Christmas 2013

After a quick trip to St. Lucia and one to New Orleans for the Academy meeting, we had a few weeks to pack up the house and move to the new house.  Then it was just a few short weeks until Christmas.

St. Lucia

In November, Patrick and I got away for a few days with friends, to the lovely island of St. Lucia.  It was wonderful to spend time together in such a beautiful setting.  I don't think I have ever been somewhere so beautiful with such lovely islanders.  We had a fabulous time drinking, eating, swimming, drinking, sunbathing, drinking to our hearts content.

pumpkin patch

October brought a trip to the pumpkin patch.  It was a cold, but beautiful day and we enjoyed all the things the patch had in addition to the pumpkin picking.

Thomas's first birthday

Wow is August a busy birthday month.  A few days after Max's birthday was Thomas's first birthday.  I cannot believe how big he is getting.  He is toning down his yelling and loves to eat and play with his siblings.  We love him so much, and are so glad blessed us with him!

Max's 5th birthday

Max turned 5, and picked a lego ninjago party for his special celebration.  Now, these parties require a bit of work despite being mostly family parties.  However, I find it so special to spend time and energy focusing on just one kid on his/her birthday.  The birthday child gets to pick the meals for the day and the theme of their party.  It is so heartwarming to see the other kids pitch-in to help get all the decorating done.  We all enjoyed staying up late to decorate the house for Max.

Patrick's 40th birthday

Patrick turned the big 4-0 and we had a pool party with lots of friends.  Hopefully he felt special on his special day as he is so special to all of us!

August 2013

The easiest way to make up for my horrible job at keeping this updated is just to highlight the "highlights" of the last several months in order.  So here is August.  August brought a visit from great friends for  Patrick's (gulp...) 40th  birthday.  We just love getting together with them to watch the friendships between the kids blossom anew every year.  Plus, we get to hang out, drink, play cards, cook, cook, swim, do laundry, have adventures, cook....cook....not necessarily in that order.  So here we go.