Wow - An Unintentional Break

It seems I follow a cycle with blogging - I get a really good routine down and blog several times a week for months, and then I suddenly quit for months or years at a time. 

Well - I'm back! For now, at least. Maybe I can keep this up without any breaks.

So from July until January ... a lot has happened! I'll try to recap the months by hitting the high spots.

JULY 2024:

We celebrated Titus's 12th birthday.

AUGUST 2024

Eli went to Nicaragua to visit his wife. Her visa has still not been approved! We're doing all we can, but it can take awhile.

I got to spend some time with my sister, Ashlie.

Mercie, Silas, and Titus started back to school! Mercie is a junior, Silas is in 8th grade, and Titus is in 6th grade again. We decided to hold him back a year for baseball since he was one of the youngest and smallest in his grade.

Zoey had her first ambulance ride. It was mine, too. She got bit by a snake in our front yard! Her blood was having some clotting issues, so they sent us by ambulance to the bigger hospital about an hour away. Thank the Lord, He healed her, and she got to go home quickly. 

SEPTEMBER 2024

Zeke, Zoey, and I went to lots of Silas and Titus's junior high football games.

Zoey turned 2! She had a Two-tii Fruiti birthday party at her favorite pizza place with all of her favorite people.

For homecoming week, Titus and his cousin Liam and friend Jace dressed up as Rock, Paper, Scissors for the Duo/Trio day.

Mikenna, my granddaughter, turned 1 with a First Trip Around the Sun birthday party.

OCTOBER 2024

Mercie with her brothers at their last football game of the season.

Our church had our Fall Carnival.

My mom and I took the little ones to the zoo.

Our grandson, Daniel, turned 4 with a Monster Jam party.

Rod turned 42!

We took the kids to the fair in town!

NOVEMBER 2024

We had lots of time with Daniel and Mikenna. I watch them several days a week while Mikaela is in nursing school.

We made some Thanksgiving crafts.

We played at the park.

Zeke turned six with a Bibleman party at the bowling alley.

We had Thanksgiving at our house with Mikaela and the kids and my mother-in-law and her husband.

Eli went back to Nicaragua again over his break.

DECEMBER 2024

We had Christmas!

We took the kids to the movie Mufasa! It was Zoey's first theatre experience.

More cousin time! These two have always been close.

Silas killed a cull buck.

Titus killed a little eight-point.

We had our church youth group Christmas party at our house. We played the Saran Wrap ball game.

We took the Children in Action kids and youth Christmas caroling to the nursing homes. They also played their handbells.

We went to the Christmas festival and parade in town.

Zeke and Zoey in their Christmas pajamas.

We went to the library and saw Santa!

We took family pictures.

So that's how our year ended! How was your 2024?

Friday Favorites: 4th of July

We had a fairly easy week this week - a nice change from being so busy last month. Monday, I went to visit Mikenna and Daniel a bit before they went to my mom's house for a sleepover. 

Tuesday, we stayed home all day - that's a definite favorite! 

Wednesday, we met Mikaela and the kids at lunch for pizza - another favorite, especially for Zeke and Zoey. We also went to the store and got everything we needed for the Fourth. Daniel came home with us for a few hours to play. 

Thursday, we went down to our pond and grilled burgers, sausage, and hot dogs. I also had chips, baked beans, a fruit tray with pineapple, oranges, apples, grapes, and strawberries. I made cookies, too - peanut butter cookies with a Hershey kiss on top and some red, white, and blue sugar cookies. 

We invited our friends and neighbors, Kasey and Matt, with their three kids; my sister, Ashlie, and three of her kids; my brother-in-law and his wife, Cole and Abby, with their two kids; Mikaela and her two kids; my parents; and Mercie's boyfriend and his dad. Almost everyone swam in the pond, including me! (Zoey hated the pond, so my mom sat with her and Mikenna in the shade.) We had a blast - and I got sunburned! We stayed in the water close to three hours. It was 95 degrees and HOT. I'm so thankful for friends and family that I enjoy spending time with. It was my favorite part of the week, and one of my top days of the year so far.