Trip Preview

It's a lot overexposed (we were still trying to figure out the new underwater camera) but here we are with a stingray.  So cool.  More pictures of our Caribbean adventure to come.  Suffice it to say, it was a fantastic trip.  Loved every minute of it.

Fancy Shoes

Tom's parents are taking Tom and me on a Caribbean cruise in a couple weeks.  For the fomal dinner at sea I decided to go gaudy with these fancy shoes.  These are, by far, the highest and shiniest shoes I have ever owned.  And Avery is obsessed with them.  She hasn't been able to take a step yet and can only stand in them holding on to something, yet she still loves them the way a little girl should love a glittery pair of super-heels.  

The Night of the EZRoller

Scott opted out of a birthday party instead choosing to get a little moolah.  No complaints here.  Instead, we had his best friend, Calvin, over to enjoy a little In-n-Out and cookie cake.  Scott's favorite gift was the EZRoller.  This thing is cool.  Now if we could only get the permafrost thawed so he can play with it outside.

Two Digits for Scott

I can't say many things I like about the month of January. However, 10 years ago today I got a reason to love it. My little blond hair, blue eyed 1/8 Mexican Scott redeemed the bleak mid-winter month with his big smile. Happy Birthday Scott-o-bot.

Going Home

It's always heartbreaking to leave Texas.  It's especially sad when I know I'm going home to frigid temperatures and the trip is going to take 2 days to get there.  Seriously, 2 days driving to Texas is more exciting than the other way.  Here is a picture from Highway 6 towards Spanish Fork Canyon.  The sunset was pretty and I had my iphone to take the picture- without much more going on.

Now we're home.  The kids and Tom went to the annual family New Years Eve party while I stayed home with Scott who had been sick.  I finished unpacking and doing laundry and was asleep by 10:30. Being the party girl that I am, I rang in the New Year in the morning by taking down Christmas decorations.  Woohoo!

Here's to a fantastic 2013! 

Miscellaneous Texas Christmas Highlights

I'm going to miss half of what we did, but here are some highlights:

Friends: I saw a few people I loved.  I even caught up with a high school friend I hadn't seen since 1994.  We bonded- James Bonded again over Taco Cabana.

Air soft wars.  These occurred several times a day every day.  The boys took full advantage of the 5 acres of my parents' land.

PJ turned 16.  Can you believe it?  It was just yesterday that he was the Charlie Brown round head baby boy with the gorgeous eyes.  Now his head has caught up to his body, but his eyes are just as gorgeous.

 We went to the zoo with the younger ones and Scott.  The boys were less than thrilled to go but had a great time when we got there.

 Avery loved the hippo.  Lauren was filming it with her ipod touch.:)

 She was less than in love with the crocodiles and was very concerned that the glass was strong enough.  To be honest, I felt the same way.  Those guys were gnarly.

 Susie and her girls.  Aren't they gorgeous?

 The whole group.

 Awwwww.

 Me and my littles.

 The Unbirthday.  I tend to miss cousin birthdays so I gave them a birthday party while I was there.  Oh, look- Philip and Liz were there.  They made the trip hilarious.

 We gorged on food.  I seriously gained 3 pounds.  This is Tom at Chris Madrids.  I spend too much time at Taco Cabana.  And, of course, Alamo Cafe.  And my dad took us to a delicious barbecue joint in Boerne.  Glutony.

The men-folk (and Susie)went a shootin'.  Susie got a gun for Christmas and she was itching to try it out.  Between my dad, Philip and Tom, they all got a good education.

My dad may love to shoot.  What do you think? :)

 We didn't see much of Ginger.  She was in the middle of a move and was fairly stressed.  But, it was always good when we did see her.

 My mom and me.  Love that lady.  And, as I get older, I see my face morphing into hers.  Lucky me.

We're Here! Just in Time for Christmas Fun!

Our Texas vacation started out with a hay ride provided by my dad.  Good times had by all.:)

The next day was Christmas Eve.  It was filled with baking and wrapping and kids partying with cousins.
That night we had our program and Nativity- with all 10 grandkids having parts.

Then my dad read "The Night Before Christmas".  Not long after that, we had a surprise visit from the jolly old elf, himself.

He gave everyone silly string.  Those cans were emptied in less than five minutes.

Off to Texas For Some Christmas Fun

This was a Texas Christmas year.  2 days in the car and a stop over to visit Philip and Liz in Deming, NM, and we were there.  These were the most memorable pics from the trip down.   Poor Scott got the brunt of Ben as Ben was digging to find something for me.    The other is just a shot of some land/rock formations.  That's about as exciting as it got.:)  At least we had a great night with P&L.  They had tons of junk food for our boys and nice accommodations for us.  Thanks so much!

Pre-Christmas Vacation Fun

I snapped the first picture that horrible Friday night after all those sweet children and teachers were killed in Connecticut.  The older boys went out with Tom so I was able to cuddle my littles while they watched Christmas movies on tv.

The next night my hubby scored some tickets to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert.  It was pretty fabulous.  Even better, I got some quiet, alone time with Tom.