The Growing Caldwell Family

The girls used their cookie money on a trip and planned a fun weekend getaway to Callaway Gardens! We rented a two bedroom cottage that turned out to be great for our group! The moms had a bedroom and bath and so did the girls!  The weather was atrociously hot and humid all weekend! We thought for sure we might melt. Sunday afternoon we had rain and the humid went higher.  Their first activity was playing around in the gardens and doing some ziplining! Sarah Graves and Gianna enjoyed it and SG remembered how fun it was to zipline over the water. Having injured my arm the last time we did this course, I opted out and Stephanie and Tricia were not interested.  My favorite part of the weekend was the balloon glow! It reminded me of being a kid and the hot air balloon festival was in Baton Rouge. The cool part was that the hot air balloonists would make the balloons glow in beat with music they played! Lots of fun to see! The girls were eager to try the lake and beach at Call...

Sarah Graves gave a lot of thought to whether she wanted to continue with Girl Scouts. Her Silver Award was a lot of work to earn and she debated whether she wanted to work even more to earn her Gold Award. Ultimately, she decided that leaving Girl Scouts without her Gold Award would feel unfinished and she wanted to see it through. That says a lot about her character! So, I was proud to see her bridge from Cadette to Senior and already she has jumped into pursuing her Gold Award! Proud to have led these girls and see them all decide to continue on!  

After months of work, Sarah Graves completed her Silver Award! In November they started gathering donations of food and money to provide meals to families who need them.  The food and recipes for making 4 meals were packed into boxes. Anna Grace moved away, but made a trip back to Atlanta to finish the project. They packed meal boxes for 30 families and the recipes can be used again. That evening, she worked at a cookie booth to sell some more cookies! Her cookie costume made another appearance!  

My Girl Scout Cadettes came over and enjoyed snacks while making Christmas cards.  I found a neat charity called Angel Network that takes names of those who want to receive a card, makes the database available to those who want to send cards, and you pick names to send cards to. They give you a little information about the person and their age. The girls enjoyed knowing about the person and personalizing the card to them - kids who are questioning Santa, elderly who don't have family, handicapped who are lonely, etc. I was impressed how thoughtful they were.  It was really a fun afternoon with the chatting and catching up while they worked.  

I think this is the 5th year Aaron has taken Sarah Graves for a Father Daughter Camp Out at Camp Misty Mountain.  They had fair weather, planned their meals well, and no crowds. Plus, on the way back they stopped at  Bucee's!  

  Softball ready! This season wasnt her favorite, mostly because of teammates with bad attitudes frustrating the coaches and killing the fun. She got through it and enjoyed playing the game.  SG is known for her good eye and ability to get on base! Ready to steal home! Windy morning game and Pops is there to cheer her on! We couldnt ask for better cheerleaders! Celebrating Lana's birthday at an escape room! On their way to celebrate Anna Grace's confirmation at a youth night! Girl Scout meeting planning a weekend glamping trip! We went glamping at Banning Mills! The girls and moms loved the cabin setup and we had great weather for fun activities! Sarah Graves and Gianna did most of the cooking and did a great job.  Sarah Graves loves hiking and the walking trails were really nice.  The suspension bridge was challenging for some and really cool for others! I thought it was cool! The ziplining was great and the guides were really kind and helpful making sure it was a g...