a most exciting weekend

we've had such an awesome last few days! we celebrated tate's 3rd birthday at peter piper pizza after the weather changed our park plans. he was thrilled with all of his new gifts and his very own cake. this was his first real party, so we enjoyed watching his excitement.

tate with gammy

tate with nana
tate, gatlin, & tripp

tate's own cake

happy birthday, tater bug!

after that, we settled in early for the marathon the next day. natalie and i hopped in with elizabeth and erin for our drive to dallas. we were so anxious about the day ahead and ended up doing well, overall. what an accomplishment! 4 mamas running marathons and half marathons!

elizabeth, erin, me, & nat

after the marathon, we ate a yummy meal with friends and family at uncle julios. i couldn't help but think about the huge sacrafice and many friends and memories i've made on this marathon journey. we ended the day with a Christmas program at church. it was alot more intimate and organized than i had expected, and was a true Christmas blessing. unfortunately, my camera didn't get very good pictures. we enjoyed watching the different personalites of our kids on stage. tate hammed it up, loving the attention of the audience. will couldn't wait to get down. and lexi was very passionate about her songs. it was so sweet (and funny)!

monday morning i woke up super sore and wished i could stay in bed, but will and i had a date on the polar express with his class. i was so glad to share the experience with him and afterward we had a nice lunch at central market and came home and built a train track out of lincoln logs together. here are some pics from the train ride.

santa on the train

will and the train conductor

will and best pal, landry

finally, monday night, erin, elizabeth and i went to a dinner and wine tasting with our luke's group. what a special night of memories and new friendships.

"green group"...these are the folks i spent my saturday mornings for the last six months with.