New Year's Eve

It's a known fact that Doug and I aren't big New Year's people. We prefer to stay home, get the kids to bed at a decent time, ring in the New York new year at 9, then go to bed. Boring, yes, but it's just what we do. :)

This year our dear friends the Bingold's had a New Year's Eve shindig and we decided to go. We had the BEST time with lots of friends. The kids got to stay up til midnight.. a first for them!

Just some of the kids playing games in the basement. Joe and Elizabeth just moved into their beautiful new home and the basement (and the whole house!) is awesome!

The Bingold's are known for their whoppin' huge Christmas Trees. This year did not disappoint! :) 

These girls have all grown up together and they truly enjoy being together. 

Joe... my brotha from another motha! 

Baby loves!! So glad Preston joined the festivities!

Love these ladies!!

I love how Pascal looks after the littler boys... Matthew thinks he's a pretty cool big kid!

We headed home before midnight... mostly because I just wanted to be home before any crazies got on the road. The kids got to go outside and shoot off a few fireworks at midnight, which made them very happy!!

You can't tell.. but they are in their jammies...haha!!

Thankful for a fun night with dear friends. Who knows... we may go out again next New Year's Eve!!

Happy New Year!

20 Years Dating....

Twenty years ago tonight Doug and I had our first date. I remember it so clearly. The nerves, the fun, the hope of what might be. We celebrated tonight be doing what we did on that night.. dinner and a movie. It was Giovanni's and Titanic back in 1998. Tonight it's Star Wars. Thankful my mom and her Doug were willing to watch the kiddos so we could celebrate!

Nice photo bomb, kids! 

Love this guy and thankful he stuck with me all these years!

Twenty years of good times, hard times, and beautiful memories together. So glad he asked me out.. and I am so glad I said yes!!

Celiac Disease

Evelyn has been having some tummy troubles off and on over the past couple of years. Nothing awful, but nothing seemed to help. Her pain amped up a lot before Thanksgiving so I took her to the doctor. After drawing labs we found her "celiac marker", the lab that tests for Celiac Disease, was super high. Normal is below 20, hers was over 200!! At this point it was pretty clear she had the disease but we still needed to see a GI doc and have a small intestine biopsy to confirm the diagnosis.

My sweet girl waking up from her biopsy, happy and doing great. The biopsy indeed showed celiac and a very inflamed intestine. I feel so awful for waiting so long to get her tummy issues checked out,but the doctor reassured me that this is common. Still tho... I feel bad she's had such a angry tummy for so long!

I am so proud of Evelyn. She has taken this in stride and knows that even tho it means big changes for her... for all of us.. it will help her feel better. She has been looking at labels already and has done some research online as well.  I love that she is owning this as her own and wants to be involved with getting herself healthy. 

It indeed will be a huge change, but I am praying that it will only be a positive thing for Evelyn and that her health only improves!

Bye Bye Gluten!!

Christmas Day 2017

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus! Emanuel, God with us!

I didn't get lots of pictures today. Just enjoying the moments I suppose. 

The kids were up bright and early, excited to open presents. One day they will sleep in...right? :)

Your friendly Santa...

We got a lovely dusting of snow, too. Not exactly a "white Christmas" but it was pretty!

This afternoon, Doug's Aunt and Doug's brother and family came over. It's our favorite Christmas tradition.. we love our Christmas afternoon with them. I rarely take photos because we are usually have such a great time together. I did manage to take a few, tho.

My nephew Mitchell got Evelyn on a skateboard. She LOVED it and per Evelyn style, she took to it quickly and was skating up and down the street in no time. 

Lots of different ages among these cousins, but their love for each other is fierce and they have a great time together. I am so grateful for my nephews!

Doug's aunt Mary is so special to us. She is a gem and we are glad she only lives a mile down the road!

That's all I have for this Christmas blog. I pray you can reflect on the real and amazing reason we celebrate today and thank God for his greatest gift!!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2017

We planned on spending the afternoon/evening at mom and Doug's house with my family to celebrate Christmas Eve, but we were surprised by SNOW!! We still got together but our time was cut a little short by the weather. Still, tho... so good to be with my family. Just missing Michelle, Eric and their kids!

They are getting SO big!! 

Grandma got all the cousins winter hats.

He makes the party fun. All the time! 

All the kids got a little lego set in their stocking and got right to putting them together! 

My momma with two of her son-in-laws... she is the hostess with the mostess!! 

The snowfall started picking up and the kids immediately ran outside to play. It was pretty hilarious. Love their adventurous Christmas spirit!

Cousins, but friends too. Love them all!

We headed home early just in case the roads got bad. The kids got into their new jammies and we spent some time together reading the Christmas story from the Bible, our family tradition. The kids were super silly and super excited that Christmas was finally here!!

Love these silly monkeys!

She has Christmas lights in her room every year, but we turn them off nightly once she falls asleep. Except for Christmas Eve. She gets to keep them on all night. It's her favorite night of the year! :)

Merry Christmas Eve!

Fun With Jody and Lori

Jody and Lori came by tonight to spread a little Christmas cheer! We always enjoy our time with them and the kids LOVED their gifts!

For some reason Matthew wanted to build his lego set with only light from the fire, the tree and a flashlight. Silly kid

Jody and Lori got Evelyn a Kindle!! She was SO excited!!

So thankful for these two and their presence in our lives!

Morris Family Christmas

We headed down to Dallas this morning to celebrate Christmas with Doug's family. It was a short but sweet time with everyone.

Cousins playing games waiting for lunch

All the stockings were hung by the chimney with care....

My niece Lilly... love her to bits!

My mother in law served us a lovely lunch...

So... Grandma and Grandad got all the boys rubber band shooting guns in their stockings. I love this photo of all the boy cousins. 

Silly cousins.

Thankful for time with the Morris clan and to kick off Christmas festivities!