Moving on...

" For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord... to give  you a future and a hope " 

Jeremiah 29:11

I have looked pack over the past 15 months and we have experienced so much of which I have often wondered how God's plan could contain goodness amongst so much sadness and hurt and anger I had felt. Of course all I had to do was quickly look into the faces of my beautiful, healthy children and know his plan for us contained so much more than just goodness but hope in the future.

Over the past several months there had been lose talk around Drew's work about him possibly making a move into a management position at a different location. Of course as I was getting prepared to welcome our 3rd baby all I could do to keep my sanity was to put my head down and ignore any ideas of us uprooting the life I had come to be used to and moving. Drew and I had been praying that God's will would be made clear and had decided to table any discussions about work and moving until after we welcomed Rory. As we sat in the hospital two days after welcoming Rory, Drew got a congratulatory call from his boss and the proposal to move to a manager's position in Odessa,TX. God was making his plans for our family abundantly clear. It helps that Lane & Neeley's family lives in Midland, TX the adjacent town to where Drew would work. Our heart's desire since they moved from Amarillo has been to be back together to raise our kids along side each other and experience life with one another. So two weeks after getting Rory home we made our first trip with her to Odessa/Midland for Drew to check out the branch and see if he would want to take on the manager's role. 

I tend to be a creature of habit and can get extremely overwhelmed with the idea of change, even good change that I have prayed for. Looking back over some of the biggest and ultimately best "changes" in my life have come with so much speed and force that I simply wasn't able to try and stop them. It has been no different with this one. After working out some details and less than two months since having a new baby we have a start date for Drew's new position and have just put a contract on our first house in a completely different city.

I am incredibly proud of Drew and his work ethic to be given this opportunity. It is so telling of the man he is that in 6 years he has gone from warehouse driver to branch manager. There is no doubt in my mind that this move will be life changing for our family and bring us so much joy and happiness for the future. However there is a lot of sadness about leaving this place I have called home for the past 10 years. Not only are we as of now leaving behind family, hopefully Tammy, Kelsey, and Nana will be coming to Midland soon after we move, we are leaving great friends and a church community who has loved our babies since the day they were born. I am also leaving the places that I have the most recent memories of my Mom and I together, our driving routes, our ice cream stops, the places we used to walk and hold hands. 

So as we look to the future with uncertainty and anxiety about how it will all work, with pride and fear of owning our first home, with excitement of being with our buddies again. We are also reflecting on all that Amarillo has meant to us and the familiarity of this town and the people in it.

5 year anniversary trip

I wrote this before Rory arrived and forgot to publish it... 


In the midst of the chaos over the past few months Drew and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. We managed to sneak away for a quick weekend getaway back to Santa Fe for an anniversary  / pre-baby trip.

We went with absolutely no plans but relax and enjoy time together. There is something truly wonderful about just getting to walk and explore while holding hands with the love of your life. The urgency of loading and unloading kids from cars to wherever we go and escorting them around often denies us the simple luxury of holding hands while out on adventures and it was so nice to just get back to being what we started out as... a couple!


The past 5 years of marriage has brought with it alot of life changes for Drew and I. Some we anticipated and others we did not but I can say with 100% confidence that through all the highs and lows I love and adore that man more today than I did 5 years ago! I am thankful every single day that he asked me to be his wife and that I got the most amazing partner in Drew!

I often find myself wondering what my parents felt for one another during the happy times of their marriage and welcoming their children to their lives. I have lots of family members say how much my Dad loved to be a father in the early years and how fun and amazing he was. I know my children's story with end up far different from mine because they will have not only a father that sticks around but an example of parents who love one another through thick and thin and they won't have to wonder like I do. But I want to write to them down the road for a minute about what an incredible person their Dad is.


Everett, Haven and Rory, your Dad could not be prouder of anything in his life than to get to be your Father! He makes decisions every single day with the single intent to make your lives better than ours is. He works tirelessly to provide for us not only what we need but all that you could want as well. At the end of a days work your Dad comes home to give kisses to us all and spend time wrestling, reading, and playing with you. Your Dad has had to overcome alot in his life and choose to be a different man than the example set before him in his parents. He does this every day by not only working hard to make something of himself at work but by his devotion to being the best dad he can be, an incredible loving husband and trying to follow God's guidance to the best of his ability. Sweet babies I want you to know that your parents are deeply in love with one another!  Your Dad does things daily to make your Mom's life a little brighter and easier. He has been my rock since I met him and the greatest supporter of all my desires. I have the utmost respect and love for your Dad and I want you guys to know that every day we fall more in love with one another. He is my best friend and brings laughter to me daily. The best thing though is knowing that through my highs and lows, my good days and bad, make up covered face or not he sees me for the best that I am and loves me through it all! I think it is important for you to know not only how much he loves being a Dad and how amazing he is at it but how much he loves your Mom and I him!

One Month with Rory

We have been loving on Rory for one month now and we all agree she is the absolute sweetest! We are all madly in love with this girl. Everett and Haven can hardly go 10 minutes without coming over to give her kisses. Haven only refers to Rory as "baby Rory" and Everett greets her every day with "Hello Beautiful Baby."

Rory is my snuggliest baby yet, she prefers to spend her time wrapped up in my arms or snuggled up to me in the Moby wrap. Throughout my pregnancy with every sonogram appointment the tech would remark on how snuggled up to me you were in the womb and you have kept this trend up and I must admit I absolutely love it!

With our second night in the hospital we noticed that Rory was having some gas pains and these only continued to worsen once we got home. After two weeks of being more and more "unsettled" the Dr. diagnosed her as colic. Thankfully from experience with our family we knew it was a very mild case but nothing seemed to help give her relief. Rory had been my best baby at breastfeeding from the beginning but we discovered she was suffering from a milk allergy that has resulted in us switching from breastmilk to a specialized hypo-allerginic formula. I was really hoping to nurse for a lot longer but Rory has already been very responsive to the formula that I know this was just what she needed to feel better. However as of now she is still not a fan at all of her carseat and finds the most comfort in being held. Her favorite position is snuggled up in a ball laying on my chest. I cherish all these moments of getting to keep you snuggled up to me though and hoping we are setting a trend for the future when you are a toddler!

Rory has already rolled from her front to back a few times while trying to get some tummy time in. I was shocked to see her do this so early following in her sister's footsteps! She has given us lots of sweet smiles and is focusing more clearly on the world around her. She recognizes voices of people around her and tries to follow them with her eyes and head which she has been lifting since day 2 of life. Rory is a strong girl who will push away anything she doesn't want with her arms and legs. Her favorite thing is still keeping her hands up by her face like she did in the womb. People seem to remark that as of now she looks more like her brother right off the bat but those who know you well think you are a perfect combination of both your siblings looks. When we took Rory to her two week checkup she weighed in at 9 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 inches long.

Rory you are pure perfection! We are so thankful for the gift of getting to be your parents and can't imagine our lives without you!

Rory Ashton has arrived

Our family was abundantly blessed on Monday June 11, 2018 at 2:47 PM when Rory Ashton Neal made her debut into the world! She is perfect in every way weighing 8 lbs. 13 oz., 19 inches long, with a 13 inch head circumference. We are all head over heels in complete love with our sweet baby girl! Welcome to our family Rory we are so glad God gave us you! 

Prince Everett and Princess Norah

Way back in March Everett and Norah got to be ringbearer and flower girl in Tenell’s wedding. Leading up to the wedding I kept talking to Everett about what he would be doing and of course he wasn’t interested until I mentioned he would be walking down the aisle with his bestest bud Norah! I told him Norah would be like a princess and he would be a prince and that is precisely how he referred to them the rest of the time! 

Upon entering the church for rehearsal Everett told me this was his and Norah’s castle! They were the most precious, adorable little attendants any wedding has ever seen! I am so thankful for the love they have for one another as cousins and how much they enjoy each other! 

At the reception they tore the dance floor down! Norah wanted to dance to every song and quickly wore down her little dance partner. However it took her no time to going up to her uncles or other around her to get them on the dance floor with her. After Everett got his feet rested for a bit he hit the floor again where he started his own form of breakdancing and tore a hole in his sock. I later found the two of them following the bride around the reception trying to sneak under her huge train! They were by far the cutest part of the wedding! 

Sissy spent the evening hanging out with our friends Scott and Beverly’s house but Dad picked her up and brought her to the end of the reception. She made her debut to the wedding in her pajamas with little pigtail knots on her head. She was quickly swept away by her Mimi and given a doughnut from the doughnut bar where the photographer snapped the most adorable picture! 

I am most grateful for these sweet little pics of my handsome boy and I to cherish forever! 

Easter 2018

Easter this year was fun because both the kids could hunt eggs on their own and Everett was particularly excited about the Easter bunny coming! 

We continued our tradition of going to Grandma White and Mimi Susie’s house the day before Easter for lunch and our first egg hunt. It took a minute for Haven to catch on to putting the eggs in her basket when she found them vs opening each one as she got it but we eventually got the hang of it. Everett’s basket got so full he needed help carrying it around and then he loved opening each egg to find what was inside! It was also the kids first experience with confetti eggs thanks to Aunt Carrie and they loved it! 

Drew grew up dying eggs and each Easter and has been shocked that I didn’t do that every year. This year he got the kits and spent Saturday morning dying eggs with the kids before we went to Grandmas! Everett was very proud of the eggs he got to put dinosaur stickers on and Sissy excitedly followed his pride with her own when they showed me the eggs! 

Easter morning the kids woke up to fun surprises from the Easter Bunny before going to church. They both looked adorable in their Easter outfits and Everett got sit through big church with Mom and Dad. We finished up our chilly Easter Sunday with a quick egg hunt at Gran-Nana’s and a Sunday dinner with her and Aunt Cindy! 

Haven's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Haven's actual 2nd birthday party with our favorite cousins in Midland! Drew somehow happened again to have to be on a work trip over her actual birth day so I decided to take the kids and escape for a few days to be with our people in Midland!


Aunt Nene started the morning off right with doughnuts for the birthday girl and we ended it with a cookie cake! In between we had lots of play time with Everett, Norah, Merritt and Emma overall it was a pretty spectacular way to spend a 2nd birthday for our happy girl!





For Haven's birthday party I wanted something she would recognize and love and settled on one of her favorite foods, Strawberries! The ironic thing is that about the week before her strawberry party she decided she didn't like them anymore! 

I decorated with a Strawberry Birthday Banner, lots of red white pink and green pinwheels and some other coordinating fun decor. My favorite thing about her party though was the food. I did white chocolate covered strawberries, thumbprint cookies, and the most delicious strawberry scones that I found a recipe for on Pinterest! Mini made Haven’s personal sized strawberry cake and mini cupcakes because nothing can compare to Mimi’s homemade strawberry cake!

I came across the most adorable smocked Strawberry Gingham dress that I knew Haven would look ridiculously adorable in for her party and had to order for her to wear! 

We celebrated Sissy’s second party surrounded by some of our most favorite people! Everett took over as party etiquette leader telling Haven when to open her next present and who she needed to thank and hug when she opened one. It was such a special day celebrating our precious girl who I still can not believe Is already 2! 

Haven you are such a sweet girl and never stop going for long! You absolutely adore your brother asking every morning when I come into your room where Bubba is? You have recently gotten back into wanting to be rocked and held by me at bedtime and I love it! You are a huge fan of your blanket, your babies and your Bobbie’s! We often find you walking around the house with your little arms piled high full of those favorite things of yours! You love to wear hats and your rain boots and would every single day if I let you!  Haven you are already fiercely independent, you want to do everything yourself and insist on picking out the clothes you wear each day and pajamas you put on each night! Thankfully you continue to be our good eater and love to try everything! Most nights after eating your dinner you come and eat off Mom and Dad’s plates. 

Haven you are so excited about being a big sister and have taken to calling your baby “Rory” just like Mom’s baby! You love to come talk to your sister through my stomach and give her sugars. You are well practiced in singing Rock a Bye Baby to the bed Rory will sleep in and I know you will want to spend every moment with your new baby sister! Haven you are such a dream come true to your Dad and I and we absolutely adore you! You are such a bright light in our days and keep us on our toes always! Happy Birthday my beautiful daughter! I am so proud and grateful for you every single day!