BFFs and Pumpkin Houses

By the way, can I just ask, how awesome is my husband? He knew I really enjoy blogging, but was feeling a LITTLE overwhelmed by how far behind I was. So a few months ago, in one fell swoop, he informs you of our wonderful summer and frees me up to get back to the Crazy Matchell details. :) And he's a pretty funny guy, if I do say so myself.

So...some of you know that I have a best friend. I actually have a lot of "best friends" (for real ones, that know I exist, and return my faithful love, unlike Karen Kingsbury and Pioneer Woman- who have yet to meet me and return my affection, even though I count them as "potential best friends"). See, I think it's ok to have best friends in every area of life. I've just had the pleasure of knowing some pretty spectacular girls that I love to hang out with and learn from.

But there is one best friend who set the precedent for all others. I knew I would love her forever when I could forgive her for spitting a loogy on my retro Nikes in seventh grade on one of our daily walks to Sonic. (Couldn't beat those grilled cheeses and vanilla cokes!) I coveted her perfectly matching socks and uniform shirts and thought from day one that she pretty much had it all together. The truth was, she pretty much does. (Her mom helped a bit with all the color coordination and cute bows. Ha!) Even though I am crazy blessed to have gone to high school with pretty much the awesomest group of girls ever (yes, I still see them and chat with them as often as possible, 10 years later...and I totally made up the word awesomest so I could describe them, because no other word would embody their true essence...) there was just something special that I shared with Jill. We played tons of sports together, hung out all the time, and had super deep talks about faith, life and boys. (And did I mention that she was better at EVERY single sport we played? But really, there are no hard feelings. When elite gymnasts join the rest of the peons of the world in team sports, of course they will be more disciplined, and faster, and stronger. And there's not bitterness. For real. I liked getting the "spark plug" or "the eager beaver" award while everyone else was awarded MVPs and female athlete of the year. Really.)

So, when Jill had her second kiddo at the end of October, I just had to make a quick trip to Dallas to welcome him to the world. (And maybe challenge her to a quick race while we were there. Because this is the only time I could have any possibility of victory. One day after she delivered a baby. But I refrained. And chose the high road.) This is Paxton in all his adorableness. (And one of Jill and me, at some point during perhaps her first pregnancy. Which made me realize I need to take more pictures of us.) We had some super sweet time together, and I got to love on both her boys a bit while I was there. They are precious and she is one amazing Mama.

We also got some great time with my parents. Hanging out at home or going to the park and enjoying the beautiful weather. It was restful and just a wonderful time of hanging out. (The kids also did spectucalar in the car, which kinda sets a nice positive tone for the whole trip.) A big highlight of our visit was the Dallas Arboretum. It was FANTASTIC!!

There were pumpkins everywhere, including made into life size houses that all correlated with a famous story.

There was face painting. Anna chose to be a purple/pink kitty...

while Mikaiah chose to become a puppy in honor of Quincy.

There were awesome pumpkin patches

and a petting zoo.

They also had music time, crafts, and some of the most picturesque photo ops imaginable. Unfortunately, photography is not one of my greatest strengths, but if I lived it that area, we would find someone talented to take family pics there. Every single week. That how much I loved it.