Alethia's Sweet 16

 Our sweet Alethia turned 16 this year! She decided she wanted a fun party kind of like Rainy's. She created a beautiful invite, sent it to some of her favorite people and we had the best time dancing and celebrating. Of course I don't have many pictures, but I snapped a few of Josh and the grandmas sharing sweet words, Rainy's cake for Alethia, and a couple others.

August - Saying Goodbye To Summer

 

We celebrated Cai's 15th birthday. Birthday tradition gets them a breakfast with dad wherever they choose and often Krispy Kreme is the one.

This also meant Cai was able to get his permit. We now have our official 

4th teenage driver in the colony house.

Alethia is starting to get practice in pumping gas.

Our beloved Fluffy died in August. Our 9 year old chicken! We even saw the culprit! It was a hawk. He actually took out a couple of chickens before we were able to fully close in the ladies. But since we covered them up they have stayed safe and sound.

Rainy had a gig down in Myrtle Beach and took Zeke with her to grab some footage. 

I love that they love spending time together.

Jude, forever creating in the kitchen.

Zeke has really surprised us with his dedication to learning guitar. He now plays on the student worship team and practices for hours to perfect his parts. We love this creative outlet for him.

The kids finally started school the last week of August. 

Cai headed back to Rolesville High and took Alethia with him this year!

Jude is home in 7th and Zeke is home finishing up his senior year.

Day 4: A Birthday - More Family - KS

Today was a big day.

Not because of our itinerary, but because Zeke turned 18! I made sure to pack our birthday banner and his presents that he opened in the back seat while we drove, lol. It is definitely not the typical Via birthday, but it was awesome none-the-less.

While we were in Missouri we knew there was one more stop we had to make before heading to Kansas. A few weeks prior to our trip, Josh lost an Uncle. Actually, it was the father of the cousin we had just spent the night with, and his mom and sister just lived 30-45 minutes away. And another one of his sister's was still in town from the funeral.

We got to walk around in his Uncle's garden where the celebration of life was too. It was really special to be able to be there, especially since we couldn't make it in for the ceremony.

And then it was off to continue our voyage to Colorado.

Guys, Kansas has a very special place in my heart.

I think it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

I love the fields and the sky and the colors...all of it.

The next stop was so great I took too many pictures necessitating it's own post.

Permits, Birthday Parties and The Kitchen Sink

January was full of adventure. A mission trip, a successful DMV appointment, a birthday, indoor soccer, and lots of togetherness. It was cold and cloudy but we did have some warmer, sunnier days that were so good for the soul. 

Rainy is always bringing home fun circus toys to play with. It always makes for a very entertaining afternoon, lol.

Alethia was invited to a fancy 15th birthday party. It was so sweet to watch Rainy help her get all dolled up. She was gorgeous, but alas, she didn't want me to get a picture. You'll just have to take my word for it.

I've decided that my favorite sport to watch is indoor soccer. It's like a mix of hockey and soccer. It is super fast-paced, no off sides and no out of bounds so they play off the wall and it is SO intense.  This is Cai's first time playing indoor but I'm pretty sure he's hooked!

Alethia got her level 1 permit! Now to clock those hours to get her on the road to independence.

This was the view for a week without Jude in the house. He and Josh headed to Guatemala on a mission trip and the whole house felt empty. Nobody to play hockey or keep conversation going non-stop! Even Berkley missed him.

I celebrated my 45th birthday and Josh took me to Crawford and Sons restaurant downtown Raleigh. It is the second time we've gone and it does NOT disappoint! They even reserved the window seat for us since it was my birthday. Rainy continues to bring fun circus toys to learn and practice. 

So this happened. Our sink completely came unglued and without the supports underneath (which were actually never installed) and without the proper instructions from the installer not to use the sink for at least 24 hours after installation (they said nothing after it was installed last year, so it was just a matter of time) the sink just fell through. I ran to the sink to hold it up off of the plumbing underneath, yelled to Zeke to go run out to the shed and grab a big bucket from the shed to prop it up on while we figure out what to do. So I did what every normal person does when their spouse is out of the country and a catastrophe happens...I call my friends who are pros at all the house things to come and save the day! I literally don't know what I'd do without Paul and Martha. We were back in running water order within just a couple of days.

While the boys were in Guatemala we got addicted to this fun HGTV show called Styled. It's fun to watch them transform spaces. Before and afters are our favorite and it even got our own minds thinking creatively about our own space as we learn from Nicole and Caffery.

Rainy Turns 18

 With such a busy month we had a hard time squeezing in birthday celebrations so we opted for a Sunday afternoon with friends, food and fun. And then took Rainy and Alehandro on a double date to the shooting range which was way more fun than I ever would have thought it to be! My friend, Heidi, had heard Rainy mention that she really wanted a gray chicken so she found 2 gray baby birthday chicks and Rainy's day was MADE!