It's Official!

 Today marks the 16 and 3 month waiting period for Lily Grace to get her official driver's license.  

Matt and I took her downtown to breakfast and then to the BMV to trade in her learner's permit for her official driver's license. 

She was so excited!!!!  She will start out slowly driving close to home by herself before Matt and I let her loose.  She's had a new car on order since her birthday, so hopefully if will arrive soon and she can start driving her own car. 

We are so happy for you Gracie!

Matt and I couldn't resist  sneaking up behind her and giving her a hard time at the BMV as she answered questions.  Clearly we did a great job embarrassing her. That face!  We love you Gracie!

Her official license.  The plastic one should arrive in about a week. 

HaPpY 50th Matt!!!

 Matt turned 50 last Friday and we had a lot of fun celebrating over the weekend.  

Happy 50th Matt.  We love you!!!

Gracie crocheted Matt a new head cover for one of his golf clubs.  

Several of the guys in Matt's golf league asked for one after seeing his.

Off to Indy to enjoy lunch at our favorite Italian restaurant before Matt goes to get fitted for a new set of golf clubs to go with his new Scotty Cameron putter.

On the Road Again...

 Lily Grace and I just returned from our latest road trip.  We thought having tackled the 6 hr drive to Nashville over Spring Break, we were born road trippers.  Let me honest, we found out otherwise.

We were heading south to visit family and squeeze in a little beach time as well.  Now, let me preface by saying that Matt did try and get us to fly.  Again, let me be honest, we should have listened. 

We drove to Nashville the first day and the second half the next which was more than another 6 hours in the car.  Oh my gracious!!!!  We are so not long road trip girls.  12+ hours is well past our threshold. ha!  When we finally got to AL on the way down, we knew right away we were not cut out for longer than about 6 hours.  Gracie did help drive but again, it was sooooooooo long. 

We did make the most of it and had A LOT of laughs.  Lily Grace wanted to see where Matt and I went to college (Troy University our freshman year where we met and The University of Alabama Birmingham where we graduated) and our first apt as well as the address where I grew up.  We did have fun walking down memory lane and enjoyed getting to visit family (and eating some boiled peanuts).  

When we finally got home at the end of the week, Matt had a wonderful grilled steak and shrimp waiting for us.  He had also washed and put away all the laundry, put fresh sheets on the bed and vacuumed so we could just crash.  We both were giddy at the sight and it felt so good to be home.  

This won't be out last girl's trip, just the last one that starts and ends in the car for that long.  ha!

Lily Grace while riding in the car was one of my least favorite parts of this trip, doing it with you and making memories along the way was definitely my favorite. 

Once we made it to Nashville, we checked in and went to dinner.  On our return, the minute Gracie and I entered the lobby of our hotel the fire alarm/lights started going off.  We got a huge laugh and wondered if this was an omen of things to come.  Needless to say our hotel stay on the way home would prove to be just as eventual.  Yet again, it made for some laughs. 

Seagrove was was beautiful.  The water was clear and it was HOT!

Peeps in beach mode

Happy Father's Day!

 Matt's been wanting to play the Purgatory course in Noblesville, IN.  We surprised him with a trip to do just that for Father's Day.

The name of this course says it all.  It's absolutely beautiful, but filled with bunkers and thick tall grass making it very challenging.  It was super tough, but it didn't stop them from having a wonderful time!!!

Happy Father's Day Matt!  We love you!

The clubhouse is a beautiful log cabin and out back is this fitting sculpture. 

The signs keep with the Purgatory theme and we had fun reading the name of each hole. 

Both Matt and Gracie found out how brutal these bunkers could be.

Lily battled three bunkers on hole 16 alone and by the end of it....

...Matt had joined her in the third one.

Mother's Day- I am so Blessed!

"I do not cease to give thanks for you"
Ephesians 1:16

Lily Grace, you hold my heart and are the absolute best part of me.  Being your momma is my greatest joy!  I love you!

Sweet 16!!

She's 16!!  I still can't believe it.  We started celebrating weeks ago when we traveled to our first concert.  

The celebrating continued over the weekend with a crochet class, some shopping, golf and into Monday when the official day hit.  For the big day, Gracie asked to skip celebrate away from school.  😉  Her request, a day in Indy playing TopGolf, shopping and her favorite restaurant.  

We piled in the car on Monday morning and Gracie drove.  Yep! She got in about an hour  of driving practice to Indy.  In the state of Indiana, you aren't allowed to get your actual drivers license on the day you turn 16.  You must log 55 hours of driving time and be 16 and 3 months old, so July 25th for her.

While it was rainy and cool, it didn't dampen Gracie's excitement.  She loves TopGolf.  We had a great time.  She and Matt traded off winning and well, I showed up. 

Lunch was wonderful as always and a stop at the Fashion Mall never hurts.  

Gracie, you aren't just 16, you are absolutely amazing!  I'm in awe of you.  Your work ethic, dedication to something, perseverance, kindness, big heart and sense of humor are just a few of the things that make you the wonderful girl you are.  You are beautiful inside and out.  I can't wait to see what life holds for you.  I know that great things lie ahead of you and I am just blessed to get to watch and call you my baby. 

We love you Gracie Cakes!!

I love surprising her when she comes home from school.  With her birthday falling on a Monday, Friday afternoon made for a great start to the birthday weekend.   She even found an early gift from Molly.

Gran sent Gracie this beautiful and fun little arrangement  on Friday afternoon. 

She's been wanting to get deeper into crocheting, so on Saturday, she and I hit a nearby little town to take a crochet class and it was so much fun.

We met these sweet ladies at our crochet class and they were so nice.  We had so much fun and the shop is just adorable.

Main Street in this little town is like Mayberry.  It was so cute and welcoming.  Gracie enjoyed a little shaved ice while we shopped some of the quaint shops.

When we returned home from crochet class, her Saturday surprise and arrived.  She has been wanting a record player and to start an album collection.  Well, she got a suitcase record player in her favorite color and a new Taylor Swift album.  This girls was so excited. 

On Sunday afternoon she and Matt got in a round to get their TopGolf skills ready.  It was extremely windy and Gracie pulled out one of her best rounds on this course to beat Matt by three strokes.  She was unstoppable.  It was so much fun.

The big day brought new gold hoop earrings Monday morning and  requested Chick-fil-A breakfast before our trip to Indy.

And of course, there's no celebrating without this big ball of fur putting herself in the middle of it all.

A picture with the birthday girl Monday morning before we leave for Indy.

Oh the concentration..

Her relief when her time driving on the interstate in the rain and construction was over.  ha! ha!  Dad took over at Starbucks. Grace said she had to get out of the car because her body was so tight and tense from driving.   Hilarious! I felt the same way as the front seat passenger.  She's getting better each time she drives. 

According to Lily, I'm only allowed to post this shot of the last game.  ha!ha!  Yep! She was the winner. 

What better way to finish off a birthday lunch than Creme Brûlée and an Affogato?

Happy Sweet 16 Gracie!!!!!  We love you!!!! 

-More than words could ever say!

Purdue-Boiler up!

 This past week we made our first official college visit.  Lily Grace was invited to attend the Introduction to Purdue.  We spent the day in sessions, touring the campus and housing, talking with students and getting information and advice from department heads.  

We were blown away by all that Purdue has to offer and with the campus itself.  So much so, that I kept telling Matt that I felt like I needed a do over. ha! Lily Grace loved their honors college.  It's pretty amazing. She is piling on the AP classes and is even taking some summer classes to make room for even more AP classes her junior and senior years.  Learning that all of her hard work in doubling up and taking AP classes would carry over to Purdue and afford her the ability to double major with a minor and possibly graduate in three years, really got her attention, especially since right now, she's planning on going on to law school.

No doubt all the accolades, successful graduates, rankings and status that Purdue has earned are impressive.  We still have several schools to visit, but Purdue is definitely on the list. 

Notre Dame, University of Michigan, Indiana University and Ohio State are some of the schools on the list of colleges still to see this fall and throughout next year.  I can't believe we have started on this adventure.  Seems like just yesterday we were walking to Kindergarten.  Nonetheless, Matt and I are so excited to see all that Gracie accomplishes wherever she chooses to do that. 

As I stood watching her check in, all I could see was my baby

Gracie got a taste of what it's like to walk to class even if it's pouring rain and windy.

She loved the Great Hall in the Honors College dorm which is fashioned after the British Education system right down to the floors being names and competitions held between the floors.  It was so Harry Potter.