War Eagle

 After 2 years of living in Auburn, we decided it was high time we went to a football game. Michelle P and Lily graciously offered to babysit for us so we could go to Auburn vs Ole Miss. It was SO MUCH FUN. And, as an added bonus, we won!

We walked to the stadium from our house, about 2 miles. We discovered this secret path that takes you down by a creek! 

Our seats were way up high but we still felt like we could see everything great! One of the coolest parts of this experience was right before kickoff when they let the bald eagle named Independence fly around the stadium. He flew around the stadium and then dove down and landed on the big AU in the middle of the field. Just watching it made me feel like I was on a rollercoaster!

The stadium was packed!

The band (behind us) was playing the other direction the whole time so we couldn't really hear, but they looked great. Also, it was SO COLD. We froze our buns off!

The at home crew cheered the Tigers on to victory

A video I took as we were leaving

After the game we needed to make a quick pit stop, so we went over to the physics building. Mason needed to change the media his cells grow in, and I got to watch him do it. He looked so cool and science-y.

Then we moseyed on over to Toomer's Corner. Whenever Auburn wins, everybody runs over there and throws toilet paper in the trees to celebrate. We had to see it!

After that, we walked home. It was such a wonderful date, and well overdue. We are grateful for such amazing family who gave us the chance to do this!

My Bestie

 My best friend is Emma. She is the extravert who "adopted" me back in like May. We go to a park together almost every day. Sometimes we go on runs together. We babysit for each other. We always share snacks. We visit her grandpa. We minister together. We go on walks in the woods. We ride horses. We swim together.

Now, she is like a sister to me. Sometimes I think about past Bri, from just a couple years ago. If you told me back then that I would have a friend as great as Emma, I wouldn't have believed you. I told myself for years that I didn't need a friend. That I was fine by myself. I liked doing my own thing and being independent. I thought those things in an effort to protect myself from the extreme loneliness I felt for so many years. And I did it for so long that I had actually begun to believe it, until Emma persistently reached out to me to do playdates. I turned her down a million times. But then I started to say yes. I'm so extremely grateful for her love and for her patience that helped me to break out of my cocoon I had built around myself.

Abby and her son, Ross, are best friends. They have played together countless times. It is so fun seeing them grow up together. Lately they've started sharing snacks with each other really well. Just today Abby was grabbing Goldfish out of the tupperware and handing handfuls of them to Ross, which made him very happy. Also Ross was pushing the trash can at the park around and laughing his head off, and it cracked Abby up something serious. I hope they are friends forever!

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(Some of) Summer 2021

 This summer was fun. I'm looking back at pictures I took from just a few months ago and Abby seems like such a little baby compared to how she is now! It's crazy how fast she is growing. 

We spent lots of time at home enjoying each other's company:

We went up to party with the Burkharts:

We went to a park near their house and splashed in the creek. The water was FREEZING but the kids didn't seem to mind

Calvin loved throwing rocks into the water and seeing it splash!

I planted some gladiolus for the first time and we got some beautiful flowers for a few weeks:

We took lots of walks and played outside:

And generally had a good time

Then we headed up to Gramps and Grammie's house

Abby rocked her first low pony and Ryan said she looked like Paul Revere.

Kaylyn gave mom a facial

Abby ate her weight in cherry tomatoes

Mason helped Mom and Dad set up this awesome new swing