November always bring a chance to give thanks and reflect on being grateful. This year has been a year of change, blessing, being stretched and feeling so very grateful.
We are so incredibly grateful for our church. We left our church of 4 years this spring and the Lord planted us right away. Our new church is a very large church so we knew we had to really dive in order to connect. The Lord was so good to plant just where we would need to be. We leave our church each week with immense gratitude for being in a church full of Christ, amazing worship, a healthy church and someplace we are always nourished.
One another.....I am so grateful for Trae, our marriage and the love we share. Seeing the fruit of obedience and listening to the Lord is a beautiful thing!
Our boys.....3 boys in 3 very different seasons of life. It makes life full and unpredictable!
Family.....I can't imagine not having the blessing of family. We would be so much the less. This year we had the amazing blessing of Sylvia. Sylvia is Masons (Traes dad) wife and even though we have only known her a short time we are so grateful for the woman she is and the incredible blessing she brings to our family.
A new sitter! Yep, this mama who spends lots of time at home and with children has been blessed with a sitter that is wonderful! Right now she comes 1-2 times a week and she is like a breath of fresh air! She drives and is 18 and we feel totally comfortable having her care for Sam and Jacob while I have a few others to myself or we take some time to pour into our marriage and one another. God is so good and I am so grateful he cares about the details of our life and each season we are in.
When we were in Lockhart we stepped out back to look over his families land. The heritage that is there is present and something that Trae reflected on and we wanted to have some pictures of. The crops are no longer there but the cattle is, the land and more than anything the legacy. Trae shared memories of growing up and going up to work during the summer in the crops.
We went to Lockhart for the day and spent the day with family. It was a wonderful day and we were so blessed. It was also Sams 1st Thankgiving and he was loved on and enjoyed. The spirit was one of thanks and celebrating what the Lord has done and being together as family.
We were so blessed this week to get to visit with Dwayne, Kristen, their parents and sweet John David. Trae and Dwayne were good friends during their early 20's and have stayed in touch. They were in town to visit family and we were so glad we got to see them. They too were blessed with a baby this year and so we got to meet John David! Sam enjoyed meeting him too and they are only like 10 days apart. What a blessing and great way to start our Thanksgiving week.
This is our families famous fruit salad. We love it (the boys don't!) and have it every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is a special dessert that my Grandma made and my mom has made it all my life too. I made it once and it just wasn't the same. I need to practice around my mom so she can give me all her pointers. With Thanksgiving next week I wanted to flashback to a fond holiday memory. It is a fruit salad that has grapes, pineapple, bananas and marshmallows with a fluffy mixture that makes it oh so yummy! 
Grandma was out yesterday for a visit and she was feeding Sam and he decided that taking his first steps, waving bye and all the other newness wasn't enough. He grabbed his bottle and held it himself. I always hold his bottle so I haven't given him a chance to learn but he wanted to show us once again how big he is! That boy!
Trae loves for sam to wear a hat. Now the question is does Sam like to wear hats??? It was so funny to see him bucking this hat of recently. We were trying to make him be a little cowboy but he liked the hat better off than on.
Andrew (17) and Jacob (12) out at my moms home recently. It is always fun to try and capture the fun moments. I prefer shots of them being themselves vs. being posed.
