Painting with a Twist, Family, and Gaither Concert...Oh MY!

We had dinner with Aunt Patsy and Uncle Bobby Saturday, July 27th.  Nick & I had spent the entire day working on getting the nursery ready for paint the following week.  I was up to my eyeballs in the master bedroom closet making room to store stuff in there that I had been keeping in what will be Brayden's room.  Nick came in and said, "How about we call Bobby & Patsy to see if they want to eat at Country Tavern?"  If I didn't have to cook, I was up for it!  We had a great time visiting with them.

The next day, Joe, Melanie, and Rhon got home from their vacation in Creede, CO.  Alan, Tovah, and Owen came down for all of us to go out to eat.  Joe & Melanie also wanted to give us our presents. :)  I got a snowman for Christmas decoration and a new t-shirt, Nick got a new flashlight (that boy has an obsession with flashlights) with pocket knife attachments on the end, and Brayden got a moose back pack!  We all loved our treasures!  Alan & Joe helped Nick move all of the big furniture out of the nursery that I could help with out into the living room to help out the painter.

This past Thursday night, I went to girl's night.  We had a BLAST at Painting with a Twist in Longview.  I've never done anything like this before, and I definitely want to do it again.  We had a big group of ladies, 12 in all, that met up to paint and have wine.  There were three pregnant ladies in the group (myself included), so I brought us sparkling grape juice. :)  We had so much fun, and I enjoyed getting to spend time with all of them.  Seven of us went to eat at McAlister's before getting artsy.  I'm not sure where I'm going to hang my artwork, but it will be going up soon.

The preggers with our sparkling grape juice.

Our group!  Starting at the bottom left and making a big circle clock wise: Audrey Shumate, Kristen Jernigan, Kelley Fink, Casey Mayben, Christi Denney, Stacey Stuard, Dara Smith, Dia Hardeman, me, Candace Perschbacher, Jessica Kimbro, and Leslie Hooper.

Our works of art in progress.

Casey being a punk and painting on my canvas!

Dara was very intently painting her cross.

Everyone concentrating very hard on their canvas...except for Audrey.  She's painting her paper towel, and Kristen's sticking her tongue out. 

Kristen in her AWESOME apron.

Finished project!

Our group plus four other women from Pittsburg that were there too.

Friday night, Nick & I went out to eat with Edwena and Nick's dad.  Edwena is like Nick's adopted grandmother.  We took her out to 155 for fried fish.  Melanie was out of town so Joe tagged along with us.  Edwena showed me her latest quilting project...a quilt for Brayden.  I'm so excited and absolutely love it!  We had a bit of excitement though.  Right before we picked up Edwena, her electricity went out.  We didn't worry about it, left and ate, then came back to drop her off.  SWEPCO was there getting set up to fix the transformer in front of her house.  We pulled into the drive way, and SWEPCO pulled in behind us (blocking us in) and started setting everything up.  Nick didn't want to be "that guy", so we just stayed put while they gave everyone in the neighborhood electricity and A/C.  I about melted, but we had some fun getting extra time to visit with Edwena.

Saturday, Nick & I ventured into Longview to do some shopping for Bray's nursery.  We got a ceiling fan and some odds and ends for decorations.  We ate at Taco Casa, and it was oh so yummy.  We rented Pitch Perfect and What to Expect when You're Expecting.  We watched Pitch Perfect that night, and we're going to watch the other tonight.  We enjoyed getting to spend the day together and getting ready for Brayden to make his appearance.

Sunday, Nick & I went to Sunday school, worshipped, then left as soon as the song service was over.  We ran by the house, picked up Satchel and let Tex run around a bit, then headed to New Boston.  We ate lunch there, then we all loaded up to go to a Gaither concert at the Perot in Texarkana.  It was a lot of fun, and we were super close!  We just saw the Gaithers in February, but I'm not passing up a chance to get to see them.  I especially enjoyed getting to hear Mark sing "Mary, Did you Know?"  It made me ready for Christmas!  I loved his story leading up to the song.  I also got to see my senior Sunday school teachers.  Loved getting to visit with them.  

The dogs running off some steam before we headed to Texarkana.

After the concert, we had pizza, and I got to swim for the first time this summer.  It was heavenly!  I didn't realize how enjoyable swimming could be for a pregnant lady.  It takes all the gravity off of your back. :)  I enjoyed getting to visit with Mom and Dad while floating in the pool.

We're headed back to New Boston this upcoming weekend for Sister's birthday.  Should be fun!