Camping 2019

This year was Williams 2nd annual camping trip and what a difference a year makes!! Last year he couldn’t walk so all he did was hang in his walker, be held by someone or lay on a blanket. He LOVES being outside. He had a blast this year and was all over the place.

The group was smaller this year because we decided to just do the small camper cabins and there were only 4 available when we booked for any weekend in the fall. In order to get a weekend that had 4 we had to go a bit later than we normally do. We went in November but thankfully it wasn’t terribly cold the weekend we went, cold but not unbearable.

Thanksgiving 2019

Normally for thanksgiving we stay in town and celebrate with our friends. We started this many years ago and while we miss our family we love not traveling. This year my parents decided to take a road trip over Thanksgiving and they grabbed the girls on their way. They went to Kentucky to visit the Arc replica and the Creation Museum and on their way back they did the City Museum in St. Louis. The girls had a lot of fun. 

On their way back they stayed in Arkansas for a couple of days and celebrated Thanksgiving with us. 

Ella’s 8th birthday questionnaire

I’m so so so late posting this but I don't want the whole year to pass by and not do it at all. So here it is...5 months later. 🤦🏻‍♀️

What is your favorite color?

Yellow

Who is your favorite friend?

Caroline, Sophia, Emmy

What is your favorite snack?

Snap’t & oatmeal

What do you like to do with Reese?

Play spies 

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?

French bread pizza

What is your favorite drink?

Sprite, water & milk

What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Hanging out with Brooklyn at the fence, playing smash all on the trampoline, swinging

What is your favorite sport?

Soccer

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Professional soccer player & once I have kids a stay at home mom with a craft

What is your favorite animal?

Giraffe 

What is your favorite book?

Dog Man

What do you like to do with Daddy?

The daddy daughter dance because he’s crazy & he dances crazy

What do you like to do with Mommy?

Write in our mommy & me journal

What is your favorite song?

Can’t stop the feeling

What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner?

Pizza

What do you take with you when you go to bed?

A goodnight kiss from my parents

What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween because it’s close to my birthday

What makes you happy?

My family and when William is funny

What makes you sad?

When William gets hurt

What do you think about before bed?

What are the positive things about tomorrow and what I can change from today to make tomorrow better 

What is your favorite thing to do with William?

Play basketball

What is your favorite thing to do as a family?

Hang out and eat ice cream

Ella’s 8th birthday

My baby girl is 8! She’s so full of life and one of the sweetest spirits I’ve ever known. She wants everyone to feel included and makes a point to love the ones that aren’t  always the first to be loved...which makes me to proud.

She knew long before her birthday that she wanted a skating party. 

Ella had a blast skating  with her friends! A couple of months before her birthday she asked me if instead of getting gifts for herself if she could ask for gifts to give to kids that were in the children’s hospital ❤️. I told her about the children’s shelter and we called them to ask what they currently needed and we collected for the shelter instead of gifts. She has the sweetest heart and I’m so proud of her for wanting to do this on her own.

William’s 1st Razorback football game

Our football team stinks for the past few years. This season we discovered a silver lining to our being so terrible. We decided to go to a game this fall as a family but not to buy tickets beforehand. We assumed we could probably buy tickets from someone outside the gates since no one wants to go to the games right now. We were correct. Neal came across a questionable looking man out front selling stacks of tickets. He charged us $20 each for tickets he indicated were good. 

When we got inside we were searching for row A because that’s what our tickets showed. We noticed that the rows were by number and not letter. Neal was thinking we may have just gotten swindled. Then we saw that the very front 2 rows were the only rows done by letter, row A & B. We were on the very front row!!

I’ve never had this sort of experience at a Razorback football game. There were few people in the stadium and it wasn’t very upbeat, which was sad, but we were able to interact with the mascots, cheerleaders and band. Western Kentucky’s mascot was his favorite because he was convinced it was “Melmo” 🤣. We all had a great time!

A surprise trip to New York

Neal travels to New York in Spring and Fall. We hate it that he has to be gone for so long twice a year but we love it when we get to tag along. When each girl turned 5 we took them on a solo New York adventure. This past fall we decided to take the girls together. 

We didn’t tell them anything about it until the morning we left. Gigi and Pop came up to take care of Bubs for the long weekend. When they woke up on a Thursday morning we asked them if they’d want to go to New York instead of school that day...they were so excited.

Neal had to work during the day but he hung out with us at night and a little extra on Saturday afternoon. 

Pizza!


Reese was so excited to visit Carlos because she watches and loves the show.

We rode a city bus to hit several sites and the. Got on a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty up close.

I’m not really sure why but we spent a lot of time at several Gap stores...it’s kind of fitting since Neal and I met working at the Gap 😍.

I took the girls to my favorite Broadway show, Wicked. I hoped they’d love it & they did 👏🏼!

They both really wanted to ride on the subway to we took the subway to Central Park and spent hours exploring the park.

This trip was so much fun and it makes me really excited for William’s 5 year old trip and to take all 3 of them one day!!

A very long overdue post March 2019- August 2019

I haven’t entered a blog post since April of 2019 🤦🏻‍♀️. I’ve missed so much and this post will be long 😬. I just need to hit some highlights so I have the memory here!! 

Spring break of 2019 William got to take his 1st trip to Uncle Pat’s Ranch. We all had a blast and  really think this will be a place my kids remember and treasure.

We went on a grown up trip in April to Kauai and had the very best time. We really did it up big but who knows when we will get back there. I really do want to get the kids there one day though. It was probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen!

Airport shot- we are all orange with fake tan and oh so excited!

A fun boat ride, snorkeling with turtles, a whale siting (even though it wasn’t the right time of year 👏🏼) and beautiful scenery.

These 2 🤣!

The most amazing house!

A helicopter ride over the Waimea Coast that was breathtakingly beautiful.

Luau

& so much more!!

Katie got married in the hill country of Texas. It was one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve been to. Our family had a lot of fun. Reese was on crutches for this trip due to a sprained ankle which made parts of it more difficult but we still managed to have a blast.

We managed to fit in a few days in Houston after the wedding and caught an Astros game while we were there. We went to batting practice before the game and the girls and their daddy caught 3 balls!! 

This boy has the best curls! 🥰

SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS:

He’s the cutest summer boy-


We had a blast at Orange Beach with family (but decided we like Destin much better)-

Reese loves her 1st experience at week long New Life Ranch camp and can’t wait to do it again. Ella gets to try it for the first time this coming summer too. 

Neal and I took a 15 year anniversary trip to Scottsdale. It was such a great time to recharge and spend quality time just the 2 of us. 

While we were relaxing in AZ the kids spent the long weekend with Gigi & Pop!

Chelsea’s 30th birthday weekend celebrations was so much fun!

The girls started at a brand new elementary school last fall. The school was across the street from our neighborhood and about half of the teachers from their old school moved over with them. They ended up getting brand new teachers (to us). We’ve loved Mrs. Bodenstein and Ms. Sherrod this year!

Back to school haircuts!

First day of school!