Christmas 2014 Part 3

We did so many fun things while we were home for Christmas!  We spent lots of time with family and friends, had lunch dates and play dates and dinner dates and kept the roads hot all over Tallahassee!  I ate my way through vacation by hitting up all of my favorite restaurants that I miss so much.  Matthew spent most of his time hunting with my Dad, leaving the house every morning before the sun came up and not getting home until after dinner.  I practically didn't see him for an entire week!  

Backing up a little to the days leading up to Christmas.......

Our Elf Candy Cane followed us to Nonie and Poppie's house where she showed up in all kinds of places......

On this night Matthew was in charge of "the move".  Ok, clearly we know who the more creative parent is!!  After that, I handed to job over to him!

We saw lots of old friends when we went to church with Nonie and Poppie, including Rhylie and Hudson.  These two cuties belong to my "best boy friend" (best friend that's a boy) since elementary school.  Jonathan and I were in 4th grade together and have been great friends ever since.  It's neat to see our kiddos playing with each other now that we're all grown up.

We also saw Hannah and the rest of the Thomaston/Lynch family

 We tried our hand at a gingerbread house for the first time ever.  I put the house together and Kyndall did all the decorating herself!

Such a perfectionist....look at that concentration!

She ate his legs off.  The temptation was just too great!

A few days before Christmas Kyndall and I drove down to Tallahassee to attend the third annual gathering of my BFFs and our kids.  It was a wild and crazy night with this bunch but it was oh so fun!  We decorated cookies, did a gift exchange and let the kids run wild though Betsy's house.  It was blissful chaos!

Look how much they've grown since last year's Christmas get together!

Thanks for a fun night, Betsy!!  I hope we keep this tradition alive until they're grown!  

I enjoyed way too many of these while I was home.  I miss having them readily available at every corner gas station.  

There were about four or five straight days when it did nothing but RAIN!!  I'm talking flash flooding, build me an ark kind of rain!  I guess it confused some of God's creatures including this gi-normous bullfrog that showed up at the bottom of my in-laws' pool!  Matthew fished him out and played with him.  GROSS.

Remember my friend Jessica who got new lungs about a month after I got my new liver?  Well she has the sweetest Mama in the world and that sweet mama sent Kyndall a Christmas package full of goodies.  Jessica is still in Gainesville at Shands recovering from her transplant in October.  Praying she gets to come home to Tallahassee soon!!  Thank you Mrs. Jackie for thinking of us when you have so many other things you should be focusing on!  

Two days after Christmas we packed up and "moved" to my parents' house in Tallahassee for the remainder of our vacation.  First up on my agenda was dinner at Barnaby's!

After dinner we drove downtown so Mom could show me how much it has changed in just a year's time

Then we went to Dorothy Oven Park to see the Christmas lights.  I was glad they still had them up!

My child, SHOOTING the deer that were on display!  I blame Matthew.

?????

I was thankful to have the chance to catch up with my lifelong friend, Georgeanna who is currently waiting on a liver transplant.  We grew up in the same church and have been friends for many years.  Who would have guessed that we would BOTH need a liver transplant someday?  Please pray for Georgeanna, that her call would come soon!

I took Kyndall to my favorite childhood park, Tom Brown.  Boy has it changed since I was a kid!  

Anyone remember the game "Operation"?  You know your kid knows way too much about the human body when she says "hey Mommy, let's find the liver!"

Kyndall taught Wyatt all about My Little Ponies.  He's a good listener.

We made a trip to the mall and Kyndall got to play in the play area (aka the germ cesspool--yuck)

Her favorite pony is Rainbow Dash, so naturally she needs to have matching rainbow hair

Twins!

We hung out with Kelly and Michael at their new house.....

And Kyndall quickly discovered a love for LIZARDS!  There were plenty to go around at Aunt Kelly's house and Kyndall made it her mission to torture every last one of them!

Wyatt slept through all the fun

It's all fun and games until one of those lizards BITES you!!!

You would have thought it was a snake bite.  She cried and cried.

Uncle Michael cheered her up with this.....

And then our little lizard lover was back in action.  See the tear still lingering on her cheek?  That tells you how quickly she went back to messing with the darn things!  So gross!

What happened to my prissy little ballerina??  She's now catching reptiles.

Wyatt finally joined the party

On New Year's Eve Kyndall and I went to my alma mater to cheer on the Eagles in a basketball game.  Coach Barnes is a good friend of our family and we always love supporting him by going to the games when we can. On the way to the gym I walked Kyndall past the dental hygiene building where I spent MANY-a-days just a few years ago.  

Future RDH?  Maybe so!

Payton and Kyndall watching the game.  Kyndall kept forgetting that we were the Eagles and just yelled "go yellow team!!"

My best friends and our kiddos

We spent the rest of New Year's Eve at Kelly and Michael's.  We made s'mores, ate pizza and rang in the new year by watching the ball drop.....

She stayed up too!

Dad didn't!

Celebrating 2015 with sparkling grape juice.  My hilarious husband thought it would be funny to look like this just as I took the picture.  I assure you, it's grape juice!

We drove to Two Egg on New Year's Day and spent some extra time with my Grandma.  She cooked a traditional New Year's Day lunch but since I don't like most of that stuff I will probably have bad luck all year long.  Oh well.

Friday we met up with my friend Betsy for a fun filled day around town. First we saw a movie.....

Then we got lunch and took it to the top of the capitol to eat!  I had no idea you could still do this with all of the security restrictions now days.  I haven't been up to that 22nd floor since I was a kid.  It was fun picking out all of the landmarks around Tallahassee from above.

Thanks to Betsy for letting me steal borrow these pictures from her own blog....

I have no idea what was so funny, except that Betsy's 6 year old was the one behind the camera,which automatically made this an adventurous little photo shoot!

Some people will do anything to get the perfect shot!!  =)

I can't even look at these next two without laughing out loud!  This goes to show you that it's apparently really funny when someone else's kid won't get out of the picture but not so funny when it's your own!!  Any other time they would run from the camera but of course when you DON'T want them in the shot that's when they insist!

After our downtown adventures Kyndall and I spent a few hours at another friend's house before I met back up with Betsy and the rest of my girls for a much needed kid-free night out!!!  Dinner and then girl talk back at Jen's was the perfect way to end my two weeks at home.

We packed the car Saturday night and left Tallahassee early Sunday morning.  The ten hour drive surprisingly didn't seem so long.  Although I LOVED my two weeks away, I was ready to get back into a routine.  I'm a creature of habit and I thrive on organization.  Our two weeks was anything BUT that!  It was so good to get away and let go for a while.  I have missed home so so much.  I'm so thankful that I am healthy enough to no longer be on a "leash" and I am now free to travel back anytime I want.  So, if I didn't see you on this trip I will definitely see you very soon!  You won't be able to keep me away now that I have my freedom back!

2014 had its ups and downs, and will forever go down as one of the most memorable years in my life.  I am happy to see it go but sad at the same time.  I am so thankful that I am healed and healthy but I almost don't know what to do with my life now.  For so long my every decision has revolved around my failing liver.  Now it's over and that chapter is closed.  I suppose I should just move on??  It's kind of like being pregnant.  For so long you anticipate and prepare and then within just a few hours it's over and that part of your life is finished.  Maybe this sounds crazy but I'm sure anyone who has gone through this can identify.  I am more than happy to let go of the sickness, pain and uncertain future.  But I'm not sure I'm ready to let go of the memories and the experiences.  Could it be that I don't even know who I am aside from "Ashleigh-Anne, the sick girl"?  All of this aside, I am looking forward to seeing what 2015 holds for our family!

We are looking forward to several exciting things coming up, the first of which is a trip for me and Matthew to Gatlinburg.  I can't tell you the last time the two of us have gone away together.  Probably more than 4 years ago!  We are going on a marriage retreat with our church and I am so excited to see what God lays on our hearts that weekend.  Goodness knows after the past few months we've had we need some time to just be alone.

Happy New Year, friends!!