December 2017

Dec. 2- St. Jude 10 K
I ran my first 10K in the St.Jude race. It was AMAZING! I am very proud of myself and how well I trained! My time surprised me and I was very pleased! It was such an accomplishment and such a great feeling to be able to complete it. My time was 1:00:52. I look forward to running again next year! I loved it! I started training in September with Melina (a friend from church) and we ran three days a week. We ran at 5:00 in the mornings, sometimes in the evenings, on Sunday mornings, in the hot and cold weather! It is so helpful to have a running partner! 

Land:
We purchase land in September and finally started the dirt work on it. It is so exciting to see the process and how it will all come together. We have had several trees cut down and they started digging the one and building up the levi for the driveway. We are hoping to get the house slab poured and begin building as soon as we can! Hopefully we will have a new house in 2018! 

Hunting:
Jace LOVES hunting with his daddy! He always comes home telling me all about it and all the details! He is a little hunter for sure! 

SANTA at The Onsby's:
We went to Justin and Ashley Onsby's house for a Christmas party and we had a great time! The kids played, we had lots of snacks and then a special guest came......SANTA showed up! He read " A Night Before Christmas" to the kids and then each kid got to sit on his lap and tell him what they want for Christmas and get their picture made with him. It was so much fun!! Jace and Arlee June were so surprised to see him! Then the kids exchanged small gifts! It was a lot of fun! 

Christmas concert at church:
The kids had a Christmas concert at church and they did a great job! They love music and did so good singing all the songs and doing the movements. I love watching them! 

Wrapping presents:
Jace and Arlee June were really into wrapping gifts this year! The helped me wrap and they even wrapped several all by their self. I was impressed.

GiGi eats lunch with Jace and Arlee June:
GiGi volunteered to help with the Santa shop at my school and then she ate lunch with Jace. He was excited about that! Then a few days later she went to Arlee June's school to eat with her too! She LOVED it and was so proud that her GiGi came to her school! 

Christmas City:
We LOVE driving through Christmas City each year. We took Uncle Tony and Aunt Holly one night and they were amazed. They had never seen it before! We love all the lights and the story of Jesus! 

Arlee June Christmas program at school:
Arlee June had a Christmas program at school and she did great! She was very well behaved and that made me so proud! 

basketball practice:
Jace has started basketball practice and he is READY! He loves the sport and can't wait for his games to start! I love watching him play! His team seems to be pretty aggressive! It should be an interesting season! 

Last day of school/Pajama day for me and Jace:
Our last day of school was Dec. 19th.....we had pajama day and it was a half day of school! We had our Christmas parties and were excited to get out for break! Lance came to Jace's party and I was able to sneak down for just a little bit too! I love being at school with him and getting to be apart of everything! 

Arlee June sick:
Sissy got sick Tuesday night (Dec. 19) and was not able to go to her class Christmas party. We were so sad about this but then we found out that eleven out of thirteen students were sick so she really didn't miss much of a party. 

Lance company dinner:
We took Lance's employees to Wyatt Earps for a Christmas dinner. I think everyone enjoyed  it! I am so proud of Lance and his hard work in building his business and company. He has done an excellent job! 

Snuggles/naps:
During Christmas break we had lots of extra snuggle time and naps! Mommy loves naps! We enjoyed some much needed relaxing time at home. The kids played a lot and enjoyed staying home in our pajamas. 

cooking in the kitchen:
The kids love helping me in the kitchen! We made cookies, pies, meals, etc. They love to help and they do a great job at it! 

Tractor:
Lance bought a BIG tractor for our new land. I don't know who was more excited.....Lance or Jace! It has a little "buddy" seat so Jace can ride with daddy while cutting the grass! They are excited about their new "toy". Lance took the kids for a ride down the street! 

Christmas lights:
During Christmas time we always drive around a look at Christmas lights! This is one of my favorite things to do. We went out to Collierville and saw some pretty good lights. We also saw some in Bartlett that are to music! We love looking at lights! 

The 22nd: PawPaw and Nana's
We had dinner and PawPaw and Nana's to celebrate Christmas! Dinner was great and we enjoyed the company! We opened gifts and had a great evening! 

The 23rd: Mama Jewels:
We had dinner and sang Happy Birthday to Mama Jewel and Andy. We opened Christmas gifts and had a great night! 

Christmas Eve:
We woke up and opened gifts just the four of us! It was nice to have this time together. I loved watching the kids reaction to their gifts and their excitement in opening. We stayed home all day and played some games. We went to Candlelight at our church at 5:00. Poppy, GiGi and NayNay met us there. Then we came back to our house for dinner. We had a yummy dinner! We cooked chocolate chip cookies for Santa and got his plate and milk ready! Then is was bedtime after we said goodbye to Fred and Snowflake! 

Christmas Day:
Jace came in our room at 7:45...."Santa came Santa came" We told him to go wake up sissy! Arlee June then came in..."He came...He really did" So we all got up and went in to the living room to see everything he left! The kids were SO excited! They got new bikes, a karaoke machine with microphones, board games, watches, books, new doll, dart board and more! Santa left a note in the middle of the floor.....it said he left a surprise in the playroom upstairs......the kids went upstairs and the note said to check the bathroom.....they went to the bathroom and there was a note that said the check the garage.....they went to the garage and there was a note to check the backyard......they went outside and found a TRAMPOLINE! They were SO EXCITED!!! So we all bundled up and went to jump!!! 

Poppy, GiGi, NayNay, Mama Jewel, James and Judy all came over! We had a great day playing, visiting and being with family and friends to celebrate Jesus' birthday!! 

We ended the day with the kids singing Happy Birthday to Jesus! 


The 26th:
We went to Poppy and GiGi's to celebrate Christmas!!! The kids were ready to be with all their cousins! We ate snacks and then opened gifts!!! I love seeing all five kiddos together! It makes my heart happy! We played all day and then had a nice steak dinner!!! We had a great day! 

Cleaning out/organizing:
After Christmas I spent several days cleaning out and organizing the kids rooms. We got rid of old toys and arranged all the new stuff. We rearranged their rooms and they look so nice! I cleaned out closets, drawers and more! It felt great to get rid of some of the junk we have accumulated. 

Night at Poppy and GiGi's:
All FIVE of the kids spent the night with Poppy and GiGi.....they had a pizza picnic in the living room and made some crafts! Jace and Arlee June were so excited to be with their cousins! I love how they are all so close in age! The play well together. (most of the time) 

Date night:
While the kids spent the night with Poppy and GiGi....we went to a movie and dinner! We enjoyed this time together! 

Running:
I have only ran once since the St. Jude 10K so I met Melina and Michelle for a run. It was cold and windy but we made it! We just ran 3 miles. It wasn't easy after taking a break but it felt good to do it! 

New Years:
We went to eat dinner at Red Lobster.....it was yummy!!! The kids had their favorite....Crab Legs!!! Then we came home and went across the street to Joey's house and played cards! We had a good time! We made it until 11:00 and then came home and went to bed!   

2017 was a great year! We are excited to see what the Lord has in store for 2018!


(Pictures are documented in the Monthly books I create and also in the Instagram Chatbooks that get printed regularly) (I use this blog to document more details of our life and what all goes on!) 

Happy New Year!!!!