Nathan and I didn't plan on going to the Jeep Go Topless event at Crystal Beach this year, but we got an invite that we couldn't pass up! We were invited to stay in the house with the Jeep Girl Mafia president and a few others! The house was right on the beach and wouldn't have to "drive" which is a plus! We were so excited that an opportunity came open for us to go! We had a complete and total blast!
For a Jeep meet for Jeep Girl Mafia, we went to a Texas Ranger game! It was so much fun to take up an entire section or two and cheer on our Rangers! We had such an amazing turnout, too!
We were invited by some friends to go to Del Norte for a life Texas Country show. We of course obliged! We love live music and this venue was beyond amazing!! We can't wait to catch more shows there in the future.
Y'all, this is what over 34 years of friendship looks like...
For Mother's Day this year, we started out the day at church and ended the evening with dinner with Nate's family. It was a sweet day of celebrating the mom's in our lives.
Nothing screams TEXAS like a Jeep meet at Bucees!! Am I right or am I right? It's honestly the best place to host a Jeep meet! Everyone can go and get whatever they want, and then we gather in the parking lot to talk Jeeps and look at Jeeps! Always a fun time. And, the sunset sure did show out for this particular night/meet!
On Saturday we celebrated NeNaw's 84th birthday with a fiesta!! Everything came out so cute and we had the best time celebrating our best girl! We cherish every minute we get to spend with Nate's Grandmother!!
When the weather is nice I like to take my Bible study out to the porch. I always bring Lexi out with me. Well, this was one of those days when this happened...
We joined some of our friends for a night out at the ballpark! Even though some of our friends are Braves fans (how rude, lol), we still had an awesome time together.
Nathan and I were blessed with a little date night and we spent it doing some of my favorite things! We went to eat on the town square at Farmluck and then capped off the evening by watching the sunset over the lake. I love this time I get to spend with my sweet man!
After celebrating Easter with the family, we came home and had a sweet little evening out on the porch! We talked, Mason played with his skateboards, and Lexi got all the pets!
Easter has quickly become one of my favorite holidays. I love celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior! We had a weekend full of Easter festivities. Friday was the Easter carnival at church, then an evening of worship at the Good Friday Service, then Saturday and Sunday were spent with the family.
Our church had a Good Friday service and I barely have any words to describe how amazing it was! It will forever be one of my favorite days I have shared with Nate. It was such a beautiful and moving night of worship.
NeNaw's home had a family Easter gathering today and it was such an amazing time!! They supplied food, drinks, and had an Easter egg hunt for the kiddos! There was even a special appearance from a Peep!! We enjoyed all of the family time together.
Linking up with Anne in Residence for her Currently series. Today we are sharing what we're currently getting, going, planning, posting, and thinking.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous on Sunday so we decided to take a topless backroads drive to see the bluebonnets and pick up some sushi! This is one of my favorite spring-time traditions of ours!
The last time I shared my coop it was decorated for St Patrick's Day. Quickly after decorating for that holiday, I learned that I was not a big fan of the green on my coop! But, I stuck it out until after St. Patty's Day. And then I had to stick it out a bit longer due to the weather! lol. I was finally able to get in and redecorate for Spring & Easter. I am loving these colors so much better! So, here is my chicken coop in all it's Easter & Spring glory and boasting that new sign I made...
Getting back to the basics of blogging around here (or trying to, at least). I used to do these weekend-wrapups all the time and I loved them. It's so much fun to look back at a weekend in our lives at a certain time/season in our lives! It's crazy how weekends change over the years. This weekend was a good mix of busy and being at home. Those are the best kinds!!
When we first reno'd our chicken coop, I made a round wood sign to hang on the top of the coop. I loved it and it was pretty adorable. I made the flowers on the sign to match those in the flower boxes. However, at the time I didn't think about changing out the flowers in the boxes with the seasons! So then the flowers on the sign never matched those in the boxes and that bothered me. lol. Anyhow, over time the sign started to weather and it was time for a new one. So, I whipped this one up...
While we were at Canton First Monday picking out our new hens Mason somehow talked us into letting him get a new pet...
Meet Skye...
We welcomed two new girls to our flock this past weekend! Meet Dixie and Dolly...
A few weeks ago I shared my chicken coop all decorated for Valentine's Day. Well, I just updated it for the next holiday...St Patrick's Day!!
Mason is obsessed with all things skateboarding right now! The other day it was absolutely gorgeous out so we went to play on our skateboards!
Day three of our New Mexico trip was spent in Ruidoso. We did all the touristy things...
On day two of our trip, we planned to drive over to Cloudcroft and then down into Alamogordo/White Sands. We'd make a day of it. We love taking the backroads from Ruidoso over to Cloudcroft. It's so beautiful! I get so excited every time we see wildlife, snow, reservations, etc.
One evening we were visiting with my sister's family and they mentioned wanting to make a trip to the mountains in Ruidoso. All I needed to hear was the word "mountains" and I was IN!!! We told them we'd love to take them there and show them around since we've been there several times before! Thus began the planning of a Ruidoso trip!!
One of my favorite things about my coop is being able to change out the decor for each holiday! I have two window flower boxes that I switch up the flowers in and I usually hang a decorative sign on the door. I recently decorated for Valentine's Day and I am loving the pops of pink and red!
Texas got another February snow & ice storm! While we were anticipating the worst, it wasn't nearly as bad as last year. We at least kept our electricity this time, and temperatures didn't drop quite as drastically.
Sailing during a pandemic...
What was it truly like??
I wanted to share a quick little tour of our stateroom (7614) on the Disney Wonder cruise ship! When we were planning for the cruise, it was hard to fully grasp what the room looked like and what we needed to expect. There were general pictures, but I know if I were able to find a specific video/tour of our exact room, I would have been ecstatic.
Day five of our cruise was our disembarking day. We were so bummed to get off the ship. We had so much fun and could have easily done a few more days. Our wishes were somewhat granted when we couldn't get to port due to heavy fog! They closed the channel and we had to wait several hours until the fog lifted! More time on the ship...
Linking up with Anne in Residence for her currently series. This month we are sharing what we are currently anticipating, organizing, reading, resolving, and scheduling.
Day four on the ship was another day at sea (sailing back toward home). This was also Nathan's birthday!! What a lucky guy to get to celebrate his birthday on a cruise!!
On day three we arrived at the beautiful Cozumel, Mexico!! Nate and I went out on our verandah for a bit to watch other boats and see the beautiful waters!!
Day two of our cruise was at sea! It was a full day and night of sailing towards Cozumel. We started our day off with a little time out on the verandah, watching the waves and water! I loved having this option to get some fresh air any time we wanted or needed it!
Monday morning came and so did all the nerves. We were all so anxious and had so many mixed feelings and emotions taking up residence in our minds. As a Mama, I wanted this so bad for Mason. I couldn't bear the thought of his disappointment if we weren't able to go. But as a sister, daughter, friend, etc. I was so bummed for the ones not able to come with us. And so bummed at the thought of it not working out like we hoped and planned.
We checked out of our room, grabbed some breakfast, and headed to the parking garage/shuttle. We didn't know what lied ahead...
We got to the cruise terminal with plenty of time to spare. Everything was moving pretty smoothly so far. We checked in our luggage and then waited until it was our turn to get in our first line. We didn't have to wait too long before that time came. It started getting more real by the second. However, we had to keep reminding ourselves to not get too excited just yet. We still had a Covid test we needed to pass...
Back in September of 2021, Nate's parents surprised the entire family {all eleven of us} with a Disney Cruise. We were set to sail on December 27th thru the 31st on the Disney Wonder, leaving out of Galveston, TX. We were all so excited to do this together as a family!
I wanted to include some moments throughout our Christmas season in a post. While most of these photos do not warrant a post on their own, I wanted a place for them here on the blog. It's our family scrapbook, after all! Even though there were many things that didn't go as planned {which has been the tune since 2020}, we still managed to have a beautiful Christmas season.
Christmas at the Halls looked a little different this year. Nate's middle brother's family was ill and not able to come. It was so strange without them there. We sure did miss them! It wasn't the same without all the grandboys there!! We made the most of the day and enjoyed our time together.
After spending Christmas Eve with my family, we came home and started preparing things for Christmas at home. Mason sprinkled his reindeer food, put out the Santa key, innkeeper's key, etc. Then he was off to bed!
For as long as I can remember, we've always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve with my family. Even as children, we'd talk our parents into letting us open a gift or two on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year. The anticipation leading up to Christmas and all of the traditions and festivities make this gal's heart so incredibly happy.
The candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church is always one of my favorites! I look forward to it every single year. The amount of time, planning, and preparing our church staff does is not lost on me. You can tell that they put their all into this service and it's so incredibly beautiful. This year, my whole family (minus my brother because they went to their church's service) came with us. That was the best gift I could ever receive. My family worshipping with us on Christmas Eve and hearing about the good news of Jesus, our Savior. I will cherish this day in my heart for a long, long time.
For our Disney cruise, Mason had to be tested for Covid three days prior to sailing. Which meant...Christmas Eve! Finding a place that was open and testing on Christmas Eve was quite the chore! Disney wouldn't accept a rapid test, it had to be a PCR test. We finally found a place in Dallas that was open, but getting an appointment time was another battle we had to fight! I finally got him an appointment for 8:06 am on Christmas Eve morning. Nathan's mom went with me since Nate was working a few hours that morning.
Our Christmas tree campout is a tradition that Mason and I started several years ago! We bring an air mattress into the living room, put on our favorite Christmas pajamas, and settle in for all of our favorite Christmas movies by the glow of the Christmas tree. It's such a special and magical time that I cherish so much! I am so thankful that my growing boy still loves to do this with me. I am holding on as long as I can and tucking each moment into my heart.
Today we went over to Mason's Nana's house to bake and decorate cookies for Christmas! It ended up being Michelle and I mostly baking and decorating them all! haha! The kids all ran around and played and Nana spent most of her time with the grands! But, it was a blast and I shaped up on my decorating skills - sorta. lol!
For Nate's 40th birthday this year, he went to a Meat Therapy session. Nathan's younger brother, Ty planned this event months in advance and it was the coolest idea ever! Nate, his brother, and his dad all went and had a blast.
We spent a sweet little Saturday morning at Vita Coffee House with Nate's brother and our SIL. Our church was actually paying for everyone's coffee that morning. How generous and awesome, right? Vita is owned by one of our friends we have known since she was a little girl. Vita is a gorgeous coffee shop with a boho feel. It's so cozy, warm, and inviting. I just love it there. And you can't beat the delicious coffee!
I knew at the beginning of the season that I wanted to add a little Christmas cheer to my chicken coop! So, I bought some poinsettias and whipped up a sweet little Christmas wreath! It made my heart so happy to see a little Christmas out at my chicken coop! It really is the little things...
Hi, I’m Crystal — daughter of the One True King, wife to my high school sweetheart Nathan, and Mama to our 15-year-old son, Mason. I’m a proud hockey mom, homeschooling adventurer, wannabe homesteader, and Texas girl through and through.Around here, I share our life...the messy, the meaningful, and everything in between. From chasing dreams and thrift store deals to traveling this beautiful state (and beyond), to finding Jesus in everyday moments... this is our story. Welcome to Hall Around Texas!! I’m so glad you’re here!
