David & his tubes

 Yesterday morning, long before most of Amarillo was awake we checked David into the hospital for day surgery. He had tubes placed in his ears to hopefully reduce the number of ear infections he has been getting and to hopefully relief some of his throat issues as well.

 Tuesday night his friend Quentin and his parents came by and give David a gift for having surgery.
It was really sweet of them and David loves his new tractor.

 Tuesday morning I woke up, got myself ready and the big kids prepped for school, woke James up and we grabbed David on the way out the door. Thankfully, Papa John came over and got the big kids up and drove them to school since they were still sound asleep when we left. We got checked in and David played while we waited.

 They called us back and we changed him and got him ready for the OR. The hospital even gave him a stuffed animal.

 It was about this time that he started getting sleepy and wanted some milk. I rocked him for a minute and he was just about asleep when Dr. Wright our ENT, the anesthesiologist and the OR nurse all came in to talk to us and before we knew it the OR nurse was carrying him back. He didn't cry, he had his paci and blanket and was content.
They moved James and I to his recovery room and I checked the time on my watch, it was 7:30am. At 7:50am, Dr. Wright came to see us and tell us everything went beautifully and David would be right out. Five minutes later, James and I were getting anxious waiting on him and then we heard him crying before we ever saw him. One of the nurses carried him in wrapped in his blanket. He put David in my arms and it reminded me so much of that day in the NICU when I held him for the first time. David had a cup of gatorade and by 8:30am we were on our way home.
 He slept for a while that morning but he ate, drank and played with his new toys for the rest of the day. He received new toys from us as well. Our sweet friend Lisa knocked on our door in the afternoon with dinner. It was such a blessing because although James and I napped with David, we were all very tired and out of sorts.

By last night he was back to his normal self and today you wouldn't know anything happened. We were so blessed by every ones calls, texts, gifts and dinner. On Sunday night some of our friends even stopped and prayed over David. We are surrounded by some truly amazing people.

Makayla's 14th Birthday

 I can't believe I am writing about Makayla turning 14! It was just yesterday James and I were kids and expecting the arrival of our first baby. Now that baby is about to be in high school and is the oldest of four!

 Makayla and I had a special movie night on Wednesday. We stayed out past our bedtimes and watched the Fathom event for Sherlock, one of her favorite shows.

 On the morning of her birthday she opened one gift. James, David and I bought her Panda Express and ate lunch with her at school.  For dinner that night we ate out at Freddy's, it was her choose!

 After dinner we came home to open presents and have cookie cake.

 That was not the end of celebrating Makayla. Friday night she stayed with her GG and Papa and celebrated with them.

 Saturday afternoon she spent some time out with her PawPaw and Grandma eating and shopping.

We could not be more proud to be Makayla's parents. She is so creative, brilliant and smart. She is certainly wise beyond her years and so sure of herself. I wish I was half of who she is when I was a teenager. She is pretty spectacular!
Happy 14th birthday to the original Lis baby!

Christopher's big choices

Several years ago we started our kids on the Davy Ramsey Financial Peace Junior program. It teaches them to give first to God with their money, then save and then "spend".

Just like with Makayla we had an agreement with Christopher that when he reached a certain amount in his save envelope we would take him to the bank to open his own accounts. 

 Well, over Christmas break we did just that! He opened a savings account as well as a checking account and got his own debit card! We are so proud of him for saving a dollar here and there and reaching his goal. He actually had a pretty good amount in his "spend" envelope as well and he does quite a bit of shopping.

He is growing up for sure! We are very proud.

Happy New Year!

We had an amazing Christmas break, I am a little sad to see it come to an end. 

We ended 2015 on a high note. James Henry and I had a date night to the movies and saw the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.

 On New Years Eve, John watched David so the 5 of us could finally go see the new Star Wars movie.  It was awesome!

 We started the evening at our church playing games and eating snacks.

 As it got later in the night we came home and continued playing games and hanging out.

 The kids got Pie Face for Christmas and it was a big hit for game night.

 The boys played War.

 We counted down with New York and then called it a night!

 On New Year's Day the Hadwin's arrived. They spent the night Christmas Day but they were trying to make it to Colorado before winter storm Goliath so we didn't get much time together then but we made up for it when they came back through Amarillo. We hung out on New Year's Day and woke up Saturday ate breakfast and then headed to Cadillac Ranch.

 It was David's first time to play tourist.

 After Cadillac ranch we had lunch at The Big Texan. I am so glad we started our New Year spending time with Ashley, Derek and Tyler.

 After lunch they headed home to Shreveport and we went to Brush With Art to use James' gift card and make his grilling platter.

 Then we went to the comic book store to spend more gift cards. The guys bought a new game and it has kept them entertained.

 We spent our first Sunday of 2016 at church and then James and I had our first date of the year, a movie & Freddy's!

We had a blessed end to 2015 and 2016 is off to a great start!!