Love, The Knoxes: Life Since October...

Happy belated New Year everyone! I've decided to revive my blog...not so much as to get readers, but because this seems to be the best way for me to keep a photo album of sorts for our family. I "dusted off" this space a few weeks ago, looking back over the past six years of posts, and decided to get back to it. It's so fun to be able to look back at so many moments in our life, kind of a "highlight reel" of sorts. Plus, with us living far from family and friends, I thought blogging more often would be a nice way for anyone who's interested to keep up with us in more ways than the phone. So, here goes! Photo wise, this post is a bit sporadic, partly because I'm condensing four months into a relatively short post, but also because I broke my phone a couple of months ago and lost all my pictures. My mom sent me what she had on her phone from pictures I've texted her, but other than that, the rest are gone.
Life in TX: Can I just say, we love January! I mean, we have honestly enjoyed each month and the slow changing of seasons, but winter is proving to be absolutely fabulous. The weather is up and down, from the 40's (less often) to the high 60's (more often). It rains every week, which warrants a "winter" day in to cozy up with books and blankets and hot chocolate, but within a couple of days, the sun is back out bright and we are all spending our days outside again. The girls decided winter is the best here because it's the perfect temperature, the mosquitoes and bees are dormant, we don't have to worry about sunburns, and they can scamper through the middle of the woods instead of sticking to trails because the snakes are hibernating! (If anyone needs a break from snow, we have a guest room...come on down!)
I'll start way back in September with a story of God's providence in our lives. Eden was just a few weeks old, and more lethargic than I remembered our other girls being. Near the end of the month, she started spiking these high fevers that would surface and then go away as fast as they came. My mom had planned on coming in early September, closer to when Eden was born, but my dad had surgery (the day of Eden's birth) that ended up being much more difficult than expected, so she wasn't able to make it to Waco until the end of the month. Late one night a few days after she got here, Eden spiked another fever and Brad and I decided to take her to the ER. They found that she had a UTI and gave her a shot of antibiotics, sent us home with a prescription and orders to come back the next afternoon just to make sure she was looking better. The next day, I dropped Brad, my mom and the girls off at the children's museum and headed to the ER for her re-check, assuming we'd be in and out. While we were there, her fever spiked again and her blood work showed high white blood count, so they admitted us. She got an IV (watching my tiny infant go through getting an IV put in their arm is the least fun thing I've ever done) and hours later we were settling in to the pediatric wing of the hospital for what would be a four day stay. Brad was just a couple of weeks into his new job, and we didn't have a home church or anyone we knew very well at that point, so my mom "just happening" to be here when she was was such a huge blessing, as she was able to take care of the girls all day every day while Brad worked and I stayed with Eden at the hospital. She was able to extend her trip a few extra days, so after Eden was discharged and in good health, we got to do some fun things with mom:)

A few highlights for us the past few months have been hosting Brads parents for Thanksgiving, a spontaneous afternoon visit from some dear friends/mentors from Helena who stopped by and ate lunch by the pool with the girls and me, a quick visit from my aunt, uncle and cousin which happened to be while my mom was here, buying a house(!!!), exploring all the little nature spots in and around Waco we can find, and joining an amazing group of women and kids called Wild and Free (it's a local branch of a nationwide home school group...I'm meeting my cousin at a W and F conference in Dallas next month!) Another thing we did this past fall and hope to go to each year is the annual Homestead Fair, where a large community of Anabaptists open up their community for the city of Waco to come hear live music, watch and even participate in pottery making, blacksmithing, woodworking, weaving, etc. There was a hay bail maze for kids, a petting zoo, and amazing home made food around every corner. Such a fun time!
Christmas, well, it was hard on all of us leading up to it. December was a sentimental month filled with nostalgia of the past seven Christmases spent in MT, and there were more than a few tears shed over the course of the month. However, not feeling in the "spirit" of Christmas made me focus of Christ more than ever, remembering that no matter how far we are from family and how alone and sad we feel, we are in the presence of Christ wherever we are; that the spirit of Christmas is really all about how much of the Spirit we are inviting into our space, whether that space is with or without the people we desire to be with. That said, we did have a lovely Christmas Eve service, watched The Snowman before bed as is tradition, and had a lovely Christmas day, taking goodies to the Waco dispatchers and going to some friends' for dinner. We hope to go to MT next year for the holiday.
And so here we are, mid January, with a nearly 5 month old Eden, and a spunky kid (see immediate picture below for proof!) who's about to turn four...FOUR!!! We've got several visitors coming over the next couple of months, some light travel plans for Spring break in March, and before we know it, summer will be upon us and it'll be road trip time!
I hope January finds you well and enjoying the calm after the holidays, drinking something warm and delicious by the fireplace, reading something that stirs your soul, and tackling those 2019 goals!
To everyone far...we miss you more that words on a screen can convey. You are tucked close in our hearts and we think of you each and every day, and look forward to summer!
Much love...

Lily, working on school, snuggling the baby

Thanksgiving

Mother Neff State Park: enjoying it in the winter. We've heard there are too many rattlesnakes to go the rest of the year.

New outfits to match their dolls, and (unintentionally) matching new sewing boxes from Grammy and Papa. They spend much spare time since Christmas making little things for their dolls...and I find pins and needles everywhere!