{iPhone Rewind} :: November

This year, we're drawing what we're thankful for! {lots of drawings of birthday presents right now haha}

Painting his monster truck! Such concentration :)

Playing Pretty Pretty Princess with my girlie :)

Creating his masterpiece...

Spent the morning exploring Frying Pan Farm Park

She gets so excited to watch videos of herself haha

Dunking raisins! #science

Haha. I love her artwork :)

They sure look cute...

Riding bikes at our new house!

Take my picture, too, Mommy :)

It has been hard to keep little hands off these pretty orange fall flowers haha

Our Chinese pastor is retiring after many years of faithful service, so we had a celebration for him and his wonderful wife. Such a sweet couple and blessing to our family; we love Pastor Isaac and Mrs. Ramona!

We enjoyed a fun birthday lunch with Mike!

Thanksgiving 2022

We spent the week doing some Thanksgiving-type crafts and reading Fall/Thanksgiving books.

My favorite activity we have worked on all month is these thankful pages from Arrows & Applesauce {part of their November Apple Snacks}. Each day, the kids could draw something for which they were thankful. Lots of toys and {random} animals on our lists, but I like how it got them to think about specific things.

We were planning for a quiet day at home {which we had}, but we got invited to a dinner with one of our deacons and his family, and we were so thankful to spend time with them. We got to play games, eat yummy food, and enjoy great company.

Maddie asked me if I would curl her hair :)

Learning how to play Chess

We missed being with family this year, but we are so thankful for the sweet friends the Lord has provided for us here. He has provided so much for us, and we are grateful for the community with whom we have to share and give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Virginia Home

So in the midst of our crazy fall schedule, we added in one more BIG item...we bought a house!

For the last 2 years, we have been learning the area, settling in, and doing what we can to make Virginia home. We knew a big step in that process would be putting down permanent roots and buying a house, but we were not quite sure how that was going to work. We have been trying to adjust to the cost of living in this area {much higher than Texas}, and as everyone recognizes right now...inflation and home prices are crazy. But we continued praying and asking the Lord to show us His will.

And He has {once again} provided! When I say that there was no possible way that we could have afforded a home in this market...I really mean that. We were pretty sure we were going to have to spend our savings renting for a few more years. But, of course, with God...nothing is impossible :)

We are SO excited about our new home. It's in a really great neighborhood with amazing neighbors {we share a street with one of our elders}. We got to enjoy a sweet welcome BBQ with many of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac. We look forward to deepening relationships with our neighbors, and we pray we can use our home as a light in the neighborhood. This house is beyond anything we could have hoped for, and we cannot wait to move in!

Part of the blessing the Lord has provided in the midst of this process is that we are able to do some renovations on the home, able to make it our own. It's still in process, and we hope to move in before the end of the year. I'll be sure to share more on the remodel project later.

For now, we are in the midst of packing and finalizing decisions for the remodel. We have also been making trips to the house for varying projects, but mostly to attempt to manage the MASS amount of leaves that are falling from our gigantic oak tree!

We were there when some remodeling materials were being delivered!

The leaves are going to be an all-family, all-fall project :)

Praise God for His {continued} gracious provision!

Return to Cox Farms

We got to go back to Cox Farms this year!

We weren't sure if we were going to make it. Our schedule has been so packed, so finding a time was a bit tricky. But we were finally able to make the dates work, and we were so grateful that a sweet family in our church was kind enough to offer us tickets again this year!

We enjoyed the hay ride, the corn maze, the slides, the tractors, the hay bale tunnels, and the pumpkins! Maddie even milked a cow! Haha. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo, but she was brave and tried it :)

We're thankful for this fun tradition and a chance to make fun memories!

Calling All Monster Trucks & Princesses!

Last year we did {Construction} Trucks & Tutus...this year, we moved on to Monster Trucks & Princesses! :)

The kids have come to expect decorations when they come downstairs...I have set the bar apparently haha. But it sure is fun to see them excited the night before, unable to wait to see what they will find when they wake up. 

We had to run some errands today, but they were good sports, and still had plenty of time to play with all their fun new birthday things. From monster trucks and princesses to marble runs and flower gardens, there was no shortage of fun new things to play with!

Eli and Maddie asked for funfetti cupcakes this year, so I decided to bake them in sugar cones! They were a bit confused, not sure if they were cupcakes or ice cream, but they seemed to enjoy them just fine :)

We have plans to take them on a fun birthday adventure later this week. But we still had a fun day filled with birthday celebrations!