January - February 2023

    We kicked off the New Year with bringing Nana and Grandpa in from the airport and said Happy New Year at midnight. Then the follow week was packed with fun. The girls were spoiled with presents, shopping, dinners, activities and so much more. It was a great way to kick off the new year. 

     January seemed to fly on by. Some highlights were taking home a guinea pig from school named LeRoy. Avery took great care of the pet over the weekend and they both enjoyed their little friend. The kids also had a blast at the Awana lock-in. It is so fun but a highlight is having the whole church at night to play laser tag and games in the dark. We ended the month celebrating Tessa's bday at our house and trying a new craft and jumping on the trampoline. I'm so glad they are close by. 

    February we had a special valentine's day as a family. The girls got valentine's shirts to wear to school, comfy pajamas to lounge in, and a new book to read. As a family we went to Perry's Steakhouse for a fancy dinner. Any 11 year old that knows what a porterhouse steak is and orders it off the menu sure is one spoiled kid!!  The kids finished the month off with a Mardi Gras dance at school. The kids had fun hanging out together. I think the biggest hit was the chic-fila sandwiches!  

    The kids continue to be active in AHG. They have done two camping trips this year, one with severe heat that included a 7 mile hike, and one in the freezing cold whey they earned their polar bear badge. They have one more camping trip coming up in April. Currently, they are working on the architecture and identity badges. They still love Awanas and every week they memorize verses and do a quick devotional. They have made such great friends in that program. Aubrey still loves her PAWS club and they both attend CITY club at school and help serve for that club. They continue to do outstanding in school and work very hard. Their teachers often compliment their work habits and their character. We are so proud of them in every way. 

January 2023: 

Nana and Grandpa Christmas/New Year Visit: 

Fun in January: 

February 2023: 

November - December 2022

      After a very busy October, we kicked off another busy month of November....and December sure wasn't anything different! Jay continued in his 3 month turnaround that seemed to drag on for forever at this point. But we hung in there until about December when we were just so ready for it all to be over! In the meantime we tried to make the best of it that we could. We had a gingerbread house competition where our time was set for constructing and decorating Team Avery and daddy vs Team Aubrey and mommy. We sure did have a lot of fun. I was thankful I could go on Avery's class trip to Moody Gardens and chaperone some of her friends. The favorite exhibit was the penguins and seals. Aubrey was home with a severe asthma exacerbation but daddy was taking care of her and in her rest time she made a penguin cake with fondant. She definitely made the best of her situation. 

     Thanksgiving was the first time all the Midei's were together in 4 years! It is hard to believe it was that long. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal together and some time on Friday after including a siblings with spouses date to Loro. One of the other highlights was mini golfing and go kart racing with the cousins. It was a great visit in which we all got to spend a little time together and I was so thankful Jay was given the two days off from his turnaround. It made the holiday complete. 

     Next up...December. One of the favorite memories was the kids white elephant gift exchange and Christmas Carol singing with all the friends. Fourteen girls in all, it was a lot of fun. The turnaround finally finished December 9th. That was a long 12 weeks! The first 9 weeks went swimmingly well and the last 3 weeks seemed to drag on for forever. By then I had to work my weekends so we seemed to miss each other but the following week we were all actually under the same room. It was amazing! Before we knew it, the kids were on Christmas break. This one was much anticipated this year in particular. We baked and baked and baked some more. We watched Christmas movies, drank hot chocolate, saw Christmas lights, and read about advent. We tried new recipes and old ones. And for the first time in a while I had to work Christmas Eve, but I was able to come home Christmas morning ready to open presents. I was really looking forward to Christmas morning for the kids to open all their presents. Their big gift was a trampoline this year. They sure were excited. We put it together Christmas day and all got to enjoy it. Some other favorites were blanket hoodies, a heated blanket, heated hand warmers, a claw machine, money machine, clothes, boots, games, and all the things! We had a nice relaxing day to build the trampoline, jump, and to play new games that were under the tree. It was pretty perfect. 

     On Dec 26 we left for a mini vacation to the Christmas Capital of Texas - Grapevine! We stayed at the Gaylord Hotel and it was so much fun. The kids enjoyed tubing down a slide, ice skating, snow ball fights, decorating gingerbread cookies, an escape room, a cirque show, and a old fashioned train ride to the Stockyards. There we went through a large maze, watched the Stockyard Stampeded and and old fashioned gun fight. The last thing we did was the ICE exhibit which was an area made of all ice (and it was 9 degrees!) and it was Polar Express themed. It was really well done. It ended with an ice slide which was pretty fun too. Overall, it was the perfect way to round out the year as a family.

     We finished off 2022 with our traditional homemade pasta meal. This year we did the egg ravoli (my favorite) and fettuccini alfredo. Both were winners. We had a day full of living in our pajamas, jumping on the trampoline, playing games and making a fun dinner together. It was a wonderfully relaxing way to end the year as a family. I'm so thankful for all the great memories of 2022 and also so thankful that the turnaround is behind us. I'm leaning into 2023 with God's eyes, hands, and feet to serve him and love him more every day. 

November 2022: 

Thanksgiving 2022: Midei family all together - first time in 4 years!!

December 2023

Fun times in between Thanksgiving and Christmas: 

Let the Christmas Good Times Roll...

Christmas Even Night Reindeer food, Monkey Bread, and Santa's cookies: 

Christmas Morning (Big gift --> Trampoline):

Christmas Vacation in Grapevine, Texas at the Gaylord Hotel:

Activities included walking around a beautiful indoor/outdoor resort, snow tube sliding, an ICE show (polar express theme) complete with an ice slide, ice skating, carousel ride, gingerbread man cookie decorating, an escape room, outdoor lights, training ride from Grapevine to the Stockyards, cirque show, relaxing, watching a glass blowing demonstration and a cirque show! It was amazing and so much fun. 

New Years Tradition: Homemade Pasta Dinner