Ladies, can you believe Christmas is in FOUR days?! I know I say this every year, but the month of December goes so quickly!
Who am I kidding? These days the entire year seems to fly by, so I enjoy taking a peek back. Today, I’m showing you what the big highlights of the year were and sharing them with you in a little 2017 recap. Or actually a “LONG 2017 recap” because how can a recap of the whole YEAR be short?
January
Tab and I began 2017 in Jacksonville, Florida. He officiated the TaxSlayer Bowl and we made it a little kid-free getaway.
We experienced the only bit of snow North Texas would receive last winter. 🙁 This was it.
And thanks to the Disney show, Liv and Maddie, Ebby Lee played her first season of basketball.
We managed to sneak away on another little vacation. This time with friends-the Shulls-to Park City, Utah, for a little skiing and a lot of spaaing.
February
Ebby Lee and I hosted a little Valentine Art Party for a few of her friends.
And then the end of the month was devastating. My sweet friend, Manda, went to be with Jesus.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 There’s not a verse out there that describes our Manda better than this one. I pray that lives were touched and hearts were changed by hearing her story.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7 There’s not a verse out there that describes our Manda better than this one. I pray that lives were touched and hearts were changed by hearing her story.
March
For Spring Break we hit the up the mountains of Vail, Colorado, where all three kids learned to ski!
Bowen began his first spring season of beginner tee-ball, and he was so stinkin’ cute in his uniform.
My Fixer Upper loving cousins came to visit so Bowen and I took them on a little field trip to Waco for the day. (Along with a LOT of other folks…do you see the crowd?)
And I hosted a fun little Favorite Things Night for some girlfriends.
April
Ebby Lee performed in her second grade musical.
And she turned EIGHT! We celebrated low-key with a big ole mall date with Kensington.
Just a few days later, Nixon turned SEVEN and we partied hard at Top Golf with some of his friends.
We also celebrated that He is Risen on Easter.
May
At the beginning of May, I shared our BIG NEWS.
We left just a few days later to get our girl! We got Miss Britt Bradford Slaughter and all five of us experienced our hearts growing three sizes that day. We fell in LOVE!
We arrived home from China with the BEST support system of friends and family waiting to welcome us home. So so so thankful for these people.
The fun didn’t end there…our house was decorated, we had groceries delivered, meals delivered, and all kinds of goodies. To say we could feel the love, was an understatement!
We fought hard against the jet lag and celebrated big as a family of six over Memorial Day weekend.
June
We snuck away for a little staycation at the Gaylord where we bumped into some friends and hung out all evening.
We ran all the errands.
And enjoyed LOTS of pool days with friends.
We took our time over the summer slowly settling in to our new normal.
July
Independence Day was a BLAST! The parade, pool time, and fireworks are all some of my favorites.
Shay and I snuck off at the end of the month on a little Mexico get away to check out some resorts.
August
We celebrated my 34th birthday with a donut party hosted by Marla. 🙂
And Tab and I took a little getaway to California for some football, studio tour fun, and all the food.
We had a last summer getaway with the Shull crew to San Antonio before school started.
Then the big kiddos began school….Nixon started second grade and Ebby Lee started third grade.
Just a few days later, Miss Britt had a big surgery. We had a couple nights in the hospital before we had lots of recovery time at home.
September
Bowen began his last year in preschool. He grew up right before my eyes.
And these girls and I had a fabulous evening together with our annual scarf exchange.
We were busy every Saturday watching Nixon play flag football.
And we started a new tradition…the rodeo in the fall! We went for the first time and had a BLAST!
Before the month ended, some of my girlfriends and I snuck away on a little girl’s trip to Mexico.
October
These two enjoyed all the attention at home during the week.
We made a pumpkin patch trip with the Shull girls.
And we partied hard at our Bible Fellowship Group’s Harvest Party.
We decided we wanted to give our big kiddos nightmares so we snuck off to a haunted house. {Totally kidding-no nightmares have happened since.}
We attended a fun fall party complete with apple bobbing and face painting.
And we celebrated Halloween at Bowen’s preschool as well.
But trick-or-treating with my family and friends has to be my favorite October activity.
November
Britty turned TWO! This girl has grown up SO much in a mere seven months.
We began our Thanksgiving break in Branson, Missouri. We saw all the lights, a Christmas show, and enjoyed delicious food.
Then we headed over to my family’s side of the state for a Hency Thanksgiving.
We got back to McKinney in time to celebrate Home for the Holidays.
And then Bowen turned FIVE and we partied it up cowboy style.
December
This month Ebby Lee and I began a new venture of VOLLEYBALL!
The parade of lights in Mckinney was a ton of fun!
We had a special Sunday morning this month when we dedicated Britty at church.
And we got to take the most epic Santa picture ever. Britt wasn’t a fan. 😉
We have a few more festivities planned this season along with Christmas with some family. We had a fun little getaway planned for the first of the year-like flights booked and everything and THEN we got news on Tab’s bowl game so we now have two getaways back to back. All that to say, I’ll be blogging tomorrow and then am taking off next week for Christmas and the following week because we’ll be out of town. You can follow along on Instagram at “slaughteren“. I’m going to do my best to venture out in the Instagram story world. I’ve gotta be honest. My technology skills are limited so you might see some strange posts before I “get it”. haha!
This is always one of my favorite blog posts of the year. I love taking a look back and seeing what the previous year had in store. And a huge THANK YOU for being a part of our year. Thank you for reading, thank you for the comments, thank you for the e-mails, and especially than you for all the prayers. XO
