The Hills

Sunday, August 6, 2017

December...

This month has been BUSY! There have been so many fun Christmas parties that we have been able to go to - I love this time of year! Northwestern Mutual had their party this month and even had a surprise visit from Santa himself! Mason was a little unsure, but the older two were thrilled!

Photo shoot with the older two while Mason was napping!

Sweet Emma at her class Christmas party

Mason loved the Christmas parties this year :)

Watson's teacher this year, Ms. Tina, is amazing! We are so thankful for her!!

Preschool choir performance at church

Watson, you are a JOY!

Emma has LOVED her first year of dance! These sweet girls have done so good and their teacher, Ms Gina, could not be better for them. Here they are at their Christmas party...

Mason really got into the holiday spirit this year :)

Mason loves his Melly

The Christmas Dinner at The Club is always one of my very favorite things we do during the Christmas season. Spending a night with all of my family, eating good food, seeing Santa and watching the kids dance the night away...it doesn't get much better than that!

We made the drive to Oklahoma this month for Christmas. I have never been more thankful for our library than I am before we make these long trips! Emma is holding a small tablet that reads stories to you - the kids LOVE these so I always stock up on them before we leave town.

Making gingerbread houses!

Emma's preschool class at their Christmas program. She was the cutest little sheep I ever have seen!

Friday, May 19, 2017

HAWAII...

In October of this year, we were given the most amazing blessing...a trip to Hawaii with Graham's family. I still cannot believe this trip happened. It was truly the trip of lifetime. You see, Graham's mom, Mary, has a glioblastoma (aka GBM)...this is the worst form of brain cancer one can have. It is incurable and difficult to to even try to treat. She was diagnosed in 2015 and was given the prognosis of months to live. The Lord is SO good and she has far surpassed her original prognosis. Praise Him!

After a doctors appointment where she received some more bad news, Mary's best friend called and asked what she wants to do with her remaining time. Mary's answer: "Spend as much time as possible with my kids and grandkids." This spurred her friend on to GIFT the entire family...all NINE of us...with a week-long trip to Maui, Hawaii to stay at the Four Seasons Hotel and do nothing but enjoy time with each other in the most beautiful place on earth. Unreal, right? To be honest, when I first heard that we were going on this trip, my immediate thoughts were, "An 8 hour flight with a 5 year old, 3 year old, and 5 month old???" But the more I thought about the purpose behind this trip and the end result of that flight, I knew it would be worth it!

The Lord was so, ever gracious in allowing our family this time together with Mary. The memories that were made, pictures and videos that were taken, and the conversations that were had will NEVER be forgotten. I have made a book with details of the trip and all of our pictures so I will only be posting a handful on this post, but I could not blog about our year without mentioning this trip.