Frio river trip

The last week in July we went on a fun vacation to the Frio river, with my side of the family.  We took extra precautions so that no one would bring the Coronavirus along on vacation.  Luckily, nobody caught it!  It was such a fun relaxing week, and such a nice break from all the stress that can come from trying to live life during a pandemic. This part of Texas is so beautiful!  I love all the rolling hills and the refreshing Frio river.  We rented a spacious house that had a swimming pool, and a nice fire pit.  We had so much fun swimming and having nightly fires and s'mores.  Most nights there was always a couple of kids in the pool enjoying a late night swim.  There was land next to the house that had a lot of exotic wildlife roaming it. Early each evening the animals would make their way over to the fence.  The kids loved watching the animals.  The river was a short drive away, and we made it down there each day.  I love the shallower parts, where the water was crystal clear, with little rapids; perfect to sit and relax in.  Each family would take a turn cooking every night and we had some good meals!  Mom and dad treated everyone to takeout on the last night.  There is nothing better than a vacation with lots of family!

fourth of july

This year we had our own little Fourth of July celebration, thanks to the coronavirus.  Brian smoked a brisket and it was so good. I made a traditional red, white and blue jello and a flag cake.  The city of Beaumont still had their firework display.  They shot them off over downtown and there was plenty of room to social distance.  They put on a good show.  Afterwards, we went out to the rec center and lit some fireworks that we bought.  As usual, the boys refused to pose for my pictures!  Despite the strange times, we still had a good celebration.

beach day!

This was a fun, relaxing beach day, with hardly anyone there! We made a reservation at Sabine Pass State Park before we went.  It well worth it; there was a shower to rinse off, bathroom if you needed it and no crowds! 

our new normal

Even though Texas has mostly reopened and is no longer under quarantine, we are still social distancing, to protect our precious little Dahlia.  A worldwide pandemic is every transplant parent's worse nightmare.  It is really disheartening to see so many people who could hardly care less about vulnerable people like Dahlia and refuse to wear a mask.  We have been getting creative with our activities, to avoid people and get the kids out of the house, so they don't go to stir crazy.  We've been going swimming in Brian's parents pool, getting out in nature, going for drives and going on hikes. We also explored old downtown Beaumont. There are some neat old buildings, and it's mostly deserted.  We found some cool murals and took pictures by them.  I really miss how things used to be and hope sooner rather than later, things return to normal.

Easter

This past Easter was one for the books! We were on lockdown during a global pandemic, something that I never thought would occur during my lifetime. Ever since Dario was born we have been spending Easter with my family, it was really sad not to be with them this year.  I tried to make it special for the kids and spent too much money on their Easter baskets.  We also had our traditional Easter egg hunt, but it wasn't the same without all of the cousins.  I burned myself out with all the cooking I did. I made crepes with strawberries, whipped cream and lemon curd for breakfast.  I tried to recreate our traditional Easter meal, that we all pitch in and make whenever we are all together, it was a lot of work!   I was especially missing everyone cooking together in the kitchen, haha! Hopefully next year we will all be together again.

spring is in the air

We took advantage of the nice weather this past weekend and visited the Cattail Marsh in Beaumont.  We had a fun time enjoying nature and the beautiful weather.  Hopefully there are a lot more mild spring days before the hot, humid summer weather sets in!

eight year anniversary

Today marks the eighth anniversary of Dahlia's heart transplant. It's crazy to think that she was only four months old at the time.  She was one tough little baby. Dahlia was blessed with another wonderful, healthy year. She is loving first grade and making good progress.  Since Dahlia's heart transplant, life has been wonderfully normal; no long hospital stays, no rejection of her donated heart, no horrible illnesses because of a lowered immune system.  All of these things are very real possibilities for someone with an organ transplant, we are so grateful Dahlia hasn't had to face this.  Because of Dahlia's donor, she was given a second chance at life and gets to experience it as a happy, healthy child.

Little love

 

Merry Christmas!

13!

Ava is now a teenager! Luckily, she still let me take her birthday pictures. Dario and Aiden give me a really hard time if I try to take their birthday pictures, lol!  For Ava's birthday we took her out to dinner at the Salt Grass Steak House to celebrate, you only turn 13 once!  Ava is such a sweet, helpful girl, and is growing up way too fast!