recent reads

This is an incredible true story of a five year old boy who gets lost in India. He survives many months on the streets of Calcutta before being adopted by a loving couple in Australia. This book is about his journey back as a grown man. It was such a great story! The movie "Lion" is based on this book and I am really looking forward to seeing it.

I am a big fan of Chip and Joanna from Fixer Upper, so of course I had to read their book. I loved reading about their childhoods, how they met, and their early years of marriage and starting their business. It got a little repetitive towards the end, but overall I really enjoyed this book.

special weekend

What a special weekend celebrating Laila's baptism and Dahlia's heart transplant anniversary. Five years ago, on January 28th, Dahlia received the gift of a new heart. I love the tradition of releasing balloons for the sweet angel in heaven who gave Dahlia this gift.

these two...

Love spending my days with these two! Don't know what we'll do when Lorelei goes to kindergarten this fall. She is such a good big sister!

These photos were taken after church last week. Ben insisted on wearing the hat for the photo, and of course wanted big sister to wear one too ;)

December happenings...

Kyla started cross country in December. She came in 6th place at her first meet, and finished up 5th at the next couple of races. At her most recent meet, she came in 3rd out of over 200 girls! We are so proud of her!

our girls are so lucky to have grandparents that live so close and come to all their meets to cheer them on!

Emily's baby Evelyn was blessed in December. She is just the sweetest baby! So happy we were able to be there for her special day.

best buddies

Baby Hugh looked so handsome in his shirt and tie

a quick photo of us on Christmas day after church. My goal this new year is to take more family photos. It is rare for us all to be in a photo together. I'm usually always behind the camera.

grammy and grandpa treated us to a wonderful day at the zoo a few days after Christmas. It was the perfect day for the zoo with temperatures in the upper 70s.

We love the zoo!

Thanksgiving Family Reunion

This year, we hosted Thanksgiving for all of Dan's family. His mom and all five siblings, along with spouses and children, stayed at our home for a week. It was a crazy and fun week with lots of family time, food, games, and trips to the beach, Alligator Park, and NASA. The weather was absolutely gorgeous with highs in the mid to upper 70s, so we spent a lot of time outdoors. We even did a family turkey trot around our neighborhood lake on Thanksgiving morning. It was so nice to finally have all the cousins together. It had been many years since our kids had seen their Zalit cousins. We took some casual family photos in our backyard on Thanksgiving day to document our time together. We sure loved having everyone spend Thanksgiving with us down in Texas!

grandma with all her grandkids

Dan and his brothers and sisters

Dave and Kelly's family

sweet girls!

Andy and Loya's family

Grace and Travis' family

Pete and Carrie's family

Tracy and Jerel

Lorelei and Zoe became fast friends. It was so cute to watch them play together

a few from our fun day at the beach...

and i can't forget to include a photo of one of the fried turkeys. they turned out delicious!

Such a fun week. Wish we lived closer, so we could see everyone more often!

Recent Reads

I read this book about three years ago, and just recently reread it. This is a beautifully written book, but very heart wrenching. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.

I really enjoyed this book. It's a wonderful family saga with great historical background. It has been fun watching the PBS series after reading the book.