Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve, at my house, again! Our tiny house host so many parties! It is amazing how such a tiny home can hold such huge memories! The lawn is destroyed, the pantry is usually empty, and toilet paper is always a gamble! But our house is always filled with people, activity, and love. I would have it no other way! We celebrated Christmas Eve with our usual gumbo with my moms brother, Jim, and his family. The Lowe family. Aunt Janis has become a second mother to me, and I treasure our time together. Beau made the gumbo, delicious! We played hours of croquet, which brought back many memories of my sweet dad! What a blessed celebration.

We changed and got ready for 4:00 church service. It was packed! We had to sit in the back room, with kids on the floor! What a testament of our church! Of God! What a blessing to have so many pour their hearts and focus on church and God. We got home to make cookies for Santa, and the kids off to bed!

They woke up Christmas morning to a dream come true! Their bean bag chairs are so awesome! Trent was so obsessed with his fishing pole and tackle box! He and Scott have already gotten a day of fishing under their belt!! Hunter got a Gizmo watch, which is life changing. It gives him just enough freedom! It can call or text the 9 contacts I program for him. It is just family and neighbors, and he is having a blast with it! And sister got her tennis net and new racquet. It is set up outside, and we have already used the heck out of it!

Uncle Greg and Grandpa came over for tamales lunch and more croquet! Then Gigi and Richard came over that night for spaghetti dinner and more playing!! What a simple day. What a joyful day. What a perfect day. Merry Christmas 2019!!

Moody Gardens Vacation

A gift from me and Scott! I wanted to give the kids a gift of experience rather than a bunch of "stuff!" So, I made reservations for an epic Christmas vacation! We gave the kids a picture of their gift on December 23, then loaded the car! We stayed the night at Moody Gardens Hotel in Galveston!

I got tickets to Iceland Igloo, which was really a sight to see! Everything was hand sculpted ice! The details were insane! It was also insanely cold! 9 degrees in that igloo!! We bundled up and made the tour. We went down the ice slides and met up with our friends for the weekend!! The Rogers came to meet us, and we love traveling with them!

We only lasted about 40 minutes in the igloo, then made our way back out to the sunshine. We spent the afternoon at the aquarium and playing in Moody Gardens. We went out to dinner at Rain Forest Café, then enjoyed our 2 mile walk through Festival of Lights!

The kids enjoyed the lights, but they liked running the path more, lol!! We also made a stop at Pleasure Pier for lunch! We ended the vacation with a meal in Downtown Galveston. At an adorable café, where we met up with an old high school friend! Lots of food and fun! The kids are grateful for their gift from us, and I am grateful that I am able to provide them with this treasured time!

Christmas Weekend

Family galore! We celebrate my dads side of the family in early December. This is a tradition that I continue to look forward to, even as dad has passed! We love that side of our family! Kids and cousins fill my house for days! It is epic memories!

My cousin, Sarah, and her family stay the weekend with us. She has 4 young kids, so my kids have a blast. My house takes a beating, but our hearts are full! Aunt Sandra and Lauran (dads sisters) are missing dad so much as the holidays pass. Chad and Veronica came in town too. Of course, my kids are obsessed with Jim, Rebecca and Gabriella! It is such treasured time!

After our family party, we got on our swimsuits....yes, swimsuits! Hot Houston!! We walked down to Beau and Kates house to swim. Then, ordered pizza and got ready for our next adventure. Westside Lazy River lights!! We loaded the floats and rode the river and loved the lights!

The Christmas lights are so amazing, so much detail! The adults loved it as much as the kids! Club Westside is a favorite family attraction for sure! Then, we let all the cousins burn off energy playing in their sports zone! We made it back home to fill up our backyard lodge for movie time...and for the adults to visit inside! We finished off the weekend with hours of family dodgeball! Hunter got dodgeballs as a gift from Ally, so we broke them in and had a blast! It was a weekend full of family, Christmas, memories and love!

Santa and More

Santa came to our neighborhood this year!! It was a Santa party, and we all took turns taking pictures.  Then, Santa also came to a kindergarten party at a friends house! Such an adorable season of life with Santa. The joy of Christmas is very alive!!

This time of year comes with lots of cute clothes too! Faith Ann and I got matching shirts, and we are having a blast wearing them! I've also decided to make this season about experiences rather than stuff! I'm giving gifts of time together, which I love so much! So, I gave Ally a day at the hair salon. She went to my lady to get a cut and her first highlights! Then, I took Jake to iFly!! They had a blast, and I loved watching them enjoy! I love spending my money on memories!

The school semester ended with a bang. I helped with a field trip for FaithAnn. We went to Dewberry Farms on a gorgeous day! Such precious memories with my crew! Scott and I even squeezed in a date night to celebrate this magical time of year. We are busy with parties and outings, but soaking it all up!

We also have simple nights at home! I made gingerbread man pancakes, then we set up a Christmas picnic to decorate our gingerbread men. The kids laughed because the pancakes didn't turn out as planned, but we had fun nonetheless! The rest of the days have been filled with more Christmas clothes and sleeping under Christmas trees! I adore this picture of Hunter sleeping with the tree by his bed. Such joy, such peace! Merry Christmas to my sweet kids!