Mollie and Matt visit Nashville!

We had so much fun with my sister, Mollie, who was in town from Denver, and Matt, our best man, who was visiting from Chicago last weekend! There's just nothing like catching up in person and unwinding at the same time -- it felt great. Matt was in Chattanooga for business, so he added a day onto his trip and arrived at our place on Friday afternoon. We made homemade pizzas and laughed a lot while Madeline slowly fell in love -- she said his name for three days after he left! Much later that night, I picked Mollie up from the airport and then the four of us hung out! The next morning, we went out to Dotson's, the diner I mentioned in an earlier post (that's been visited by every country music star) for breakfast, and then had to say good-bye to Matt so he could catch his flight.

Mollie, Rob and I had so much fun as the weekend went on. We had a fabulous sushi dinner at the place where Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are often spotted, then met our babysitter back at the house and went to see the new James Bond movie. My sisters' and I just love James Bond...another thing my mom passed along! The newest movie always seems to come out around Thanksgiving or Christmas, so we would always wait anxiously for weeks for opening weekend! I would drive home from college or Chicago so the four of us -- my mom, Mollie, Andi and I -- could go together! The next day, Mollie and I went window shopping (good for the soul) and flipped through books in Borders for hours while Rob and Madeline watched "foo-baww" at home. Naomi Judd (mother to Ashley and Wynona) walked up to me and asked if I worked there. I wish I had been quicker on my feet and answered yes so I could talk to her some more. I sent Mollie over to double check while Naomi perused the inspirational book section, and she confirmed my second star siting in six weeks.

Later that night we built a roaring fire with our new wood delivery and fell asleep to a Blockbuster rental. Mollie left at 4:30am the next morning to catch her flight back to Denver. It was so fun to watch her and Madeline play and giggle -- we were so sorry to see her go!

This week, we've enjoyed looking at the results of the professional photographs we had taken in our Peoria house the day before we moved. Two short months since our move to Nashville and our life in Peoria already feels so far away. So I never could have imagined how significant it would be to look at pictures of the three of us in the home where we brought home Madeline and became a family. The photographer, Nellie, is a friend -- she just blew us away with her beautiful candid style. Take a look if you have a sec -- follow the link to "Proofing" in the left-hand navigation and then type "vlach" for password.

We've been enjoying the fall and being outdoors with beautiful hikes, smores around the firepit and piles of freshly raked leaves that are ready to be jumped in! This will be a nice quiet weekend. We're looking forward to building another fire and brainstorming our Christmas gift list. I may even start drafting the annual Vlach Christmas letter!