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| McMurtrey family, Fall 2024 |
We have been going to the gulf for Thanksgiving week for nine years now, and I knew I wanted to have some family photos captured at our favorite place to wrap up 2024!
Luckily we have the very best photographer friend--who literally drove 2.5 hours to take these photos for us. I love you I love you I love you, Emily!! (To see other photos she has taken for us, go here:
2023 downtown Mobile, 2021 in the towering Alabama trees, 2020 in Gulf Shores with the whole McMurtrey crew). She is the best, and I always love the portraits she captures of our kids and family!
This beach photoshoot was the perfect way to close out a great year together and capture us at our happy place. I will cherish these photos forever!
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| Monroe kissing her daddy's head. I cannot! |
I had each of the kids tell me their top three favorite things from 2024, and I loved their answers. Every single one of them said different trips or experiences--there wasn't a single mention of a favorite toy or thing they got this year. It was such a good reminder to me that things really don't matter! Meaningful experiences and time spent together is what they all remember and love.
And it made me so happy, because those are my favorite parts of every year, too.
Boston, age 13.
2024 top three:
3. Thanksgiving trip to Panama City Beach, Fl. The beach was amazing.
2. Gatlinburg, TN for the Fourth of July. Having the pool to ourselves was amazing, and the giant aquarium was so cool!
1. Magic Kingdom & cruise to the Bahamas for spring break!
Camden, age 11.
2024 top three:
3. KYA trip for school to Louisville--"Staying in a hotel without parents and pulling an all-nighter" ...to be exact. Hahaha. (He also co-presented a bill there and did an amazing job!)
2. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge trip--especially the pool!
1. Magic Kingdom day and cruise to the Bahamas
Holland, age 9.
2024 top three:
3. His birthday! (It was Chief's themed for his favorite NFL team)
2. Gatlinburg, TN. The mountain coaster was his favorite thing, and he wanted to do it a million more times!
1. Cruise to the Bahamas--the "free" food and ice cream!
2024 top three:
3. The hot tub and cabin in Gatlinburg!
2. Spending New Year's Eve with our friends, the Chadwicks.
1. Cruise to the Bahamas and day at Magic Kingdom! He loved the ice cream, water park, and kids club on the cruise.
Monroe, age 4 (almost 5!)
2024 top three:
3. The cruise! Ice cream and playing at the water park on the ship.
2. Going to the beach for Thanksgiving and playing in the ocean!
1. Her birthday! Going to the Frozen Broadway show with mama in Louisville. (That was a highlight for me, too)
We made so many fun memories in 2024. I loved hearing the kids recount their favorite times we had! Such special times that we will cherish forever. Jord and I came up with our own favorites, too, but honestly the lists are just tapping the surface. The year was jam-packed with so much goodness.
Kelsey's 2024 top five (I can't narrow it down):
5. Carmel, Indiana for a magical Christmas market and the Giving Machines. Such a fun (and also very, very cold! haha) holiday weekend
4. North Carolina fall break trip to Wilmington & Carolina Beach! So many fun new places to explore--and meeting Jord after work for dinners together as a family was a highlight. The boardwalk along the river in Wilmington was perfection as the sun was setting!
3. Nashville weekend with Jord to see (& meet!) Jim Gaffigan and wander Broadway.
2. Gatlinburg Fourth of July trip. This was so fun and memorable!!
1. Beach Thanksgiving trip to PCB. The beach house was so perfect this year, we had the best weather, and we just made the best memories. Our very favorite tradition ever.
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| my world. |
Jordan's top five from 2024:
5. Getting together with friends for holiday parties, barbecues, and football nights.
4. Thanksgiving at the beach--the amazing beach house and weather! Having older kids to play and just have a good time together.
3. Going to the PGA tour with family & the two older boys in Louisville
2. Orlando! The fun house we stayed in with a pool, & the day at Disney!
1. Gatlinburg--the pool and hot tub, and the little market and pizza place we would walk to.
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| They adore him. |
These candid walking photos are some of my very favorites from this shoot.
I love that they showcase the people I love most, at our favorite time of year, in our favorite place.
Nothing will ever beat it.
When Emily had the kids gather around me to take some mom & kids photos, I started to tear up. Like big tears forming in my eyes. Because I felt my kids around me and then I looked at Jordan standing off to the side and we made eye contact, and thought-- "I have everything." And I really do!
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| This one of Boston popping in with the Naruto run kills me every time haha. |
An amazing husband, and five incredible kids.
I don't know how I got this lucky, but I did.
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| My heart!!!! |
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| And this princess--I love her so much. |
Also, I can't believe Jordan and I have almost been married for fifteen years. It honestly feels like yesterday that we were going to prom together as best friends--and now we have five kids?? WHAT! Life is nuts--but I'm so, so glad we ended up together.
He is the best of the best. Truly.
I'm so grateful for our chaotic, loud, crazy, happy, messy life.
(and if you've been to our house, you KNOW how loud it gets in there. haha)
It's kind of how we feel in regular life--always being jumped on or used as a jungle gym. Haha. (But cuter here, since we're on the beach)
I'm so grateful for 2024. We grew and learned so much.
We spent time together, we had lots of changes with jobs and church responsibilities, we took road trips, we had kitchen dance parties, we had a flooded basement for a minute, we went to lots of school functions and sports games and church activities, we went to the beach, we had Taylor Swift singing sessions in the car, we played in the snow together, we laughed at Jord's dad jokes, we had countless meals around the dinner table sharing our highs and lows of each day, we had millions of van repairs, we played wiffle ball in the front yard and had movie nights in the backyard, we read scriptures and prayed together, we spent hours doing homework and reading books together, we went thrifting (okay, mostly me), we went golfing (mostly the boys), we swam, we played at parks, we gave hugs and kisses and put lots of bandaids on scrapes and bruises, and we were just there for each other.
And that's what matters most.
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| My five little favorites. |
Goodbye, 2024. You were good to us!!
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(And thanks again for these photos, Emily. You're the best!)
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