Dinner and Donuts!

Last week we got to have dinner with "Mags!" We just love this girl to pieces (and the rest of her family too!) Silly shenanigans after supper....

She is such a smart and beautiful girl... so are mine, can't you tell? :)

and the next morning.... THE DONUT MAN came!!! We love seeing headlights at 6AM because we KNOW it is "Bob"! Best way to start a Friday in our opinions! :)

Family Hike Thru the Winter Woods

💜💜💜💜I do NOT take advantage of my backyard NEARLY as much as I should or as much as the rest of my crew does.... I live in amazing place....

speaking of my crew... guess what they were hunting for...

Classic Miss B... "everything" boots aka Bogs, skirt, leggings and big puffy pink jacket complete with Paw Patrol hat...

 

meanwhile... LLBean jacket (from Sky) Sorel's, hunter orange hat, a big black dog and a deer shed...only seems right...

I LOVE my crew!!!

Chilly Toes...

If you don't like feet (ahem. Husband) steer clear of this post...

 

a couple of weeks ago Liz asked if I would help her spend her gift card at the spa I don't know when the LAST TIME I went to it was... uh... YES PLEASE... SIGN ME UP...

of course it also happened to be during the COLDEST STRETCH SO FAR this winter and of course did not want to mess our pedis... had to haul out the clickers....

and then flaunt the toes AND the clickers at a restaurant.... not too many crazy looks but we knew we were crazy ;) Loved soaking up sweet Liz 1x1....did not LOVE the freezing temps ;)

I am a French Pedi girl... I never get anything else, I love classic and I only ever get 1-2 a sandal season... so what to get when NO ONE is ever going to SEE my smart wool sock covered toes??

 

Olive green nail polish and brook trout of course...

I mean... why not?? :)

Melt.My.Heart.

*Photo Courtesy of SIL L*

Tough Stuff

Brutal. It's what we expected and what we've endured. These last few months without Bets... going through traditions, celebrating events and living life without her... Brutal.

 

Living in a house with a 5 year old who knows nothing other than to share what's on her heart and speak what's on her mind about a person she talked to or saw multiple times a week and now doesn't... Brutal. And healing. And Brutal.

 

We have always celebrated Betsy's birthday on the Sunday before Christmas, her b-day is 12/21 which is also the day we do the annual cookie packaging up day... (by "we" I mean the other C girls in my family ;)

 

So this year was no different. Except it was. SIL L suggested whomever wanted to participate we would have a little "contest"... take Betsy' PB fudge recipe and make it. Then figure out who made the yummiest fudge.... I took it a step further and got judges... ;)

I asked Ethan and Karisa to come over after church, laid out the tiny samples of fudge with numbers attached (NO NAMES) and they ate worked hard at determining a champion...

but a champion was found... taste, texture, flavor, etc...

and Bri Bri could not be happier! :)

Well done!

The participants ~ SIL L, Bri Bri, Mama, Husband/Minnie, Breanna and the judges, Ethan, Karisa and Daws

and then the cookies... :)

Miss B and I were traveling in the car a few weeks back and she asked about "Aunnie's Birthday"... and how would she know and could she get presents in heaven and we talked about balloons and where do they go when you can't see them anymore? She agreed they MUST get to heaven so I asked if she wanted to send some to Aunnie...I picked them up after work, Mama came over and we all released some balloons in honor of a girl who is CELEBRATING every DAY with Jesus!!!

We sure do miss our girl... these past few months have been nothing short of BRUTAL but leaning on each other, starting new traditions and remembering all the good stuff is what is going to keep us moving forward until we see her again....