The Queen’s Chronicles – December to Remember

Happy New Year! The 2nd half of 2024 held lots of change for our family and let’s just say my creative side of the brain just didn’t function well through the transition and finding the mental space to come to this page was a struggle. Because this blog serves as a scrapbook of sorts, I wanted to add to the Queen’s Chronicles and capture our December to remember before we get too far into 2025.

We started off December showing off our grandparent status for everyone to see right on the front lawn! Nothing says we will pretty much do anything for our grands like the Bluey family Christmas blow up. Haisley LOVED it and we even caught a few others in our neighborhood stopping by to enjoy it.

Keith’s company holds an annual Christmas party and this year it was held in Fort Worth and we never miss a chance for a free night away at a hotel. We ate great food and enjoyed the casino night. Y’all have no idea the Rip references we have to endure when Keith wears his cowboy hat. 🙂 We also got a little chuckle to see Dillon’s face on the big screen. In November he took a sales position in Midland with the same company and we are super excited about his new job opportunity.

Other notable December activities included the lighted Christmas parade and Haisley’s Christmas program at preschool. Our girl is growing up so fast!

With Dillon now seven hours away and no vacation time yet at a new job, we gathered the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with him. I included some forced family fun with the “viral” box photo theme and even though I didn’t execute perfectly, I’m so glad we grabbed some candids. It was a sweet day with too much food and lots of time loving on our babies.

A few other notable celebrations included my brother’s sweet grandbaby being released from the NICU after a little over two months and my sister marrying her love. Sweet Sunnie Jo is precious and I swear my brother has a twinkle in his eye! I also was able to meet up with my childhood friend, Keisha, for lunch for the first time in 5 years and it was so good for my soul!

We rang in the new year with our Haisley girl playing lots of Pretty Pretty Princess, Keepy Uppy and she even faced her fear and held a sparkler. While we didn’t make it quite to midnight, we did watch the ball drop in NYC and I celebrated that she didn’t know the difference because Honey was TIRED!

I hope you all ended the year in a joyful space. This last year I’m definitely grateful for the highlight reel to remind me of all the sweet times. I never think of myself as someone who resists change but the transition to empty nest life took a minute to embrace. My mom’s health took another downward turn in March due to a fall and watching her decline defintiely weighs on my heart so heavily at times but also reminds me that we don’t have total control over our lives and soaking up the moments while we are in them is important. Thinking of all of this as I settle on my guiding word for 2025….hopefully I’ll stop back in to share that with you guys soon. Until then, LIVE life to the fullest as best you can!