{Ruidoso, NM Vacation // Day 1}

Try as I might, I am not sure if I will ever get caught up over here. Tis' is life.

After Christmas again this year we decided to go play in the snow and the mountains. We came thisclose to going to Colorado but were scared of getting snowed in/stuck there. So, we just went back to Ruidoso, NM! We know the area pretty well now, it's an easy drive, and we knew we could find snow there.

{The Arcade // December 2019}

One of these days I may be caught up on all things 2019, but today is not that day. I was doing really well at catching up, but then Mason contacted the Flu (type A) virus. So, we will try this again! Back in December after a family gathering, we decided to take Mason to this new place in town called The Arcade. We have heard so many cool things about it and wanted to check it out.

{Dallas Cowboy game // December 29th}

Our sister in law won 2 tickets to the Dallas Cowboy game on 12/29 and wasn't able to attend. She asked if Nathan and I wanted the tickets! I had never been to an NFL game and Nate had only been to a play-off game. Neither of us has watched a football game at the new stadium so we were excited! We went to church and then hung out with Mason a bit before the game. We only had 2 tickets so he went to the movies with his Nana while we were at the game. I was excited to have a little date with my man!

{Christmas Bucketlist 2019 //Update}

Grace upon grace upon grace upon grace! That's what I gently told myself throughout the Christmas season! There were so many circumstances beyond our control that kept us from many family traditions. If you know me, then you know traditions are my thing. So, when we have to skip one a little piece of my heart would break off. And that's when I'd have to remember to offer myself some grace! We still did a ton and even did some new things. And? We made so many beautiful memories throughout the season. Here's a look at all that we accomplished from our list.

{Christmas Day // 2019}

I was on a roll getting out all of the Christmas posts, but then the flu hit our household. Mason was diagnosed with Flu Type A. It's been both a physically and mentally and emotionally exhausting week! I hate to see my boy sick. Anyhow, backing up to Christmas Day. It was such a beautiful day!

{Christmas Eve // 2019}

Mason and I had our Christmas tree campout the night before, so we woke up next to the glow of the Christmas tree. That was such a wonderful way to wake-up on Christmas Eve. I checked my work emails and didn't have much to do, so we continued watching Home Alone 2 Lost in New York from our air mattress. We lazed around the house in our Christmas pajamas for the rest of the day watching Christmas movies. Work was extremely quiet, which was nice. I got to spend some quality time with my boy. Nate worked overtime and got off around 2:00.

{Christmas Eve Eve // Reindeer food // cookies for Santa // Christmas Tree campout}

Mason's last day of school was 12/20 which meant that I got to have my boy home with me on the days leading up to Christmas. I still worked, but I am so blessed to work from home full time. Work was extremely slow, as you can imagine, so we hung out in Christmas pajamas and did all things festive.

{Christmas dress-up week at school}

I've mentioned before that Mason wears uniforms to school daily so any time he gets a dress-up day it's more than welcomed! Give us a whole week of festive-themed dress-up days and we are HERE for it! Especially the last week before break!

{Mason got to play Max at the Grinch's Lair}

On December 10th the owner of the Grinch's Lair messaged me and asked if Mason would like to play the part of Max that upcoming Saturday! I already knew what Mason's answer would be, but I needed to talk it over with Nathan. I already had plans with my family for our annual baking party so that meant Nate would be flying solo with Mason. It's an almost two-hour drive there and back. I knew Nate wouldn't mind but wanted to discuss it with him first. Of course, he was on board and excited for Mason! So we asked Mason and he couldn't say yes quick enough! He was so happy!!

{Other festive stuff // lights at Deerfield, Campo Verde, family baking party, board and brush}

There is something about the Christmas season that just makes you want to pack in all things festive! And we did just that. While we didn't do near as much as we normally do this year, we still did so much. Our season kicked off with a camping trip to the Polar Express and the Grinch's Lair, then we joined our local Jeep club for the third year in the Christmas lighted parade, next we broke tradition a bit and bought a fake tree & decked our halls, we took Mason to breakfast with Santa, and yesterday I shared about our trip to the Gaylord Texan and Ice Exhibit. And I still have so much to share! After our Gaylord Texan and Ice adventure we were in the mood to keep the Christmas festiveness going on, so we drove to Plano to see the lights at Deerfield.

{Gaylord Texan / Ice Exhibit 2019}

Happy New Year! I know that Christmas feels like forever ago at this point, but I have so much to share about the season. I took an unintentional blog break to be intentional with the ones I love so dearly. 2019 was definitely a year of change {more on this later} for us, but through that, I learned to give myself some grace. While traditions are nice and good for my soul, it's okay to skip a year if needed. It's okay to break traditions for the sake of family first, and it's okay to make new traditions. Speaking of new, we did something new this season...we visited the Gaylord Texan and did the Ice exhibit. The last time we have done this was when I was about 4 months pregnant with Mason. Nathan and I wanted to have a special family night with Mason and thankfully he thought of the ICE exhibit! I'm so glad he did because we had the most incredible time.

{Currently // January 2020}

Man, it feels weird to type 2020 on this blog! I took the week after Christmas off of work to go on vacation with my boys. So all week long I've been typing/writing 2019 and then having to go back and correct that! Anyhow, linking up with Anne in Residence for "Currently". This month we are sharing what we are currently resolving, reading, cleaning, creating, and planning.