Thanksgiving and More

Back in early November we had some amazing weather, so we decided to do a little landscaping in front of our house. Sophie woke up from her nap and Erik dressed her and brought her down to help us plant some shrubs. So here are a couple of flashback pics of Sophie as she would have looked in the 80's. I seriously think I had that exact outfit when I was little.



For Thanksgiving we got to visit Erik's siblings and their spouses in SC. It was great seeing where they live and work and spending some quality family time.

Sophie having a little pre-Thanksgiving lunch turkey snack - courtesy of Gigi

The goods - prepared by Carol, Jenny and Liesl. We got there just in time to eat it.

Pete reading to us from Colossians.

It's like they're related

The whole clan - and a wild Sophie.

Typical Pete and Jenny behavior

Sophie got some fun birthday presents...

...which Kyle enjoyed playing with.

Here Jen is undoubtedly trying to convince Roger of some brilliant plan - the best idea ever (if you know her, you know).

Liesl with the greatest mother-in-law of all time, and incidentally, Liesl is pretty great too

Sophie was a little worn out on our last day so she took a nap in the living room while we played games. This was one of the closest things to a miracle that I've ever seen.

Our dear friends Danny and Rebecca came down to Charlotte to hang out on our last day. It was great to spend time with Beccs and Jenny - two of my closest friends from college.

Proof that Sophie is a Strode

This first video was shot a couple of weeks ago when Sophie was exhausted one mid-morning...it's such a perfect Strode moment to make her Papa and her Uncle Jo-Jo proud :)




And this one is a little bit of footage from Jared's football game:

Fall Fun

Now that it's getting close to December, I decided it was time to post some pics from October. The weather here has been amazing so we've spent a lot of time outside at our house. Here Erik is demonstrating one of his many strange talents. Of course Sophie immediately wanted to join him, so the next two pictures show him holding her up so she could "swing like a monkey."

This picture should be accompanied by the monkey noises she made.

In mid-October we went to the pumpkin patch with several friends from church. This was a really well-done farm with lots of activities for the kids and several farm animals for them to feed. It also included several opportunities for education, as seen below:

Sophie & Ava playing with corn

Ava playing peek-a-boo

Sophie was super excited to be there

Then she tried to hide in the corn and run away

Our good friends, Lindsay, Amber & Grandma Jan

Family picture attempt #1

Family picture attempt #2

Family picture attempt #3

Thankfully Grandma Jan got a good picture of our family for us. I also had to include one more that she took at her son, Jared's, football game. Sophie is a little bit in love with Jared, and since the game we hear "Go, Jared!" at least 5 or 6 times a day. So her face is extra sweet in this picture out of joy for seeing Jared play. Sunday when Erik was watching the Titans play I said, "Sophie, can you say 'Go Titans!'?" and she said "Go Jared!"

My Guest Post

So I'm hoping to have some Pumpkin Patch and Halloween pics up later this week, but in the meantime you can click on over to Erik's movie blog and give me some feedback on my guest post. I'd love to know what you think :)

My Post

Birthday Part 2

After Sophie's birthday party we went to Arkansas w/ my parents to visit my grandmothers. Although we were sad that Erik had to stay here, we had a great time catching up w/ extended family, and Sophie enjoyed dragging out the birthday sweets a few more days.

Vegging at Grandma's house

Reading "Fool Moon Rising" with Papa - a great book about pride and the glory of God

At The Purple Cow with Nannie

Eating purple ice cream

Getting ready to go to "the Cafe"

Meeting Curious George - she kept putting her hand in his mouth, I think hoping she might come up with some spare banana

Sophie's Birthday

Earlier this month we celebrated Sophie's 2nd birthday at our home. We had a little party with some good friends and my parents were in town as well. Sophie seemed to have a great time and got some super fun gifts thanks to the generosity of such great friends.

The night before the party Erik's dad and grandmother were in town so they brought some presents. Sophie knew exactly what to do w/ them :)

Cupcakes for the party - thanks to a lot of help from my mom.

Sophie's "Grandma Jan" and Mr. Chris and Miss Amber were able to come for a bit and brought her some Play Doh - her first experience w/ this delicious toy.

Sophie's sneak attack hug with Riley.

Ava, Sophie & Riley

Mmmm...Monkey = delicious

And here's a little video of "Sophie" blowing out the candles:

Our Singing Sensation

Since she was really little Sophie has loved to sing, and the older she gets the more songs she learns and the more often we are surprised by the words she knows. A couple of weeks ago we filmed this while she was eating (the only time she sits still long enough to get a video).

I'll try to post birthday pics later this week, but for now here's a video of our growing girl. It's such a joy to hear our daughter singing songs about our Father and we pray daily that he will call her to Himself and she will one day love Him.