six years with a new heart

Today is the six year anniversary of Dahlia's heart transplant.  It is a bittersweet day.  A day of joy, celebrating the new chance at life Dahlia was given and at the same time somber, remembering an angel in heaven and a special family.  Dahlia has had a great year and at her last cardiology checkup, her donor heart was healthy and strong.  We are ever so grateful!

16 months!

Little Evelyn in now sixteen months old.  It is such a cute age!  She is adding more words to her vocabulary. She loves to shake her finger and say "no, no, no!" Baby dolls are her favorite and she has a particular baby that she carries around with her.  Whenever Evelyn sees a picture of a baby she'll say, "oh, baby!" Evelyn loves playing outside and when she sees anyone going out, she gets so excited and says, "shoes!" She is still really playful and has such a cute sense of humor.  We are always laughing at the funny things she does.

fifteen!

Dario turned fifteen today!  At fifteen it is nearly impossible to get him to smile for photos, this is the best I got.  Lol!  Dario loves basketball and was excited to have made the freshman team this year.  He is also excited to learn how to drive and has been asking when he can get his learners permit.  I don't know if I'm ready for that yet!

let it snow!

On Friday morning everyone woke up to a rare treat here in Texas, snow!  Everyone was so excited, especially the younger kids who have never seen snow.  We bundled up and ran outside to play in it. The kids made snowballs, snow angles, and the boys built a big snowman down the street with some friends.  Nothing brings on the Christmas spirit more than snow!

thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  This year we spent time with my side of the family and everyone was there except one brother and his family.  It was so nice to have everyone together and all the cousins had so much fun playing.  On Thanksgiving day we went to see the new movie Coco, which was the perfect Thanksgiving movie and was so touching that it even made some of the kids cry!  Later that afternoon we gathered for a delicious feast, followed by all kinds of pies.  Yum!  The day after Thanksgiving mom and dad treated the adults to a delicious Tex Mex lunch at Gringo's.  I had fish tacos and they were so good!  It has become a tradition to go to a park the day after Thanksgiving and this year we went to Brazos Bend State Park.  We had the perfect mild weather.  I love all the huge, old oaks this park has, that are dripping with spainish moss.  We even spotted a couple of alligators!

eleven!

  

Ava turned 11 years old today.  She now doesn't have enough fingers to hold up to show how old she is.  Ava had a fun day and she got a ukulele for her birthday.  Her music teacher in school is teaching the class how to play and Ava really wanted one. She also requested Chick-Fil-A for dinner, one of her favorites!  Grateful for such a sweet daughter, who is such a big help, especially with baby Evelyn!

halloween 2017

Evelyn was a sweet little lamb

Dahlia was princess Poppy from the Trolls movie

Laila was a witch

Ava was a dramatic vampire and Dario and Aiden though they were too old to dress up this year.

nine!

Laila turned 9 years old on October 29.  The day before Laila's birthday we celebrated Laila's as well as Ava's birthday with lots of cousins and family members, followed by a Halloween party that night. They had such a fun day!  Laila's birthday fell on a Sunday this year and in church the primary children had their annual primary program.  Laila did such a good job reciting her part and looked so pretty in her new birthday dress.  My Halloween baby is growing up way to fast!

pumpkin patch!