Our Aweful Beautiful Life

2018 was pretty solid year. Health. Happiness. Trips. Games. Growth. And Milestones. None bigger than the 40/60 Milestones Grandma and Grandpa Hall surpassed this year. In August & September they each turned 60 years old. Then in November, they celebrated 40 years of marriage. We wanted to do a party, but after surprise parties for 40 & 50, they were onto us. We considered a 40th Anniversary dinner party, semi-recreating their wedding reception, but that flopped since their wedding fell around Thanksgiving and the start to the holidays. So, we planned a trip. The best time to get away seemed to be over New Year's eve, just after Christmas, so we booked the trip. Even though we couldn't check into the house until 4pm on Saturday, we decided we'd head up early and hit Bass Pro Shops for fun on the drive up. Trent & Stef joined us for a fun afternoon. Matt and Sarah were unsure if/when they'd leave as George and Margaret had puked in the night...

I'm just going to tie Thanksgiving and Christmas into one giant post, because that is basically the way they feel in real life. You anticipate Thanksgiving as the start of the holiday and by the time you take the last bite of turkey, it's Christmas eve. At least that's how it feels. So we'll start with Thanksgiving. Before Thanksgiving got here, we were lucky to spend a quick morning with Keaton at prek hearing a few poems and songs and eating the snacks they made with the high school home ec class. He was excited to share and we were excited to share the morning with him. Thanksgiving Day we went to the Hall side. We got to snuggle our new niece Margaret all day long, which was absolutely horrible. HA No one hated it more than Emmalyn. Maybe Keaton. Maybe me. Kidding. We all loved it! :) She's absolutely sweet as pie. And the pie was GOOD that day. We even grabbed a few family photos and Grandkid photos! As we transitioned into Christmas, we ...