2023 Recap

 Looking back on 2023...

This year was personally a very hard year for me because I lost Memommy (my person in this world), but looking back over the year, we did have a lot of fun as well. We also accomplished a lot as a family, even if it wasn't our original plan/goals. Lets see how we did... 

2023 Goals: 

• This year as a family we have a few simple goals...
• Blake wants to become better at football 
• Blake played tackle football this year!!! He did  great. He is still trying to decide if football will be a sport in his future, but he had a blast trying something new. I am proud of him for getting out of his comfort zone and chasing dreams! 
• Blake will be conquering a huge transition to middle school
• So far so good... we are almost halfway done with 6th grade and he is killing it! He is getting all A's and B's (only in Math). He is staying on top of his work and doing a great job with the transition! 
• Kinsley plans to learn more words and maybe take a dance or gymnastics class! 
• Kinsley has absolutely come out of her shell. She is starting to talk full sentences and repeat all kinds of words. She is such a fun and energetic toddler. Sass, too! 
• Joyner and I want to start up a little candle business on the side. 
• Ok, we did NOT do the candle business. Instead Yard Party fell into our laps and we couldn't be happier! Who knew we would be successful small business owners at the end of this year! Eeekkk! 
• And overall as a family we want to try to travel more this year! 
• We did travel more - Joyner and I went to Asheville and the family went to Atlanta, the beach, and the lake! We have already planned more trips for 2024 and I can't wait! 

It has been a year for sure!! We are excited to end on a good note and welcome in the adventures of 2024! The best is yet to come! 

Chinese Lantern Festival

 December is full of traditions... even after Christmas is over. This year we went to the Chinese Lantern Festival again and we brought along my dad and Heather. We love this event, but this year wasn't my favorite theme. The colors were a little more muted and it had this ice/traditional theme. I liked last years aquative theme much better. It was still fun though!!! 

Christmas Morning

 The Christmas Morning looks are always amazing... but this Christmas Eve look was pretty cute as well. These two are SO excited about Christmas!!!

This year Kinsley got a kitchen. She LOVES helping me cook/bake and now she is having a blast cooking away at all hours of the day. She also got a baby doll, a doctors set, a Spidey set, and a cool castle tent.

Blake got a new room set up (more preteen approved now), along with a name sign, games, a 49ers water bottle, and a a Christian McCaffery bobble head. He was pretty thrilled! It is weird because the older they get the smaller the gifts get in size. Haha. 

Joyner and I got exercise equipment - we are trying to make 2024 our comeback year and year of youth! HAHA!   

Christmas Lights

 Hillridge Farm was our place for Christmas lights once again. This year Kinsley was REALLY into the Christmas lights. We all dressed up in our fun Christmas gear and had a blast driving through the Christmas Lights.I almost wish we did it one more time... maybe next year! 

Christmas Recital

 Blake has a piano recital twice a year and the Christmas one is my favorite. The church is always decorated amazingly and the music is wonderful. These kids are so talented. I might be biased, but I think Blake is a wonderful piano player. This year he did the Grinch theme, so he played "You're a Mean One Mr.Grinch" and "Where Are You Christmas". He did such a great job an dI only cried once because it was so beautiful. Haha. 

Grinch Night

 Our annual Grinch Night continues....and sadly this will be our last Grinch Night all together. For the past several years we have had the Jarrell boys over to our house for some grinch fun. We also go and watch the Jeep parade together. Kinsley also loves hanging out with the big kids on Grinch Night. 

This will be our last one because the boys are moving to Texas in 2024. We will have to do a virtual Grinch Night or something create next year to still celebrate! 

Christmas Parade

 The Rolesville Christmas Parade is one of my favorite traditions and we have been doing it since Blake was a baby. Each year we go and sit in Memommy's front yard and watch the parade pass by on Main Street. This year the parade hit different for me emotionally. We still sat in Memommy's front yard, but this year Memommy wasn't there. It is our first parade without her and it is still super hard for me to realize that. 

However, the kids had a great time and I they loved kicking off the holiday season with all the floats and canady and music. There was so much to see. And I know Memommy was looking down on us and smiling. The parade was one of her favorite things to watch - she loved people watching!