July 4. 2015

This Fourth of July we were blessed with cooler weather. Still hot, but cooler than the 100 degree days we have had lately. Every so often there would be a light breeze of coolness and it was lovely. Larry worked at the hospital and we met up afterwards at his mom & dad’s for a BBQ / swim to celebrate America’s birthday. Homemade strawberry ice-cream filled in the cracks and then we went home for the neighborhood fireworks which are always a favorite. I love this country we live in and am nervous for the direction it is taking these past years. I can feel God wanting so badly for hearts to turn to Him. This is a different world we are living in and truthfully I can find myself getting preoccupied and scared. But I can’t live in fear. I pray I will stand behind God always and find peace, through trying to love and serve Him. We are all so imperfect aren’t we? But He loves us still. Each and everyone one of us, wherever we are on this journey of ours. Happy Birthday America… God Bless our country and our families.

Morris, Jack, Phoebe, Conrad and Lucy

Lucy & Ellie

Wet raspberries for Ransom

Swinging Ellie

Dog Pile

Ashlee and her uncle Brent

Ellie & Abby

Larry and his Dad

Kyle, Nicole, Braxton and Dawson

Sparklers with Abby

Watching the fireworks

The cleanup

Love Dinner

Our Love dinner for February was actually in March this year…. with schedules of work and school, it’s sometimes hard to find a stretch of time we can all get together. We made a simple New York Steak Dinner with garlic mashed potatoes, tossed salad and fresh fruit. Everyone is trying to eat healthier and more clean, some are even doing the no sugar March. The girls thought it would be fun to make Valentine boxes and bring them to dinner and then we each handed out our Valentines for everyone. It was surprisingly fun and probably something we would do again. I love taking time to make dinner for our family and letting them each know how loved they are by Larry and I.

Valentine Cookie Exchange

We met at Katie's house for our Valentine Cookie Exchange... everyone made 12 freshly baked cookies to sample and the rest were made into frozen wrapped dough for another day for everyone to take home. It was fun and Larry has already asked for a batch to be baked, pretty handy to pull out of the freezer. Before starting, Conrad MC'd a game of Family Feud, his style. Pretty darn cute. Still 65  degrees and we visited outside. Our crazy weird warm weather is continuing...

new years eve 2014

I believe I could have gone to sleep at 8pm. Tired. But I worked through it and made it to 1am with everyone else and we had a great time. Larry, still not feeling 100% from his fall on the ice, made it to 10pm before he gladly went to bed. We made homemade shredded beef nachos and played games. Josh brought in the New Year and the neighbors out with his awesome fireworks out in the cold snowy night.  I am looking forward to this new year. I know the resolution's I need to make to take better care of me, something I have struggled with. Aside from that, I am going to focus on living in the moment more and being a kinder person. Happy New Years!

christmas 2013

Christmas came and left so quickly this year. But, I do believe we watched every Hallmark Christmas movie and spent good time together. We ended up opening our presents on Christmas Eve... the only chunk of time we had altogether. I don't have to look too far to realize my blessings and this Christmas Eve I experienced a miracle that brought me such joy. I thank God each and every day for my family and friends and my faith. I have also prayed more than ever before to keep my heart softened during difficult times. It works, but only with the Lord's help.  For Christmas Eve dinner, Larry's Mom and Dad came over and we made Beef Tenderloin and Rosemary Scallop Potatoes. Fresh rolls with my sister Becky's Muscadine Grape Jelly. Heaven! It felt like she was right with us. Christmas morning, Abby and I watched a Hallmark movie, visited Katie and Ransom for Monkey Bread and I came home and ate nearly all of my See's Candy. Yes. Really. We met up with nearly everyone over at Larry's Mom and Dad's. I realize I have not been hungry since Halloween...