Christmas Highlights 2024

December 31, 2024June 11, 2025 ~ vincyzachariah ~ Leave a comment

Closing out Christmas 2024 this week and just had to share a few pictures of moments from this season I never want to forget!

This was the first year Ava participated in the Elf on the Shelf shenanigans and it was so much fun watching her create little adventures for Aaliyah!

I did help create some of the magic occasionally 😂look at that smile! 🥹

Everyone’s off of their normal schedule thanks to the holidays so Levi woke up extra early one morning and got to join me for my quiet time by the fireplace! I guess it was a little too quiet for him to stay awake! 🥰

The sunrise from these windows always makes me so happy! The pretty tree next to it is just icing on the cake imo, I’m so grateful!☺️

We finally decorated our tree the night before Christmas and I think a tradition is born! Afterwards, we all wrote down our highs from the past year and our goals going into the new year and shared with each other. Aaliyah’s was to get better at piano and Ava’s was to learn guitar.

Before we went to bed we made sure to set out cookies and milk for Santa! the way Aaliyah is carefully monitoring Ava’s pour makes me giggle!

And of course we watched yet another Christmas movie at the girls’ “movie theatre” 😂the credit card machine got me!

This Christmas was filled with lots of performances! This picture is from the girls’ first Christmas dance recital!

Ava was Mary in the church play! Aaliyah ended up being sick so she skipped the play and stayed home to snuggle with Jacob.

School let out for Christmas break so we made a stop at the library to make sure we were fully stocked for the break! This is a dance session before we go into the library, obviously!

But only after we had pan fried pancakes and smash burgers from Oliver’s🤤

We hosted lunch the day after Christmas for Jacob’s side!

This year I noticed Ava loved to wear her lightbulb earrings and all her Christmas gear! I’ll take it while it lasts!

We spent lots of time outdoors on walks…and backwards strolls…

This season is so tough but I am so grateful for this little guy!

We’ve spent the last few days sick lounging on the couch. Today I walked into the living room and saw them both reading peacefully and had to document how grown they appeared!

All in all, this Christmas season was so wonderful in so many ways and I am so grateful! Jacob and I always say we are living out our prayers and that couldn’t be more truer than in this current season of life we’re in! It doesn’t mean it’s not tough – in fact, many days are a struggle for us but it’s definitely worth it. We are so thankful for this beautiful life we get to share. Praying for a wonderful New Year filled with more love, joy, and adventures!

Xx,

Vincy 🎄

Italy Trip PART TWO: FLORENCE & VENICE

December 28, 2024June 11, 2025 ~ vincyzachariah ~ Leave a comment

We landed in Florence late Saturday evening and walked to our hotel from the station. We loved this hotel – the staff, the location, and the daily, yummy breakfasts were all so wonderful! After we dropped off our bags, we headed straight to dinner.

Our hotel had made reservations for us in advance but that restaurant didn’t have outdoor seating. The weather was perfect and we really wanted to sit outdoors and listen to the live music that was playing in the courtyard. We decided to stop at this hole in the wall place and enjoyed probably the best meal we had out of the whole trip!

The next morning, we headed out to explore the city of Florence!

Really loved just walking around and enjoying the views!

Jacob and I at the Santa Maria Cathedral 😍

While walking around, we stumbled upon “buchetta del vino” or a wine window! So simple and yet so fun! 😆

We grab lunch at a cute little restaurant nearby the wine window and noticed a large train station/warehouse across the street. We walked over after lunch and realized it was a large food hall, how fun!

We head back to the hotel to get ready for our evening activity and come across the most beautiful street art! 😍

We finally arrive at our evening activity: a pasta making class! As soon as Ava found out about our trip to Italy this was her first request.

We did a class by Pastamania and loved it! This is us waiting for our class to begin.

After the pasta making class, we returned to the hotel and went to bed. The next morning, we caught an EARLY train to…

Surprise, surprise – we stopped for lunch and got more pasta and pizza!

Truth be told, by this point we were all tired and a little homesick so I feel like we didn’t enjoy Venice as much as we probably should’ve. We were the for a full day and left the following morning to return to the States. The weather was dreary and we felt like the people were warmer/friendlier in Rome and Florence BUT we loved the tiny towns connected by all those tiny bridges.

Of course, we had to take a gondola ride with the girls!

Sweet sisters! I’m so glad they’ll always have these memories! 😍

Afterwards we had some downtime, so we sat in the town square steps and people-watched for a bit!

Afterwards we grabbed dinner and wrapped up our night!

But of course we stopped for more gelato…

The next morning, we caught the water bus to the square and caught a cab to the airport to finally head HOME! ❤️

We were all exhausted from traveling and returned home to Levi being sick with HFM! BUT I’d do it all again in a heartbeat because I am sure these are the trips that we will look back on years from now when the girls are older and be so thankful for! I am so glad we made the time to finally visit Italy as a family and hope we can all return one day with Levi! 🙏

xx,

Vincy 💕

Italy Trip PART 1: ROME

December 3, 2024June 11, 2025 ~ vincyzachariah ~ Leave a comment

In October we spent the girls’ fall break in Italy! It was a whirlwind readjusting to normal life but it was SO WORTH IT! We had a wonderful time away visiting Rome, Florence, and Venice.

My parents watched this sweet boy for the week we were away!

Love these two! They are the very best travel buddies! 😍we flew into Paris on our way into Rome and this was on our layover after a 9 hour flight. They are seriously just the best and easiest travel buddies! They are truly the happiest when they’re traveling and I just love that! ☺️

As soon as we landed, we took a local train/subway and walked a few blocks to our hotel, checked in, and set off to explore!

SECOND STOP: The Spanish Steps! We headed here right at sunset and were able to catch a beautiful sunset. We were hoping to catch dinner and drinks with a view at the restaurant right next to the Spanish steps but no luck with reservations! Afterwards we ate a quick bite and walked home to turn in for the night.

The following morning we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel!😊

We headed out for the day and quickly realized we’d be better off getting day passes for the hop on/off bus. We grabbed those tickets and headed off to see…

The Colosseum! The girls, especially Ava, were the perfect age for this! 😍

One with all of us (minus our sweet bebe)☺️

It’s a shame they don’t get along that well…😋😍

The bus rides were probably their favorite part of the day! 😂

We enjoyed pizza by the pound at a local place followed by more gelato, of course! 😉

We got back on the bus and hopped off at the Spanish steps. We tried our luck at the rooftop restaurant but stuck out again! We couldn’t stay too mad because at least we got to enjoy the view again!

We headed home again but this time stopped for pasta on the way home. I think it’s safe to say Aaliyah loved her pasta! 🍝

The next morning, we grabbed a cappuccino and explored some more. Needless to say, I LOVED IT! Walking around a new city with my people drinking coffee and soaking in the culture is my favorite way to spend the day!

Then we hopped back on the bus and did a little more sightseeing!

Side story: Aaliyah ran straight into a lamppost as we were walking out and hit her forehead pretty hard. You would’ve thought Ava was the one that got hurt! The way she rushed to Aaliyah’s side, comforted her, and even tried to pick her up to carry her just made my heart so happy. It’s something I don’t ever want to forget! 👯‍♀️ 🥹

We walked around a bit more, enjoyed the tourist attractions, and the beautiful views of just everyday Italian living! Then we headed back to the hotel and grabbed our bags…

Weekend Happies!

December 3, 2024June 11, 2025 ~ vincyzachariah ~ 1 Comment

We’re headed back into the work week in full force over here but I wanted to take a moment to capture all the goodness that happened over Thanksgiving break and this past weekend!

Enjoying Kindergarten Thanksgiving lunch with our favorite kindergartener! ❤️

Later that day, we enjoyed an impromptu family hang at the neighborhood park. The gangs all here minus my brother!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we all headed to the new Great Wolf Lodge in Webster to celebrate Alora’s birthday!

Matching Christmas pajamas will always be my favorite tradition with these kiddos!

The following Monday, the girls were dropped off at their favorite art (day) camp in Pearland and I took my sweet boy to B&N for his first time! It was very short live – he lasted 8 minutes total before he started pulling all the books off the bookshelves….so we left! 🙃🫠

Later that evening, after we played with a few neighborhood girlfriends, Jacob headed to basketball, Levi headed to Ammachi’s house, and I took the girls for a little GNO! 😆

The next morning, we had a little brekkie date after art camp drop offs and for some reason I felt like the third wheel! 🤨

We spent lots of afternoons at Appacha’s house enjoying the sunset on the back porch and the swing. 🥹😍

The girls are finally old enough to really help decorate the tree and I was so proud of what a great job they did Wednesday night!

On Saturday morning, we spent lots of time on the couch napping and working on projects. It was the perfect lazy Saturday!

On Saturday evening, after Betsy’s birthday dinner, we got hot chocolate for the girls and drove around taking in all the Christmas lights in River Oaks.

Per tradition, Elfie flew in on December 1st with goodies and the girls were beyond happy!

Wrapped up a wonderful week with date night at one of our favorite sushi spots, Azumi!

So much to be thankful for during this season, I’m tying my hardest to be present and soak all the goodness during this time!

XO,

Vincy

Ava Rose is NINE!

October 4, 2024June 11, 2025 ~ vincyzachariah ~ Leave a comment

The day we brought her home from the hospital!

I remember thinking she is the prettiest little thing I had ever seen!

But nobody can compete with her daddy! 😆

She is clever, a little sarcastic (like her mama 🙃), playful, and so witty!

She surprises us everyday with her achievements and is growing into a bright young lady!🥹

Aaliyah Reese is SIX!

October 2, 2024June 11, 2025 ~ vincyzachariah ~ Leave a comment

She is creative, likes things in order, and her love for all things mini runs deep!

She marches to the beat of her own drum! Admittedly, it took us some getting used to at first. 😆 Now that we have embraced it, we love her even more (if that possible) for it!