Christmastime

We had a great Christmas and enjoyed the Christmas spirit this whole month. We had wonderful Secret Santa items given to us, and I hope that we were able to teach our kids about the true meaning of Christmas. We are very blessed. So many people touched our lives and our hearts this season. We had Christmas morning as our little family, and then Steve and Debbie came over for breakfast. Then after a leisurely day (including naps for everyone!)we went to Tami's for an amazing dinner and a ton of fun. Here's a snippet of the wonderful gifts we received that were of a tangible nature.

Videos for the grandparents to see (must go to blog to see video):

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Chase! Both gifts are perfect and they even share them with each other too.

This video was meant to capture Scout opening her presents,but was kind of over-shadowed by Lincoln opening one of his own from Santa.


Thank you Grandpa Walter!
They opened the main present last, so they didn't figure out what it was until the end. Both of them love it!


Lincoln was beyond excited when he saw that Santa had brought him this firefighter costume. He told me it looks like Daddy's. When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, it changed. He said, "A firefighter, like Daddy. And spiderman, batman, and superman...and Diego." Did anyone else know that Diego was a superhero?

First Big Snow

One of our biggest snow storms yet. Lincoln, Scout and our neighbors didn't let it go to waste. Our neighbor, Dan, started by playing in the snow with our kids and ended up building a huge snowman in our yard. They are huge Aggies fans, and this is what the result of many hours of snowman building got him. Since our family does not root for any teams at all, we are not subject to any criticism this snowman may bring. =)

Trip to Cali

We made a somewhat last minute trip back home to see my family a couple of weeks ago. The weather there and back was perfect. The weather there...not so much. Of course they get the first rain of the season while we are there! We didn't let it stop us from having a ton of fun with the family. We ate and ate, which is what our family does best. We had gracious hosts wherever we went. I got to visit with one of my dearest friends from growing up. Steph was a saint to visit with me while my kids ran around the mall play place. We saw neighbors from my home growing up and got to see my old house, which had been recently renovated from a terrible fire. Most of all we got to let our kids rediscover their cousins. Although, Dave has pretty much declared that we need to visit again in the summer to make up for the bad weather. No complaints here!

Our top ten of the California trip (in no particular order):

1) Watching my dad wrestle with his grandkids. He still has the strongest grip of anyone I know. He can hold on to an ankle for an hour while a kid is squirming and kicking and trying to get away.
2) Seeing Scout fall in love with Libby, my sister Natalie's dog. I've never been so tempted to surprise my family with a dog for Christmas.
3) Eating my favorite pie at my favorite pie place in the world. Nostalgia and good food always go hand in hand.
4) Making sugar cookies with Natalie. I'm not sure who ate more frosting...the kids or Libby.
5) Tasting Robynn's home-made noodle soup, with home-made noodles! Delicious!
6) Hanging out with my family.
7) Visiting with dear friends.
8) Our visit to San Francisco: riding the street car, seeing the window displays at San Francisco's Macy's (the most adorable little kittens), watching the sea lions lounge in the bay, riding the carousel, eating at Rainforest Cafe, and later watching Lincoln sit on Santa's lap.
9) Listening to Scout imitate the sea lions from SF Bay the whole car trip home.
10) Buying a new dual DVD player for the car before we left. Truly a life-saver for the in between time of the array of things I had cooked up for doing in the car.


Lincoln's favorite thing:riding the street cars which we told him were trolleys.
Abbie loved the adoration from cousin Abbie.
Scout and Lincoln took over Natalie's birthday dessert.
The dozens of aquariums were the only thing that kept my kids at the restaurant.
A cold, cold day in front of the sea lions.
Brooke finally winning Scout over on the last night we were there. Scout's a tough nut to crack.
Ben and Linc wrestling. Lincoln was actually having fun in this picture, although it doesn't look like it.
Hanging out with cousins.


Lincoln and Santa.
Lincoln and Scout writing letters to Santa Claus to drop in the cute big red mail box inside Macy's.

Thanksgiving

We were excited to host Thanksgiving again this year at our house. It's so much fun to have everyone over and to have leftovers. Yes, we are a family of leftover-lovers. Dave worked Thanksgiving this year, so we had to make sure that we cooked a turkey at our house when he came home. Tami and I both cooked turkeys, so needless to say....a whole lot of turkey was present that day. A holiday completely centered around food - a girl's dream! At one point in the evening I tried to get the family to say what they were grateful for and it turned it pure sarcasm and silliness. So, on a serious note, I'm especially grateful this year for my family's health. I feel that it is important to acknowledge gifts from our Heavenly Father while we still have them. You never know where life will take us.
Tami made place cards that were adorable!

The only picture I could snag of Daryl was reading the ads for "Day After" sales.

Playing games with the family.

I made a treasure hunt for the little kids around the backyard. Here they are with their treasure.

Loving the new game I got for the holiday. Hungry Hippos is the new favorite toy.

Jumping on the Band Wagon

It's true, I'm a follower. After many months of meaning to do it, I'm going private. But, to all of my many followers and admirers there is hope. If you would like to continue to peek into our lives and watch us grow up, we want you to do it. You can comment and leave your email address if I don't already have it. Or (if you are uncomfortable doing that) you can email me at my old email address: katie_ann21@yahoo.com and I will reply with an invitation to this exclusive club. =) Please don't use this email address to send me anything else though, because I don't check it anymore. I know that there are some of you out there that are closet followers and never comment (you know who you are), so please let me know if you want an invite. I will still like you even if you are secretly blog-stalking me. I'll be going private next week, so please let me know sooner rather than later.

Who needs Toys R Us?

Dave and I went to Toys R Us the other day to do a little shopping for Christmas. Anticipating the cold winter months ahead, I got a little crazy and everything I saw, I wanted to buy. Of course, I didn't. I put pretty much all of my kids toys away for the summer, because all they do is wake up and go outside until it gets dark. Yesterday was another beautiful and warm Fall day, and I'm enjoying this extended season this year. Lincoln and his friend found large cardboard pipes and sat up on the deck racing hot wheels and balls down it for an hour. Why do we continue to buy toys for kids that are happy with the box it came in?

All Hallow's Eve

We had a great Halloween this year. Lincoln finally decided which of his many costumes he would favor that night. Spiderman won, but it has no mask. So, me and my not so awesome painting skills were put to the test. Unfortunately, Dave had to work so it was just me and the paint. Not super bad, but not super great. Judge for yourself. Steve and Debbie came over with yummy dinner and hung out with us. And Ana came to get in on some trick-or-treating as well. Lincoln and Ana had their first sleep-over that night. They have been begging for one for the past year. Needless to say, there was a lot of giggling and not very much sleeping.


Trying my hand at face painting artistry.

Debbie, Princess Scout, Maggie and Lucy.

Ana the spider and Lincoln as Spiderman.

Counting out their loot, which incidentally, they haven't seen since Halloween night. How evil am I?