My mother in law gave us her north pole village, this is only a fraction of them. Incredibly beautiful and so thankful to have them in our home. She also gave us the nativity scene that Matt remembers his mom making in the early 80’s. Priceless family heirlooms that we will forever cherish. 
Had four generations in our home tonight for dinner. Doesn’t get much better than that. Thankful for the precious memories our family is able to build.
One of my favorite Christmas childhood memories at my Granny & Paw-Paw’s was their ceramic Christmas tree. After years of me talking about it to Matt he got me one to bring a little bit of their tradition into our home. 
A day filled with 19 people, family, friends, children, grandchildren, four soldiers that became friends, thankfulness, two turkeys, countless sides, a multitude of pies, nerf wars, a broken trampoline, scooter races, Turkey hands, and lots of laughter. It was a perfect day!
Also, when you over hear one of the soldier say “this is the weirdest Thanksgiving ever!” you somehow know they had fun too and will likely never forget your family either.
Finally got our little iron sparrows hung in our bedroom that we found in Waco. Above pictures from our honeymoon in Jamaica and our 10 year anniversary trip to all of New England & New York. And between the sugar skull couple I ordered for our 10th anniversary from an artist we love in California and the sailor & mermaid we bought in Cape Cod from a local artist. Little things that make me smile and remember all of the beautiful memories we continue to build together.
Nina stayed up a little past bedtime eating a twizzler and watching her favorite movie in bed with Paw-Paw and I. Being grandparents is the bees knees!
Whisked my husband away for a quick over night stay in Houston to see one of his favorite bands, Patriot. Love any getaway with my fella, even if for only a night. Also, it’s not every day you see a massive shiny armadillo. 
My dad: “You’re gonna let her say that to me Matt?”
Matt: “You know she can’t be controlled.”
Ha ha, at least one of them knows me well.
This year was one we hadn’t experienced before, but I have to agree with our 12 year old when she said “this was a crazy Halloween, but my favorite one, because it was with all of our family and that’s all that matters!”. It was chilly and decided to start pouring raining when we got down the block from our home. The kids were still amused, but didn’t seem to mind when we decided it was a bust and I would run to the corner store to get everyone a treat of their choice. Walgreens saved the night for our kids and grandkids! Rain or shine, fun was still had!
kiddo costumes:
Aub- nerd, Mad- nerd, Bitty- cat, Dom- zombie, & Nina- cow
