First trip to Georgia

Ava Grace and I went to visit Natalie, Brett, and Ellis this past weekend. We had a great time!! Ellis always wanted to touch Ava Grace, but with a runny nose, we kept her hands off most of the time. Ava Grace did talk to her some and Ellis smiled and laughed often!! The girls went shopping on Saturday while Brett went hunting. Natalie and I watched the SEC Championship game while our girls took naps. We also listened to the Myrtle Beach High School football state championship game on Saturday night. Go Seahawks!! It was a fun trip and some needed girlfriend time!! We are going to miss seeing them over the Christmas holidays, but know that we will visit again soon!! Thanks for such a wonderful time!! We love y'all!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!! Today is Tim's birthday and Ava Grace managed to stay up long enough to give him a big birthday hug and watch him open his presents. We fixed one of his favorite dinners (chicken croissants) for supper tonight and it was so yummy!! S0, happy birthday! We hope you had a great day!

Let's go swimming

Tim and I took Ava Grace to the pool at UNCA last week. It was her first experience in water deeper than her tub. She loved it!! Ava Grace loves taking baths, so we figured if the water was warm enough that she would enjoy it too. There were other people in the pool, so she watched them intently to see what they were doing. Tim and I both got in the pool with her and played.

It was lots of fun!! We are so lucky to have the pool at the University to use, especially since it doesn't get warm enough here for a pool until about July. Thank you to cousin Rebecca who let "her Ava Grace" borrow her float!!

Family Fun

Tim, Ava Grace, and I had a fun weekend with our families. On Friday we went to Spartanburg to eat Thanksgiving dinner with Tim's families. Everyone was able to make it except Uncle Evan who unfortunately had to work. We ate until we couldn't eat anything else and then visited with each other. Meme and Pop Pop gave Ava Grace a pair of pjs to wear on Christmas Eve. They have done that with their other grandchildren. I thought that was a neat idea!

On Saturday, Tim, Ava Grace, and I headed to Clemson for the biggest football ever (at least where we come from). Tim is a Carolina fan and I am a Clemson fan, so it was only fitting that Ava Grace wore a t-shirt that said "House Divided" with both logos on it. Too cute!! The weather was cold and rainy - not the best for tailgating!! It didn't matter in the end since the Clemson Tigers pulled out the victory. The Tigers actually played better during this game than they have all year long!! Yeah...we made it....we are going to some kind of bowl - who knows where! Tim, Ava Grace, and I spent Saturday night at Uncle Doug's house with a bunch of dogs, Cece, and Uncle Doug. We headed back up the mountain on Sunday morning just in time to experience the freezing cold temperatures and the snow/sleet/rain mixture. We have actually had this mixture all day long!! No school cancellations though - which is ok with me!

So, once again, the Perry family had a busy weekend. We have a busy week ahead too, but at least my deadlines are over (for now) and we can just relax at home - just the three of us!!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Perry Family!! We are looking forward to having Uncle Doug and Cece at our house today and then going to Meme and Pop Pop's house tomorrow for another feast. We are thankful for so many things......

1. Our family and friends - ALL OF YOU!! Tim and I (and Ava Grace too) wouldn't be the people we are today without the love and support of each one of you.

2. Our new reason to be thankful....Ava Grace. We are so blessed to have this little girl in our lives!! We couldn't imagine life without her and we are so thankful that God chose us to be her parents.

3. Military people....we have had a cousin in Iraq for some time and have had many friends who have been on the battlefield...we admire you and your courage!! Thank you for all that you do -I know that sounds cliche, but we really are thankful for you and your service.

4. Jobs....Tim and I have jobs that we enjoy very much. Although it can be frustrating at times, we realize that we have a place to work everyday and that others are not so fortunate. On that same note, we are also thankful for the people that we work with. They make going to work more fun!

5. Our house....although small, we love our house. We are thankful for the coziness and for a place to call home.

6. Our church...we are so lucky to be a part of a wonderful church. Teaching Children's Church and attending other functions has been a lot of fun and have put some things in perspective for both of us.

I could go on, but I think you get the gist. So, on this cold, mountain, Thanksgiving Day, we hope that y'all have a wonderful time with your families and you remember all that you are thankful for today and always.

A Special Day

Ava Grace was baptized on Sunday morning! It was a special day and she looked like an angel. The weather turned out to be sunny and nice considering that we had snow two days before. The service was sweet and Ava Grace performed really well. Rev. Combs took Ava Grace in his hands to walk around the church so that everyone could see her. She did not cry once - YEAH!! I thinks he was amazed at all of the people looking at her. I also think that she like the microphone and Rev. Combs voice. Many people greeted us after the service and commented on how beautiful Ava Grace is. Of course we think so!! :) After the service, everyone came back to our house for lunch. It was wonderful to have the WHOLE family (almost everyone...Brittany had a Powder Puff football game on Sunday afternoon and couldn't make it) together!! It was a big day for all of us and we are looking forward to raising Ava Grace in our church. The youth at the church already love her so much!!

Thank you to everyone for traveling to share this day with us: Meme, Pop Pop, Aunt Deb, Uncle Evan, Rebecca, Uncle Steve, Aunt Diana, Justin, Cece, Uncle Doug, Aunt Stacey, Luke, Mrs. Lisa, Mr. Stephen, Matthew, Sarah, MiMi (Dianne Haynes - Lisa's mom), and Claire. We love each of you!!

What a week!

So, this has been by far the craziest week since I went back to work. Work is going well, but it is seriously hard to function without a computer. Yes, I have been TRYING to function without a computer for 5 weeks now. I FINALLY got my laptop back this week and I can't tell you how excited I was. I could have kissed the secretary who gave it to me!! :) So, I thought my job was going to get easier with the laptop - just kidding. I accidently erased 5 reports and a ton of paperwork for meetings off of a disk. Oh yeah - that's right! So, as I was on the verge of tears, I decided I better suck it up and get busy because it was going to take me many hours to redo everything. So, on top of the other work that I had to do this week, I had to reconstruct reports and paperwork for meetings. Our big federal deadline is Dec. 1st which means with the Thanksgiving holidays, everything has to be turned in by this Tuesday. It definitely was BAD timing to lose all of that stuff!! I didn't get in bed any night before midnight this week and of course was up at 5 am as usual. Thank goodness Ava Grace slept through the night this week. I'm not sure if I could have made it through 5 days without crying if she hadn't done it. She must have known how stressed I was (and still am because the work is far from over).
On a better note, it snowed 2 days this week which is always fun to see. Of course the best part is that it didn't stick to the ground for very long which means we were in school. No one really wants to miss school before the Christmas holidays, so it has worked in our favor so far. The bad part about it is that it has been incredibly cold. It was 17 degrees this morning when I got up! Brrrr!!!
Another birthday....I know it seems like we know everyone, but this is a special one. Yesterday (21st) was Price's birthday. Some of you know who I am talking about, but for others, Price is actually Mrs. Price. When I was a little girl for some reason, I just decided I would shorten her name to Price and it has stuck. Her grandchildren even call her Price. Yesterday was her birthday and I am sorry that we weren't there to celebrate. Her daughter Paige is a baker at home and the one who made my wedding cake. YUMMY!! Paige had the cutest cake made up for her with ltos of her favorite candies. Price even wore a Birthday Princess hat all day! Too cute!! There is no relation, but Price and her family have always been special friends in our lives. So, happy birthday Price!! We'll see you in a few weeks!! :)
I'm sure there are other things that have happened this week, but I can't think right now. Hope everyone has had a good weekend so far!!