We celebrated Titus' birthday last week by having family over for tacos and Oreo ice cream cake (his grandma's passed-down recipe). It was a great time! This is always how we celebrate birthdays-- with the birthday person's food of choice and cake of choice plus family and presents 🥰🥳

I absolutely love our church's babies/preschool, children's, and youth programs! Our church works so hard to make all of its departments age appropriate and enjoyable so the kids can truly soak up and learn Biblical truths! I (Marissa) grew up at this same church and always felt so loved/seen as a kid (still do as an adult 🥰). 

The picture on the left is Judah singing on stage at Bible study Tuesday morning and the picture on the right is of Judah walking in to his Wednesday night church class! 

We had so much fun at the fair with grandpa and grandma! Judah loved all the animals in the petting zoo and was tall enough to ride some of the rides this year! He was SO excited to ride the monster truck and elephant rides that he would IMMEDIATELY call out "again!!" when the ride stopped! So we rode those two over and over! We also enjoyed funnel cake and ice cream 😋 AND grandma and grandpa treated Judah to his first bag of cotton candy on our way out! It was so fun and brought back so many good childhood memories!

Our day has consisted of playing chalk, going to a special toddler Valentine's library program, bringing Daddy lunch at work, and now taking a nap 😊 Later in the day we will make our traditional chocolate covered strawberries and have a home made dinner together as a family! We try to keep Valentines fairly simple and stress-free but do enjoy the occasion to remind each other how much we appreciate each other so we usually exchange cards 🥰

We got to travel to Michigan to see family this past weekend! We had so much fun riding in the ranger, snow mobiling, playing with cousins, drinking hot coffees, and catching up on everyone's lives. We feel so blessed to get to go to Michigan twice a year! 

We love to be outside! The last couple of days were cold so we had to be inside, but today warmed back up! Judah was thrilled! I'm so grateful we live in Florida where we CAN be outside the majority of the time! Judah can't wait to introduce another little one to all of our favorite outside activities 😊

Someone is happy that we are all off of school and work today! 
One of the best parts of being nurses is that we are BOTH home more often than not. I (Marissa) only work two days a month so I can be home with the boys and Titus works full time but as a nurse that's only 3 days a week since he works 12 hours those days! So we really do get a TON of time together as a family. And as you can see, we love it :)

Our Christmas morning tradition is to wear matching Christmas shirts, eat cinnamon rolls, and read about Jesus' birth in Luke 2. Then we talk about what stood out to us in the story and how much it changed our lives that Jesus came to us, lived the life He lived and died the death He died so we can be saved and know Him forever. Then we each pray and thank Him. And then we open presents and stockings. It's such a special family time together! I treasure these memories. 

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is simply going and getting the Christmas tree! I don't know what it is about it but I love the whole evening! Picking out the tree, playing Christmas music as we decorate it with lights and ornaments, and stopping randomly to just dance to the music together. It all just feels so cozy 🥰

Judah LOVED his first camping trip! We saw so many cool animals and hiked on a ton of trails! Judah LOVED the tent and thought it was so funny that we got to sleep in it. We try to go to this same camp ground every year because we all love it so much! 

What do you do when your Michigan grandparents come to visit? You spend the weekend at the beach of course!

We got to stay at a lovely beach house with Titus' parents this weekend. They come to visit us here in Florida every year and it is always a treat! We played games, chatted, the older guys played pickle ball, we made sand castles, ate good food, and enjoyed the nice warm gulf. We also had two SPECTACULAR sunsets! 

While they were here we also celebrated Avrie and Judah's November birthdays (they're 19 and 2 now!)! I brought party decor and cake ingredients with us so we had their birthday party right there at the beach! The rest of the family all came out to celebrate and the boys enjoyed cake and opening presents!

We had such a fun Halloween! We got to go to our church's trunk or treat which I went to when I was a child and I plan to take my children to every year as well. They had so many cute trunks, some big bounce houses/slides, and food trucks! Judah was a puppy this year and was all smiles as he ran around and did all the festivities! 

We've been busy the past week. My Mom and I took my youngest boy Judah to Disney World for a couple nights and then when we came back all of us stayed out at the beach for 3 nights! It's our annual tradition for my brother to come into town with his family for a beach family reunion. All the cousins have a blast together. We go to the beach, fish, play in the sand, go to the pool, and play games. 

A lot of people have been checking in after Florida was hit by its second hurricane in two weeks. Helene didn't affect us as much but this one was much closer. Thankfully, our home is built with hurricanes in mind and it's not in a flood zone. We all made it through safely and the older boys are AGAIN happy for some extra days off of school 🥰 Hurricane days are Florida kids' equivalent to snow days! We lost some palm branches and the power was out for a very little bit but it's back on now and we had no damage. Praising God! Here's a photo of Judah during our morning walk trying to pick up a coconut that fell during the storm 😊

We are very grateful that our house didn't have any damage from the recent hurricane. We actually had a good couple of stay-at-home days together as a family because the older boys were off of work and school so we got extra hang out time together! Some surrounding neighborhoods did have some flooding but our neighborhood is fine. Praising God for that while praying for all those who have been so strongly affected. 

Also, Titus and I try to go to a marriage conference once a year and it got cancelled this year due to the hotel having some flooding. But we already had the time off and Judah was already looking forward to having a grandma and grandpa weekend so we still decided to go to Tampa for a couple nights. We enjoyed visiting a couple nature parks, exploring an aquarium, eating good food, scootering along the bay, and just catching up on life together. Many of our conversations together are still focused on growing our family. We really long for and look forward to the day where we get to welcome another baby into our family! 

A question I get asked SO often is how do the older boys do with Judah? And I always grin a bit because if they ever saw them interact for even a second they would know instantly that Judah ADORES his big "bubbas". And his big brothers adore him right back! They make him laugh and include him and give him so much attention that it never ceases to amaze me. They are the best, most responsible teenage boys and Judah loves to copy anything he sees them do. I love that he's growing up with not just his mommy and daddy but also two other built in role-models. It's so nice to have so many young adults and adults in one house because we can really always be giving the little one/s the attention they long for. I can't wait for another little boy or girl to get to experience the same attention/love! 

We had a wonderful 2024 family reunion! We got to stay on Houghton Lake and spend a lot of quality time together! All 23 grandkids/cousins were there this time (plus an aunt that's due any day with another cousin/grandbaby) and they all had SO much fun on the boat, in the water, in the sandbox, on the swings, playing with toys, and being together! These reunions are truly every child's dream come true! I love that they have so many cousins. It's so fun watching them all play to their hearts content! And so nice for all of us adults to get to spend time together and catch up on life! They all know of our dream to adopt one more child and are so excited to welcome another child into the family! 

One of our favorite traditions is going on a family vacation every summer! This year we decided to go to Kentucky and see the Ark Encounter and do some fishing/hiking. We had a GREAT time! We stayed for a week and enjoying being outdoors with each other. We stayed at a really cool airbnb that had a huge pond that the older boys caught SO many fish in. We also went on a different hiking trail every day. One of our favorite hikes was at the Red River Gorge where they had a HUGE rock you could jump off of into the water. We can't wait to share this tradition with another child one day! 

We had an awesome week with cousins this week! We got to go to Chuck E Cheese, the beach twice, the children's museum, a splash pad, and visit at our own house and grandmas house. The three boys (our Judah is 18 months and their boys are 1 year old and 3 years old) all had SO much fun together! The boys kept hugging each other and they shared much laughter! 

We took a new family photo at family night last night because these boys look so much older every day!

We love family night. We get together with Marissa's parents once a week at their house or at a park for dinner and to catch up. It's always a bright spot in our week! 

We got to go to Clearwater for our five year anniversary. It was only a two night trip but it was a great time of connecting, planning, dreaming, and celebrating 5 years of marriage. The sunrises were gorgeous and the coffee was delicious.

We truly feel like the better our marriage is the better our kids will thrive. A picture of a heathy marriage is something we hope and work to always offer to our children. And this trip was a great way to model that. They also didn't complain one bit about getting to spend two nights away from mom and dad with their grandma and grandpa (who may spoil them a bit) 😂

Easter weekend fell on my husband's birthday weekend this year! So our weekend was full of celebrations!

Titus' birthday was on Saturday so our youngest son and I took him a birthday lunch at work and made him cookies.

Then on Sunday we went to church and celebrated our Risen Savior Jesus! After church, we went home for naps and food prep. Then we joined Marissa's parents for an egg hunt, early dinner, and dessert. 

On Monday we had family over for Titus' birthday party. Birthday parties are always fun in our family. Titus picked pizza/cheese puffs for dinner and a strawberry shortcake truffle this year for his dessert! He also got a new bow and arrow which he and the older boys enjoyed playing with in the back yard. 

We feel so blessed to live in Florida! We both love being outside so much and in Florida we can go for multiple walks a day all year round (and we DO)! One of our favorite places (besides our neighborhood) to walk is the Six Mile Cypress Slough. Almost the whole walk is a boardwalk through trees and beside ponds. We always see cool birds and animals. We've gone to this particular park regularly for six years now. In November of 2022 we adopted our precious son and he now shares our love of the park as well! It's such a blessing to get to introduce one of our favorite places to him and see him grow to love the outdoors as much as we do! We bring his tricycle and he likes to switch back and forth between walking and riding his trike. 

We had so much fun this weekend. Every year we spend a weekend with my (Marissa's) parents and brother's family. My brother and his family couldn't come this year due to the hurricane and travel logistics. But we decided to still go with our boys and my parents. And we had a great time. We went to the beach, the pools, the tennis court, pickle ball court, and walked around the neighborhood. We also had so much fun trying all new food places. It was so nice to spend some quality family time! Now we are looking forward to Titus' family coming to Florida next month! 

We are safe! Praise God! Our area got hit very hard by the hurricane, but our neighborhood is very well built and we sustained very little damage besides trees down in the neighborhood. 

Titus and I are both nurses so we stayed at the hospital throughout the storm taking care of patients. We ended up being there for 52 hours straight! My parents were awesome and had a sleepover with the boys while we were gone! We'll never forget the memories we all made.

Because our house and vehicles are ok we are free to help others and have been busy helping pick up branches and shingles for others. Days I'm not working at the hospital, I have also been collecting clothing from my neighbors for our church to distribute. I have been blown away by how much our neighbors have donated. I've already taken over two trunk fulls! (See photo) I already loved our neighbors and neighborhood but this all has just solidified how great they are!! Also, so grateful for a church that's so involved in the community and already reaching out to those in need! 

As I drive around and see the detestation, I am so grateful for the line men, disaster relief, military, and police that have flooded our area and have been working 24/7! It's so beautiful to see the community come together like it has! 

My scrapbooking buddies are a little more distracting than helpful but I love it! I'm finally working on my 2022 Scrapbook and it looks good so far. I'm finally caught up to June and enjoying re-living our summer vacation as I arrange and paste on all the photos. Feeling grateful for our family and hopeful for its growth one day ❤️ 

I love to bake! So it's no wonder I get excited at all the new recipes in each season! It seems like there is pumpkin spice and apple cider everywhere! Can't wait to eat these homemade pumpkin spice muffins and drink some warm apple cider while enjoying our family time together tonight! 

Look at my little nephew! Isn't he just the cutest? My brother and sister in law just announced that they are expecting again!! I'm so excited because this means that between November and March we will have three new neices/nephews to love on (two of my other sisters in law are due in November and March)! And whenever the Lord blesses our family with a little one they will be SO surrounded with the MOST cousin love ❤️❤️❤️

You know how sometimes a verse just pops out like
a little hidden gem? Well, this was the one for me
today. It never ceases to amaze me that a high, holy,
and eternal God would care to come down and
revive a contrite and lowly me or us! Praising God for this today.

One of my patients bought me flowers this weekend and it made me smile! Reminded me that even the little things we do like smile at some one in the grocery store, pick up something they dropped, or hold the door for them, can make a difference! Small acts of selflessness can make an impact on someone else's day! 

I love our backyard! It's probably one of my favorite parts of our house. We already had papaya, mango, banana, pineapple, and guava growing. But we added a cherry bush and grape vine today! Can't wait until it's time to go out there and start picking! 

Just finished working a couple shifts! Titus and I love being nurses and wouldn't choose any other career for ourselves! Thought I'd share a photo I took at the height of the pandemic modeling full gear! One of our pastors asked if we'd share about our experiences being on the COVID floor on a podcast recently... it was a very interesting experience and WAY out of our comfort zone. Check it out here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/here-at-home/id1557553426?i=1000574964597

We had our Michigan summer family reunion this week (we do two Michigan reunions a year). What fun! One family wasn’t able to make it with their 5 children. But the other 15 cousins were all present and had a blast! I was trying to think of how to describe our reunions… Have you ever been to summer camp or to grandmas house for a week? Well these lake-side reunions are like all the good parts of both of those combined!

There were board games, card games, group games, treasure box time with grandpa, good food/desserts with grandma, water balloon fights, puzzles, naps, walks to the park, rides on the four wheeler or golf cart, four square, boat rides, tubing, biking, chalk drawing, and much much more! The kids ages range from 16 years to 5 months old currently and two families also recently announced they are pregnant again! All the families (except ours) have 4-6 kids. So every cousin seems to have a playmate and there is so much happening all the time between all the different age appropriate playing going on!

Titus is one of 7 boys and this is his family’s reunion. So all of them SO enjoy being reunited and reminiscing about all their adventures. They joke around, debate, play games, ride around on the four wheeler, golf cart/ ranger/ dirt bike, and catch up on life. They all so enjoy seeing how each others lives have unfolded and how their kids are all growing up together! It’s so fun to watch them show off their lives and kids to each other.

The sisters in law all enjoy sitting around and supervising the kids while drinking coffee or tea and working on puzzles together! We also have a women’s morning where we get to go out and go to the local thrift store and local diner together with Mom (just us ladies and any newborns)! These reunions are super fun but also can be overstimulating so we all look forward to and enjoy this couple hour get away together!

Personally, these reunions are a mixture of happy and sad for me! I love watching my step-sons Avrie and Ian enjoy all of their cousins and uncles (they really look up to their uncles and enjoy relating with them on more of an adult level now that they are older). I love catching up with my sisters in law. And I love watching Titus have the time of his life being reunited with his brothers! But part of me can’t help but feel sad that we don’t have any little children (Avrie and Ian are the oldest cousins) and have not been able to have a baby to bring up enjoying this life with us! Every year since Titus and I got married I think “maybe next year we’ll be the one with a little one.” And so far that hasn’t happened. This year I thought the same thing and am even a touch more excited about the thought since we’ve recently started working with this adoption agency! We shared our intentions to adopt after our struggles with infertility and all of our family was so supportive and excited with us to expand our family!

Anyways, thanks for reading my ramblings! Moral of the story is I am beyond grateful for such a loving, big, supportive, family-oriented extended family. I wish everyone had a family like ours. We feel beyond blessed to be able to get together twice a year and see each other! We feel family is so important and are beyond blessed to have so many people to both love-on and be loved-by!

We love to be outside! We went on another hike this morning. We love this local park because it has a nature walk around a big pond and a nice playground!