I really needed something to look forward to, so we booked 3 nights away at a beautiful home here in Maple Valley on the Cedar River. We didn't really do anything different than we would at home, but it was a different atmosphere and the view was AMAZING. We ended up...

Molly has grown up (huge growth spurt and matured as well) and changed so much this year. She is doing AMAZING in 7th grade and is doing a great job of teaching herself the violin during orchestra class. She loves to learn and is interested in so many different...

For our 25th anniversary, I planned to get my wedding dress out, along with my Mom's and Grandmother's, and have the girls and I try them on. We ended up being out of town that week in July, so we did it later in the year. When Mom, Dad and the kids came up in late...

New Year's Eve has been my favorite holiday to celebrate with the Smalls since I started dating Tom in 1990. Mom always had fun decorations out and lots of appetizers available all evening to snack on while we played games and watched movies. We continued that same...

Tom's parents and the kids came up to visit us since we could not visit them at Christmas. We were around the house most of the time. But one day, Tom and Dad took the kids (the two adult kids too) up to the snow. They were not there very long, but I think everyone...

We have been talking about getting a dog off and on since July. I had done some research, but neither Tom or I really knew much. When Mom, Dad and the kids came up for a visit between Christmas and New Years, Autumn found a dog for us on Craig's List that met all of...

We had planned to head down to Southern California for Christmas this year, but I was physically not up to travelling. It was a hard decision to make, but the right one. It was a quiet Christmas, but no one seemed to mind. We had a lovely quiet day! But let's back up...

We had some family photos taken just before my hair started falling out. I'm so thankful to have some updated ones as the girls have changed a lot in the past year!

Dad and Else came up for a visit for 5 days. We didn't go anywhere or do much of anything, but it was nice to spend time together. My dad brought up the train with him and we had fun setting it up one of the first evenings they were here. I've been wanting to do that...

It's hard to believe that Sage is 16! She enjoyed a relaxing day around the house, only leaving to drive her and her sisters to McDonalds to get iced coffees. I cried like crazy when the 4 of them drove off down the street. I was not prepared for that! About a week...