Kevin and Alison

We've been having a lot of fun this winter!  Our whole family went ice skating in January, and we did pretty well :) The kids have been extra motivated to practice their instruments because of a reward. If they practiced 6 out of 7 days a week in January they got to have an ice cream from Wendy's. This month, they are aiming for 10 minutes a day, 6 days a week, and will be getting Chickfila! :)  Of course, I'm also benefiting from this ... but I also have to listen to the practicing ;) We got to celebrate 2 birthdays in January. My nephew turned 10 and we spent a fun day with them. The cousins always have a great time together.  Kevin's dad and brother came to visit and we celebrated Grandpa turning 72! We've also been doing a bunch of normal life things - watching a show after the kids are in bed... doing puzzles...playing games after dinner...packing lunches and doing crafts...reading...  

We had a great last two weeks of December are are looking forward to what 2021 will bring!  We got to celebrate multiple times with different groups & rang in the new year at the Hoffman's house. The cousins had tons of fun together and it was nice to see my family :) We got our family photo taken by a friend outside of church on Christmas Eve.  Excited faces! :) Ringing in the New Year at 9pm!

...like Christmas! Even if things look different, some things still continue or are have been added this year for more Christmas fun!  We got our Christmas tree, made press cookies and hard-tack candy, and took a short trip down the road to see an indoor-Christmas-tree-display (75 trees!). The kids are having fun this season, just hoping for more snow :) (Our tree now has an angel on top. When put in the shaker at the tree-farm, the top "branch" came flying off!  April grabbed it, we brought it home and it's now stuck back on holding the angel!) Kevin oversees the making of the press cookies each year. His mom made them growing up. If we didn't have children, we'd only ever make the tree shape. This year, the kiddos convinced him to make wreaths and camels! The day after Thanksgiving is when we usually make hard-tack candy. Most of the kids helped this year, but I just snapped these ones of Peter helping with Aunt Laura.  I grew up going to this store/greenhouse/t...

I am thankful for my family! :)  Because of covid, we've spent more time together than ever before - and we have the pictures to prove it! ;)  

A sunny day spent at a new park....Cousin time in the middle of the week....A long hike! :) These things have been bright spots in a weird time  

15 years of married life - and this one has been the most adventurous? Possibly - since we traveled to Dubai and back :) But it's also included a lot of regular days and weeks. Which is just as fun :)