Closing 2015

2015 is coming to a close today.  After visiting the eye doctor and then Meme this morning, we stopped by Party City to pick up a few supplies - hats, necklaces and glasses.  After dinner, we headed outside for some time with sparklers which is always fun.  After that we came in to snap a few pictures in our celebratory garb.  The girls got ready for bed, and thanks to Netflix, we watched an Inspector Gadget countdown to 2016.  It was a fun and calm way to end the evening.

2015 has been a wonderful year for our family.  Ryan and I are constantly amazed at the blessings in our lives.  While I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to return to China this year, Ryan was able to travel and teach in India and North Africa.  He graduated with his master's degree which is an amazing accomplishment.  We had a fantastic vacation with friends in London.  We took great family vacations to Chicago, Huntsville, Orlando, and New Smyrna.  Ryan and the girls went to Lakeland over Spring Break too.  We had lots of fun and made memories at home and around town.  We welcomed Decker, a miniature goldendoodle, to our family.  We are healthy and so incredibly grateful.  This has been a great year.  I don't know what 2016 holds for us, but we know we have a God who loves us.  We look forward to seeing what opportunities He gives us to serve Him and share His love with others.  I hope you have a healthy and happy 2016 as well!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas!  This was such a wonderful morning.  It was very relaxing, and we were all in great moods.  We all simply enjoyed being together and opening presents.  Because of this, I intentionally decided not to take lots of pictures.  I wanted to just be in the moment with my family.  On one hand I wish I had more pictures, but I absolutely loved this morning.  Here's one I snapped before opening stockings and gifts.

 I did take this picture for Grandpops and Grandma Jan.  While they sent several gifts for the girls, they both loved these new stuffed animals.  David and Jan adopted animals at Lincoln Park Zoo in honor of the girls: they absolutely loved visiting there over the summer and this was a great reminder of that time together!

 We spent the afternoon relaxing and playing together; it was a great day.

The day after Christmas we headed up to Tennessee to visit with the Farris family.  Here are a couple of pictures of the ladies of the family and Granny with her four grandkids.  We had a fun time together.

 Sunday the 27th was Granny's 92nd birthday.  We had a little party for her at the assisted living home where she lives now.  Mom had a beautiful cake made for her and made several delicious side dishes to go with the Zaxby's chicken.

 The kids were happy to help Granny blow out her candles!

After Granny's party, we all headed back home.  It was a nice weekend visiting family.  What a wonderful way to wrap up our Christmas 2015 celebrations!

Christmas Countdown 2015

I love the month of December.  We continued our fun tradition of doing a daily countdown item together.  Mostly, there's one picture from each day though there are a few exceptions.

Day 1: Game Night where we played the new games Mia got for her birthday - Monopoly Jr and Life Jr.

 Day 2: The girls learned a few Christmas jokes to tell to the Hurst family.  They recently welcomed baby Audrey to their family, so we provided a meal to them and spent a few minutes together.

 Day 3: Change of plans.  We were planning on going to see the lights at Life University, but an ear infection in Lily and a trip to the doctor sidelined that.  Instead, the girls did a few fun activity pages out of this book.

 Day 4: The girls and I went to our neighborhood gingerbread house decorating party.  It was great!  Another mom made the houses and all the kids decorated; they loved it!

 Day 5: We went to see Pan at the dollar theater; we were thrilled that Parker and Macey were able to join us.  We then played at East Cobb Park together and then met Brian and Jill for dinner.  Great evening!

Day 6: A trampoline show in the backyard

 Day 7: Christmas Lego mini sets!

 Day 8: Reading The Crippled Lamb together

 Day 9: Charity day - We used the World Vision gift catalog.  The girls used their own money to support some great causes.  Lily helped provide a wheelchair to a needy child while Mia supported sending a girl to school and providing a donkey to a family.  Love when their generous spirit comes out!

 Day 10: Mad Libs in the car on the way to Columbia, SC.

 Day 11: Ryan's graduation at Columbia International University!

Day 12: A morning at Islands of Adventure's Suessland and an evening at Hollywood Studios.

Day 13: A fun day at Magic Kingdom

 Day 14: Part of the day at Animal Kingdom and part of the day at the Grand Floridian's pool 

 Day 15: Stonehaven's Christmas program

 Day 16: So we told the girls our activity was a "special breakfast" before school of McDonald's at home.

 In reality, our countdown item was actually welcoming a new dog, Decker, into our family!

 Day 17: We had fun buying Decker some new toys at PetSmart.

 Day 18: Fun dessert (make your own sundae) and movie watching (Maleficent)

 Day 19: Bama's Christmas party.  We were so glad Liz, Kendall, John, Caroline, Josh and Amy came over for Saturday and Sunday; what a great time.

 Day 20: Meme's Christmas party which is always fun and delicious.

 Day 21: I took the girls roller skating at Sparkles which they always love.  They had even more fun when they saw their friends, the Crowley family, were also there.

 Day 22: A girly lunch at Swan House

 Day 23: We made cookies for the firemen.  Mia and I made shortbread cookies while Lily and I attempted to make fudge.  It didn't set like we anticipated so it became a delicious ice cream topping instead.

 Day 24:  Christmas Eve!  We switched things up a little this year and did my family brunch gathering today instead of on Christmas Day.  I hosted this year which I loved.  This was such a fun time together.

 Around mid-afternoon, we delivered the cookies, fudge and ice cream (bought to go with the fudge) to our local fire station.  We are so thankful for the individuals who work over Christmas to keep our community safe.

 We ended the evening with the girls getting their new pajamas which will keep them toasty throughout winter.  They were excited to get to have a sleepover together in our guest room downstairs.

 It was another wonderful Christmas countdown this December.  I love this tradition!

Graduation Celebration Trip, Hotel Fun

I have always dreamed of staying at The Grand Floridian.  It has appeared to be the epitome of elegance to me.  I loved every minute of being here!

When you walk in, you immediately smell the gingerbread; it was wonderful.  Then you see the gorgeous tree.

 As you walk through the lobby, you can visit the big gingerbread house.  It's so cool!

When we first checked in, we looked through the lobby, left our bags and headed to Hollywood Studios.  When we got in much later that evening, Ryan and the girls were surprised to see this on the door.  They had no idea of the surprise I planned!

I had arranged for the room to be decorated to make this trip just a little more special since it was for Ryan's graduation.  This was just a little way to show him how proud I am of him!

 While most items were Christmas related, there was a special graduation balloon for Ryan.

There were lots of goodies in the baskets, but we all loved these cookies.

There were lots of fun items that the girls could play with.

 The girls wanted to play on this carriage every time we passed by.

 A great view from our room.

 On our last evening, we ate dinner down by the lake and enjoyed the Mickey rice krispies treats for dessert; we could see some fireworks across the lake which was fun.

 This hotel and trip was truly a dream trip for us.  What a great way to celebrate Ryan's fabulous achievement!