Boo to You

It was time for more costumes. My vote was for Thing A and Thing B...but you can probably guess that I was outvoted. Brenna wanted to be a "Native American." Nevermind that our very mascot is an Indian. She was very clear..."Native American."

 

First she had to decorate herself for school.

She then paraded herself through the halls in the 1st grade costume parade.

Then I found this jewel hanging in her hallway. Mrs. Feist is her teacher...and an adorable Native American woman if I do say so myself.

Audrey chose to be Mavis from Hotel Transylvania. Mavis is Count Dracula's daughter. It's a cute monster movie if you haven't seen it...and Audrey makes Mavis even cuter! (FYI on that wig...it was too long when I bought it, but Aunt Bobby came to the rescue and styled it just right lol)

Pumpkin Carving on Mrs. Linda's porch :)

Back to cute costume pictures...Junior High Halloween Festival

Emma-Huntress, Audrey-Mavis, Dakota-Peacock, Savannah-White Velvet Indian, Brenna-Native American

We love our tribe...

The kids were not the only ones who enjoyed dressing up this year. A lady in black "substituted" for me on Halloween. She was rather grouchy, threatening to cook the kids and make them eat Alphabet Brew.

There were some little guys that were actually a little worried!

They were relieved when I returned from my meeting after a couple of hours with the witch.

And back to more cute costume friends...Garner-pirate, Brenna-Indian/Native American, Weston-Captain America, Audrey-Mavis, Harper-Scarecrow, Avery-Pirate Fairy.

BOO!

Goodbye Irby

We made a huge decision this fall. We had previously discussed possibly selling our house in the next few years and eventually building, but we had not made a move to list it yet. The new superintendent of schools moved into town and immediately wanted to buy our house. Josh had already looked at some properties to flip, so we were quickly faced with a big decision. The girls and I were very emotionally attached to our house of 10 years. It was the one we brought our babies home to and the only home they have ever known. They were very hesitant before the moving process began. Josh had some wonderful plans in the works...the problem was going to be what to do in the meantime. Our wonderful neighbors, Rob and Linda, so generously offered their house to us since they were currently living out of town for work. So on my birthday, we sold our very first owned home and moved next door into a 150 year old house that looks like it belongs in a magazine!

I worried that the transition would be hard for the girls since they would be able to see people moving into their house every day, but through prayer and lessons from the Lord, we never looked back! We see Superintendent Speegle and his wife all the time and love to hear about things they are doing to THEIR house.

Yes, I will always cherish every memory in that house. I love thinking of all of the fingerprints on the walls from our children and countless other friends that frequented our home. I thank God for a whole decade there, in the perfect place to raise our girls. And I look forward to what God has in store for the next decade and more!

We learned very quick that the old adage, "Home is where your family is," is actually more true than we knew.

And this following story is a message straight from God's heart to mine: When we were looking at a house to fix up and grimacing at the roughness of it, I kept telling the girls about the plans to make it look/smell better and more comfortable for us to temporarily live in. "We will do this to make it look better, and don't worry about this because we will change that...And you know, girls, this is not going to be our forever home anyway." And Brenna promptly said, "Nope, it's not heaven."

Amen to that...our old house, our fixer upper, and even the house that we will be building...none of those are truly our forever homes.

Cousin Case in Point

Cousins are the greatest.

Nephew #4

One of the greatest joys in my life is being an aunt. I am so proud of my brother and sister and the families they have created. And I absolutely love nephews! My 4th nephew was born this fall! Meet Wyatt Ryan Harrison.

I would say they love being cousins as much as I love being an aunt!

Thank you, God, for these boys: Layton-8, Everett-2, Lander-1, Wyatt-brand new!

Back to School 16-17

Back to School for the 2016-17 year meant Meet the Teacher night, final swim parties, cheer camp, scrimmages, and first day pictures...oh my!

The greatest Sunday School class and friends a girl could possibly ask for...

 

Cheer camp with our girl Libby

 

 

Check out who was flying this year! Being the smallest has its benefits!

And Brenna was a strong base for little Avery!

The high school girls worked very hard this year and made our girls feel so special!



We are full of Comanche Indian spirit around here!

 

Our kids love the Friday Night Lights (it may have something to do with friends and boys but they are obsessed with going to the games!)

Even a Maverick and a Lobo came to watch us cheer...in the rain no less!

Brenna was a little nervous about being in front of a big crowd, but Audrey loved cheering on the sidelines!

Yes, we love our town and team and school...so we were all smiles on the first day back! Here are my big 1st grader and 3rd grader on the first day of the 2016-2017 school year!