4th of July

We have been so busy during the summer that we felt like we were always going and going.  Originally, our intentions for the 4th were to drive up to Denver and spend some time in the mountains with Brooks' dad and family, but we were just so tired from traveling and going and doing things, we needed a little R&R for the 5 of us!

So, we found out about a local, small town nearby having festivities all day including a parade, kids activities, shopping, etc and decided to check it out!  We loaded the kids up and off we went! While searching for a place to land during the parade we stumbled upon an open area, that just so happened to be in the midst of a family reunion gathering.  The sweet family graciously let us stay in their "spot" and randomly introduced us to all the cousins, grandparents, kids, etc.  Random, but we had a great spot to watch the parade.  In the beginning our kids just watched as the trucks and trailers rolled by, but eventually they got out there and started catching some candy.  The weather was HOT, so the kids would go out to the street, catch a few pieces, then come back and sit down, take a drink, and go right back out! After the parade we grabbed lunch at one of the booths, went to a few activities, and then decided to take a drive through Palo Duro Canyon.  We're hoping to go camping there sometime and wanted to check the place out.  There were some incredible, amazing, breathtaking views and we can't wait to spend a weekend there!  

 

 

The car ride home... Can you tell they had fun?

After naps and relaxing at home, we went over to some neighbors of ours who the husband works with Brooks and they have 4 kids so it was sure to be lots of fun.  We grilled hamburgers, the kids played in the jump house and riding bikes, until it was finally time to shoot fireworks.  Right behind out house, literally, one street over isn't city limits so our friends had the perfect place to shoot fireworks and see everyone on our side of town shoot theirs, too!  The kids had a blast taking turns lighting roman candles, throwing snappers, and watching the BIG fireworks fly!  Brooklyn, like with any loud noises, didn't appreciate how loud the fireworks got and so she eventually stayed on my lap, shaking, with her ears covered! The boys, they were loving the fire and watching stuff "blow up"!

 

Happy 4th of July! 

February

February was a BUSY month for us.  Our daily lives seem hectic and chaotic and sometimes non stop--  but we manage to have fun and enjoy whatever we're doing together!  

We celebrated Valentines Day and made it as special as could be!  Our morning started with the traditional heart shaped choc chip pancakes that the kids helped me make.  I took a few cake orders for some friends and donated 1 cake to an auction event our church was having that evening!  These are just a couple of the cakes I made.  

Gavins class had a valentines party that I was in charge of (since I'm the room mom) and it was a lot of fun.  The kids played musical chairs and did the chicken dance for half the the party.  Parents helped out and brought sweets for the kids to enjoy and they had a lot of fun.

We got a few special packages from grandparents on Valentines Day so the kids got to enjoy some cake pops and new puzzles!!

Valentine's Night our church youth group hosted an event called Second Chance Prom to raise money for summer camps.  Our group of friends decided it would be fun to all go together, dress up, and party it up at the dance.  IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!  We had a catered meal, tasteful music to dance to, silent auctions where we bid on a few items, and just had a GREAT time celebrating Valentine's Day!!!  

Gavins school hosted Dr. Seuss day the week before his bday and the kids were encouraged to dress up as a character from one of his books.  Gavin and his buddy, Jeven decided they wanted to be Thing 1 and Thing 2.  The only problem was they told me 2 days before the dress up day.  I frantically searched our town for red t-shirts, but ended up driving to Target in Amarillo where I found some and then decided to use printable, iron on transfer paper to make the shirts.  I found the images on google and 30 minutes later had 2 shirts made just in time for the boys to have the next day at school!  Gavin and I met Jeven and his mom at McDonalds before school started and got the boys into full costume-- blue spray painted hair, white faces, and bold eyebrows!  They truly were in character from that moment on.  The school had special activities all day and we went to the book reading that afternoon.  Miles and Brooklyn were grateful to participate and even got to see The Cat in the Hat perform!

February was our coldest month yet and I don't think we've adjusted to such cold weather.  When I say cold.... I mean COLD!!  What makes it even tougher is the wind that generally accompanies us daily making the air feel even colder!!  Snow days are still fun and the kids enjoy playing in the backyard making snow angels, snowmen, and having snowball fights!

Miles has been sick and we're still battling monthly episodes or outbreaks as I call them.  I started monitoring his food intake, took fast food out of his diet along with most dairy products and he was still getting sick so our doctors here agreed it was time to run some more tests and pursue other options to get his body healed.  He did really good for getting pricked 3 times and having multiple pokes.  He was brave and only cried a short time.  His favorite color is blue-- like, he's almost obsessed with anything blue, so the moment they started putting a blue bandage on him he was fixated on that!  His results showed us his body had some form of infection so we were encouraged to see a Pediatric Gastroenterologist to get a better idea of what was going on.

Gavin lost his 5th tooth, which was one of his front teeth and he was so excited that it finally came out.  We tried pulling it off and on for days but it never would come out.  He ended up losing it at school during PE when he jumped for a ball and fell to the ground!  I'm pretty sure he loved that 1000x more then having us pull it.  He said all his friends thought it was so cool how it came out!  Our little boy is growing up!

A New Year

We celebrated the new year with some sweet friends and had a ball hanging out with everyone.  The hosts had games and entertainment for everyone and the food was delicious!  Kids were invited, but since my mom was still in town, we opted to spend part of the evening with her and our kids, ended up putting them down for bed, and then going to our get together.  

The girls spent a majority of the evening inside playing random games and entertaining little ones, while the guys found themselves outside in the garage playing ping pong tournaments and pool.  It was freezing outside but that didn't stop all the kids from riding bikes and racing each other on scooters.  

We've been so fortunate to have met some great people since we moved to Borger and they've been gracious enough to accept us into their group!  It seems the people here are use to others coming and going and welcome anybody!  We appreciate it.  Most everyone in our group goes to our church, which is how and where we met a large majority of them.  There are some sweet girls around here!  

It was a fun night and we were lucky to have my mom here who was willing to keep our kids so we could have a night out!  

Thanksgiving Week

This year, Brooks had a Perry No Travel Policy for the holidays.  He feels very strongly that we have just spent the past 3 years traveling across country to be with family and it was a lot of work on us and frankly, he's just tired, so instead of us traveling.... we invited our families to come and see us for the holidays!  For Thanksgiving, Brooks' dad and his wife Juli, along with Brandon and Kate came to spend the week with us!  I was glad to have all our guests in our new home and loved hosting and cooking meals especially since it meant we didn't have to pack, take a road trip, organize entertainment for the kids, and spend hours on the road!  Juli's daughter, McKayla and two friends from college joined us for the week as well so we had a full house!  Uncle Bran and Aunt Kate made it to our house first and so the kids gave them lots of undivided attention!  It was the first time in 2 years our kids were with Bran and he was feeling good!  What a HUGE difference it made for him not being on chemo or meds and feeling like himself!  We actually teared up a few times realizing just how different things were and how he wasn't tired after playing swords with the kids or chasing them around the house.  Thank you Jesus for your healing hand!  

The next day Brooks and Brandon took the kids to Amarillo-- they needed to take care of some shopping, so Kate and I spent that time cooking in the kitchen!  I wanted to get as many Thanksgiving meal dishes prepped to help with the meal the next day.  This was my first Thanksgiving to host and my first time to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal so I was determined to get everything done in the least stressful way!!  After afternoon naps, dinner, and some more hanging out we took the kids to the movies and saw Frozen.  We didn't know it was opening night, so the theater was packed, but we were so glad we went.  That was a precious movie and the singing held our kids attention!  Brooklyn took turns sitting on everyones laps and eating suckers and popcorn.   Gavin was really into the movie and even teared up at the end!  It was sweet. 

Once we got home, Brooks' dad, his wife Juli, her daughter McKayla, and two of her friends from college arrived to celebrate Thanksgiving and spend the weekend with us.  We stayed up late visiting and just hanging out.  The next day was Thanksgiving and once breakfast was over, I started prepping our Thanksgiving meal! Thankfully, there was enough people around to entertain the kids while I cooked and cooked and cooked.  Brooks was a HUGE help in the kitchen, too and by the grace of God we pulled off our first Thanksgiving meal perfectly AND on time!  5 side dishes, a turkey, a ham, and a few pies (thanks to my mother in law for bringing), lunch was delicious!  

On a side note: I appliqued a shirt for Brooklyn for Thanksgiving using my Silhouette.  It wasn't perfect, but it sure beat paying $25 off of Etsy.  I found the shirt at Target for a dollar and used scrap fabrics I had on hand.  It took me about 20 minutes to sew and voila!

While we were with family, we decided to celebrate Christmas, since we weren't going to be with our Colorado family in December.  So, the day after Thanksgiving we woke up and had Christmas!  The kids were excited to see presents and had a blast playing with their toys.

Our little girl got a baby doll and knew exactly what to do with her!  She rocked her, fed her, nurtured her, and pushed her around in her new stroller.

Miles got a new basketball goal (our old one got left in Saudi) and he was so excited to get to play.

Gavin got a new game for Christmas and it was so funny to watch him play.  He kept sticking his tongue out as he maneuvered his robot and wouldn't play without keeping his mouth closed.  I think he thought his tongue moving was helping him to win!

Daddy got some new waiters for duck hunting!

Mr. Geary and Juli brought Indian food from one of Brooks' and Brandon's favorite Indian restaurants in Denver for all of us, which meant I got a night off in the kitchen!!  The food was delicious!

After dinner, I was surprised with a birthday cake and gifts from the family, since my b-day was 5 days later.  It was so thoughtful of everyone to think of celebrating my day during our busy holiday weekend!

We spent the rest of our weekend playing cards, hanging out, and having fun!  We're so grateful for everyone coming to Borger and having Thanksgiving/Christmas with us!  What a fun weekend!!