December 2019

December kicked off with a holiday fundraiser for Haddis Ministries.  We are so thankful that we were able to raise funds that provided for an entire year of hygiene supplies, increased nutritional support and medical care for our kids in Gondar.

The little boys and I extended our Thanksgiving trip to Florida to be there for the fundraiser which meant we got to fly home.

This was the first flight for them (at least that they could remember) and they did great!

We got home just in time to celebrate this handsome guy turning the big 4-0.

Nick and I got away for the night in Charlotte thanks to a friend lending us her super cute townhouse.

Back at home, the boys got in some winter fun ice skating.

Our dear friend April spent Christmas with us.  She's like an Aunt to the kids and we all loved having her with us at Christmas time.

Christmas morning 2019

And a happy 12th birthday to our Colton!

December 2019 proved to be quite stressful.  Our lives had gotten so jam packed with activities and commitments.  We have so many changes coming with the kids all growing up and many becoming teenagers, driving, getting ready to leave for college ect. and it just felt like I was grasping at the days and they were just slipping through my fingers.

I always strive to slow down at Christmas and celebrate the true meaning of the birth of Christ, but this year things never slowed down.  We decided to throw a Christmas Eve, Eve party, our first big team trip to Ethiopia with Haddis was only a few weeks away and we were leaving right after Christmas for Florida.  It felt like we still, even after four years, are just figuring out our new traditions in our "new" home.  I think I tried to overcompensate to make things special and instead, I ended up exhausted.  

Looking back now, I knew we needed to drastically 

slow down our lives.  

Little did I know, the great slow down of 2020 was coming...

Fall 2019

Fall 2019 was full of baseball, running and lots more running.  

This year I signed up to help coach the kids' high school cross country team. Hopefully they enjoyed it as much as I did.  I loved seeing them all push themselves and achieve new goals.

We enjoyed having their great-grandparents out to support them.

Growing up in Florida, we never really had a fall season.  It's pretty much warm until the end of December and we cross our fingers that it's not 85 degrees on Christmas Day.  For me, I like a little cold snap between Thanksgiving and New Years.  After that, I'm perfectly happy to return to the 80s.

A fun family game of knock-out.

Knowing that winter would be setting in (not my favorite) we took advantage of our Thanksgiving trip to Florida and visited the beach for the day.

The sun is good for my soul and I was very thankful for this sunny day.

Summer 2019

Because I'm on Covid-19 Quarantine with the rest of the world, I decided to catch up on this blog as it's my best attempt at keeping a family record.  Plus, Summer 2020 is upon us, so I need to get a move on.

I started the summer of 2019 acutely aware of how fleeting time is.  All of our kids are growing up so fast.  We finished up summer birthdays with Angel turning 7!

Plus, our oldest, Rahel would be entering her senior year.  I had all of these great plans to document a little every day of her senior year, but alas, here we are with just 4 weeks left and we will have to settle for quarterly updates.   Such is life.

We had bowls full of blueberries for about a month.  I am always so delighted when they start to ripen.

We spent some of our summer days working on life skill.  All the kids learned to shop on a budget, plan and cook meals and work on the car replacing door handles and changing tires. 

Rahel and I learned how to add extensions and box braid.

The finished product and one happy girl.

We took a fun trip to the Biltmore House. I've always wanted to go and kids were free over the summer so we jumped at the chance. 

The gardens were lovely.

Some risk taking with dad.

And my most prolific plant of the season, my super squash. I didn't have much luck otherwise, except for my jalapenos.

Nick had to travel for work for three weeks ( I am not a fan of being apart for so long), so we headed to Florida to visit family and friends.

We got to spend a couple of days at one of my favorite places with two of my favorite people.  We dreamed about Haddis Ministries and had a Board Meeting in the sand.

Look at all of these kids! Just our three families.

We brought one friend home with us for the week. The kids loved having Kay stay with us.

Dinner out with the big girls.

We also had a fun overnight visit with more of our favorites as they were headed up to camp.

And like all good things, summer vacation came to an end and the kids were off to school.

I love all of these people so much.  

Our life is super crazy and it's not easy raising 8 kids, but I am so thankful for the opportunity to be their mom.

We had one more round of summer visitors for Labor Day weekend.  Our most frequent flyers, the Schusters!

Squeezing out the last bits of summer fun and sunshine

 before the cool breezes of fall set in.