The great Texas freeze

It seems like it’s been one crazy event after the other around here.  Recently we experienced an Arctic freeze here in Texas. We had temperatures in the low teens here, which is so rare! Other parts of Texas experienced even colder temperatures. The Texas power grid was totally unprepared to handle the freezing cold and people were left without power and water for days, with pipes freezing and bursting. Luckily we are NOT on that power grid, but one based in Louisiana, who was more prepared. The roads iced over and the kids were out of school for the rest of the week. The kids went outside to play in the snow, but it was so cold that they didn’t last long. They also didn’t have warm enough jackets and had to use socks for gloves. I got a couple of cute pictures, then everything else was like the pictures below, haha! 

9 year heart anniversary

On this day, nine years ago, Dahlia received the gift of a new heart. She is doing so well and by some miracle managed to not catch the Coronavirus twice. Unfortunately we’ve had two separate rounds of the virus at our house and we were very worried about her catching it! She is still having to do online school, because she is high risk, so that is a bummer. Hopefully, sooner rather than later, she can return in person. We are so grateful for the special gift she was given, all those years ago, and very thankful to have Dahlia still here with us.

picking out a christmas tree

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is going out to the Christmas tree farm to find a tree. We look forward to this every year! 

halloween

 Evelyn was Elsa.

Dahlia was Mavis from Hotel Transylvania.

Laila was a ghost buster.

Ava was Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffanies

This year Halloween was about as frightening as they come, with hordes of maskless, zombie Trump supporters out trick-or-treating.  The kids begged to go trick-or-treating and we decided to take them wearing masks and staying apart from other groups of people. I thought surely other people would be doing the same, but here in Trump country, common sense is hard to find!  I think I spotted about two other people wearing masks the whole evening, and that includes the people passing out candy, being exposed over and over to large groups of people. Hopefully, next Halloween will be a lot different!

12!

 Laila celebrated her birthday today and turned 12. She was a bit bummed about not having a party because of COVID. Hopefully we can make it up to her next year!

nine!

This sweet girl turned nine!  What a gift it is to get to see her grow up! Dahlia is doing really well health wise.  We are doing everything we can to keep this precious girl safe form the Coronavirus. She hasn't been able to return back to school like so many children have. It has been challenging, but we will get through it. We had a party with just our family. Dahlia requested her favorite food, Chinese and SpongeBob decorations.  I think I went overboard on the presents, to help make up for the hard times, but that's ok, she deserves it!

four!

 Evelyn is now four years old! It's hard to believe that my baby is getting so big.  She brings so much sunshine and joy to our family. Dahlia is Evelyn's best friend and those two play together all day long! At four years old Evelyn loves princesses, dress up, she is always singing, and always drawing. I have to watch her closely when she is drawing, because she still tries to color on walls and doors.  Because she only has big brothers and sisters she thinks she is one of the big kids and always wants to join in on what they are doing.  It's crazy how fast kids grow up and I'm enjoying the time I have with her while she is still little!

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.