Lucky Girl

I've said it time and time again, but I have been blessed with the best girlfriends in the world, both old and new. Last weekend, I spent almost 24 uninterrupted hours with my oldest friends. The four of us have been friends since early elementary school. That's a really long time!

We stayed at a cozy, yet modern hotel south of Nashville. We didn't do anything fancy, just enjoyed each other's company.

We stayed up late, didn't put any kids to bed, weren't woken up by any dogs, and didn't fix breakfast for anyone the next morning ;)
By the time we actually made it out for breakfast, it was lunch time! We ate at Puckett's Grocery. Yum. We were actually seated on the stage.
Love you, girls!

Special Friends and Surprise Braces

Last night we had the opportunity to listen to the Wright family speak about their work in Kyrgyzstan with the orphans, the poor, and the elderly (basically, anyone who needs help!). They have made this their life mission and it was so neat to meet them in person. It was almost like meeting celebrities!

Another local Kyrgyz adoptive family hosted the event at their church.

The Wrights have 2 daughters that travel with them to Kyrgyzstan. One has learned Russian and the other has learned Kyrgyz. It was very neat to hear them speak. This is their daughter playing with AP and her friend E during the presentation.

3 Kyrgyz cuties wearing Kyrgyz hats that the Wrights had with them

Julie, John and most of the kiddos

John made reference to herding cats when we were trying to get all the kiddos to sit on the steps with them! But, you can tell that my two have a paparazzi momma b/c they struck a pose and held it for a really long time!

To read more about the Wrights, check out their blog at Acts of Kindness. You'll be glad you did.

In other news, C went to have his palate expander installed in his mouth this afternoon. He has been asking if he was getting braces and I have been telling him no. The appliance that he needs goes in the roof of your mouth and is turned 2 turns a day to make more room. The lack of room is the issue at this point. Anyway, I was totally surprised to walk back to the orthodontist chair and see 2 brackets/braces on C's front teeth! I guess I didn't think about what the palate expander would be attached to! He is now sporting one black bracket and one orange bracket! He said he chose UT colors. To be honest, I am a little intimidated by all the special brushes, special floss, special keys, and turning instructions. She said some kids even have to stay on a soft diet because it hurts :( Bring on the mac and cheese!

So Much Sweeter

The best thing about being cooped up for so long due to all the snow and freezing temperatures
is that it makes the days when you can play outside until the sun sets so much sweeter!

Hearts Day

Here are just a few snapshots of our Valentines Day.

AP shared cookies that we made with her friends at school.
We attached rock candy to C's rockin Valentines.

A few sweet treats waiting for the kiddos that morning.

They were caught red handed

in a sweet brother/sister moment!