Weekend Wrap-Up - Family, Friends, Football, and Food

 

Let's start at the end. . .this was the view as we were leaving pickleball on Sunday evening :)

November 19th and warm enough to enjoy the outdoor courts!

I'm joining up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday - thank you ladies for providing this link up!

As I mentioned Friday, I was looking forward to picking up my brother and SIL at the airport that morning, then my sister was driving in that evening so we could all spend the weekend together.

Their flight was on time, and they were in my car just after 8:30 a.m.  We picked up Stephen then went downtown for breakfast at Pete's 

They are no longer open on the weekends, so it's rare we get to go there anymore.  It was a delicious breakfast, great to catch up, then we walked around downtown, Stephen giving us a great tour (I wasn't familiar with a lot of the places he showed us).  I tried to get a picture but ran into resistance (shocking) and didn't push it.  It was too important to enjoy the time together then argue about "too many pictures".  

We got Stephen home, went to say hello to Erin at work, stopped at Sam's Club and finally got home 1230-ish.  They were exhausted - they left the house at 5 a.m. for their flight - so they took a nap and I continued to prepare food for dinner that night (tacos) and tailgating Saturday morning.

I love a house full of people!!  The Bells and Maxwells stopped by to eat and visit - this was the first time our framily had met Brad and Kristin (although, of course, they already felt like they knew them!). . .Lizzy came with my sister and she made herself at home:

Even Uncle Tom couldn't resist a little bit of Lizzy :)

Aunt Jodi and two of the Foster-Bells.

Uncle Brian came in the latest (he and my sister were heading in two different directions Sunday) and we had a late birthday cake for him

He got in a little love time with Lizzy too :)

Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful!

I had a lot to do to prepare to leave the house at 9:30 so Laura and Jodi took the doggies out without me.

We packed up and took off!  

Brad and Kristin had never been to campus.  We had about a mile walk to our tailgating spot so we stopped and got a few pictures together:

Look at those Floridians all decked out in Tennessee orange!!

We had a GREAT tailgating spot. . .

So lucky to live life with this guy :)

The food!!!

And these exceptional friends.  If you met us and asked, "how long have you known each other" you would expect to hear one of us say "10 years".  You know what?!?  We haven't even known each other 10 months.  It's unreal. . .and yet here we are. . .so lucky to have had the opportunity to go to Greece and *somehow* all come together and continue the friendship beyond that trip!!

Here we are. . .the Greek Geeks

My sister managed to get a picture of all the kids and kids' friends - good job hiding behind that pole Stephen ;). And yes, my niece invited a Georgia Bulldog fan to the shindig :/

Beautiful weather, good food, great people, super pumped-up atmosphere. . .

Terrible game

Oh well. . .the expectations weren't high, but the Vols didn't even meet the low bar.  Sigh.

BUT it was a privilege to be there, to sit with the fans, make noise, and witness that lone TD in the first 11 seconds of the game.

And Dolly Parton was there. . .the one person the entire nation can agree to love.

After the game we headed home in many different vehicles, depending on who got there when. . .and I was surprised by an elf who decorated my house for Christmas!!

What a treat - not only to have this started, but she put away the fall decor too!!!  This is one of the biggest and best surprises I have experienced in a long, long time :) I didn't take lots of detailed photos (yet). . .just thankful for this.

I was the last one up Saturday night. . .and left these two on their own in the living room.  Sweet puppies :)

I have no pictures from Sunday. . .Stephen requested breakfast at 8:30 (my sister had to leave at 9) so I put out a couple sausage casseroles, some fruit, and Brian's birthday cake (!!) - he came over with my niece and three of her friends.  My sister left to go back to Cinci, my niece left to go back to Nashville, my BIL left to go to SC (where his family is spending Thanksgiving), then we took my brother to the airport for a 2 p.m. flight back to FL.  Whew!

We watched some football, took a nap, went to pickleball with the Bells, took that beautiful sunset picture, ate leftovers, and watched the Broncos beat the Vikings with 5 field goals and a touchdown.  It's fun watching a former Vol (Josh Dobbs) get a chance with the Vikings. . .I was sad for them that they couldn't pull out the W last night even though they led most of the game.  

I was scrolling Instagram during the game and grabbed this:

As I navigate my professional future this is something for me to ponder. . .I'm not in this alone :)

Happy Monday - Happy Thanksgiving!!