It's all good . . .

A Beach to Bay Adventure

A few months ago, Kevin came up to me and said, "Why did I make friends?" I laughed and asked him why, and he said that a group of guys from our ward were running in a relay race and asked him to join their team, and he said yes. Well, only a few days later, my friend, Erica asked me if I would join the girl's team. I haven't done any kind of race since I ran the 100 meter dash in the Jesse Owens games 34 years ago, and so I was a bit hesitant of saying yes, but Erica is very convincing. And the fact that it was in Corpus Christi and Kevin was already participating - and the fact that she said I could even walk my 4.2 miles if I wanted, and I found myself saying yes! Ahh!

And so after months of walking/jogging around the neighborhood to train, it was finally race weekend.  We carpooled down to Corpus, and then met up for dinner at a fun pizza place to "carb load" - but do you really need to carb load if you are only running four miles? Oh well, I really enjoyed my bacon cheesy pasta and Kevin loved his pizza fries. So yummy!

After dinner, we got checked into our hotel and most of our group headed down to the beach to play in the water for a while. I stayed at the hotel, as it had not only been a very busy day, but a very busy week, and I was completely exhausted, and so I chose to read my book for a bit. Kevin also stayed back, but he was in the guys room and was watching baseball - ha ha!

That night, we also all got our stuff ready for the next day, since some of our group would be starting at 4am. I got my number attached to my shirt, attempted to get some sleep, and tried to sleep through the three ladies that had to wake up extra early and who were actually super quiet. Before I knew it, the sun was up and I was getting ready.  I had to leave by 7:30am to get to the bus stop.

Meanwhile, the first legs of our teams had already begun.  The race began with five miles on the beach - glad it was Barbara and Steve and wasn't me running on the sand for five miles ;). After that, Richard and Erica were ready to take over and run leg #2.

Leg three was the bridge run, and that was Kevin and Sharon's turn. That bridge was pretty gigantic, and it was pretty hot, but luckily for them, there were plenty of shady places for them to wait to run.

Kevin passed the baton to our bishop and friend, Brent Fisher. Kevin was so happy to be done! Sharon passed our baton to Stephanie, which meant that I was up next.

And hallelujah, I was so ready to be done waiting. I got to my station at 8 am, and it was very hot, no shade, and the only place to sit was on the dirt or on broken pieces of road along the beach. Luckily, I did have a beautiful view of the bay. I hung out with my leg partner, Tyler, but he was quiet, and was gone almost an hour before I got to head out. In fact, I had to wait in the hot sun with very little water to drink for three hours. Not ideal, that is for sure - ha ha!

When Stephanie passed me the baton, I so incredibly relieved to start my 4.2 miles. It was hot, the first water station wasn't until 2.5 miles in, and I may have started my run already dehydrated and overheated (I mean, I didn't sweat, which is not a good sign - ha ha!), but I had my awesome running playlist, and I just kept going.  I would find someone ahead of me that I would try to eventually pass, and I would also run the first part of each new song, and then I would speed walk until the next song.

When I was finished, I had killed my PR, dropping time off of every mile, averaging 12.5 minutes a mile, which was awesome! I was so happy with how I did. After I passed the baton to Bella, I walked around searching for water, and I found a medical tent where they handed me an ice cold Gatorade and put ice cold wet towels on my shoulders and lap. I sat there and didn't ever want to move again.
Bella had taken over for me, but the guys, who were ahead of us, had already switched from Tyler to Shane, Sharon's husband.
Erica was able to pick me up from my station, which was great, and as we made our way to our hotel at the finish line, we drove right past Bella, running the final leg.
I was able to sneak into our hotel room and quickly shower, even though it was technically past check out time, and then I headed back over to the finish line to wait for Bella. I was so proud of our team! (And yes, since I didn't want to put my wet shirt back on - even it was only wet because of the ice towels - I just put it up in front of me for the picture - ha ha!) We also got a picture with both of our teams together with our medals on (Tyler had already had to leave). Oh, and I was starving, so I was very happy to get my free slice of pizza. 

Before we knew it, we were back on the road and headed home to San Antonio, but this time Kevin and I rode with Brent, so he wouldn't have to go alone. It was definitely an adventure, and although Kevin and I both agree that we will never do this type of race again, however, if there was ever a 5K fun run type of thing, where we would all start in the morning and could run with our friends (instead of being separated from them the entire day and waiting for hours in the sun for our turn to run). Or better yet, if they decide to do this again, we will come hang out with our friends, and then play golf while they run the race ;). Good times!

 

21 Fabulous Years Together

Sometimes it amazes me as I look back on my life, especially at the past twenty-one years I have had with Kevin. It is crazy to think that I have known him for 29 years (essentially 2/3 of my life). We have had so many different adventures together on this crazy journey of life, both the good, the hard, and the crazy, but I can't imagine anyone else by my side.

Yesterday, to celebrate our anniversary, we both took the day off of work and went golfing. I love going golfing with Kevin, and the weather was beautiful. We played at our nearby Canyon Springs Golf Course, and had so much fun!

Kevin played awesome, and I actually did really well for me.  Someday, when we have the time and the money for me to play more consistently, I might actually just play really well all the time, and not only occasionally ;).

The scenery on the course is beautiful, with the rolling hills and Live Oaks. 
And on the 18th hole, there is a waterfall. Kevin and I also like picking out our favorite backyards of the houses on the course.  Good times! This time, we even saw a herd of deer. And then there are the mascots of the course, the Texas Longhorns that they have in a pasture by the clubhouse. Very fun!

After we finished up play, a nice retired gentleman that had been playing with us, offered to take our picture. Much easier than trying to get a good selfie with the waterfall in the background :).

After golfing, we found a fabulous steak house not far from the course and our house, and had the yummiest meal. It was such a fun day, and just what we needed to celebrate together.

A Fabulous Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

We were so blessed to have a visit from Kevin's parents this past week. It was their first time visiting us since we moved to Texas last summer, and we loved getting to show them around.

On Tuesday, Kevin drove up to Dallas where they were staying at his brother Brian's house, and he and his dad played golf Wednesday morning at their favorite course, Tour 18. Later that evening, they made it to San Antonio, which was wonderful. And then, first thing on Thursday morning, Kevin and Dennis went out and played a course here in town.

While the younger boys were at school, and Kevin and his dad were playing, Valerie and I went out to explore.  First, we stopped at Randolf Air Force Base, where Valerie lived when she was in fourth grade. She was an Airforce Brat, and has wonderful memories of the year they spent in San Antonio. We took some pictures at the gate, since we didn't have ID's to get on base, and the security guard was super nice and let us walk in a bit to get better pictures.  After that, she and I went to Bracken Village to visit the Bless Your Heart store.  It was super cute , and the village itself was fun, but a lot of the shops are only open on the weekends. After that, we went to First Watch for a delicious lunch, and still beat the boys back home.

That night, it was a spirit night at the Dog Haus, and so we went there for dinner. Kevin was very happy with the giant corndog.

The next day, I went in and had a small surgery to remove an ingrown toenail, and so when I got home, the four of us just took it easy and talked and watched golf, since walking was not on the good list. Luckily, it was the perfect opportunity for Valerie to help me with a special sewing project, as I am going to make a temple apron for Lily.

Our Saturday plans came about because of something the security guard at Randolf Air Force Base told us, that there was a free air show on the base on the weekend. Not wanting to pass up the chance to get to see Valerie's old stomping grounds, we loaded up and joined half of the city of San Antonio for the fun. (And no, it wasn't really half of the city, but it was A LOT of people - a few hundred thousand.) We waited in a crazy line of cars to get to park, and then another line to get on the shuttle to the gate, but luckily we got there early, because when we left a few hours later, the cars and lines were insane. Our first stop was the B1 Bomber, because that is what Grandpa Lee was a navigator for when he was in the Air Force. We even got to go inside.

Probably one of the coolest things we saw all day, was the C5, this giant place that opens the front like the mouth of a shark. Our friend, Richard, flies these planes for the AF, and wow, they are huge!!!
We also had to check out the C17, which Kevin used to parachute out of, which was crazy.
And then there was the C130, which he flew in many times, once from Africa on a deployment.

And then there were tons of other cool planes, and we even got to talk to the fighter pilots, since the crowds were still pretty light since the actual air show hadn't started yet.

Arthur even got to climb inside a tank and pretend to drive it, which he loved!

We watched a little bit of the show once it started, which was cool, as they were reenacting the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After watching a bit, we headed out, and none too soon, as the crowds emerged like locusts. It was incredible the wave of people coming in as we were going out, and that wasn't even including the miles of cars waiting to get in the base and park. Wow! We did have a casualty on our way out, as Valerie's phone sadly fell into the Port-a-potty, and so she had to stop and get a new phone.  So sad!

We met up with them at Top Golf, which was so much fun. We had been wanting to take the kids, and Kevin's parents had never been to one before. We had a great time, and I was very grateful that they put us on the ground floor, so we didn't have to worry about the boys falling off the platform. Good times!

A few other fun experiences with Grandma and Grandpa, were Arthur getting to read lots of books with Grandma, and getting to build a Star Wars ship out of legos with Grandpa Dennis. 

They finished up the ship before church on Sunday, which was perfect timing, because Kevin's parents headed back to Dallas right after church.
It was such a fabulous few days with Kevin's parents! We love spending time with them, and we loved getting to experience our home in San Antonio.

A Get-away to the Beach

With Lily heading back to school very soon, we knew we wanted to do something fun as a family before she leaves, and my sister, Wendy, offered to let us use her beach house in Port Aransas. Since the boys did not have school on Friday, we decided to make a long weekend of it, and headed a couple hours south to the Golf Coast, and it was the perfect mini-vacation.

Wendy and Tod's beach house is just beautiful, and only steps away from the ocean. 

Lily and Arthur shared the bunk beds, and Derek got a room all to himself, while Kevin and I had another room and bathroom to ourselves.

Since we arrived after dark on Thursday, we got up and decided to explore, but before that, Kevin and I went to get donuts for the family at a cute little place called The Donut Palace. The kids were very happy to wake up to donuts, and then were ready to explore! Our first stop was the beach!

We loved the little path and then the bridge over the dunes to get to the beach. I also loved how our section of the beach was deserted.
My brother-in-law builds these beach homes, and they use theirs as a model home of sorts. We loved seeing homes in the neighborhood with signs that said they were being built by Arbogast Homes. The neighbored is still being built, but is a pretty fabulous community with a pool and a wonderful playground. We loved exploring.

Arthur especially loved the playground, and once we got home, asked if Lily and Derek could take him back to play at it, which they kindly did.

While they were playing, I took advantage of their absence to hide their Easter eggs all over the house. Even though Easter isn't until next week, Lily will be back at school, and so I wanted to make sure she didn't miss out on the fun. Because it was a different location and situation, instead of the kids hiding each other's eggs, I hid them all.

They had the best time hunting for eggs all over the house - including around Kevin, who was happily watching the Masters golf tournament while they searched around him. Ha ha!
After they had each found all their eggs and chocolate bunnies, there was a special golden egg with Lego Star Wars the Skywalker Saga in it, which made them extra happy.  They couldn't wait to play it!

After lunch, the kids and I headed out to the beach to play. While they dug in the sand and played in the waves, I took a walk down the beach to explore. All three kids love the ocean - they love playing in the water, digging in the sand, and searching for shells. Both Lily and Derek spent their early life living by the ocean, and so it is almost like coming home for them.After the beach, we grabbed Kevin and headed to the pool, and it was beautiful and deserted, which was just how we like it. And the water was warm, so I even joined in on the fun. I especially loved how the infinity edge made it look like it flowed right into the lake.
After the pool, Kevin and I left the kids to make themselves dinner, and we went out on a date to a fun little local place called Irie's. It was really fun, and we even stopped at a couple of the nearby beach shops before we headed back to the house and watched a movie together as a family. (We watched The Ryan Project - which was good, albeit a tiny bit too intense and too much swearing for Arthur. Luckily he didn't know what the words were or what they meant. I didn't realize it was PG-13 when I picked it.) 

On Saturday morning, I woke up early and went down to the beach to get pictures of the sunrise. It was so beautiful! I sure do love the ocean.
I even found a broken sand dollar as I was exploring, which I brought back for Arthur. It was just the Seagulls, Sand Pipers and myself out there, which made it even better.
After I got back and we had breakfast, we thought it would be fun to take a drive in Wendy and Tod's golf cart. Everybody in town was driving them along the beach, and we went down pretty far to see what we could see about the big "Sandfest" that was going on. Unfortunately, the wind picked up a ton!! We were being blown away, and so I don't think the kids enjoyed the ride as much as they might have otherwise liked. Oh well, it was still really cool.

Then we had lunch and headed out to the little town of Port Aransas to show the kids the cool shark shop and get ice cream in town.

The ice cream was yummy, but I think the kids liked the cool picture taking cut-outs even more than the ice cream - ha ha!

It was so super windy, that although we tried to go to beach again, we only lasted about a minute because the sand was scouring us as it blew in the wind. Not fun. Luckily, the pool was completely sheltered from the wind, so we went there and they had a blast swimming and playing, and I read my book and relaxed.

Eventually I came back to the house to make dinner, and the kids came back to eat and get ready for bed. Even though they were wiped out, Arthur really wanted to play some of the cool yard games in the neighborhood, and so he and I ventured out to play corn hole and ladder ball. The wind was still pretty crazy, so we didn't last long, and ended up just playing Five Crowns instead. It was a much better choice ;).

On Sunday morning, we cleaned up, changed the sheets, and got the house back in tip-top shape for Wendy, and then we hit the road for home, making it just in time for the ward that meets at noon at our building.

It was such a lovely and much needed weekend. As we were taking it easy and having fun, I realized that it was the first time in about a year that I actually just got to be still and rest. Between preparing to move and sell our house, moving, and then buying/renovating a house, as well as working full time and more, life has been crazy and hectic. I am so grateful that my sister was so gracious as to let us use her lovely beach house. It reminded me about the time when, years ago, she let us stay her condo in Destin, and just like now, it was a desperately needed vacation and recharge for us all.

Misc March Adventures

March has been an adventure, filled with fun, crazy, and all the stuff. Derek had a spring choir concert, and as usual, they were amazing! They were performing pieces they were going to perform for the District UIL competition, and not all of the choirs performed, so it wasn't as long as usual ;).

As for me, I am worn out.  I finished up my long term sub job, teaching my last week along with their new classroom teacher.  It was so sad, and so great, and then of course, I scheduled bunch more sub jobs for the past couple weeks (there were teachers that were very happy that I was available again), and I am exhausted. It probably doesn't help that I come home and still work another couple hours each day drawing and bidding cabinets for my brother-in-law's business. Fifty hours a week working is quite exhausting - especially as a mom. I usually would crash for 30 minutes or so when I got home, before I could even think about moving or making dinner.

But life is definitely not all work.  There is my monthly book club, which is one of the highlights of my month - every time.  I love these amazing ladies and getting together with them, eating, laughing, and talking - sometimes about book ;).

Arthur started swimming lessons at Emler Swim school way back in September, and he absolutely loves his Monday afternoon lessons.  And he is getting so much better every week!

One of my callings (volunteer positions) at church is in charge of the girls' primary activities.  Twice a month we meet with the girls ages 7-11 and do activities - art, science, spiritual things, etc. Last week, we had a special field trip to visit the San Antonio Temple, and it was so amazing!  The girls all dressed up in their Sunday best and were so excited to be there.  We walked around and looked at all the beautiful windows and architecture, but just as we were starting to walk around the temple, one of the sweet temple workers, dressed in white, asked us if we wanted to go inside.  

The girls were speechless with excitement and awe as we walked into the waiting room area - the part they were allowed to go in.  Soon after they sat down, the temple Matron came and spoke to us all for about twenty minutes, which was amazing.  Not only did she tell them stories and teach them about the temple, but she answered their questions.  It was amazing! The girls truly loved every minute of it, and I think it will be something that stays with them.

Arthur had a fun adventure at school on Friday - it was the Apex obstacle course day.  I was subbing that day, and so I didn't get to see Arthur go through the obstacles, but a friend of mine sent me pictures.  So fun! Ha had a blast and did all six laps on the eight obstacles.

It truly is so much fun to have our little guy (who is getting all grown up himself), who still loves to cuddle and play, and read books.  He makes life an adventure at our house.

One of the really fun things that happened recently, was on Friday night when Kevin and I got to attend a special dinner for all the volunteers for the Valero Open PGA golf tournament.  It was a gorgeous night, the food was yummy, and getting to eat out on the course was so cool.  It is at TPC San Antonio, which was pristine and gorgeous.  It was the perfect way to finish out the month of March.

February Adventures

February snuck up on us. I spent the last week in January squeezing in all the appointments and other things that I could before I started a long term sub position at Arthur's school, but even though it started like a whirlwind, it had fun moments.  One of my favorite moments was when Arthur's birthday gift arrived from his grandparents.  They bought him an authentic Hawaiian shirt on their vacation, and he LOVED it!  He put it on right away and said, "Now I'm Hawaiian!"

One of the most exciting things that happened in the beginning of February, was when Lily started her mission papers.  Yes!! My baby girl is going on a mission and started her papers.  So crazy and super exciting!!

One day, after teaching, it was student led conferences, and Arthur's was the sweetest.  He read a script, and I even got most of it on video, since Kevin couldn't be there.  I also had to get some pictures of his WIG (AKA: Goal) sheets.  I love that for all of them, he wanted the reward to be a movie night - ha ha!

Last Saturday, Kevin and I were super blessed to get to attend a session at the San Antonio Temple.  It can be difficult to get an appointment, and so we were so happy to get to go.  It was such a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, and then we followed it up with going out to dinner for our Saturday date.  And as always seems to be the case, we ended up at Target, and Hobby Lobby, and another Target.  Ha ha! The date night of champions.

On Monday of this week was another super exciting adventure - my brother, Preston, was in Texas for his yearly appointments at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  Luckily, he doing well right now, and since he was nearby, he came to visit for a night.  We didn't have a lot of time together, but it was wonderful!! And I got to know his wife, Heather, a little better, which was awesome. I always love spending time with my big brother!

Saying Goodbye to 2021

The last week of December was actually very nice - no school, no Christmas preparations, and we could start taking down decorations and get ready to start the year new and fresh. We also had some fun celebrations mixed into the week, like a really fun regional youth dance.  Derek had a blast, and he even got up and sang a karaoke song in front of everyone.  (One of his friends sent me a video of it, and it was awesome.)

We also had the awesome opportunity to go and do baptisms at the San Antonio Temple with some of the youth from our ward. Lily even got to go, since she is home from college.  I love attending the temple, but it is extra special when it is with my kids.

There has also been a lot of Lego building going on at our house. Arthur and Derek had received some new elements for their Mario set, and they loved adding them on and playing with it. So much fun!

I also spent a few days, along with help from Arthur, putting together my amazing Winnie the Pooh Lego set.  It is so cool!!! So many cute and fabulous details, from the honey pots to the Pooh-ku Clock. I love it!

And speaking of Lego adventures, Kevin has finally been able to start rebuilding all of his Star Wars Lego sets that he has out on display.  I have a feeling that it is going to take a month or two - especially because he is having to search for random missing pieces, but it is coming together.  And it is so cool to see them hard at work, even if it is taking over multiple rooms in our house.

New Year's Eve was a gorgeous day, and so Kevin and I went out to Canyon Springs Golf Course and played 18 holes.  And not only was the weather perfect (at 72 degrees), the company wonderful, and the scenery gorgeous, but I played the best round of my life! I got a 60 on the front nine and a 58 on the back nine for a total of 118. Wow!  I beat my previous best score by a ton!!
And like I said, the course was beautiful, and they even have Texas Long Horns there. But the most fun thing about Canyon Springs Golf Course, is that it has the same name as the course in Twin Falls that Kevin grew up playing and working at.  So fun.  And once again, you could not beat the perfect weather, and on December 31st, no less.

After the golfing was over, we came home and had a fabulous dinner made up completely of appetizers, and then played games and watched a movie.  We watched "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," and I was reminded why it is my least favorite of the series, as it is so gross and creepy - ha ha!

For dessert, I broke out my new waffle cone iron and made homemade waffle bowls and we had sundaes for dessert. Yum!

In the middle of our movie, we had a knock at the door, and it was our neighbor, Lupita, inviting us over to break a piñata, a Mexican tradition.  She even had a special song she sang as she would spin us around.  It was a blast, and definitely another fun part of our celebration.

We finished off our celebration with shooting off little champagne poppers full of confetti, which I think was Arthur's favorite part. But in all the fun we had, the thing I was most grateful for, was to have us all together to start off the new year - Lily home from school, my mom there with us.  It made my heart full and happy and ready to tackle the new year.

A Happy Christmas!

One side effect of our kids getting older, is that they actually sleep in on Christmas morning now, and so I got up and got Christmas breakfast in the oven and by then they were awake and ready to get things started.  (I had to take my picture of them of on the stairs, even though there were random unpacked and unhung things in the background, since our upstairs is still not all put together.  Oh well.  That is reality.)

Soon, it was time for stockings!  One of my favorite things ever is watching my kids open their stockings and get excited about all the random things in them.  I always end up opening my stocking long after they are done, because I just sit there and watch them.  Good times.

Then we had our yummy caramel rolls for breakfast, a family favorite and a tradition passed down from Kevin's family.

After breakfast, we all got dressed and ready, and then it was the main event - opening presents.

We surpassed our kids with tickets to see Hamilton, and each of them opened up presents with puzzle pieces in them, with the final piece that showed it was Hamilton in a box for the three of them.  They were so excited!

And soon enough, everyone was building with Legos - all three kids building theirs, and then Kevin built his Baby Yoda.  So much fun!!

We had a wonderful and relaxing rest of our day, playing games, watching movies and taking it easy. And then today, we all dressed up in our festive Christmas Sunday best, including a gorgeous new green dress my mom gave me for Christmas. We had a lovely Christmas program during sacrament meeting at church, and didn't have any of the rest of our classes, so we had extra time together at home. It was the perfect way to finish up our Christmas celebrations.

Leading Up to Christmas

The last few days leading up to Christmas were not only fun, but very full, especially since Kevin and I had been out of town for 4 1/2 days. We still managed to sneak in some holiday fun. We also very much enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous weather.  In fact, my mom enjoyed just sitting out on the front porch to enjoy it.

I also discovered my new favorite Christmas song, "Like It's Christmas" by the Jonas Brothers.  It is so fun and happy, and I just keep playing it on repeat.

We have also been watching as many Christmas movies we can fit in between other things. 

One day, my mom brought out some super cute ornament crafts to make with Arthur.  Lily even joined in and made some, and they each ended up with a cute little set of them.

That night, we went out in search of Christmas lights displays with the family so Arthur could do his Christmas lights scavenger hunt.  We didn't want to go anywhere too crowded, and so it may not have been the best neighborhood, but it still had some fun displays. And with driving around our neighborhood a bit, we managed to find everything on his list.

And since it was Christmas Eve Eve, the kids had their traditional slumber party by the Christmas tree.  And in what has also become a tradition, none of them actually stayed the night by the tree, all of them giving up and sleeping in their beds at some point.  Ha ha!

Christmas Eve was such a fun day. After making sure that all the presents were wrapped and ready, I worked on cooking our Christmas Eve dinner. We had ham and all the trimmings, and we had the sister missionaries over for dinner and our celebration. Arthur was so excited to break open our Christmas crackers.  (Earlier in the day I realized that I had completely forgotten to buy them, and had to send Kevin out to Hobby Lobby to get some. That was one disaster averted.)

After dinner, we played Christmas carols on the chimes, sang a few carols around the piano, and then read the Christmas story in Luke and Matthew while Arthur acted it out with the Little People nativity.

Then we had our dessert, curtesy of Costco - the tuxedo mousse cake for me and the vanilla cake for Kevin. Then the sister missionaries left and we settled to watch the Tabernacle Choir Concert I had recorded on PBS, which is another tradition of ours.

Then it was time for Christmas pj's.  Usually the kids are the only ones to get new pj's, but when I asked Kevin to find me some fun pajamas at Bucees, he ended up buying matching pajamas for the entire family, even my mom.
They were pretty hilarious, especially the back. We had to get pictures of the six of us all dressed up in them.  Good times!
After everyone was in bed, Kevin and I brought out all the presents and I filled the stockings, with Kevin and my mom filling mine.  And since one of the things that Kevin got me was way too big for the stocking, he got creative.

It was a wonderful few days leading up to Christmas, and an especially magical Christmas Eve together.

Merry Christmas 2021

The Brown Family Adventures of 2021

This past year was full of milestones and wonderful adventures for our family, but the biggest adventure of 2021 for our family, was one we had not anticipated, but has turned out to be a huge blessing for all of us. In August, we moved to San Antonio, Texas.

Arthur: Going to Extreme Escape Room with the family; Seeing the Broadway musical of The Lion King, Having Mom substitute teach at his school – in Pennsylvania and Texas; Making lots of great friends in Texas; but most importantly, getting baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Derek: Getting to see the Broadway tour of The Lion King; Being in the Dallastown High School production of Beauty and the Beast with Lily; Getting his driver’s permit and learning how to drive; and making lots of great new friends in Texas,

Lily: Graduating from High School; Passing all three of her AP tests; Her senior trip to Disney World with Lisa; Beating the video game, Origami King; Going to Aunt Cheryl’s family Halloween party; and going to college – Brigham Young University Idaho (even though it was scary)

Lisa: Getting to substitute teach for Arthur’s class (and teaching in both PA & TX); Having an amazing trip to Disney World with Lily; Taking my mom to visit her childhood homes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey; starting a book club with my new friends in Texas; Celebrating 20 years of marriage with Kevin.

Kevin: transferring to San Antonio so that his commute to work went from 1 ½ hours each way down to 20 minutes; and a once in a lifetime golf trip with his dad and brother, Scott, where they played 7 rounds in 6 days, including a round at TPC Sawgrass and Harbour Town Golf Links.

We are so grateful for all of you, & especially for our Savior, Jesus Christ, His gospel, and the gift that He has given to all of us.  May you all have a very Merry Christmas & a wonderful New Year!