We Have a New Uncle/Brother-in-law!

In the midst of some pretty challenging times, Curtis's sister Heather got married on December 5th!! Without going into all of the red tape we went through to get there, we were grateful to go to the wedding in Pittsburgh. Anna and Kate were flower girls and Drew was one of the ring bearers. They were all so excited (especially Kate, lol)!

Drew had the opportunity to walk with Dileshu's nephew Jason. I think it really helped him to have the confidence to walk down the aisle. Here they are practicing at the rehearsal.

Anna and Kate are naturals! They were also flower girls at Megan's (Curtis's other sister) wedding back in 2018.

And then the big day arrived. Here's our family all dressed up right before the ceremony. Heather had little notice about where her reception and ceremony would be because of COVID circumstances, but she did an amazing job planning and decorating for her wedding despite all the changes! I can't even imagine the stress she must have had. It was a beautiful wedding!

I liked this shot of Curtis and Drew in the welcome mirror.

Curtis and Megan walked up and set this rose in the appropriate seat where Karen (their mother) would have sat during the ceremony. She was truly missed and it was emotional.

Here was our view during the ceremony. Megan was the matron of honor and Curt co-officiated the ceremony with Dileshu's pastor.

Drew fell asleep shortly after walking down the aisle. It was his nap time and he wasn't going to miss it. He was even audibly snoring! When he woke up, he had a new uncle! :)

These girls were so precious. They stood up there so well together! I love that Anna put her arm around Kate.

Afterwards, we watched Heather and Dileshu have their first dance outside at a nearby park. It was freezing and we stayed in the van!

Here's the beautiful couple!! Dileshu and Heather Edwards!

Here's the big family picture with both Heather and Dileshu's families.

It was a quick trip, but we're ecstatic that we were able to go and participate! We love Dileshu already and we look forward to getting to know him more in the future at family gatherings. 

Thanksgiving & My Birthday

We have a lot to be thankful for this year and every year! Kate had a remote-learning activity to make a turkey and write what she was thankful for: God, mom & dad, and school.

We didn't have any additional guests for Thanksgiving this year. We kept it pretty low-key, but we had a lovely day. After FaceTiming with most of the family on both sides, we got to work! Curtis did a great job with the turkey this year.

I won't even tell you how often Anna talked to us about the wishbone. The girls were excited to see who would get the bigger side!

Kate won! 

In following the McDaniel tradition, we each wrote what we were thankful for on these colorful leaves. It is something we've also started to incorporate into RUF. I'm excited to see the final product with all the students' leaves when it is completed.

Anna insisted that she and Kate should have 3 leaves! 

My favorite that she wrote "I am thankful for God giving me faith and kindness."

Kate added some funny ones like "ice" and "glitter pens" though she had some very serious ones (similar to the beginning of this post). Her smile almost looks painful!

Drew is thankful for much - some of his specifics include "the Ghostbusters song," "trucks," "dancing" and "the Bible."

I mentioned I was thankful for our Friday family movie nights and some closer relationships that have happened during the pandemic. I love that our movie nights are one of the only things that have continued week-after-week this year without cancellations. :) I have some dear friends that have encouraged me in my walk with the Lord as we process everything going on in the world and what God is teaching us.

Curtis wrote a lot, but I'll mention a few. He shared that he was thankful for fun quarantining activities like Mario Kart, riding his bike, and "a God who always pursues me, loves me, and saves His people to the uttermost."

We watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving as a way to wrap up the day. The audience was entranced!

Then, we celebrated my birthday. Curtis and the kids did a great job working on this for me. :)

They were especially excited to eat the cake! My favorite gift this year was that the girls went back to school in person! It was a challenging few weeks doing remote-learning. My birthday was their first day back and I enjoyed my special time with Drew and the break from teaching. The girls were pretty excited to see their teacher and friends too!

Curtis and I celebrated a little early and went to Indianapolis together. It was a lovely birthday date; we ate at Cooper's Hawk and got some cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory! I felt very loved and I'm looking forward to another year of life!