Thanksgiving 2017

Thanksgiving 2017

So much to be thankful for

We had family and full belly's this year which is what makes my heart oh so happy.

Our Thanksgiving holiday this year was a little different than previous years, but it was definitely just as special. This is our first Thanksgiving in our new house and sharing it with family made it so special. This year we had my mom, her fiancé Greg, My sister in law Tara, my niece Skylar, and my grandpa Jaye (my moms dad). We definitely missed all our family back home and are looking forward to seeing everyone for the Christmas holiday.

Wednesday

The kiddos and I started our morning early cleaning the house and preparing for company to arrive. Everyone did their part and pitched in which helped the process go smoothly. The littles were right behind us making messes along the way but we kept up with them. We spent the afternoon making desserts for Thanksgiving. My kids love to help in the kitchen every chance they get. We made cheesecake, Oreo pie, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin cheesecake.

My sister in law, neice, mom and Greg all arrived on Wednesday afternoon. Everyone got unloaded and situated and we exchanged lots of hugs. Wednesday was also Matts birthday so we planned to take him out to dinner for his big day. We all chatted and caught up waiting for the husband to get home. We then went to our favorite Mexican restaurant. We had so much fun and might have even embarrassed him with them singing happy birthday to him with a sombrero on his head. I think we all laughed so hard we cried and well his face was as red as a tomato. He absolutely does not like to be put on the spot but he took it like a champ. Oh ya and did I mention he had just filled his mouth with a big bite of food as they approached him. We then came home to do cake and presents. His sweet grandma sent his favorite chocolate sheet cake he has loved since childhood with his sister. She is such a gem. This cake is honestly the BEST cake ever. Like we might have consumed most of it that night!

 Oh well the holidays are about consuming all kinds of carbs right?!

Thursday (Thanksgiving)

We woke up bright and early to start cooking and get everything prepared for lunch. My mom has always prepared most of the food and we have all just enjoyed it. This year it was important to me, to help her every step of the way and learn how she does it all. In hopes that one days she can set back and relax so I can be the one to do the cooking. It was so much fun and we made so many memories this year in the kitchen with my momma. My Grandpa arrived about 1pm and we prayed over our meal and stuffed our faces. It was all so so good. We spent the day eating, enjoying each other and watching the kids play outside. It was the most beautiful day. Matt and Greg even put up all the outside Christmas lights. I love family time so much it just makes my heart so happy. My mom and I played a board game with the kids and they won of course. I'm going with they had more players than us lol. It was just the best day of relaxing, eating, napping, laughing, and repeating that all DAY long.

 Friday

We all slept in til about nine. I think we may have stayed up a little late the night before and were all exhausted. We had breakfast and my mom and Greg had to head to Dallas to spend Thanksgiving with is family. Its always so hard to say goodbye to family. My sister in law, Teegan, and I went black Friday shopping and had a fun girls day. The crowd was crazy and the lines were long but we had so much fun. We found a lot of good deals and of course had an iced frappe to get us through. Matt stayed home with the littles, Skylar, and Taylor. He also got them to all take a long nap. I swear he has the best luck sometimes. That night we went to a festival of lights and it was breathtaking. I love all things Christmas and this place was amazing. We went on a carriage ride though the whole thing and decided that wasn't enough we had to walk through as well. Taylor and Skylar were lucky they got the honor to ride at the front of the carriage.  This will definitely be added to ur list of Christmas traditions. Afterwards we went to dinner and it was crazy because everyone was hangry. One of those meals everyone in the restaurant knows you are there and your giving the littles anything out of your purse just to keep them calm. Low and behold we survived and got everyone home and off to bed.

Saturday

We all slept in again from day three of busyness which was so nice. We had morning coffee and breakfast and then it was time to say goodbye again. Tara and Skylar had to head back home.

We had so much fun with all of our family.  I'm so thankful they were all able to come to our house this year.

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours

XOXO,

Shina

Thirty four on his 34th

Thirty four on his 34th

1. He loves his family above all things and there is no doubt because he always puts us first.
2. He is a man of few words, but when you get him going on a topic he has interest in or hand him a beer ... get comfortable because it may be awhile.
3. He LOVES to help people and is kind of an adrenaline junky. He was a volunteer firefighter for 16 years and loved every minute of it. Not only did he love it, but he was good at it. (Currently he is not one due to the move. We are praying that God has his hand on this and will guide him back into it if that is what he is meant to be doing).
4. He loves watching football but his favorite is watching his Texas Longhorns.
5. He was a kick butt football player in high school and I can say that because I was lucky enough to watch him first hand. (did I mention how hot he looked out there)
6. His favorite food is a good chicken fried steak with mashed tators!
7. He was my brothers bestfriend, which is how we met. I however was not interest at first, but what can I say the boy had some charm because he quickly stole my heart.
8. He is pop drinker and by that I mean he has a FEW a day
9. He is a snacker and mostly at night.. this is rubbing off on our kids... and quite possibly his wife as well! His go to snack is popcorn. Like I'm pretty sure we have bought stock in popcorn.
10. When I met him he was farmer and by that I mean farm boy to the max. He worked long hours, had a farmers tan, was up early and went to bed late. We had many hours of phone conversations as he was driving on his big green tractor. the only way to see him during harvest was if I drove out to the field to see him.
11. He hates avocado - it makes him nauseas
12. He is the Grinch at Christmas time- Like it's his rule, no decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving (I'm slowly working on this)
13. He hates Christmas Music
14. He loves Forensic Files and has lost more hours of sleep than I can count do to the addiction
15. He loves to be outside
16. He ran track in college (he was very fast and has passed that on to Teegan)
17. His celebrity wife is Miranda Lambert
18. He is still a kid and I'm quite sure he will never grow up. He likes to pester us all, the kids included. He is constantly picking on, or wrestling with one of us.
19. He is the Best daddy, like seriously he has helped with every late night, every diaper change, cut, scrape, victory, and so on since the day they were all born.
20. He takes his bible when he goes on trips (this makes my heart so warm knowing that he is growing everyday into the man God wants him to be).
21. He has been through more in his young adult life than most people go through in a lifetime. Honestly the toughest person I know. I wish I had his strength.
22. Hardest person ever to shop for (My oldest said when we were birthday shopping for him "mom dad never asks for anything") He is the simplest person yet so hard to shop for.
23. He has been in two major vehicle accidents and walked away with minor injuries.
24. He was electrocuted at the age of 22 (due to his accident I did not have to take any finals my graduating year of high school). Praise the lord he was ok but we had quite the scare.
25. He can not sit still for long. He is a busy body and always has to be doing something.
26. He has 3 tattoos and one takes up his entire back.
27. He lets his wife be his barber. I have only failed him a few times lol good thing hair grows back.
28. He loves storm season and lives for all the crazy that comes with it.
29. He has always wanted to be a paramedic but with 4 kids has not found the time to take the course.
30. He never misses an opportunity to tell me or the girls how beautiful we are.
31. He makes my coffee almost every day.
32. He is one of the hardest working people I know. He has always put 100% into any job he has had or been given.
33. He is a rule follower
34. He reads self development books and is always looking for a way to better himself. I look up to him so much for this. I strive to be a better person because of him.

Happiest 34th birthday my love

XOXO,

Shina