Good Night 2015!

Good night 2015! It's been a great one. 

From Porter starting to walk, to welcoming Paxton, to Penny starting kindergarten, it's been quite a year. Watching their sibling relationships develop has been my favorite part of the year. Watching Penny and Porter playing games and doing shows makes my heart so full and happy. Seeing them with Paxton is a joy! Three new cousins joined our families this year and we've had fun seeing the babies grow. Once again, our family and friends surrounded us during Buddy Walk- with extra special appearances from all of Porter's grandparents, aunts and cousins and most of his uncles too. You have no idea what your support means to us! Thank you for being part of our team! 

These three inspire me to want to be better. So in 2016, I want to choose happy. I want to run more miles, drink more wine, disconnect more, make more time for friends. I want to let my kids be kids and help them explore their world. I want adventure. I want them to dream big! I want to say thank you more and I'm sorry less. I want to love harder. 

Good night 2015! Thanks for the amazing memories! Can't wait to see where 2016 takes us. 

Merry Christmas 2015!

Our December has looked a little more like fall fun and a little less like a winter wonderland. We've had temps in the 60's and even a rare day in the 70's this month. We've had a few cold days in between, just to keep everyone on their toes. We've been thankful for time spent outside.

Luckily, we've had some fun events that have helped us  into the Christmas spirit with our friends and family. Earlier this month, we spent some time with our friends from the MCDISG, at the annual Breakfast with Santa. I remember Porter's first MCDSIG Breakfast event. I was so nervous! Little did I know that the people who filled that room would become such great friends and advisers. 

Aunt Terra came to town after a conference in DC. She was such a big help! We couldn't have survived our Christmas tree adventures without her!

We had a Very Furry Christmas at Sesame Place this year...they loved the shows! 

And we had fun at daddy's work seeing the big man in red for a 2nd time. It's been an amazing December! We're happy to be celebrating Paxton's first Christmas! 

We hope your Christmas is filled with love, peace and joy! May 2016 bring good health and happiness your way!

Giving Thanks

As a child, spending holidays with my cousins was something special. When we were very young, they played with us- they took the video camera and recorded us creating plays and they taught us how to play pool. Even when our cousin Brian told us to go play in traffic, he'd spend the next few hours tossing us in the air, making us giggle. We so looked up to all of them. They taught us what was cool- things like Michael Jackson and crepe paper flowers were cool to us because they thought they were cool. They all went to college and so we wanted to go to college too. 

As we got older, our cousins had kids of their own and we so looked forward to helping with the babies. My sisters and I would fight over who would get to feed the babies. We'd play house with toddlers. Soon we were teaching the kids how to play pool. 

Now that we have kids of our own, the holidays are even more amazing. I can't tell you how amazing it is to see those little ones all grown up and helping with our kids. I may be biased, but I think they're amazing people! We had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving at my cousin Kate's house. I have so many memories of spending time with her kids there when they were young. Now they're in high school and college. 

The weather was beautiful- mid 60's. So, we ate outside like the Pilgrims and Native Americans. Pax got to meet everyone and loved all the snuggles, especially the ones from the "baby whisperer" Gavin. Penny had a blast playing with Joseph, Grace and Rhyan- she sat with the big girls by the fire pit and talked their ears off. And Porter, well, he had the best day ever. The older boys played basketball with him. Liam helped him shoot 3-pointers and daddy helped him dunk. They let him wrestle with them. And, Stephen let him play his guitar. Top that off with some snuggles from his Godmother and it was the recipe for the perfect Thanksgiving. 

We are thankful for so many things this year. For family, especially the new babies who have joined our family over the past year. We're thankful for FaceTime, which allows us to feel close to the Thompson family, who had an amazing Thanksgiving in California. We're thankful for friendships and for Porter's Peeps. We're thankful for the roof over our heads, the food on our plates and the clothes we wear. We're thankful for devoted teachers and support staff. We're thankful for doctors and their teams. We're thankful for so many things!

We're thankful!