December

We received Kyndall's official 4th grade school photos in early December and it was bittersweet knowing this is her last school portrait for elementary school. It seems like we JUST ordered her very FIRST set of elementary school photos, back in kindergarten!

I'm happy that the bow made the cut for at least one more year! I'm not sure how many more years she'll want to wear one but I love that she still does as of now!

Our little 4th grade beauty...

A flashback to 3rd grade...

2nd grade...

1st grade...

And kindergarten...

With Kyndall's newest obessesion being Woody Woodpecker, she decided she was going to create a Woody jacket. With the help of her sewing teacher, she took her drawn out plans to class and completed her project in just a few weeks.

Thursday night is Kyndall's favorite night of the week because it's sewing class night. She looks forward to her two hours with these ladies each Thursday more than any of her other weekly activities with people her own age! I always say she's an old soul and this just proves it to be true. I don't know many10 year olds who would want to spend their free time sewing and chatting with ladies old enough to be their Grandmother but that's just who Kyndall has always been! On this night we celebrated Vicki's birthday with cupcakes!

Though we celebrated with family while we were at home for Thanksgiving, my "official" 38th birthday arrived and it fell on sewing class night so after sitting at sewing class we grabbed a quick dinner and then had cake back at home. 

Blowing out birthday candles during a global pandemic is tricky!

My 37th year is definitely one for the memory books, since the majority of it was spent at home with my immediate family as we navigated our way through these scary times with COVID. I'm hopeful that with year 38 the world will return at least to some sense of normalcy so that we can get back to enjoying all of the things we love.

With the turn of the calendar to the month of December comes the return of Kyndall's elf, Candy Cane. Kyndall doesn't truly believe in the magic of the elf anymore but she still wants Candy Cane to reappear each Christmas and she fully expects her to move each night. As much of a pain as it is, it reminds me that although she's 10 years old now she still wants to hang onto some of her little girl ways and that makes my heart happy.

It's not hard to figure out which parent was in charge of moving the elf on the first night

Non-uniform school days are few and far between so we get pretty excited about "favorite college shirt" days!

Continuing with our weekly Friday morning breakfast dates. Lately she's been requesting Whataburger because she loves their cinnamon rolls!

She taught Cam how to walk up the ladder on her loft!

Candy Cane has a tradition of bringing Kyndall a gingerbread house...

I love that she used Sour Patch Kids for our family!

Parents' night out and pajama night at gymnastics

Santa surprised the kids and showed up at the gym!

Kyndall's Girls in Action club at church made these cute ornaments and sold them for donations. All of the proceeds went to international missions. We were lucky enough to find one of Kyndall's on the display tree so we grabbed it up!

This year more than ever I am reminded of the fragility of life. I've spent a lot of time reflecting on my own life and how thankful I am just to be here, especially in the midst of such uncertain times when so many have experienced such loss. I wanted to do something to honor my donor because after all, he/she is the only reason I'm still here. The holidays are always bittersweet because as I'm celebrating another year of life, it is not lost on me that somewhere out there is a family who is likely still grieving a profound loss. I purchased a poinsettia in honor and memory of my donor and it was put on display with many others in our church sanctuary. 

When a Texas kid sees a little frost on the ground..."MOM!! It snowed!"

A few shots from our cozy Christmas home...

One of our very favorite Christmas traditions is to put on our PJs, pick up some hot chocolate and ride around town looking at all the pretty Christmas lights. We do this every year and it's so much fun!

This giant Christmas tree at our neighborhood clubhouse was so beautiful!

Going Christmas shopping

Me: "I don't care how much my kid begs and pleads, I'll never have those tacky blow up characters in my yard at Christmas!"

Also me....

Dinner out

We found Santa at Wal-Mart!

Sending and receiving Christmas cards is another of my very favorite traditions! Each time I walk past this door I can't help but smile.

More Candy Cane shenanigans....

Candy Cane brought Kyndall a hot cocoa bomb as seen above and she enjoyed it very much!

Lunch and Christmas gift exchange with her best friend Ryann

Matthew had been throwing around the idea of trading in his truck for something newer for a while. We decided to spend a Saturday at the dealership to see what we might be able to do and before we knew it, we were driving away in a brand new 2021 truck!

Not everyone in the family was excited about replacing the old truck with something new. Not a fan of change, it's no surprise that Kyndall had a hard time letting go of the truck, since she has such an emotional attachment to "things". She had hoped they wouldn't give Matthew a good trade in value on the truck and that the deal would fall through. Much to her disappointment, a deal was reached and Matthew decided to go ahead with the offer.

Crying real tears over the thought of saying goodbye to the truck

Driving to the dealership earlier that morning--The last time to drive black Betty!

Not a happy customer

A few final photos with black Betty

I admit, it was definitely bittersweet saying goodbye to that truck. There are so many memories associated with it. Matthew originally purchased it while we were dating way back in 2006. When we first met he drove a VW Jetta and it was hard for me to imagine myself dating a guy who drove a tiny car. Apparently I made it pretty clear that I liked guys who drove trucks because within a few weeks of our first date, he had traded that little car in for this brand new GMC truck! To this day he denies that he bought that truck to impress me but I'm still not convinced. Either way, I'm glad he did because it has been good to us and provided us with so many great memories over the last 14 years. That truck drove many miles back and forth between Fort Myers Florida and Tallahassee over the two years that we dated and were engaged long distance. It drove me to the hospital the day I went into labor with Kyndall and then safely carried our newborn baby girl home two days later. It helped move us from 5 cities in 4 states and 6 homes. It took us on countless summer vacations and trips back home for holidays. It served as an outdoor playpen for Kyndall when she was a busy toddler and also provided the perfect perch for me to sit on and watch her play with friends in the driveway when she got older. It's brought home Christmas trees and has been decorated and driven in a Donate Life parade. It has even been loaned to friends when they were in need of a vehicle and has served not just our family but others as well. So yes, I can see why Kyndall was a little sad to be saying goodbye. After all, it was the first vehicle she ever rode in and it's been a part of her life for ten years. Here are a few pictures from over the years...

February of 2010 we got SNOW in Charleston! A rare occurrance for sure!

September 22nd, 2010--Bringing our baby girl home fom the hospital

I can't remember what year this picture was taken, but I know we were sitting in the front yard of our little rental house in Charleston, probably watching Kyndall play.

She used to LOVE to sit in the driveway on the back of the truck and watch the trash men collect all the trash in our cul-de-sac at our little home in Charleston

The perfect playpen for a busy toddler!

Carving pumpkins on the tailgate at our home in Medina, TN in October of 2014

Our "float" for the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival parade in 2016

Matthew's first deer in 2015

Cam and Huck loved the truck bed too

One of our first outings during the pandemic shut down of 2020 was to Texas Roadhouse for our anniversary dinner. At that time they were still not allowing anyone inside the restaurant so the truck bed made for the perfect anniversary picnic spot, right there in the steakhouse parking lot!

Watching Kyndall and her friends play in the driveway from my perch

Once we left the dealership and she took a ride in the new truck, her tears slowly began to turn to excitement. We also took her to eat which helped because I think she was also slightly HANGRY!

Somehow through her tears she talked us into buying her a new stuffed animal. Ugh.

We enjoyed a beautiful night at church celebrating the birth of Jesus as the kids choir sang in their annual Christmas performance. Our little masked singer did a great job!

Kyndall is on the back row, far right with the red mask on

Kyndall and Adara

Adara, Katie and Kyndall---Sweet church/school friends 

They've grown so much in a year!

We treated them to hot chocolate after their amazing performance!

Kyndall's class had a mug exchange as part of their class Christmas party and this is the adorable mug that Kyndall chose to take to the party. I was secretly hoping she would choose her own so it could make its way back to our house!

I've never missed a class Christmas party and I was feeling extra weepy this year not being allowed  to attend, especially since this is her last elementary school Christmas party. Her sweet teacher sent me pictures which made me so happy!

Since it was the last day of school before a two week Christmas break, it was also an early dismissal day. We took advantage of this and headed to the newest restaurant in town for a girls' day brunch!

Her new favorite thing to do when dining out is drawing a special picture for the waiter/waitress and then giving it to them. They always love it!

Getting her nails done after brunch

I never know what crazy colors she's going to choose! Since it was a few days prior to Christmas, she decided to be festive!

On December 22nd we loaded Matthew's new truck down with luggage and gifts and set off on the long drive back home to Thomasville/Tallahassee!

Matthew had to work half the day so we didn't get on the road until lunch time. For that reason we decided to split the 13 hour drive in half, stopping in Hattiesburg Mississippi for the night at a hotel. Matthew grabbed us some dinner from the restaurant next door to the hotel and Kyndall requested chips and salsa. When we weren't looking, Huckabee helped himself to some! Sneaky!

I had hoped that with our travel plans we could say goodbye to Candy Cane a little early but Kyndall begged that she come along too.

She found her way to the pool table inside Kyndall's doll house at Nonie's

Huckabee was apparently worn out from the long drive

Kyndall always requests that Nonie sleep in the living room with her, even though they both have perfectly good beds! Nonie is a good sport and always agrees to do so.

Everyone loves Nonie's homemade pancakes!

Christmas Eve!

What a difference a year makes! That's the same dress but look how much taller she is!

I actually wore the same outfit as well! Not on purpose but it made for a funny comparison picture!

Our annual Christmas Eve candlelight service at my parents' church in Tallahassee

Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner at Village Inn

After dinner we went back to Kelly's house for dessert and Kyndall enjoyed loving on Yoshi

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Back To Nonie and Poppie's house to get ready for Santa

It was so tempting...

Santa came!!

It doesn't matter how old she gets, she still wants to "catch" Santa on the Santa cam. She may know the truth about Santa, but she has definitely refused to let the magic die and that makes me so happy!

This sweet girl hand made Christmas gifts for all of us and wanted to pass them out before she opened  a single gift of her own!

Our beautiful hand made gifts from the most creative and thoughtful kid I know!

True!

She loved this mini waffle maker and mini skillet that Santa brought

Lots and lots of fabric!

A mini fridge for her craft room

A "pet" blanket with photos of all her favorite animals 

She has been asking for these "Heelys" shoes for years and we finally gave in

Her big gift from Nonie and Poppie was a surprise trip to Universal Studios! Universal is where the Woody Woodpecker rollercoaster is and since she's obsessed with all things Woody, she was over the moon about this surprise gift!

Spending money for the trip in the form of a Visa gift card with her photo on it

Her big gift from me and Matthew was this electric, street legal scooter. It goes up to 13 miles per hour!

Christmas breakfast

Onward to Two Egg for Christmas lunch at Grandma's house

Hand sewn Christmas gifts from Kyndall to Grandma

The Christmas Day shuffle is exhausting!

The very next morning we were up bright and early to head to Orlando to cash in Kyndall's gift from Nonie and Poppie--Universal Studios!

Universal Day! Temp checks and masks were a requirement to enter the park.

Breakfast inside the park at Voodoo Donuts--yum!

She found Woody's star!

We were one of the first ones into the park

She had so much fun spotting all the Woodys around the park

Finally! The moment she had been waiting for--Riding the Woody rollercoaster

Ride #7 on the Woody coaster!

In typical Kyndall fashion she went all in, riding the rollercoaster a total of TWELVE times, nine of which were back to back! Needless to say she got to know the nice people operating the ride and they ended up giving her VIP access so she didn't even have to stand in line. She'd literally come running out of the exit and jump right back on. On the 12th ride when I declared it would be her last because it was almost time to go, they presented her with a certificate commemorating her record.

After opening the park that morning and closing it down that night, we still had to drive all the way back to Thomasville. It was a long but fun day!

Next it was time for our visit to Grammy and G-Daddy's house. They have the perfect long, flat driveway for Kyndall to ride her new scooter.

She loves Albert so much

During our time in Tallahassee we did a lot of eating out at all our favorite places that we don't get to visit very often.

I took Kyndall and Wyatt to the mall and they talked me into riding these crazy things again

They also talked me into buying them these strange but cool lamps for their rooms

The joke was on them because they then had to carry those weird looking things through the mall for the rest of the day! Ha!

Icees!

We finally got to celebrate Christmas and open gifts with Grammy and G-Daddy a few days after Christmas. Wyatt and Easton had been with their Dad on Christmas Eve, which is when we usually exchange gifts. 

More handmade gifts from Kyndall to Aunt Kelly and Grammy

Every year Grammy gives us each an ornament...

One of the things I asked the Grandparents to do this year was to try and give "experiences" rather than "things". Nonie and Poppie gave the experience of Universal Studios and Grammy and G-Daddy gave Kyndall the experience of the ropes course and zip lining at the Tallahassee Museum. Before we headed over to the museum, we had brunch at Lofty Pursuits. 

Walking around the Tallahassee Museum brought back soo many memories from when I was a kid. I used to love going there so much.

Since the ropes course was said to be pretty intense, Matthew agreed to do it with her. I'm so glad he has an adventurous side to match hers because I definitely do not!

They did it!! It was tough and it certainly tested her mental and physical strength but she pushed through and overcame all of the obstacles with only a few tears early on. Matthew kept her focused while the rest of us encouraged her from down below. Watching her abandon her naturally cautious nature and take on a new challenge made me so proud and I know by the look on her face at the end that she was proud of herself too.

Wyatt wasn't quite old enough to do the adult course so he did the mini course

We celebrated Kelly's birthday a few weeks early on New Year's Eve just as we do each year. Kyndall always loves decorating and does a great job!

New Year's Eve bon fire and s'mores

Always catching some kind of critter

Sparkling grape juice for our midnight toast to 2021

Staying up late waiting for the ball to drop

WELCOME 2021!!

New Year's Day brought one last adventure--skating

Our last night in Tallahassee before heading back to Texas

One last sleepover

On the road back to Texas after a great Christmas back home!

When we arrived back home this was waiting in the mailbox for me--My birthday gift from Matthew and Kyndall! I love it so much!

When you've been gone for over a week and there are no groceries in the house, you have brunch at your favorite spot in town for one last hoo-rah before getting back to life as usual.