Hawkins Family Year in Review- 2018

What a great year we have had! We spent lots of time traveling, playing sports, running and working/school. Carter started his senior year in August. I can't believe he is going to graduate in a few months. He has had a good season so far as a starting shooting guard for Griffin Christian. Kevin continued to coach his AAU team as well and they both enjoy that. Maggie is a sophomore at Pike County High and spends pretty much all her extra time playing AFC Lightning soccer. She also made the Varsity Soccer team as a freshman and plays for both the high school and her travel team. Jada is in 7th grade at Pike Middle School. She is always involved in almost every function. She is in all the plays at her school, chorus, Academic Team and also made the  Pike County Middle School basketball team! She quickly became a starter for the team and clearly has her dad and brother's talent for basketball. Kennedy is in 2nd grade at Pike Primary. This will be her last year at the primary school. She is quite the spitfire and this fall started playing for Griffin Excel on a travel team. She is very good at soccer! We love to watch her play. Hooper turned 3 in November and is going to Life Springs Preschool again this year. As for myself, I decided to go back to college! My credits from years ago are still good and I decided to use them to pursue my Bachelors in Nursing. I won't be able to enter the nursing program until the Fall of 2019, but I am excited to finally be able to have a career doing something I love! I ran over 1,650 miles this year and did my first 50 miler. I also signed up for my first 100 miler in  April, so hopefully I will be successful at that in 2019. Kevin is now at the Fayetteville Home Depot. He had a tough time at this new store, but things finally came together and he has settled in. He still dearly loves to coach basketball and plans to make one more run with Carter's AAU team next year.
Now, onto the pics and the trips! Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019- we can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our family!

We started off winter break with a trip to Wilderness at the Smokies with friends! We also hiked every day at Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Maggie's AFC team celebrated runner up at the  tournament.

Snuck in a weekend away to St. Simons for the Journey ladies retreat!

Flew to Orlando and hopped a cruise with my best friend for her birthday!

For spring break, we went on a "re-do" cruise for my mom. The last cruise she went on was spoiled by Hurricane Matthew, so we decided to try again  NOT in hurricane season. It was a wonderful trip!

We stopped on the way down and got to see Erica (who I run 4) and hang out with her family for a little bit. She has an aunt who lives in St. Mary's, GA and she happened to be there so we made it work to get a quick hug and some breakfast!

This was a birthday cruise for me and my April birthday babies! 

We swam with dolphins!

We also swam with the sting rays!

He is a professional cruiser..

Maggie got her license!

Jada performed in the middle school play "The Jungle Book"

She did a great job as a vulture!

Carter won sharp shooter again for his High School team. They went all the way  to the State Championship this year, and only lost by 2 points.

Cutting the net, headed to state!

The Pike County Varsity team made it the Final Four this year, for the first time in the history of the program! So proud of their team this year!

Carter's AAU team plays in tournaments through out the year. They won this one!

Summer was great! We started off with a trip to Hilton Head, out favorite beach town.

They kids had fun playing soccer on the beach

Hooper loves to dig in the sand

That time we had to crop Mema into the picture, because the waiter cut her out of it! Hahaha!!

I left halfway through the Hilton Head trip and headed out west with my friend Angie. You can read all about that amazing trip HERE

And then, halfway through the summer I started back to college! This was my first day pic :)

Kennedy celebrated her 7th birthday at the skating rink with friends and family

The girls and I made her a Dragon Riders cake, she loves Dragon Riders and they don't make ANYTHING to go with that!

The highlight of Kennedy's year was the cat she got for her birthday. This is Milktoast. She loves her dearly and quite often asks for MORE cats...

No summer is complete without a trip to the Bluff!

The girls love to tube down the river

Speaking of trips that complete the summer... camping at FDR is next. We usually do this for Kennedy's birthday but we went a little later this time. 

Camping at FDR is a tradition for me and Tammie that goes back to before Kennedy was born. 

His Aunt did this.. marshmallow man!

The last trip of the summer was a cruise! We went with my best friend Nicole's family and we celebrated the 7 year old's birthdays!

Bella and Kennedy- the reason Nicole and I even met!

The chair lift in the Belize was awesome!

The Cat in the Hat breakfast is one of our favorite traditions on Carnival cruises.

We have been to Cozumel a few times and the big kids decided to stay on the boat, so I took Kennedy to Chankanaab for the day. She started off with a nice fish bath.. this was her idea. 

We both love to snorkel and this was the highlight of our special day!

Kevin and I celebrated our 18th anniversary at the Melting Pot!

With summer coming to an end, we spent some time fishing and playing on the hay bales at Papa's house. 

First day of school 2018

Spent a lot of time watching my girls play soccer this fall

Kennedy is a beast on the field!

Also got to see my nephews run cross country at the Pike meet!

With 4 drivers in our house, we sold the big van! I liked the space, but I don't miss the gas bill!

I took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge for fall break. This is the new one located only 40 mins from our house. The kids had a great time!

We snuck in a trip to the zoo over break also. We used the free passes from the library!

More AAU trophies and wins for Carter and Kevin

I went to DC for the weekend and got to run the Marine Corp Marathon with my bestie! You can read more of my running adventures HERE

Got to watch my boy take the floor for his last first game as a high school senior!

He hates pics, but we make him take them anyways..

Some of his basketball pics

I don't have many pics of her playing yet, but this was at Jada's first middle school basketball game! She is doing so good and I have really enjoyed watching her play!

My sweet little baby boy turned 3 this year. He loves Batman!

His cute shirt his Mema made him to wear to school for his birthday

AFC brought home a tournament championship in the fall!

We had an awesome trip to Universal for the boys anniversary! You can read all about that trip HERE! 

Daddy treated the whole family to breakfast!

Kevin and I decided to take a big trip together this year and get away from the kiddos for a few days. We left the house with 2 having the flu, and before we got home FOUR of them had it. My poor mother :( She got the short end of the stick for sure! She did a wonderful job caring for them while Kevin and I got some much needed away time! 

We started our trip off with a Knick's game at Madison Square Garden!

We both enjoyed our walk over the Brooklyn Bridge

The highlight of the trip for me was the visit to the top of the Empire State Building late at night. It was just perfect!

He waited his whole life to visit Rucker Park and see where so many young ball players got their start. He even got to shoot around a little.

Jada's final play of the year, at the Christmas Chorus Concert. She was Grandma, who got run over by the reindeer...

We had such an amazing year, we are so blessed and so thankful to have such a wonderful family! I can't wait to see what next year will hold for the Hawkins family. We are always open to God's opportunity's for us and are ready and willing to go through whatever door he may open. Looking forward to 2019!