This is cousin Jessi. Jessi and Jamie were the brilliant, genius, extraordinary women who came up with Harry Potter murder mystery game we played for the cousin party. We had to come up with who did the murder with what magical object and where it was done. We had tasks to complete and some quidditch to be played. We could also cast spells at each other.
We had to take pictures of all the tasks we completed. So, here are a few of the pictures.
Having super cute cousins is just a bonus to the shenanigans and needed a picture of all the cuteness.
I was a dementor over Ashley. Elara was a dwarf with a giant "Davis".
Fluffy the 3 headed dog on the left. Our team standing on the 3 rocks to the Forbidden Forest.
We were Griffindor and were awesome!
One of the tasks was catching chickens. Eden happily obliged and caught one for each person on her entire team.
The Hufflepuff team on the 3 rocks.
Kael was a Griffindor and found a chicken feather on our list.
Derek's Durmstrang boys look a lot more like Durmstrang than our groups, BUT I had the toughest face I have to admit... And probably the biggest arms. Kael's face was just scary.
Hufflepuffs 3 headed dog "Fluffy"
Eden caught more chickens.
Eric and Madi were a giant and a dwarf.
We had to use sticks as brooms and played quidditch.
Another game was sticking duct tape on your nose and using it to stick to another person's duct tape. It was such a funny game. It wouldn't stick to my face at all.
I love this picture with Margarite and Juli! Juli made her happy, but Jamie and Ashley's faces make it so funny!
And one more of the cute cousins together with me trying to make them smile. These kiddos are like nieces and nephews to us. We are so excited to spoil them rotten as often as we can!
On Tuesday the 26th we went to Big Lou's Pizza with all the Pinkston's. We tried to do it back in August, but it didn't work out so it was pretty awesome being able to go on take two. Derek ate 6 slices! I gave up after 2 1/2.
I'd like to say it was a delicious pizza, but it wasn't. It was a HUGE 42 inch pizza though, so we were happy to indulge to say we conquered the beast!
The next couple of days were catching up on sleep at home which were much needed. It was fun to play with the kids and just relax after a long month.
On the 29th we went up to hang out with Pinkston's again. We had a fun time playing laser tag and running around.
Andrew made Connor's two year old dreams come true and drove him around on the tractor.
We had a huge bon fire and roasted marshmallows and just had a great time being with everyone.
The next morning was a memorial for Rick at the church. We got a babysitter for the kids for the day and Derek and I were able to go without the kids, which was nice not having to chase them.
Then that afternoon we took off to Six Flags to go do something fun that Rick would have loved.
It was so much fun! I'm so glad we could go!
My stomach needs to toughen up before I have teenagers. I was feeling woosy on the first ride. I did make it through all the rides though and I did love every second!
We were so beat after this fun filled day, and just rested the rest of the month. Literally. We didn't even tell the kids about New Years Eve and thankfully they are too little to know it was a fun Holiday to celebrate without us telling them because we were in bed by 9 PM on the dot that night.
This year was exhausting. I have learned that being sad is just exhausting.
As hard and long as this year was I'm so grateful for the opportunity to learn and to grow as a family.
Our family knows that we will see my Dad and Rick again. They are very much alive and working hard right now just like we are. I'm grateful for the plan of salvation. For a Heavenly Father who loves us so much that He gave us His Son so that we may live again with Him someday. I know that I am a child of God. I know that if we don't experience the bitter pain of death we won't truly understand the moments of joy, and we can't understand true joy without true loss. It is all a part of the beautiful plan our Heavenly Father has for us. It is a part of the gift He has given us.
To say this last year has been one of sorrow is an understatement. It is hard to describe the depth of sadness that our family has felt.
But we also know true joy.
Our family has brought us true joy. We are so grateful for our marriage that has brought our families together. We are grateful for the beautiful children we have.
It was a miracle being lead to Texas.
9 and a half years ago we went to the temple and prayed what we should do for our family. We had a beautiful son, but our world wasn't just right. We learned Derek was suppose to go to medical school. We could not see back then where we would end up. But, Heavenly Father has a plan for us.
We are so grateful to be here, to have family move near us. It has been a wonderful blessing to our family. Even though we have had so much sorrow we have felt so much love over the last year our hearts could burst.
2017 is over, but it is just a beginning.
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