Had a rare open weekend with no plans, so of course we head straight to the lake any time that happens! Finally got to hike to the dam…
Walking sticks are a must for boys anytime you hike!
Made it to the dam, which was a little underwhelming, not gonna lie. The cliff views in our neighborhood are much prettier.
It was still a gorgeous day and nice to be outdoors with the fam!
Shep is king of the sticks, lol!
It was the perfect afternoon for a little golf (and my very first time on the course)…
Watching and learning from the best….
Couldn’t pass up some gymnastics poses at sunset!
Practicing stoking the fire…
Just one more example of why you gotta love that lake/country life…
This was his scary, back off move…
These two and their wrestling is still going strong…
And now time for a bunch of random pics….
Brooks taking his safety patrol duties very seriously!
How Ellis sits when her brothers aren’t in the car, lol
Take 587,923,015 of our “Brunch Babes” selfie after lunch, and this one was my fave, lol…
My little cuddle bug and best snuggler ever! We crack each other up and have so much fun together!
The pics our mobile dog groomer sends us while she’s grooming Otter…
Such a handsome boy!
First night of Thanksgiving Break I took the kids to the movies to see….
Trolls!
As much as I don’t want to document this, I need to be real for a minute and write this out so in the future I can see how far she’s come and remember how faithful and good God is. Always providing comfort and peace when we need it most. The morning after this movie I woke up and noticed Ellis hardly had any eyebrows. I know this isn’t my full story to tell, but it’s still a part of my story too, because she’s my child. Ellis suffers from anxiety (like me), but seems to be suffering with some OCD as well. She has since pulled the rest of her eyebrows and all of her eyelashes out. It doesn’t hurt her, we’ve had no significant traumatic events happen, she just simply has the urge and can’t stop herself from doing this (at the moment).
As a parent watching your child suffer with this is beyond gut wrenching. I’ll be honest I did not take this very well at first. I had a panic attack and cried every day for two weeks straight (never in front of Ellis). Adam and so many other people praying for us carried me through my dark moments and helped me realize that, Ellis especially, was fine and everything was going to be okay. We have a plan in place to hopefully help her and we WILL get through this. This has also given me perspective and reminded me of what’s most important in this life and I pray we are conveying and teaching that to all of our children as well. As I fill in Ellis’ eyebrows for her every morning she usually gives a simple shrug and an “eh it looks fine”, and then goes about her day without a care in the world, and that’s truly all that matters!
Now onto something lighter, we had our annual “Friendsgiving” at Breea’s house this year…
And here are the rest of all the amazing pics Robyn made us take of….
The ladies!
Vodka infused whipped cream for the adults, lol….
The guys!
The kids!
Besties that fight like sisters! Not sure if I mentioned this in my blog before or not, but Ellis and Grace remind me of my little red headed bestie, Stephanie McKinnon, growing up!
Boys were wrestling and playing with nerf guns while the girls were making up cheers!
Laura showed up to the party after everyone had already left, lol, so the “brunch babes” rallied and went to the neighborhood wine bar for a bit! Love these ladies and so grateful for them!
The next day at church the kids had to choose someone they were grateful for and write them a note. Ellis chose her cousin, Carolina!
Sunday evening we headed back to the lake to take advantage of our week off from school! On our way we noticed this fun little drive through light show they had set up in Weatherford…
Otter loved all of the lights too!
Such a fun little impromptu Christmas activity!
The Arguijo’s joined us up at the lake this time!
Otter is just living his best life!
T-R-O-U-B-L-E
We’re at the stage now where we can send the kids on their own to the park to play tennis! Brooks and Jackson played for hours! We still have to pick them up though, lol, because obviously they’re way too tired to run back home.
That sunset though!
Before bed….
…And first thing in the morning!
We put together lots of puzzles…
…played lots of ping pong…
…road bikes in the bunkers and golf course hills, lol…
…did gymnastics on the greens…
…played more tennis (safety first, lol)…
…more puzzles…
…arm wrestled…
…and had the most relaxing and chill time at our “Happy Place”!!!
Then we drove straight to Houston to celebrate Thanksgiving with the rest of our amazing families!
Ellis tried a little bit of everything, lol, and of course the only thing she liked were the rolls.
I mean I guess it’s a healthy(ish) lunch!
Levi is just the perfect size to love on aka wrestle with!
Loves him!
💕💕
Happy 71st birthday Papaw!
With so many boy cousins, Ellis sure is grateful for all of her Aunts!
Present time!
Game time!
Dessert time!
Cousins = Best Friends
Love us!
Saying bye to Otter for a few days. So thankful Kelly helps watch him for us!
So hungry after all of that yummy Thanksgiving food, lol!
Boy cousin sleepover at the ‘Stroems’ house!
Thanksgiving Round 2 with the Hundl side!
Best parents in the world! Love these 2 so much!
Will match these two for as long as they will let us!
Like I said, T-R-O-U-B-L-E!
Picture perfect!
VS.
Reality!
What a lucky man sandwiched in between these six AMAZING women!
Not sure I like being outnumbered by all these boys after growing up with just girls! J/K, love them!!!!
Kids table!
Teen (and young adults) table!
Get in my belly!
Adults table!
We’ve become just a little obsessed with puzzles…
Finally helping Memaw put together the picture puzzle we bought her for Mother’s Day
She had the honor of putting in the last piece!
All done!
Playing with cousins one last time before getting on the road back home…
These cuties are smiling so big because they’re super happy to be getting rid of all the chaos and go back to the peace and quiet, lol!
We saw Buc-ee on our way home!!!
Had to document this adorable turkey Shep made of all the things he’s thankful for!
It says…
I am thankful (for) God and Jesus. I am thankful (for) church because it teaches us about God and Jesus. I am thankful for my family because they help me do stuff. I am thankful (for) my house because it is a place to stay and do stuff. And I am thankful (for) the world because we can stay outside and live.
If this doesn’t scream Shep’s oh so sweet and ALL boy personality, I don’t know what does, lol! Gosh I love him!
I will leave you with the most exciting news and the most important decisions Brooks and Ellis have ever and will ever make in their lives–– both have asked Jesus into their hearts and want to be baptized! As their parents this is the BEST thing we could ever hope for! Our church does this wonderful 3 week new believers class to make sure the kids are ready and truly understand what it means to be baptized. They each received this baptism bear and a certificate after completing the class, and now just have to pick a weekend to be baptized, so stay tuned….
Those crazy Dimmick's 
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