Recap and Renewal

So first a 2013 recap….

2013 has been an event filled year.

January - Mykhal turned 17....we announced our decision to sell it all and go full time rving....we made a trip to Missouri to bring Lex and Matrim home and stopped to visit Russ' Grandma and Aunt Connie on the way home

February - we bought our new truck

March - Lex turned 20

April - went to Scarborough Faire

May-July we spent with a singular focus....go through EVERYTHING we own and get rid of 99% of it! And we began the remodeling of the house to get it ready for sale. Kerrie turned 14!

August - we listed the house with a realtor and the timing was perfect as we had a contract within 2 weeks! We got our asking price too and so we were set to get the trailer we wanted with the options we desired.

September - we made a trip to Oklahoma to celebrate Russ' grandma's 95th birthday! LOTS of family joined in the fun and it was an amazing event. We also celebrated my mom's birthday and Russ' dad's birthday in the same trip. We were just party animals!

October - We picked up the uhaul trailer we were loading with the things that Lex wanted for her house, and the memorabilia we needed to keep. On the 3rd we closed on the house and turned over the keys, picked up the trailer and uhaul and headed for Austin. We unloaded at the storage unit and took a couple days to catch our breath. Then it was on to Nacogdoches to Genuine RV to buy our new home. We stayed on their lot for a few days to work out the kinks and then headed for D/FW for time with family. Kerrie also had her first book published!

November - we moved our new home to the Houston area via a brief stop in Austin to collect a few more things we needed from the storage unit. While there Lex and Matrim with some help from a friend loaded up another uhaul and moved her things into her new apartment! She spread her wings and is flying beautifully! We spent a marvelous evening with long time friends the evening before thanksgiving, had a quiet Thanksgiving day stuffing ourselves, then headed for Texas Renaissance Festival the day after. Friends from San Angelo joined us there on Saturday and Sunday making the weekend even more fun!

December - we picked up again and moved back to the Dallas area. Spending the Holiday season with family is a wonderful thing! We celebrated Matrim's second birthday, then Russ' mom's birthday, and are looking forward to Christmas with everyone.

January will find us headed back to Austin to settle in a little bit. Russ will be using his GI Bill to go back to school so we will have a semi-permanent spot at Hwy 71 RV park. It's a great place for us to kinda call home for a bit. We will still take short trips here and there, but school schedule will get to dictate a lot of that. Life is truly a grand adventure on a daily basis and we wouldn't have it any other way!

And now for some pictures!

My fist acrylic painting.  Switching from oils has been interesting but is quite doable and enjoyable.

Matrim's 2nd birthday.  Blowing out the candles with Mommy's help.  So fun and cute!

Then we gave him his first real haircut.  Lex's friend Ryan held Matrim so Lex could man the camera.

And here he sits on the counter of Momo's kitchen much like his Aunt Munki (Kerrie) did 12 years ago.

Playing his first guitar.  He LOVES guitars!

Sunsets over Lake Tawakoni.  Mykhal took these photos.  So pretty.

The beauty for our beast.  Our new to us 2007 Honda Civic.  We needed a second car that got better gas mileage and this deal was just waiting for us!  It's in great condition and has just what we need!

And then there are pix of our silly cats:

The unimaginable happened!  They were eating out of the same bowl at the same time!!  Now that was desperation! (yes there was still food in the bowl when it was refilled, but they could see the bottom of the bowl…gasp!)

And Tabby our antisocial creature has been coming to us and asking for snuggles!

Skizzo will use ANYTHING as a pillow!

I'm thinking they are enjoying our new life…..what do you think?

Last year I chose a word for the year.  That word was LIFE.  There was lots of LIFE lived last year!  It was an amazing adventure and journey.  This year I would like to choose another word.  My word this year is RENEWAL.  There are always things in life that need to be let go, but often times there are things that just need to be refreshed or renewed.  Interests that were set aside in years past, friendships that have been a bit neglected, and I think there is a daily need of renewal of our spirit so that we can face the challenges that come our way.

May 2014 be filled with blessings of peace, joy, love, and daily renewal!

Fare thee well

We are heading out of Houston early tomorrow morning. We were scheduled to stay one more day but serious winter weather approaching our new destination had us changing our minds and our travel day. It has been a lovely time here in Tomball. This rv park caters to an older crowd that are still young at heart. 

The kids have enjoyed getting to hear some stories of "the good ole days " from several of the residents. And this little spot on the map had enough to offer that Kerrie and I got to enjoy a day full of shopping and laughs. 

The day before thanksgiving we were able to have dinner with friends/former coworkers we met in Arkansas!  What ablessing  and treat that was! 

Thanksgiving day was fairly quiet for us but didnt lack for good eats. We started the morning off with regular chex mix and a  7 layer cookie chex mix. Next we got out the crackers, cheese, pickles, and olives. That carried us through to a dinner of steak, hashbrown casserole, green beans, sourdough bread, cranberry sauce, and a pecan pie cheesecake for dessert. We were all very full!  

Black friday saw us shopping at the Faire. It was much warmer than when we had gone the previous Sunday. And while we were there some of our best friends from the San Angelo area were headed our way!  So the rest of the weekend we enjoyed their company at the Faire. And as a Christmas present we had formal pictures taken at Whimsey's Muse there. 

We also snapped these photos. 

We spent as much of Monday with our friends as we could before they headed back home. 

Our next stop is Quinlan which is situated right between our folks houses. We are looking forward to celebrating Matrims second birthday, Russ' mom's birthday, and then of course Christmas. We will ring in the new year there and then head back to Austin. Our semi-permanent slot will be waiting for us.

The adventure and blessings continue!

Moving...again

Yes I know, we live in an RV and are always moving!  And after buying the new RV we spent time in Dallas with our families, then headed for Austin, and are about to head for Houston.  But, though that may be the case, I'm not talking about us this time.  Lex and Matrim have stepped out on their own feet now.  It is bittersweet.

Before they got too busy getting settled in we did get to spend some fun time with Lex's friend Ryan and his kids.  They are a fun bunch!

We also took Matrim out with us for a day so that his momma could get some things accomplished without his "help".

And so he shopped....till he dropped.

He is such a sweet little boy!  We will miss having him and Lex with us, but are so glad they are able to start living their own lives.

Our next stop is Houston.  Texas Renaissance Faire here we come!!  This year we are hitting closing weekend instead of opening.  We will be going all three days following Thanksgiving!  We can hardly wait!  And what makes it even better is that some of our best friends will be joining us!  SUPER excited!  So what will we do while in Houston between now and that weekend?  Well for starters I have some sewing that needs to be done, kids still have schoolwork, and Russ is researching schooling stuff for himself too.  But life is settling in nicely in our home on wheels.  The cats are as happy as ever.

Though they do try to hide when they can tell we are getting ready to put them in their kennels for travel. (See her peeking around the corner of the bed?  She was yowling "NOOOOOO"!)

We will be back up in the Dallas area to spend December and Christmas with our families again.  Then come January we have a semi-permanent spot here at Hwy 71 Rv Park in Cedar Creek, just south of Austin.  We do love this park and the people here.  Next year we will still be taking trips here and there a few days at a time, but we will have our spot here to come back to.  It's a great place to be!  Oh and just so yall know, we do have room for guests in our lovely new home so give a holler if you want to come visit...no matter where we are!  I promise to do a post soon with more pictures of the inside of our new rig.  Blessings!