What Sep 2024 Looked Like

Labor Day:

We went to Asheville to spend the weekend with our cousins there.

Ryan's brother has also moved to NC with his wife

and ADORABLE daughter. We had never meant them

and it was fun to play games with them.

On Monday, we did a waterfall hike with them 

to Tom's Creek falls.

It's a cute, short hike.

Great Labor Day

September is when PBC 

bird walks start up again.

I got to eat a paw-paw fruit. Yum.

Fellow bird club peeps

Red-headed woodpecker

So pretty!

Gorgeous hawk

I forgot which type...

I got COVID again!!!

Ugh!

Boo!

I think it must've been from a patient?

I hadn't been around anyone that I knew had it.

Luckily, restrictions are MUCH more lenient 

than in the past. I basically just had to quarantine

for two full days. Unfortunately, they were the 

days of Folk Fest, which I really missed.

More tomatoes from our garden

The church put together a couple of Tabernacle Choir

concerts on the east coast and encouraged stakes to 

have viewing parties and invite friends. Our stake

had a big viewing party with a taco truck and visiting

beforehand. I invited the Khats to join us. I was disappointed.

It was not the party atmosphere that we were led to believe

it would be. It was kind of awkward. But the Khats are too

nice to ever say anything like that. 

It's always a good day for Dave and Buster's! :)

Marianne and I both asked for a Girls' Getaway 

for our Mother's Day gifts this year.

We were able to make it happen in Sept.

We started off doing an endowment session together

in the Columbia SC Temple. It ended up being one

of our favorite moments--just having time together

in the Celestial room to visit.

OH NO!!!! We stopped to get gas after the temple

and I ran into the barrier at the gas station and munched my car.

I was so sad! Dang it!

But the car still ran fine.

So we just kept going with our trip!

St Augustine, FL!

Neither of us had ever been and were excited to 

explore a new town.

The beach was gorgeous and our Airbnb

was within walking distance. 

And then we had to drive 20 mins to 

get to downtown St. Augustine.

Look at this architecture!

It was phenomenal!

Flagler College

It felt like I was in Europe!

It was so cute!

We loved it!

I already want to come back with the girls.

Leg lamp!

The little donuts were delicious.

And the pizza for dinner was perfect!

Another beach day!

Some good boogie boarding!

It was raining the afternoon.

We wanted to go to the lighthouse,

but it was closed due to weather.

But rain won't hold us back from Bucees!!

Yes!!

My favorite!

We went birding.

Saw some Roseate Spoonbills

And down in the corner, you can see that creepy

Wood stork. Ewww.... It was a new lifer.

Osprey and Belted Kingfisher in the same tree!

Yummy Thai food for dinner.

We stopped in Georgia to go to church.

While we were sitting in sacrament meeting,

I felt a tap on my shoulder and heard a voice say,

"Sister Sweat??"

What???

It was Lauren Clarizio Green, a young mom who grew

up in our ward! I couldn't believe it! I haven't seen her

in 10 years or more. Such a small world.

More birding at home

Red-bellied woodpecker

Eastern bluebird

Several bluebirds

Green heron

We are LOVING playing softball together!

And our team is not so bad this year!

When Mamma Mia came to town, we had to get tickets.

It wasn't my favorite. The ABBA music was great!

The plot line was weird, especially the middle-aged

women hitting on the 20 year-old men... Ick...

Temple date!

And CFA for dinner. Yum.

The yellow paint that was left on my car.

We took a magic eraser to it and it looks a little better!

Right?

Care Bear had a teacher workday on a random Monday.

We got breakfast at Chez Genese. We love that place.

And walked down to Just Be,

also one of my favorites.

I got to play fun tennis with some friends.

And I popped a string! Wowza!

Egret in the neighborhood lake.

Tropical storm season.

Unfortunately, this was a TERRIBLE one,

Helene.

It was unique because it ended dumping A LOT

of rain INLAND rather than on coastal towns 

and it did a TERRIBLE amount of damage in 

Eastern NC, including Asheville where our 

cousins live. It was devastating.

Caroline and I headed down to Columbia

for a weekend with Marianne and her family.

Went to their downtown Farmer's Market,

Soda City. It is SO cute and we loved it.

State capitol

We stopped at the Museum of Art.

It was fantastic.

They have a giant Chihuly 

sculpture in the entry way.

Delicious food truck meal

Marianne, Eden, and Caroline

worked on a Halloween craft together.

The main reason for our visit: Cirque du Soleil

was in town. It was so fun to have Eden,

Marianne, and Patrick with us!

It was a great show, as always. We loved it.

And we stopped at the Baked Bear afterward,

one of my favorite dessert places where you get to

choose two cookies you want and the flavor

of ice cream you want for a personalized ice cream sandwich.

Yummy yum yum!

Got this pic of Miss Whit and the rest of the

Dental Hygiene students in a parade in St. George.

I got to watch the chimney swifts swarm

at Kernersville Elementary School.

The video turned out so grainy.

But you can KINDA see all those birds swarming

and starting to go in the chimney. So cool.