We kicked off January 2018 with Jase turning 3 and me turning 33.

In February, the girls in our family (plus Sherry) went to see Kelsea Ballerina and Walker Hayes in concert at the Alabama Theater.

March was highlighted by a family road trip to Texas (that deserves multiple blog posts of its own).

In April, we celebrated Easter.

May brought about Mother’s Day. Our school hosted Muffins with Moms and we hosted a Mother’s Day lunch at our house. Libby graduated from elementary school and began preparing to move to middle school.

June kicked off with a dance recital for Libby. We celebrated Father’s Day. We took a family trip to Navarre Beach and discovered a new favorite spot. We ended June with an early 12th birthday celebration for Kyndall.

In July, Libby celebrated turning 10 with a “glamping” party.

August brought the beginning of school for the girls and I. Libby moved over to the middle school and started 5th grade, while Kyndall returned to school after a brief virtual school hiatus and started 7th grade. Justin and I celebrated our 14th anniversary. Kyndall and I both started a new adventure with volleyball–her playing and me coaching.

In September, we attended an Alabama versus Auburn volleyball game in Tuscaloosa with Jess and Lily Kate to celebrate Lily Kate’s birthday. We also celebrated the wedding of two precious friends, Ryan and Emily.

October saw the beginning of middle school basketball for Kyndall. We packed Justin up and sent him to work disaster relief through AT&T in Florida for the remainder of 2018 (and some of 2019). The girls hosted their 3rd annual Halloween party at our house.

November brought a much needed visit from Justin (after him being gone for 5 whole weeks) and family Thanksgiving festivities.

In December, we celebrated Christmas (of course). We took our annual  family trip to North Carolina to go snow-skiing (which deserves a post of its own!). And Justin turned the big 4-0!

During the year of 2018, our highs definitely outweighed the lows. I have learned that the older I grow, the faster time flies. I have learned that it takes a village to raise a family and I have the absolute best village ever. I have learned to enjoy each moment and I can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store!

“Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!” -the Grinch

This Christmas was extra special for our family. Justin worked disaster relief in Florida from October until Christmas, so we were super excited to be reunited with him for the holiday (and will be super sad to see him go back in January).

The Sunday before Christmas, we gathered with the West family and enjoyed dinner, gift exchanges, and lots of noise and laughter. We wore silly Christmas sweaters and Christmas light necklaces and enjoyed spending time together.

We attended the annual Frost Christmas Eve dinner, where we ate more food, played Bible games, exchanged gifts, and spent WAAY too long taking Christmas pictures (because we couldn’t stop laughing!)

Christmas morning was rainy and cold, but that didn’t stop us! The girls opened new Chromebooks, new iPhones, and concert tickets to see Kane Brown. Jase was thrilled about his new swingset, but when he was asked what Santa brought him he said “a bath bomb”. {face palm} We are all super excited about our family gift: a trip to California for Spring Break!

Christmas night is always wrapped up with gifts and Game Night at Pops and Gra-Gras house. This year was extra-hysterical with Hands, Landmine, and the Human Caterpillar. We laughed until our sides hurt, which seems to be a theme for all our Christmas celebrations this year.

Christmas 2018 was full of family and laughter, and there is no better way to celebrate!

Hey friends! It’s been a hot second since I last blogged and I apologize for that, but I think my brain and soul and body needed a rest from anything “extra” once we were moved into our new house. What better time to get back into the blogging groove than now?

Just a heads up–I’ll be doing a few “recap” posts to catch up on things I’ve missed sharing during my hiatus.  Let’s throw it back to Fall, 2017.

We ended summer with a birthday bang– Libby turned 9 at the end of July and Kyndall turned 11 at the beginning of August.  Both girls opted for birthday parties this year and invited a few of their closest friends to celebrate.

First day of 4th and 6th grades.  {Sidenote:  K started out 6th grade at school, but switched to the virtual option in September.  She is still enrolled at our school, she just takes her classes online, at home!}

Jase had dental surgery and because of his age, he was admitted to the hospital and put to sleep.  He was such a champ and did fantastic during the procedure.  {His mama was a nervous wreck.}

My grandfather (my dad’s dad) passed away.  It was a very tough time for our family and the grief still pops up at the most random times.

Libby and I went on a field trip with the rest of 4th grade to our state capital.  We had tons of fun and I so enjoyed getting to spend one-on-one time with my girl!

We took our annual pumpkin patch trip, this time to Lyon Family Farms.

Libby was voted into Student Council for the 2017-2018 school year.

The girls hosted their first Halloween party at our new house.  We had a haunted hayride, a bonfire, and tons of giggling girls!

We dressed up as mad scientists and handed out candy at our church’s Trunk-Or-Treat.

Kyndall’s team finished out their soccer season as the Morgan County 12U Champions.  This is most likely the last year these kids will play youth league soccer so we were all thrilled to end the season this way!

Justin and I had date night with some of our closest friends.  Our date nights happen way too rarely and we are determined to fix that.

Not pictured:

• We hosted our first family Thanksgiving dinner at our new house, with a meal cooked completely by me.  It was wonderful and delicious and oh-so-fun.
• We started working with the youth at our church and have fallen absolutely in love with these kids.  My favorite part of being with high schoolers is watching them love on and lead my own children.  I am so thankful that my kids have such great examples to look up to!

Stay tuned:  Winter 2017 Recap.

We celebrated Halloween 2016 a little differently than usual. Our church hosted a Trunk or Treat on the Wednesday night before Halloween. Thank goodness for that, because Kyndall was sick on the actual day of Halloween.

The kids dressed up for our church’s Trunk or Treat as characters from The Descendents: Mal (Malificent’s daughter), Cruella Deville, and a dalmation puppy.

On the actual Halloween day, Kyndall stayed home snuggling on the couch.  {After a trip to the doctor, we found out she had strep throat.  She had more of a trick than a treat this Halloween! Boo for that!} Lib and I took to school as Mal and a pirate.

Libby was able to participate in all sorts of fun Halloween games, like this one where she was dressed as a mummy!

To wrap up our Halloween 2016, we carved pumpkins (I know! Better late than never, thought, right?). Libby and Justin visited my parents church for their Fall Festival while Kyndall, Jase, and I recovered from strep throat.