NEW YEARS 2017
2017. We bid farewell.
Tonight we celebrated one of our favorite new family traditions.
We decorated masks, made noise makers and marched up and down our neighborhood-making lots of loud noise-to the beat of our own drum.
All with one goal in mind-to inspire others to celebrate life and remember the joy that comes in the morning.
A few days ago, I shared this on my Instagram, but it was such an emotional tribute to this year that I wanted to share it again here.
I’ve watched Dancing with The Stars for over a decade since i graduated high school in 2005. I’ve grown up with the show. every year, every season, there’s one episode that i love the most. it’s the episode when every contestant gets to choose their “most memorable year.” some years are beautiful. some years are full of heartache. some years are a mixture of both. and in over 25 seasons, I’ve always wondered why I’ve never been able to say i had a “most memorable year.” until this year.
2017 will forever be my most memorable year. . . 💗
a year of life. we spent our first year as parents of two.
a year of redemption. the year i shared my testimony for the first time.
a year of welcoming. we welcomed Blake back home from a nine month rotation overseas.
a year of uncertainty. plagued with a roller coaster ride of health ups and downs for both girls.
a year of new. we launched The Ever Co.
a year of change. i made the decision to transition from active duty to army reserves in summer of 2018.
a year of celebration. the year i turn 31 on the 31st.
a year of loss. on September 25th, i lost my best friend. my daddy. .
This year’s been memorable for so much God given goodness, but it’s also been memorable for heartache. . .
So here’s to 2018. here’s to hope for a better tomorrow. Here’s to living out my daddy’s legacy. Here’s to change. good change. And here’s to love. I declare 2018 my year of unfailing love.
POST DETAILS:
- The girl's tops can be purchased from our store here.
- The girl's boots are from London Littles and can be purchased here.
- The masks we used were from Hobby Lobby and can be found here.
CHRISTMAS MORNING
The spirit of Christmas lies in our hearts. May we never be too old to share in the joy and gladness this season brings. Merry Christmas to all, from our family to yours!
Here are a few of our favorite pictures from Christmas morning-including my mama getting excited over some bingo money and taking Hadley for a ride on her new luggage! hehe!
MATCHING JAMMIES
One of our favorite Christmas traditions is wearing matching jammies on Christmas Eve and taking a picture on Christmas Day! Blake and I have taken a pic every year since we got married in 2011! Now we have two little munchkins (+ Bella) to add to the mix, and this is just way too much fun! Here's some cute ones from our shoot!
HOLIDAY HOME TOUR
We've never had a blog to share our home during the holidays, but finally the time has come! We are so excited to make this our inaugural holiday home tour! The one that we will link back to 15 years from now (on a way more techy site that basically controls itself for you with a sneeze-ha!). So here she is-from our home to yours-Merry Christmas!
Living Room
Presents
Kitchen
Shelfie
Mantel
Favorite Books
THANKSGIVING DINNER
We are beyond grateful for this community and that you've chosen to follow us on this journey. Here's a small glimpse into our Thanksgiving.
Thanks forever to our dear friends Chris and Toni of Heart Stone Films for this beautiful tribute to Thanksgiving.
FALL FAMILY VIDEO
Join us as we explore our favorite local Pumpkin Patch and make lasting memories.
video by our dear friends Chris and Toni of Heart Stone Films.
Pumpkin Patch Trips
Nothing screams fall and Halloween more than pumpkin patch trips! We have big plans to one day turn The Ever Co into a pumpkin patch, so it’s one of our favorite family activities! Here are some of the pics from all of the farms we visited this year.
fall and Halloween traditions
During the month of October, we love finding fun ways to celebrate the spirit of Halloween and fall throughout the month! We baked sugar cookies and cut them into pumpkins, painted fake pumpkins from the craft store and cooked pancake stacks with orange and black sprinkles!
Here are some of our favorite fall activities:
· Boo’ing our neighbors
· Creating family costumes
· Baking pumpkin pie
· Butternut squash soup
· Decorating with bats and webs
· Trick-or-treating
· Hay rides
· Apple cider/hot cocoa
· Roasting pumpkin seeds
· Raking and jumping in leaves
· Apple picking
· Pumpkin patches
· Halloween pancakes
· Painting pumpkins
· Pumpkin carvings
· Baking Halloween cookies
· Watching spooky (family friendly) movies
· Reading spooky children’s books
Below you'll see our two costumes this year! Charlotte's Web and Jurassic Park-family edition! We also went to the farmer's market, played in crunchy leaves and Boo'd our fairy garden!
Halloween Dress Up
Never knew how much I’d enjoy playing dress up with little humans, but Halloween time and October give us all the excuses to buy fun wigs and pretty accessories to do just that!
The girls, even at the tender young ages of 10 months and 2.5 years old have such a blast seeing mama wear funny things. We try hard as parents to inspire our littles to use their imagination, and I’m a firm believer that the encouragement of creative thinking enhances cognitive development in our children.
Albert Einstein once said, “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Right on, Al. We couldn’t agree more.
