Christmas at Na's...

Working around eveyone's health also pushed back Christmas at Na's! But it was a special night nonetheless!

We did our traditional fajitas for dinner, all sitting down together for a family meal, and I love that we do this! We sit the littles at their own table, then the bigs (Remi and Ro) usually sit at the bar and us adults end up chatting way too long because before too long, the kiddos are begging for present time!

There are always heaps of gifts, a good amount don't have tags, so it's always a hoot watching everyone try to figure out which present goes to who and then it never fails that someone looses something in the mountains of discarded wrapping paper!

After the kids open one by one, we send them off the play while us adults open from each other. We end the night with the kid's stockings, which we all contribute a few things towards. We all enjoy ourselves thoroughly and look forward to this evening all year long!

Friendsmas 2025...

This little tradition had to be pushed until after the New Year because I was so sick on the original party date. And, we did things a little different this year. 

As these kiddos age, friend groups shift and divide, especially for the girls. Roen's little group of friends has basically stayed the same since middle school, but the girls have not. So for this reason, we ended up just doing Friendsmas for the boys this year! It ended up being just as fun, albeit, a bit more rambunctious, but I recruited some help!

Crissy, Racheal, and I created 8 mini games, to end with one champion of the night! Rumor was super duper impressive, beating out everyone in the final game with his extensive Christmas trivia knowledge! After games, Micah, Rob, and Bryan fed the boys burgers, followed by a gift exchange, some hot tub time, ending the evening with a fire and s'mores! It was a really great night and this is definitely one of my FaVorItE Christmas traditions!

And, I thought you all might like to see how these boys have grown since our very first Friendsmas, so at the very bottom you will find previous years...

From 2025 to 2026...

2025 was a lot of things for me personally.

It was a year of deep growth where I learned true forgiveness. And I found that in forgiving, I had given myself the best gift of all.

This is the year where I read the bible, cover to cover. I was in the word daily. Not just scripture, but reading, researching, understanding. And it was transforming in ways I cannot put into words. I would say to anyone who wants to know joy, open your bible. Don't know where to start? The beginning! It is the living Word and needs no prep, no prerequisites.... it will do for you what nothing else is capable of.

I hit my reading goal of 75 and kept going! 

I found a new favorite author, actually several: Eowyn Ivey & John Mark Comer. These are my favorite books from the year and I would argue all of these authors could be a new favorite of mine:

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

The Noticer by Andy Andrews

I let go of things that stole my energy. I embraced being at home with an empty schedule and accepted it as maybe not an intermission, but maybe the lifestyle God has intended for me all along.

Going into 2026, I want to seek discernment, His discernment, and I want to cultivate what He has given me. I want to push myself to read even more... setting a goal at 90 books, but really pushing to hit that 100 mark. 2026 will have me celebrating 20 years of marriage, it will take us out of the country with 20+ of Micah's family, and it will no doubt be sprinkled with blessings, memories and room for more growth. I want to be intentional about exercising my creative juices every single day. I want to learn something new, and want to learn it well.  I love the idea of a brand new year, a blank canvas, ready to be painted!

So, heres to it..... 2026 is gonna be a good one!

A Wrap on December...

It was the month that lasted forever, while simultaneously, speeding by in a busy blur!

An ornament exchange at church (this first picture represents so much of what 2025 was to me personally), catching Remi and Scout knocking out some homework, Roen, Reese and Easton making late night s'mores, what my little engineer brain looks like at 16, Scout keeping a close eye out for the minute her daddy pulls into the driveway from Elle's house, Roen making his Argentina street nuts for a class project, me catching the boys in Remi's bed and not being quite quick enough to get a good picture before they hid from my camera, a youth group night, Roen and Brynlee on their one millionth movie date night of the year, Remi getting to triple date with some of his closest friends, a Favorite Things party for me, an ice skating date for Remi, Six Flags for Pearson's birthday, and one last youth camp fire night before the New Year!

And now, on to a brand new year, full of a million possibilities!

Christmas in San Angelo...

This one went by too fast! 

It was just a little blink and then it was all over! We played so many games, no puzzles this trip, but we did squeeze in Franco's for Micah! We got to all sit on one pew at Church, which rarely happens and the weather allowed for some outside time too! Of course we opened lots of presents and fought over who got Anne's couch! The matching sweatshirts were adorable, though a bit toasty for the warm temps, and we even got to see uncle Stan when we got into town! We bundled a lot into our small amount of time and I left feeling grateful and full. 

Being together hasn't always been easy to make happen this past year, and so more than anything, I am grateful that I got time with all my people, at one time!