January 8th 2020: Print favorite photos

I printed out some of my favorite pictures from the end of 2019 and one from my birthday this year. Some were from my daughter's birthday in October, Halloween, my trip to Arizona in early December. The memories made leading up to and after these pictures mean the world to me.

My daughter made her stuffed Skye and watching the process of her make it was so pure. She loves it more than any other thing she owns, because of all the special memories attached to creating her. I remember going to the store with the original plan to make a pay her age bear, but her heart was set on Skye and the rest is history. I also remember the amazing lady in charge of the carousel let us ride for one dollar, because she had already closed her register for cards and that was all the cash I had on me.

Our dogs (and kids, honestly) run to you as soon as you lie on the floor. I think it's so sweet (most of the time) that they love us so much that they take the opportunity to appreciate that our faces are on their level.

I remember how dreadfully windy it was when we finally made it out to the pumpkin patch, we kept our visit short and sweet. I swear we had a layer of dirt on us when we called it quits. The kids launched pumpkins, raced tricycles on a track, posed for pictures on really cool old trucks, climbed to the top of a hay bale pyramid, (my son melted my heart by helping his little sister up and down it.) then picked their pumpkins to carve. We jammed all that fun into what I'm sure was less than 20 minutes. Of course Halloween was adorable watching them ask for candy from our neighbors and then passing out candy to other cute costumed kids.

I drove my kids to visit my dad around Thanksgiving when he was about an hour and 40 minutes from our city. It had been about a year since we last saw him so we enjoyed catching up over dinner, and then he gave us a tour of his semi. The kids were in awe, my daughter still asks about once a week to see grandpa with his chickens and/or his truck.

My trip back to Arizona for my brother's wedding was so necessary for my soul. I needed to spend some good quality time with my family. So many inside jokes were made over the course of the weekend. A lot of us got spontaneous matching tattoos, we celebrated love, we partied, we danced, we sang, we lived. I loved that weekend. I loved sharing a hotel room with my favorite cousin (sorry runner-ups) who is like a sister to me and definitely my best friend. We shared a king bed in full sleepover style. We went grocery shopping in full mom style. It was a blast. 10/10 would do again.

My dad was randomly in the area for my birthday so I, my family, and sister went to have lunch with him. It was a nice surprise and I'm glad we were able to spend that time together. With most of my family living in a different state, it's rare to even see them once in a year, and I feel fortunate to have now seen him three times in a span of 3 months.

I loved today's challenge and reminiscing about these memories. I feel all warm and fuzzy now.