So Very Thankful!

Life has been both a whirlwind and pretty wonderful lately.  After 34 years in our home, we have sold it, and are happily settled up the street.  We still have a few projects left here, but we settled in quite easily, and are loving living here.  I finally have a kitchen!  It took 19 weeks for all of my cabinets to come in, but we are very pleased.  I plan on doing a post just on house renovations soon. In between moving and finishing up the kitchen, we have had lots of family time, soccer tournaments, hunting and more!  We are praying for calmer days and time to enjoy the holidays now.  During the move, I did manage to decorate for Christmas, although not as much as usual.  The plan now is to enjoy the holidays, and wrap up projects after Christmas (except for a couple of small things that we're going to do before).  This has definitely been a process, but a very rewarding one! We are very thankful for this new chapter in our life!

Cross Country has ended for this one, but she did participate in her school's Turkey Trot.

Pop and I took the big kids ice skating on opening night.  This is so much fun, but I'm truly thankful they came out alive!  Lots and lots of falls, and lots and lots of fun!

We wrapped up soccer season with a tournament in Dothan.  We are already looking forward to next year.

We enjoyed a little  shopping in Dothan in between games.

There's no fun quite like backyard fun!

Lindsey and Josh can't come without helping with projects.  This trip one was cutting down the mammoth holly tree.  Pool work begins this week, and it needed to go!

The kids also helped get the big tree decorated.

More playtime!

Painting with Kathy was so much fun!

What wonderful help I had decorating the tree!  (That massive holly tree you see out the window is now gone!)

We play hard and rest hard!

What a week they had hunting!! Four deer and two pigs!  Maddie has now killed 17 deer (She's 12!), and Reed has killed 3.  They both love hunting. 

John Sawyer also enjoyed his first hunt with Pop.  It involved eating an orange and doritos, a walk to check on the field and lots of memories!  

Good job guys!

They hunt and we cook!  Maddie also loves to help when she's not hunting.

The best turkey fryer ever!

We had the best Thanksgiving.  It was wonderful being together!

Love my people!

After lunch and before the game, we completed our annual candy houses.  The Christmas season doesn't begin until the houses are built.  This is our 31st year, and pardon me while I brag, but we are really good at this now.  I highly recommend this as a family tradition!! So much fun! This year we had Santa's sleigh, the manger scene, a camper, a lighthouse, a barn and an assortment of houses.  

Merry Christmas!

Catching Up Again

Life lately has been a whirlwind. While we have been in the process of remodeling and moving for almost 2 years, the pace really picked up about 6 weeks ago.  We have now moved up the street after 34 years in our house, and will close on our house in just a couple of days.  Before the move, I would have told you I was a fairly good housekeeper.  I have learned that I was a border line hoarder!!  I have long since lost count of my trips to the thrift store and the number of bags of stuff we have thrown away.  We still don't have a kitchen, but we have started on that project.  All but one of my cabinets are in, and Reed is working away.  Hopefully it will be done in about a week.  That will just leave us with one bathroom to complete.  The pool should be installed by Christmas, and we will then turn our attention to the yard (again). In the midst of all the chaos, life has continued on.  Soccer, cross country, pumpkin patches and more keep life interesting and busy! These pictures are from the past several weeks.

We could not have made it without Josh, Lindsey and the kids.  This was the day that we moved most of our things.  We headed up the street with a tractor, two trucks with trailers and the Polaris with a trailer.  It was quite a sight to see.  Maddie's job here was to guard Jesus.  Happy to report that He made it just fine!

These two little guys are settled into their new home in Northport.  There are no words for how much we miss seeing them every day.

Fun at the pumpkin patch!

Jack was pretty excited when we found a turtle in the yard!

Reed's regular season team was undefeated!  Way to go Reed and Coach Josh!

Happy Birthday to me!  It's really true that time flies!

A little backyard fun with these cuties! Jack loves the zip line!

I really don't have the words to express how proud we are of Maddie and her cross country accomplishments this year.  Again, this is a sport I knew nothing about.  It is the most emotional sport I have ever watched.  I can't explain it, but I have felt a tremendous need to be there when she crosses the finish line.  This sport is not for the faint of heart!

We were so proud that she made state as a seventh grader!  She had her personal best time at state.  We can't wait until next year.

Lillian and I enjoyed a little selfie waiting on her to reach the finish line!

A little post run meal in Andalusia!  I told Lindsey that I never, ever thought I would get to visit so many places in Alabama. 

Buddies

Reed's Allstar team won their District tournament and are headed to state!  We can't wait! Look out Dothan, here we come.

It was great to be back in one of my favorite places with some of my favorite people! We came and we conquered!

And I may not have a kitchen, but I have decorated for Christmas!  John Sawyer helped me by rearranging every ornament on the tree!  And if you visit and happen to see a shower ring on the tree-mind yo' business!  He thought it was the perfect addition, and Nana agrees!

Hopefully, I will soon get back to regular blogging!