January 2021

Hanging out in Georgetown.

We played at the park and roller-skated on the cement walkway.  Such a beautiful January day!

Kate is working on excavating dinosaur bones or rocks from one of her Christmas presents from us.  

Roasting marshmallows.  Sun glasses are needed, of course, to protect your eyes from the flames.  

The first of many snowstorms in Texas this year.  The year 2021 wasn't turning out to be any better than the year before- Biden winning presidency, COVID-19 saga, and Trump fans storming the white house.  However,  Bryan and I decided that we needed to try our best to make each moment count.  And we have tried our best to live our best life. 

Spa day with the girls.  They were a little jealous of my girls weekend back in December.  I told them we would create our own "spa day".

December 2020

A busy, busy December. Like usual.  Kate and Jane both participated in their school's Christmas plays.  Jane was a little pig in "Animal Christmas" and Kate was a part of "The Colonial Christmas".  Both of them did a wonderful job! 

The first weekend in December, I joined Jennifer in Denver to celebrate her friend Brandy's 40th birthday.  We stayed at a nice hotel, ate yummy food, and went to a really expensive spa.  It was lots and lots of fun to get away for the weekend.

Playing games with Mrs. Christie before their Christmas break from piano.  The girls didn't really have a traditional recital because of the COVID non-sense, but Mrs. Christie did a good job making sure the girls had some sort of special event.   

Kate and Jane had some of their friends over to build gingerbread houses.  One of the gingerbread houses was farmhouse and the other was a castle.  

Kate has been having continual nose bleeds.  And of course, we added this to the hectic December schedule.  Luckily, I know everyone from the surgery department.  I knew she would be in good hands.  She was brave and slept and ate a popsicle.

In Texas, our leaves fall a little later.  We combined our neighbors leaves with ours to create a good sized pile for jumping and playing in.

Christmas!

Both girls got American girl dolls. 

Another one of their Christmas presents from mom and dad were picture books for each year of Kate and Jane's life.  I was finally able to catch up on scrapbooking because work drastically slowed down in the surgery department.  Now the catch is to keep up with it! 

S'more kit from Kristi!

Bryan made the girls a swing set for Christmas.  He is so talented and did such a wonderful job!

My bestest friend Jennifer came up on Christmas Day to watch the girls, so Bryan and I could celebrate our 15th anniversary.  We drove down to Austin and had a wonderful time.  We rented scooters and explored all the murals.  

Jennifer had fun with the girls for the 2 days making hot chocolate melting balls and playing

with Roo.  

Oh! And lets not forget Bryan competing in the Best Medic competition in Fort Polk, Louisiana.  He won first place at this regional competition, which means her qualified for the International competition for next year. Great job babe!

November 2020

We took a trip to Dallas the second weekend in November.  Bryan was signed up for some CE courses for his optometry license and the girls and I tagged along to explore part of the city.  We went to the Dallas Zoo.  

Our cousins drove down from Oklahoma to visit with us and watch Disney On Ice.  The girls were mesmerized by the princesses and ice skating.  

I took the girls to one of the indoor malls with ice skating.  This may have been a first for both of the girls.  I was a little weary with Jane, but she did amazing.  It was a sad moment when she didn't want to hold my hand for stability.  

For Thanksgiving, we all hung out with Adam and Natasha's house.  All the Ahlborn boys were back together again.  We played in the pool, drove to see the Christmas lights, and went shooting.  It's always such a fun time when we visit them.  Natasha cooked her first turkey too AND it was amazing! 

 

October 2020

Happy Birthday to Bryan! We celebrated by going on a family camping vacation to a couple state parks in Texas.  We used my parents tent trailer we borrowed back in November 2019.

Our first stop was Lake Livingston.  Our friends Jennifer and Ryan met up with us for one of the nights.  We paddle boarded, hiked around the state park, played in the pool, and roasted lots of marshmallows and hotdogs.  

Our second stop was Blanco State Park.  It is quite small, but had the best paddle boarding stream and refreshing water.  We toured the cute town with our bikes, played card games, visited the lavender fields, and hiked down Jacob's Well.  

Our last stop was Inks Lake State Park.  My personal favorite.  Again, we paddle boarded, cliff jumped, visited Sweet Berry Farms for fall festivities, and walked under the stars.  It was a wonderful 9 day camping trip without cell phones or work bothering us. 

Hiking with Stacey when we both didn't have kids or work- very rare!

We hosted our first Halloween party.  We invited all the neighborhood friends for hotdogs and chili.  Bryan made a haunted house in the backyard and we rented a bouncy house.  It was so much fun!