October Phone Dump

October was a bittersweet month. We had a lot of fun activities for the month, and I love the Fall-- but we also had Lyle's going-away party and then his deployment at the end of the month. So the month was both good and a little sad.

This year I am teaching the 3-yr-old Awana Cubbies class with my good friend Becky. I am actually enjoying it much more than I anticipated. Both of my boys go to Awana also-- Carson is just down the hall in the 4 yr old Cubbies class (this is probably his favorite activity of the week, he loves cubbies!). Carver is in the Sparks class and he does fairly well. He does not love it like Carson does, but he usually goes without complaint and seems to have a good time while he is there. 

Carson and Ande at Cubbies. 

Singing/Dancing on stage with his cubbies friends.

The boys love and adore their dentist. They view dentist appointments as an exciting outing. And, for some unknown reason, they always get a mustache.

Teeny tiny frog (toad?) that I found on my back deck. 

Pizza date. I have no idea what he is doing in this picture but I think it is hilarious. :)

Decorating baby pumpkins.

Carver's field trip to the Vance Memorial. It was a gorgeous day!

My new coffee cup. It makes me happy.

This is Ainsley, Carson's best friend at school. She recently moved to Charlotte and we are so sad. He talks about her often and still plans to marry her :)

He fell out of a "tree." It was a pretty bad injury and he has the scar to prove it. 

Laughing and swinging on the porch.

Cub Scouts!

Junk-o-lanterns with Daddy.

Fun shirt from Amanda. 

Halloween treats from sweet neighbors. They even remembered Winston.

Character Day at School: The man in the yellow hat with Curious George. 

Fall crafts!

Julia's Fall Break

For the second year, Julia spent her Fall Break with us. I think it is now officially a tradition :)

They both wanted to sit by her. 

Burgers made from a Blue Apron meal. They were amazing.

Sometimes Julia gets dragged along on random outings. She is, without fail, always a good sport.
This was an event at the fire station in Black Mountain.

Riding on top of a fire truck.

Climbing up and down was super awkward. Especially in front of the crowds waiting for their turn on the truck. 

Another Blue Apron meal. They are much more fun to prepare when Julia is helping. 

Mom came to visit for part of Julia's visit so we headed to the Biltmore House for the morning. We took the audio tour and loved it!

As always, Carson was beyond devastated when my mom left. This is him with a card she made for him....

Lyles Going-Away Party in Virginia

In the late summer we found out that Lyle was going to be deployed, for the first time, as a member of the Virginia Army National Guard. There were lots of feelings about this deployment---wishing he didn't have to go, excitement over a new opportunity, worry over him being away from his kids after a very emotional and tumultuous year, and then of course the general fear over his safety while in a foreign country. He is expected to be deployed through mid summer 2017.

Lyle has been so blessed by his community of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances in Virginia. He has had a solid group that have walked with him through this past year of struggle and are supporting him still, through this deployment. We, as a family, are so thankful for this. His entire unit was deployed and these other men are now counted among some of his closest friends-- so his support system is strong.

In early October, some of these Virginia friends and co-workers gave him a going-away party and invited us. Carver and Daniel had a cub scout commitment (a camp-out!), so Carson and I headed out of town to go to visit Lyle and attend the party.

I didn't really take pictures at the party, but it was so nice. Probably around 100 or so people were there-- a mix of friends and work people and acquaintances. Courthouse employees, police officers, and members of the Sheriff's department made up a huge percentage of those in attendance. It was sweet to see Lyle in that environment. I've never really seen Lyle in his role as Commonwealth's attorney-- so to get to see so many people there who respect him and admire him and support him was a nice moment for me and my parents. He is so well-loved there. Not just liked, loved. I can't even tell you how many people made a point to introduce themselves to me, to tell me stories about how they know Lyle, and every single person spoke of how much they appreciate and love him. He's a public figure in that community, but he is so much more than just an elected official. He moved quietly through the room, speaking to everyone, totally at ease, introducing us to each group of people and it was all so effortless. Because those are his people now. He cares about each of them and works hard for that community. It was fun to watch.

The only picture I took at the party :) Carson getting to climb up in a tank.

The morning after the party, we celebrated Christmas early with Lyle and his kids. It was fun! I know it was stressful for Lyle to try to plan and execute all of these things with his kids before he left-- but the kids were so excited and so was he. I'm glad we were able to be a part of it.

Carson and Roxy

Carson adores his cousins. And they are so sweet to him.

Lyle reading the Christmas story.

They do family devotions every night that they are together. Love.

Carson sitting in Will's lap.

Praying with Tommy.

"Christmas" morning!

Grandmama and Granddaddy did not leave Carson out-- even though technically he was not celebrating Christmas early.

Bailey's first Alex & Ani bracelet. She was SO excited. 

Carson crashing the family picture.

I'll write more about Lyle's deployment soon but it has been hard having him gone. We have some visitation with his kids while he is away-- one weekend a month-- and us getting to spend time with them has seemed comforting to him while he is away.

We are all hoping the days and weeks and months pass quickly.

On the way home from Virginia, Carson and I made a stop at Chuck E. Cheese's. Because he loves it :)