The Warren Family

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Fall is in the air...

I really enjoy all four seasons and I'm thankful to live in place where I get to experience all of them in their full glory but fall is my favorite time of year. I love the gorgeous colors that God paints through the trees each year. I love that there is just enough nip in the air at night to justify a fire in the fireplace. I love sweaters and boots, fall festivals and Appalachian football games.

Jake is such a precious little old soul. Sometimes he really amazes us with the things he says at the most unexpected moments. We were leaving our house last night and as we started driving down the mountain there was the most beautiful sunset. Jake asked his Daddy what those beautiful colors were in the sky and Trip told him that it was a sunset and that God made it. Jake said... "Daddy, did God make it for me?" and Trip told him that yes God made it for him. Jake smiled the biggest smile and said ... "Thank you God". I looked at Trip with tears in my eyes and quietly whispered... "yes.... thank you God... for Jake".

I never fall asleep before Jake but I was really tired last night and was out as soon as we finished prayers. I hadn't been asleep long when I heard a sweet little voice whispering... "wake up Mama... I need to snuggle". Trip and I are so blessed by this child and we are eternally grateful to God for giving him to us. I was reminded this weekend of just how precious life is and that we can't take a single moment for granted. A high school friend lost her only son and my heart is broken for her. I held Jake a little tighter after hearing the news and prayed for God to help her and her family get through this unfathomable tragedy. Thanks be to God for every moment with our loved one's and let us never forget to hold on tight and take advantage of every opportunity to be together.

We are really enjoying our first fall back in the High Country. The past few weeks have been filled with family, friends, festivals and football. Jake is really loving football right now so Appalachian games are a big hit. He cheers and listens to what we're saying so he can yell out just the right thing. All the people who have been seated near us at each game have been very entertained and impressed with our little football fan. He is all about his cousin Gage right now and absolutely loves going to watch him play quarterback for his high school football team. Gage is number 10 so that has become Jake's favorite number. He wants to play football all the time at home and he's always #10 and sometimes he pretends to be Gage too. He'll say ... "I'm Gage... so call me Gage". He's learned to punt the ball (Gage taught him) and he loves to pretend to put on his football pads before we play each night. The ASU game was a night game this past weekend and we hung around after the game so Jake could hear the band and then we went down on the field and let him run around while they were cleaning up. He had a blast! His little face was actually beaming as he ran all over that field pretending to run touchdowns and make passes. He noticed that there were two little boys that had brought a football with them to play with on the field so we had to promise to bring his little football to the next game.

We went to a real old-fashioned harvest festival here last Saturday. It was really great and just reinforced for me that this is "the" place to raise a child. We followed the recommendation of my co-workers and got there early... much to Jake's shagrin (see picture below). We ran into many of our new friends and neighbors and enjoyed a homemade fried apple pie to kick-off the morning. We watched as members of the community made fresh apple butter and cider. We perused art & craft tents filled with beautiful handmade treasures, listened to bluegrass, watched cloggers (Jake's favorite thing) and enjoyed a nice hot bowl of Brunswick stew. The weather was perfect! The sky could not have been any bluer and the leaves were beautiful! We were even lucky enough to get a family picture. I was taking pictures of Jake and Trip and a nice gentleman asked if I would like for him to take one of all us. I just love it when that happens! Jake had his eyes closed but at least were all three in a picture together.

Our realtor is hosting an open house at our old place this weekend so fingers crossed because we're really anxious to find our next house and get permanently settled high on this mountain.

Mama said to wave but is that a cheerleader I see over there?

I'm #10 and I'm going for a touchdown!

I could watch these girls dance all day long...

Fall Family Fun!

Mama got a great shot of them making apple butter.

You can even see the steam rising from the copper pot.

My mama loves me so much!

Daddy is my very best friend!

Seriously... you got me up at 7:30am on a Saturday for this?

Happy 32-Month B-Day to Me!

(Grandma made this beautiful sweater for me....

Thanks Grandma!)

Mama loves this tree in the valley...

Mama and I stopped and snapped this shot on the way to school one morning...

Do you like my new shades?

I love to wear Daddy's stuff!

This fire is so warm but Daddy says I can't touch it.

This was a field trip to the apple orchard. We went to the pumpkin patch too.

I love to draw and I'm learning to write some of my letters.

Tigger is tired...

I bet you can't guess what I'm going to be for Halloween...

Mama said... "everyone say touchdown"....

This was a little family celebration in honor of my Daddy's birthday and my Aunt Kristi's birthday.

See Daddy... I told you I could wear your golf shoes...

That says Appalachian State...

Go Appalachian!

Daddy ... where did Yosef go?

My very first ASU game and I'm not convinced that it's a good idea yet...

More swimming lessons and I'm getting better and better.

I can do it all by myself!

I'm really getting big!

Happy 31-Month B-Day to Me!

Getting a few swing tips from Daddy...

I like wearing Daddy's golf glove but it's a little too big for me...

Look out ball! I'm going to hit you out to the numbers.

Fore!

This game is pretty fun!

Grandma got this magna doodle for me to play with in the car...

Yhew! Aunt Lynne & Uncle Sherrill have a lot of grass to mow...

Uncle Paul, Grandma & Daddy

I'm glad it stopped raining so I can get some yard work done...

Grandma knitted this sweater for me and she put FOOTBALL buttons on it!!

Yummy... cupcakes!

I'm so sleepy....

Hanging out with my cousins...

Bryce... Tyler ... Me and Natalie.

Aunt Lynne & Grandma

I can get undressed all by myself now.

I like to make Mamaw laugh...

Watch me Papaw!

Okay... take the picture Mama...

Here's your change Mamaw.

I love spending time with my Papaw!

This is my friend Kruz...

Saturday morning cartoons...

You're how old?

Happy Birthday Daddy!

I don't know why Daddy wears these glasses. I can't see a thing!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Summer is almost over...

Summer is almost over and it won't be long before we need a sweater up here on the mountain. We've had the air turned off for a couple of weeks and it has been getting down in to the upper 50's at night which has been wonderful. That makes for some great sleeping but it sure is tough to get up in the morning when you're snuggled in all warm and cozy.

We FINALLY have our house on the market in Asheville and Trip and I are beginning to feel human again. It has been so nice to have our weekends back but it was a little bitter sweet to drive away from the house on the day we listed with the realtor. I mean that was our first house as a couple and our little boy's first house too! We both shed a few tears as we said goodbye. We actually took Jake along for that trip and he made it clear that he wanted to stay in the Asheville house. He loves his room in that house and his little friends that live next door so he told us several times that he wanted us to live there again.

My Mama and Daddy are going through withdrawal now that we're not dropping Jake off with them every Saturday morning. They just miss him so much but thankfully we're close and still hang out with them as often as possible. I'm eternally grateful that God blessed me with a job that kept us close to them. We're very, very close and family is extremely important to me. I would be lost without them and I love that Jake gets to spend so much time with not only Mama and Daddy but also my brother, his wife and their three amazing kids.

We're starting to "browse" houses up here but we're reluctant to get our hearts set on anything until we see how long its going to take to sell our house off the mountain. It is a terrible time to be trying to sell a house but we're getting excited about the possibilities for buying in this market. I guess you can never have it perfect on both sides of the coin. You either sell high and buy high or sell low and buy low.

Jake loves the park here and we take him as often as we can. It's only 10 minutes away which is great. It's a community supported park instead of being government funded and it is AWESOME! Great play ground equipment, picnic areas, tons of open space, walking/biking trail, great river access, an outdoor music stage and more. We hope that when we do find a new home that we'll still be very close to the park.

Grandma came down and stayed a couple of nights with us last week and we all enjoyed our time with her. I feel so fortunate to have her as my mother-in-law! Jake loved having her here and can't wait for her to come back for another visit! He was especially excited that she slept here in the house and was ready to play as soon as he woke up in the morning. Luckily ... we'll get to see her again in just a few weeks at the family picnic.

We were part of a truly beautiful wedding this past weekend. My cousin's daughter (who I adore) got married to a wonderful young man and being there with them was very special. Jake was supposed to be a ring bearer but he was overwhelmed by the crowd and decided not to participate. Luckily, Laura was a sweetheart and totally understood. He was VERY excited about wearing his tuxedo and I have to say he was absolutely adorable in it. I was the director of the wedding so I only got to snap a couple of photos of him but he looked so cute that we'll probably dress him and take a few more at some point soon.

What a beautiful bride!