I got a job as a kindergarten teacher. Which, even if you think it's not, is a pretty huge deal for me. Because being a teacher is a lot of work and I know I am going to be even more crazy busy. Especially since I always said I would never teach kindergarten. Never say never I guess...I am excited to be working with 20 cute little kiddos though.Which can I just say? Heavenly Father really knows what he is doing. I've been working as a kindergarten assistant so far this school year and was not too thrilled about it. I pretty much dreaded it all summer. Little did I know He was just preparing me for this opportunity to be a teacher for the grade I least expected to teach.  I'll keep you posted on my adventures in kindergarten as I go. (Sounds thrilling, I know :) )

a forever sleepover

Marriage from the mouth my newlywed cousin Courtney. We had the wonderful chance to go up and stay with her and her husband who have been living just outside of Washington D.C. for the summer. It was a super quick but super fun weekend. I have been wanting to go there since, well forever basically and Parker kept asking me if it was everything I expected. Yep, it was. It was just like in the movies. Except for the reflecting pool (see below). Lots of cool history. My brain was on information overload by the end of the 1st day I'm pretty sure. We were able to pack in the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, a lot of war memorials, the Natural History Museum, the American History museum, a tour of Arlington cemetery, and lots of quality time with Nick and Court. And Parker getting a hot dog from a cart. 

so they had these really baby forks and it was hilarious. 

and courtney's broke wile she was eating one night. haha. 

Sunset!

Summer isn't summer without the beach! We were lucky enough to be able to get down there a couple weeks ago for a long weekend with some family. I love the beach. We got a ton of sun, and had fun playing with the munchkins. I let this cute one try out his photography skills. He made sure to capture everyone at their best :)

The kids captured a shrimp in the canal. Had to cut of his head to cook him...