Thank you, Mrs. Shirley!

When it was decided that we would move to Nashville, there was never talk about who would be our relator. We knew it would be Mrs. Shirley. She sold our house in 2004 when we moved to Atlanta and we knew we wanted her by our side when we bought again in Tennessee.

As a "Thank you" to her, we invited her and a few friends over for our first dinner party.

We wanted to treat her to a nice night and show off the new house. Also, we wanted to show off our new dining room set. She helped us find and purchase it (thanks to an anonymous donor!) and it was only fitting that our thank you was around this amazing gift in this amazing house. 

Thank you, Shirley!

It was so much fun to set a dining room table with my china and crystal. Even after 13 years, some of the pieces had not made it out of the box they arrived in from wedding gifts!

Jim, Louise, Sissy, Shirley and the Benders

First overnight visitors!

Before we left Cumming, we made plans for the Rowells to come up for a visit. We were so excited to have our first overnight visitors!

We cooked out Friday night, explored Nashville Saturday afternoon, and went to downtown on Saturday night. We took them to the Spaghetti Factory and then walked around the riverfront. It was a great weekend with great friends. 

Wesley and Philip shared a Cotton Candy drink at dinner!
It was a hit! 

Best seat in the city!

Flashers new house

When we first welcomed Flash into our home in 2003, our friend Lori gave us a dog house. It was a wonderful home for Flash but after almost 12 years, it didn't survive the move to Tennessee.

Wesley went searching for the perfect new house for Flashers and we think he likes what we found!

Macey

Macey was in town for Impact at Lipscomb this week so I went and picked her up for an evening off campus. She came and saw the new house and then we treated her to Blaze! It was so much fun having her in Nashville...we hope she will make it permanent by coming to Lipscomb University next fall!

The Nashville Sounds and Star War

It was Star Wars night at the Nashville Sounds ballpark so Mimi and PopPop took the boys. Jackson and Philip really didn't care about the game but they LOVED seeing the Star Wars characters and eating a pretzel!

The Benders are now West Enders

Today was our first official day at West End! During the service, the elders and their wives prayed over Wesley, then over me and then over our family. It was such a blessing to begin our time at this church in prayer.

After service, we had a delicious pot luck luncheon. I am so excited about being a part of this church and working beside Wesley as he leads this wonderful congregation.

Kari made this HUGE donut for the kids! 

Now's the time to WORK!

As soon as we became the official owners of our new house, we headed home to get to work. When we got to the house, the previous owners had a cleaning crew there making the place look spotless - THANK YOU!

Since they were still working, we headed next door to meet our neighbor. We had a lovely visit with Ms. Sue. She is the nicest lady and had so much to tell us. Her family developed the neighborhood and she has lived in this area her entire life. She was so friendly and welcoming to us and excited about young kids being next door (what an answer to prayer!).

After our visit with Ms. Sue, we headed off to get things ready for the night's activities - wallpaper removal. Ashley, Scott, Erin, and Emily all came by to help as we transformed three rooms.

Room one - The Office:

Room Two - The Bathroom:

 Room Three: The laundry room:

We worked all day Wednesday and Thursday on the wallpaper. Thursday night we took a break and went to see Pitch Perfect 2.

Friday morning, the movers came and spent 10 hours moving all our things from my Grandfather's basement to our new home.

 

Saturday, Wesley went to Chattanooga to pick up the kids. Jack and Lynne graciously offered to watch the kids for us Wednesday - Saturday so we could focus on unpacking.  It was a huge help and while he was gone, Emily, Mom and I worked and worked on unpacking the house.

House BOUGHT!

We are now Tennessee Residents! Thank you, Shirley, for making the process easy and fun! 

Home Sweet Home! 

Grammy and KDs

During the transition from Cumming to Atlanta, we were homeless for two nights. We decided to use that time to go visit Jack and Lynne. The kids loved having some outside time at Grammy and KD's.

Jack and Wesley took the boys to the lake on Tuesday afternoon.

Philip and Wesley wakeboarding

Tubing

Philip caught his first fish!

House SOLD

We left Cumming Saturday heading to Nashville for Wesley to preach Sunday morning. After service, we traveled to Chattanooga for the night. The kids are staying with Abby today while Wesley and I head back to Cumming to sign the paperwork for our Cumming house.

Before we made the sale official, we stopped for breakfast at one of our favorite spots - BB's bagels. Then it was off to the attorney's office where we signed papers for FIVE minutes! We finished before our realtor even arrived! It was a quick transaction that made us homeless :-)

Now it is off to Chattanooga to pick up the kids and head to Knoxville until Wednesday when we buy our new home in Nashville.