Christmas 2019

December came and went, and it was all a big blur!!  

We had a great month, with fun events sprinkled throughout.  For the first time, we went to The Gift of Christmas at Prestonwood Baptist Church.  What an amazing show!

We made cookies, painted gingerbread houses, looked a Christmas lights, enjoyed Frank the elf, and took in all the merriment of the season.  

On Christmas Eve, of course we went to Deedee and Papaw's house!  The weather was so beautiful that we actually spent a lot of time outdoors!  We were all spoiled and the kids got tons of new stuff.  I think this year will be known as Graham's "Cowboy" Christmas.  Despite their less than stellar season, he is still their number one fan....maybe behind Casey?!

On Christmas morning, we saw that Santa had arrived!  Clare got a new backpack, Jane and Sydney got Chromebooks, and Graham got a video game headset!  Then we exchanged gifts with each other.  The number one thing on Graham's list this year was a gold chain.   Emme came through, and snuck it under the tree on Christmas morning.  Graham was thrilled, and he has hardly taken it if off since Christmas.  

Then we traveled over to LoLo and Pop's to continue the festivities.  More Christmas and more fun!

A few days later, we headed to Emme and Grandad's to celebrate with Bryan, Morgan, Landon and Morgan!  Another fun night ensued!  We had a wonderful holiday, and we went into 2020 feeling very grateful!

Straight Outta Bethlehem

This year our church did a Christmas musical called Straight Outta Bethlehem.  

All four of my kids were involved.  Clare helped with the choreography, Jane was a cat, Sydney was a disco angel, and Graham was a donkey.

Sydney even had a solo!  She was so nervous, and had struggled in some of the rehearsals, but she went out there and nailed it.  I was so proud of her.

The rehearsals took a lot of time, and they weren't always thrilled about going, but I think, in the end, everyone was happy they did it!

First Day of School 2019

The first day has come and gone, but I had to document the pictures!  These four were actually ready for school start.  

Clare is in 8th grade, and is at the same school this year.  

Graham got to move upstairs this year at elementary school, and he is big 3rd grader this year!

Jane and Sydney are in 6th grade, and they are the top dogs at school.  They are excited about a lot of fun activities this year.

Sydney was definitely ready for school.  She is such a social animal, and the lazy days of summer had lost their luster for her.  She was up and at 'em on this day!

Everyone had a great first day!  Now, several weeks later, we have all settled back into the school routine!

Colorado 2019

Colorado 2019 is in the books!  After a tough year last year with several injuries, we were ready for a redo!  We traveled earlier than we normally do because of a busy summer schedule, but it turned out to be the perfect week.  We had the best weather, and we got to celebrate the 4th with everyone.  

The cousins reunited!!

The cousin pic has changed a bit since 2010!

We started the week with horseback riding!

Pop and his crew!

The ride made for some pretty awesome pictures!

We played a ton of games!

 

Nathan and Casey took Graham and Brody golfing for the first time, and the boys declared it needs to be an annual tradition.  They loved it.  Not a bad course to start off on!

Colorado had a ton of snow this year, and there is still some around.  Jane made a mountain popsicle....a stick and some old snow.  Gross!!

Megan took the kids on her annual cousin hike!

On July 4th, we had a family float and participated in the parade!  The kids made posters and decorated the trailer.  We had quite the playlist, and a good time was had by all!

Of course, I couldn't leave without the traditional picture of Jane in her little spot in the world!  She's getting closer and closer to the sign!

Mom and Dad have a sign in their cabin that says "If you're lucky enough to be in the mountains, you're lucky enough."  I couldn't agree more!

Adventures in Austin

We took a family trip to Austin with Casey's side of the family last weekend.  This was a special trip because it was Landon's first trip with us!  Isn't he the cutest?!?!

We spent all weekend by the pool and on the lake.  We even ate by the lake...at The Oasis!



Tubing makes for some fun pictures!

  These two girls had some fun together!

  

Graham's got tricks!!

 

 No mercy on the ride with Casey and Graham!

Landon was definitely the star of the show!

 

We stayed for a long weekend, and we took advantage of the sun!  We hung out at the pool and rented a boat on the lake.  It was a fun, relaxing trip!

Thunder Soccer

Graham's soccer team went undefeated this season!  It was amazing to see how far the team has come from the days of everyone chasing the ball around the field!

They entered the tournament as the first seed, and after a very tense championship game, the Thunder was victorious!  

Graham played goalkeeper, and I'm certain the stress of watching him in the goal cost me a few years of life!!!  

You can see (most of) him diving for the ball!

He played awesome and blocked a ton of goals.  Oh, the excitement!

We were so proud of him, and during the trophy presentation, his coach called him the MVP!  I think everyone should be the MVP at least once in their life!

Watching the video almost makes me tear up every time!  There are so many good lessons to learn from sports, and I'm so thankful that Graham has a great group of kids to play with.