This is my favorite time of year. One year is coming to an end and we get a fresh beginning with the new year. For me, it’s all about reflection and goal setting. Looking back on this year, I have a lot to reflect upon and be grateful for. Here are our family’s top 10 milestones and/or memories for 2018.

10. Now that Katheryn is old enough to start enjoying Christmas and all it entails, we made the decision to stay home on Christmas day. All those who wanted to celebrate with us on that particular day were welcome to come over and enjoy the festivities and food with us. My amazing husband smoked a prime rib from Willy’s Butcher Shop here in Knoxville on his Big Green Egg. It was delicious!

9. Perhaps one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen was Katheryn’s performance at her first Christmas program at daycare. If you haven’t seen the videos, check out my Instagram page here. For now, here’s an adorable picture:

8. A rival to the cutest thing I’ve ever seen was her excitement and joy on Halloween. Our little Wonder Woman walked (ran) the streets of our neighbor laughing and smiling at all the other trick-or-treaters. We didn’t knock on doors. We collected maybe 2 pieces of candy. (Because let’s be honest, she’s too little to eat it.) And we had a blast.

7. In October, we met our close friends from Oregon and West Virginia in Atlanta. We took our daughters to the Georgia Aquarium and we took the whole crew to Eggtoberfest, an annual event hosted by Big Green Egg in Stone Mountain Park. Our girls even got some playtime at one of the awesome parks of Atlanta.

6. In September, we went to Hilton Head Island with my in-laws and the weather was perfect! It was fun and so very relaxing. Katheryn, 16 months at the time, grew to enjoy the ocean more and more each day. By the end of the week, we were chasing her into the waves.

5. This summer, I participated in Proverbs 31 Ministries’ Online Bible Study of “Seamless” by Angie Smith. It blessed me so much by teaching me all about how the Bible is “one complete story” from Genesis to Revelation. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. Katheryn enjoyed it, too. 😉

4. In April, we celebrated our sweet angel baby, Katheryn Joelle, turning one. We had a bazillion people over to our house to help celebrate. It was glorious madness. We feel incredibly blessed to have so many people in our lives who love and care for our sweet Katheryn.

3. Our family grew this year. My beautiful older sister delivered a healthy baby girl on August 18th. Ruby Belle Lewis is such a joy and we can’t wait to watch her grow up.

2. Speaking of growing, our family didn’t just gain a tiny baby, but my sisters and I also gained a new God-delivered wife for my dad, mom to us, and Kiki to our babies. She is smart, funny, and absolutely the perfect addition to our family. We love her and couldn’t have asked for a better mom to love us while ours is looking down on us from Heaven. ❤️

1. Finally, I come to my one true love. He has worked hard for our family this year and I’m so grateful for him. On top of his full-time career, he has taken on a second job painting on the weekends to earn some extra cash for our family. We have big goals which require paying off debt so he has sacrificed so much to help us accomplish this. Mr. Massie, I love you so much and I’m so thankful God gave me you.