Fall Fun

We went to the Bluegrass and Molasses Festival at Ellington Ag Center on Saturday. It is literally right behind our house, but we had never gone until now. It was really fun, plus it was the PERFECT fall day. We had just gotten our fall family photo taken, so we decided to stop by and see what was going on-- very glad we did.

Our Masterpieces: Mine is the cool spider!

We had a great time with our small group Sunday night! We carved pumpkins and drank hot cider with the kids. I just can't get enough of the fall fun stuff! :)

By the way-- if you're looking for a moment or two of fun, go carve a cyber-pumpkin! It is very cool! Check it out!

Lots going on this week-- Tuesday night we visited Luke's open house at school-- so cute! Wednesday night we had the Parade of Bible characters. Luke was post-fall Adam. I'm thinking I have to be more creative next year!

I took Luke up to my parents today. He's staying with them while we go to Detroit for the weekend. One of my favorite friends from college is finally getting married! :) This is such a huge answered prayer-- I can't wait! :)

We'll get back on noon Sunday, just in time for trunk or treat at church! I bought Luke an adorable monkey costume months ago only to have him request a dragon costume this week. So, yes-- I got him a dragon costume today! I had seen it earlier in the week and it was on sale. I showed it to him tonight, and he loved it! It is SO cute-- a funky blue with the perfect pointed tail. Guess the monkey's headed to Ebay!

Trick or Treat photos to follow!

A Thousand Words...

Above are some photos of Caroline's 3-month portrait session. I never posted them, and thought I would finally get around to it! :) She's such a sweetie!

I took Caroline for her 2nd panel portrait today. She was a tad grumpy so I hope that we have a few good shots to pick from. She was more interested in chewing on a fake string of pearls he had lying around than mugging for the camera.

I am a little crazy/obsessed about photos-- in case you haven't noticed! I want to make sure that no event goes undocumented in the Westerman household! You never get the chance to go back and get pictures of the kids, and they grew up way to quickly! And, even though I doubt Luke and Caroline will ever beg to see the 10,000 photos I took of him as a child, perhaps their future mate will-- and their great, great grandkids!

One of my little dreams is to start my own photography business one day where I could utilize my computer skills to do cool photo effects as well as to design holiday photo cards, invitations, etc. Who knows-- maybe it will happen someday! I would need to go back and take some classes to hone my skills first though.

This Saturday we are going to get our fall family photo made that we will use in our Christmas newsletter. How fun that we will have a new little face in this year's shot! We always get a big one to hang in our living room, too, so that we can remember all year how fast time is flying by and how blessed we are as a family. I'll post some shots when the proofs come back.

Pumpkins and Praise!

What a weekend-- we started with pumpkins and ended with praise!

On Saturday, we took the kiddos for their first pumpkin patch experience at Gentry Farm out in Franklin. Scott actually had Mr. Gentry as a teacher and coach at Brentwood Academy. He spent many winter breaks working on the farm in high school. We ran into Mr. Gentry and they had a chance to catch up which was nice. The farm is beautiful and we had the perfect fall day!

The kids had a great time-- although Scott and Luke got separated from us and got lost in the corn maze!

Our sweet little pumpkins reluctantly pause from play for a photo op for Mommy! It is SO hard to believe how fast they are both growing! Next year Caroline will be running through the pumpkin patch trying to keep up with Luke!

As the day wound down-- and naptime approached, the photo ops became harder to come by! But, a fun time was had by all!

On Sunday, ZOE was privileged to participate in A Light for the City. We joined the Nashville Chorus, Greater Nashville Community Gospel Choir, and others in a night of worship and praise in the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Other featured artists included Marty Goetz, Ashley Cleveland, Buddy Greene, and Mandisa of American Idol fame.

Not only did we sing with the 400 plus choir, but we were also asked to perform "How Great is Our God" as well as to sing the lead part on an arrangement of "As the Deer" with the entire chorus. Words can't describe the experience! The music was so powerful and genuinely beautiful-- Scott said that during the first few opening numbers he thought he was in heaven!

Some of the best highlights:

• The GNCG choir singing "They Didn't Know"-- an incredible piece about Jesus and his sacrifice for us. They received a standing ovation, and I think we were all moved to tears.
• The entire chorus singing "How Great Thou Art"-- it was wonderful to see the sold out house singing along with all of us! It felt like the roof was going to come off!
• Buddy Greene on the harmonica-- accompanied by an accordion. Amazing!
• The prayer before the start of the show led by the director of the GNCG choir, Sam Robinson. He reminded us of what an opportunity we had to "christen" the new symphony hall with God's Spirit. He also remarked how neither "Prima" or "Donna" showed up for the show, but that we were all working together to touch the community.
• Mandisa leading us in "Shackles"! We were all dancing-- as best we could! :)
• The last song-- "Total Praise" and the "amens" at the end-- that was one of the ALL time best singing experiences of my life! The passion of director Sam Robinson was beyond anything I had ever seen! The music went straight through to the core and the entire room was in the Spirit!

ZOE has been so blessed to participate in community activities here in Music City. Next month it is the Ryman! Yeah, God!

You can see more ZOE photos from last night and a post about the conference on the ZOE blog site.

Two Little Pumpkins

Whew! What a weekend! It was such a blessing! Almost too many things to recount! It was so wonderful to see so many of you! Hope you felt encouraged by the weekend as well.

It is always so hard to believe that yet another conference has come and gone. I think I really savored some of the moments this year more than I have in years past. What an awesome experience to be standing in front of a thousand people who are worshipping God with everything they've got! You could feel the Spirit! So powerful!!!

It's late, and I won't even begin to relate my favorite moments and lessons learned-- I will at some point this week. I should have a few photos, too.

The leaves are changing, a chill was in the air, and the moon was gorgeous tonight! Bring on the fall! :) Here are my little pumpkins! :)