January
We start off the year celebrating some very special birthdays after the New Year. First, we celebrated daddy turning 47. Wow, where do the years go? We have celebrated 24 birthdays together and spent more of life together than apart. A week later, we celebrated our princess Maggie turning 6 with some special cupcakes at home with her favorite Gabby's Dollhouse characters. Later in the month, she had a larger party with her school friends at a local jump park. We also got to experience a little bit of snow again. It doesn't take much to make us happy!
February
For Valenitine's, Maggie and Daddy enjoyed her school's special Daddy Daughter dance. She was such a beautiful belle at her ball. Mommy and Daddy also got to have another get-away in Nashville where Daddy attended a conference at the National Wild Turkey Federation convention. It is held at the beautiful Opryland Resort, and we always enjoy exploring Downtown Nashville. It is such a fun city!
March
In March, we started celebrating two more special birthdays. First, we celebrated our very special Mattox turning the big 10. How has a decade passed since that wonderful day when we finally held our rainbow baby in our arm? He has brought so much love and joy to our household...and a whole lot of laughter! Boy, is he funny! We also celebrated our oldest officially reaching adulthood. Wow, how is our first baby a full grown man? What an amazing journey it has all been!
April
We enjoyed some traveling as we finished some college touring with Evan to see his dad's alma mater in Raleigh, NC. While they did an official tour of campus, the younger kids and I explored mom's alma mater and the amazing North Carolina Museum of Natural History. After a couple of days in Raleigh, we made the drive to the coast to re-visit one of our favorite places on Earth...the NC Outer Banks. These beaches really are magical! From multiple beautiful lighthouses and sandy white beaches full of natural wonders and even exotic wildlife, it is a national treasure. We ended the month celebrating our beautiful Brody's 14th birthday. This kid is always so appreciative of everything and is so fun to share experiences with. We have enjoyed some very special trips with him this past year and look forward to many more adventures in his bright future.
May
We took our traditional Spring family pictures together while we were at the Outer Banks. May was also a very busy month celebrating our first baby's high school graduation, our last baby's kindergarten graduation, and a special Mother's Day together. I know these days of having all my babies together under one roof are growing shorter.
June
In June, we enjoyed finishing up celebrating graduations, celebrated father's day, and Evan took off on a special senior trip with his friends to Miami before he would begin his journey at the U.S. Naval Academy. We also celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary and our beautiful angel Mattie's 12th birthday. With the passing of time, we will never forget all that our beautiful angel gave to our family. She was one of our precious miracles!
July
After dropping off Evan at the U.S. Naval Academy and watching him taking his oath to serve his country, we all tearfully headed home for the long wait until we would see him again. We did enjoy a few precious days with him in Annapolis before leaving. We made the best of the rest of our summer with celebrations for Independence Day and lots of pool time.
August
In August, we finished up summer with a quick trip to Edisto Island beach which we had not visited before. We wanted a less crowded beach experience. Despite the weather being a little cloudy and even a little rainy, it was a nice little beach town. Then, the kids started back to school with Maggie going into 1st grade, Grayson starting 3rd grade, Mattox beginning 4th grade, and Brody starting his first year of high school.
September
In September, we all got to be together again for Mommy's birthday weekend in Myrtle Beach. Yep, the kids still love it!
October
This month was full of lots of fall and spooky fun as the kids dressed up for school events and went on fall field trips to pumpkin patches and farms.
