For Christmas, I asked Mark for an opportunity to attend a conference with a friend about Biblical counseling for women and the theme was on suffering. He immediately agreed and signed me up right away. It was a wonderful time with my friend and her friends’ from church who were so welcoming. And the speakers. Ya’ll, if you don’t know who Katherine Wolf is, go to Hope Heals and grab her book. She’s got good stuff to say about praising God in the darkness and the unknown. Very encouraging for me.

While I was gone, Mark manned the fort solo and did a wonderful job. I so enjoyed seeing the pictures of my kids having a blast and making memories.

Forts were built and I didn’t have to be the one to tell them to clean them up.

Outside play. Note the four year old is without a jacket and the bigs have one on. Not Mark’s fault…these kids don’t notice climate differences (and seriously, she has a big ol’ brace on that holds in a lot of warmth).

At least she got bundled up for s’mores.

Needless to say, Tobin has no qualms about getting dirty and marshmallows are now on his happy list of foods (which is quite long).

Fire pits! Yes! See the 13 year old, in the middle of the polar vortex, in a t-shirt.

Babies bundled up and ready to go are my weakness.

Emmie’s last blood pressure check! She had to be on midodrine after her surgery to keep her blood pressure up. Basically, she was on it for three weeks but slowly weaned off of it and each dose required a blood pressure check before getting the meds. She was amazing and her brothers and sisters had fun checking their pressure with her!

Getting ready to be a footballer.

Tobin can, occasionally, be the king of chill. Don’t underestimate him. He can also be Super Descructo Kid. But he is so cute when he chills.

Tobin helped me test out our new reading chair.

Everyone has been happy that Emmie is home! Including her buddy, Josiah.

Ya’ll, the way these littles love their big sister and the way she willingly loves on them, it melts my heart. Don’t get me wrong, Zoe can be very much a typical moody teenager but she can also be loving and caring for her little brothers and sisters. When it’s movie night, you can often find one or both of these guys sprawled on her.

Now to the furry kids. Ignore that Tot needs a giant haircut. Just focus on how these two snuggle up with each other. They are fiercely close and it is so much fun to see.

Emmie lost her first tooth! Yes. She’s just four. She did get them early (right at 3 months). But this is the earliest that we have seen our kids loose a tooth. Bryant got teeth at two months but didn’t loose them until 5 or 6. Emmie’s an overachiever.

Tobin sometimes cuddles in bed with me. And sometimes we enjoy seeing each other in the phone. Yeah, I know I have a double chin. I’m working on it now with an attitude, diet and exercise change. Sometimes, though, you just have to share the cuteness no matter what you look like. Memories for my crazy kids.

Our god-daughter’s parents sent the kids the Watch Your Mouth game…ya’ll my kids looked and sounded hilarious! They love it!

While the kids played Watch Your Mouth, Emmie rocked the wig.

How we said good-bye to our crazy 2018! Welcome to 2019!