cousins!

One of the best things about Christmas break was all the cousins who were in town! My kids don't get to see their Minnesota and Utah cousins very often so it was a real treat to be able to spend so much time with them over the break. They went to the zoo, multiple parks, the beach, the trampoline park and Evan had a sleepover with his cousin Colby just about every night. It was fun to have all the other Texas cousins join us for New Year's Eve celebrations and Emmett's birthday party. Here's a few photos from the park...

Regional and State Cross Country Meets

The regional cross country meet was held at the end of October. Kyla did the best she’s ever done and helped qualify her team for a spot at the State meet in Austin. They came in 2nd place at the regional meet! So proud of Kyla and her team for all their hard work. It paid off! The State meet in Austin was at the beginning of November. We stayed overnight at a hotel so we wouldn’t have to take such a long drive the day of the meet. The girls gave it their best, but sadly didn’t end up with a medal. It was tough competition! Such an awesome experience for Kyla to take part in all of this as a Freshman. There were four Freshman on the team that are all amazing. Kyla’s best friend is one of them. Excited to see what’s in store for the team next year!

here she is with the official state meet bib

Ellee turns 1!

Back in October, my cousin asked me to take a few photos of her sweet baby who just turned one. I set up my seamless paper in the garage for most of these. Our garage has great lighting during the morning hours!

Recent read

Kate Morton is one of my favorites. I love her writing style and the gothic atmosphere in all her books. The Clockmaker's Daughter is a beautifully written ghost story that interweaves between different time periods and lots of characters. You have to pay very close attention or it gets confusing. One of my favorites this year!

Halloween 2018

This year was another rainy, wet, dark Halloween. Luckily, the rain did let up for a few hours so the kids could go trick or treating. With Elayna gone to college and Kyla joining her high school friends at a party, we only had four trick or treaters this year.

Benny dressed up as Darth Vader.

Lorelei was the Little Mermaid.

Evan dressed up as a nerd. He put this whole costume together by himself!

Avery was a dalmation dog.

Sweet brothers. So happy these two have each other!

Pumpkin Patch

We took the four youngest kids to visit the local pumpkin patch on a very warm fall day that felt like summer. (Kyla was at a friend's party.) It was so humid and we were sweating. I saw this meme on Facebook and laughed out loud because it's so true!! This is exactly what fall is like in the south about 90% of the time!

Birthdays!

September and October are busy months for birthdays in our family. My baby Benny is now 5 years old!! Can't believe my last child goes to kindergarten next year. I'm soaking up the time I have with my sweet boy at home before he leaves me.

Kyla turned 15 in September. She had a cross country meet on her birthday and earned her first medal! She's on the varsity team as a freshman. Her team just won 1st place at the district meet and they are headed to regionals!

Our sweet Lorelei turned 6 at the beginning of October. Dan, Benny, and I went to lunch with her at school on her birthday. She loved her birthday hat her teacher gave her.

now we have a little break from birthdays until January :)