We FINALLY meet again...

...and BOY was it a JOYFUL weekend!

It's so hard for me to believe that TWO years went by without seeing the Thum's!  In February 2012, Chris, Marie & Jacob moved to Nashville, TN and during the big move - they stopped by Robbinsville (Marie & Jacob) to stay the night.  This was the last time we saw them until LAST weekend!  Yes, Marie and I stay in touch but seeing each other in person is much, much sweeter!  Praise the Lord for reuniting and picking up right where we left off 2 years ago.  Jacob (now almost 3) obviously went from a baby the last time I 'held' him to an energetic little boy FULL of life!  Not to mention, a new addition was added to the Thum family in September 2013 and squeezing on Parker was certainly my cup of tea!

Rance and I arrived in Brentwood, TN (right outside of Nashville) at Marie & Chris later Friday night.  Rance was disappointed that Jacob was already asleep because him and Jacob text videos back and forth all week (no Jacob wasn't texting, his mommy was passing along his video's to Rance) about their wrestling match they would be having.  Jacob is not scared of anything it seems - even threatening a 30 year old man.  Atta boy!

Saturday was perfecto!  We spent tons of time talking and tons of time outside.  We strolled around, ate some amazing food at this little country place called Puckett's, roasted some marshmellows, laughed nonstop at Jacob, and drove past some of the biggest houses I have ever seen (you know, the $20 million dollar celebrity homes...which I never took a picture of those...oops).


Recap of Saturday in pictures!

Just an estate!

This one was pretty small compared to some

I could NOT get enough pictures of Jacob.  He is a spitting image of his daddy and FULL OF ENERGY.  Chris and Rance are BOTH high energy guys and totally kids trapped in a man's body so they have always had a special connection since they first met.  It's so neat to see Jacob with this same love for life and all weekend I kept thinking "this is what I picture Jayden being like...just like his daddy."  Jacob is so entertaining and will talk to anyone and everyone he sees!  I could not get enough of him.
 

look at the determination on his face

*28 Weeks*

The boys/men!



There is no denying Jacob is Chris' son!



Our group shot!

These boys drove us ALL over town :)

Marie is adoring her husband!



I thank God constantly for this gal!

Some serious gear changing going on

I love this picture - capturing a deep conversation!

He's so cool!

Football tackling!

And this little man, Parker, is SO chill! 
He just sits back and takes it ALL in.

Marie & Chris will never really understand the model they set for me in college.  First of all, Marie and I's relationship began because we were both accounting majors and we ended up spending LOTS of time in the library together studying and talking, of course.  Marie's life radiated Jesus like I had never seen before.  She was different.  SO different.  Her & Jesus seemed tighter than tight and I was drawn to that even though I could not wrap my mind around it.  I had trusted Christ as my Savior earlier in life but had never been discipled and taught the Scriptures so intimately and certainly did not understand what Christ intended a dating relationship and a marriage to look like - until Chris came along!  I watched him pursue her with the intent to marry her from the very beginning and even though it seemed so STRANGE to me - I soon began to realize that his pursuit of Marie was a beautiful picture of Jesus' pursuit of His Bride, the church.  I knew I wanted that but I also knew I had to be that kind of Godly woman in order to attract that type of Godly man.  Marie & Chris are a HUGE part of my testimony and they were simply being an example/model as they pursued the perfect model, Jesus! 

My heart is overflowing with JOY from our time together with this incredibly amazing family!  We miss them already...