RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR

This year we were really, really, really, really boring. Calli went to a friends house and Wes, Colson and I went hunting up in Shiro. We saw 3 does but apparently you can no longer shoot them this time of year. Colson was dying to shoot something. As we were driving out, there were 2 rabbits in front of us so Colson got out and on foot shot them both graveyard dead.

Tucker and I fell asleep watching some football until my alarm went off at 11:45 PM to wake up and go get Calli….oh the joys of having teenagers with social calendars.

Happy New Year! 2014 went by so fast but the Lord was good to us! Expecting nothing but great things in 2015!

PEACE OUT TEXAS

Calli's best friend in 5th and 6th grade was Lauren Belk. Lauren had moved from North Carolina and after 6th grade went back to North Carolina….very sad time for us. Calli and Lauren were really good friends and spent most of their free time together. I loved having Lauren around. Her parents were great people and we shared a lot in common, most importantly our faith and parenting practices.

Lauren has visited Texas twice since she moved away because her aunt and cousin lives here. But only once were we able to see her on a visit. I have promised Julie, Laurens mom, that Calli could come visit but with all of our schedules and the additional fee that was required prior to her turning 14 made a plane trip expensive. Julie called me right after Thanksgiving and told me that flights were reasonable and United wouldn't require the additional fee if she was 14. So I booked it….and we surprised the girls the first week in December and let them know about the visit. I did a virtual hangman puzzle and called Lauren with Calli on my phone and had them do it together via phone. They were both excited.

2 days after Christmas, Calli boarded a plane, all by herself and flew to Charlotte North Carolina. I was able to get a gate pass and walk her back to the gate which was nice.

Once she landed, she had to make her way to baggage claim where the entire Belk family was waiting for her.

They walked around downtown Charlotte

Got their creative juices flowing with some pottery painting

Drove up to the mountains (I realize these aren't mountains in the background but I don't have any pictures).

The best time together was just the fun they had. According to Julie it was just like old times….they never missed a beat. One night she texted me and said that she opened Lauren's door to her room and the lights were off, they were singing at the top of their lungs into a flashlight and videoing themselves. She said they never even noticed she was there so she quietly backed out of the room and shut the door. Priceless. The next day she sent me 2 videos of them in the backseat of the car singing and doing arm motions to Let It Go from frozen and Your Love Never Fails.

There were LOTS of tears when they dropped Calli off at the airport

Alli

Bryson

and Lauren but she wouldn't let her mom take her picture.

And LOTS of hugs when she landed back in Texas

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

We celebrated Christmas in all the same ways as before…spending time with all the family….enjoying the real reason for Christmas at church celebrations…enjoying our own special time with the 4 of us…lots of food….lots of gifts….lots of love.

The Sunday before Christmas we went to my aunts and did our traditional white elephant gift exchange. Colson ended up with a hamster….thank you cousin Harris. Just what we needed! It was no secret that I intended to let it go in the woods that night after Colson went to sleep. However, I knew that either 1. Colson would get it killed within a week or 2. He would get tired of it if it did last longer than a few weeks and give it away or let it go himself. When we got home that night Calli, under her breath mumbles "Let it go on record that this was the dumbest thing you've ever done"….meaning trying to get the hamster for his gift…I think he stole it from my dad. As expected, Teddy the hamster died on Christmas night. Jax got him and decided we didn't need any more animals and put him to sleep. I didn't take any pictures of our time with my aunt, uncle and cousins.

On Christmas Eve we celebrated at a beautiful Christmas Eve service at our church

After church we headed over to my moms house for my family celebration with my mom, dad and sisters family. Wes didn't go because he had flu symptoms and was worried about getting my nephews sick. We enjoyed dinner, Colson reading the Christmas story from the Bible, birthday cake for Jesus and presents.

Christmas morning we had our traditional monkey bread for breakfast and opened presents at our house before going over to the Schubert's for lunch and presents….and I have no presents from that gathering either.

Calli's big present this year was a new bed….she's been asking to upsize from her twin to a queen size. Colson's big present was his 17 HMR gun and a phone….which he's been pestering us about it for a long time.

Christmas came and went….the whole year came and went really! Crazy, busy, fun, time of year!