OUR Donuts!

The girls don't have school this morning, and they decided they wanted donuts for breakfast.  They were even willing to spend some of their Christmas money to pay for them.  Ella and Emma were very proud of those donuts and enjoyed them immensely!

My Family Christmas

We had Christmas with my family today.  It was a great evening of visiting and blessing each other with presents.

My sister with the infinity scarf I made for her birthday:

 New Robes from Newton and Jennifer

 Bears to stuff and dress up from Grandy and Grammie:

 Barbie Dolls and Case from Connie, Richard and Aleisha:

 Connie and Richard opening their gift from us:

 Grandy and Grammie:

 Daddy opening a metal Mickey decoration:

 My favorite gift to give this year was a photo album of wedding pictures for Newton and Jennifer.  I had to sneak around with my dad to get a copy of the digital files to make the book before they even had access to the pictures.

 I Love my family!

Scarlatina :(

We have had way to much sickness to start out this year.  Between stomach bugs, sinus infections, the never ending coughing, etc, we have all four had a turn at illness already this month.  Now, our sweet Ella has been a very sick little girl for 4 days.  On Saturday, she woke up complaining of a stomach ache and slight sore throat.  She went ahead and got dressed for the two birthday parties she was invited to, but unfortunately spent the entire day on the couch sleeping, vomiting, and not feeling well.  Sadly, Sunday was more of the same.

 First thing Monday morning, we went to see the doctor.  She also broke out in a rash this morning.  It turns out, she has scarlatina, which is a form of strep.  They gave her IV fluids and anti nausea medicine, which seemed to help quite a bit.  We went to the grocery store for her prescription and some bland foods like jello and popsicles.  She began to feel a little better this evening and even ate a little bit.

This morning, Daddy took her back to the doctor for a follow up and more IV fluids while I taught preschool.  She ate a good lunch and was feeling good by mid afternoon!

It was great to see this smile again!  And Emma was sure glad to have her sister feeling better and playing together again.  Praise God for doctors, medicine, and healing our little girl.

Memories of Uncle Bud

My Great Uncle Bud, my paternal grandmother's brother, passed away today.  While I hadn't seen him in years and his health had been steadily declining with age, I still miss him.  I have some great memories of visiting him in California when I was a young girl.  He took me to see the broadway musical Cats, and we went to 2 Dodgers games among other things.  My favorite memories though were when he took us out to breakfast on the coast followed by a drive through the strawberry fields where he bought an entire flat of strawberries to bring home.  We ate all of them during my visit, and they were delicious!!!  He was a wonderful brother to my grandmother and a wonderful uncle to me.

(The picture was taken at a Dodger's game when I was 8 years old.  That's my Grandmommy and Uncle Bud with me.)

New Year's Day Breakfast

Ella and Emma decided to bless me with breakfast in bed this morning.  While it may not be exactly what I would have chosen for myself for breakfast, it was delicious because it was made with love.  What a great way to start 2014!!

Remembering the Joys of 2013

2013, like most other years, has had it's ups and downs.  We've been on vacations- Port Aransas, Walt Disney World, the Ranch, and visiting family.  And we've hit a couple of big milestones- turning 5 and starting Kindergarten.  While those are big events we will probably never forget, it's the smaller day to day events, the general days of life, that I hope we always remember- playing in the mud, swimming, funny sleeping positions, singing our favorite worship song, our precious girls' sweet smiles, and the joy they bring to each day.  We are blessed beyond measure, and I pray we focus  on those blessings every day.  I thank God for my family and the journey we are on together.  May He bless us in the coming year with more fun times, healing from the never ending coughs, and a generally good 2014.  May we better recognize and celebrate the day to day joys of our Double "E" Blessed life.

Riding Our New Scooters

It was warm enough outside for Daddy to take the girls to try out their new scooters.  They were balancing pretty well by the time they got back home.  (Pink helmet- Ella, Blue helmet- Emma)