Family, A Birthday and Welcoming Fall

Happy Fall!

The first apple pie and batch of pumpkin bread have been baked! Leaves are slowly beginning to turn. The weather is cool and it is finally boot and sweater time! I love this time of year!

Especially since the beginning of the fall semester, the days seem to pass by slowly but the weeks fly by! This is what has been going on in our lives during the past few months:

The end of July was the Ward family reunion in Dickson! The majority of the family was there and it was so great to catch up with everyone! I'm so thankful for each and every one of them!

The Jeff Ward Family

The Ward Family, July 27, 2013

August 8^th was Austin’s 26^th birthday! We celebrated by road-tripping with the Mayfields to my Mom’s home in Atlanta, Georgia! Our van is the perfect road tripping vehicle and we always have a good time with great friends. 

Mom and Larry were so gracious to host all of us in their beautiful home. It really looks like something out of Southern Living magazine.

Larry grilled us delicious steaks, which we ate with baked potatoes and broccoli. What a welcome home feast! On Saturday, we ventured out to downtown Atlanta to enjoy a local tradition- The Varsity! We loved sporting our hats! 

After lunch, we headed home and enjoyed the pool. Then it started raining. At the first sign of lightening, we made a hasty exit. We watched a movie inside, though, while Mom prepared a delicious birthday feast for Austin! It was sooo delicious! 

Lime Grilled Chicken, Green Beans, Sliced Tomatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Squash Casserole, Cucumber Salad, Sweet Tea

The finishing touch was Austin's birthday cake! He loves chocolate covered strawberries, so Mom made him a strawberry cake with homemade chocolate icing with chocolate covered strawberries all over it. It was a huge hit! 

Sunday, we went with Mom and Larry to Passion City Church (we rode a shuttle from a parking deck to the worship center- definitely a new experience) and ate a lovely lunch at Chili's before heading to Nashville to eat dinner at P.F. Chang's with Austin's family! 

The following weekend, Union students moved back to Jackson. Mom and Dad came to help Mary move in so we got some family time that weekend. Dad even surprised us with Steel City Pops :-)

Austin and I have started running in the mornings! We are using the "Couch to 5k" app on our Droids! We have found that its much easier to get up and get going together. We have been trying to remain consistent with it over the past few weeks. We just want a healthier lifestyle!

One of our favorite runs happened when we were in Dickson the first weekend of September. We ran the 2 mile loop around Austin's parent's home, and the weather was PERFECT! It was the first real fall morning and it was so much fun to run out in the beauty of the country instead of in our little neighborhood. 

While we were in Dickson, we went through lots of Austin's childhood things in the basement. It was a big project, but Austin and Arica got so much done! It was good to catch up with everyone, even if it was a shorter visit. 

Two weekends ago was Family Weekend at Union. Dad came up from Birmingham for it. Saturday we went on a hike at the Union trails, then went to the ZTA Shrimp Boil and Fireworks that evening. It was the perfect, cool evening and everything looked so festive! 

Happy Wednesday, everyone!