A Thanksgiving Surprise

I have to say that I really love to surprise people. I think it is one of the most fun things to do. A few months ago my parents called to tell us that they had gotten tickets to come for Thanksgiving. We were of course excited but Ali who lives in PHX and Chris who lives in Ft Collins would not be able to come as well. I could tell that my parents were sad that we could not all be together. One day out of the blue the thought came to me that I should call all my siblings and see if there was anyway we could get them all here. Everyone was completely on board. Ali and Chris quickly asked and got the time off from work and the 4 of us split the tickets. We were able to get Ali here 4 days before mom and dad and Chris just the night before. The suspense was killing us. My kids were beyond excited to have everyone here and they did such a great job keeping the secret. We made a huge Merry Christmas sign and had it ready at the airport while Ali and Chris were hiding. Mom and Dad came out to the baggage claim and saw us standing with the sign. (they thought the little kids were so cute to make a sign) and then Ali and Chris jumped out. I can't think of a time we have ever surprised them. They were BLOWN AWAY! Tears were flowing from all of us and the joyful weekend began. We have much to be thankful for this year, but the time we shared all together will always be remembered and cherished!

It's FALL!

It is a great time of year-- FALL! I just love it! I love the weather, the fun things to do and the thrill of the upcoming holidays. We have been super busy the last 2 months. Ever since I started school and my new business things have gone into "super speed mode". But we are all having fun!


Zach is a ton of fun! Full of a lot of spunk these days and is showing us he is in the terrible two's for sure!!!!!! He is POTTY TRAINED! So awesome, didn't take very long and he was the one that said mom I want to be potty trained like Miles (his little friend who is 3). So yes we are thrilled, and he also got rid of the paci (bobbie) a little over a month ago. He is not a baby anymore!


These pictures below are from our favorite pumpkin patch. We have gone every year since we moved here. The kids have sure grown a lot!

Zach was "Woody" He was the cutest cowboy on the block! He had the best time getting candy from all the neighbors and he talked about it all week!

Jordan was Harry Potter. He has had so much fun reading all the books.

Elena was our beautiful Fairy Princess. I loved her costume!

Kids 1st Hockey Game

On Friday night we took the kids to go see a hockey game. Our great friend Stacy's son Axel plays on a competitive team. My kids had the best time. Everyone loved it including Zach. They all yelled and screamed and cheered. "Aunt Stacy" as my kids affectionately call her took them down to see the players come out onto the ice and afterward we had to hang out and wait for the players to come out so my kids could get autographs. It was so adorable. They can't wait to go to Axels next game!

Ice Skating in August...

What's the best way to cool down on a hot Texas summer day? Ice Skating! A few days before school started a bunch of us took out kids to go ice skating. It was a lot of fun! My kids have never been on ice skates and let me tell you it has been A LOT of years since I have been on the ice. We all started off holding on to the wall until we got our bearings and our courage and by the end we were all over the ice. The kids did take a few falls, but I am proud to say I kept my tushie off the ice. We had so much fun we decided that we will go again and bring Jeff. (Jeff isn't so thrilled with the idea, maybe we need to bring some more dads)

Hot chocolate and cookies, YUM!

Elena and Camie
Elena thought it was a lot more fun to skate with the big girls!

Jordan (a little blurry) venturing to the middle of the ice. Good job, Bud!

Could those little skates be any cuter? Zach wasn't the biggest fan of ice skating or the cold, but he was a trooper!

Surgery Again...

Poor little Zach has been suffering from ear infections pretty much all of his little life. We have lost track of how many he has had. Tomorrow he will go in to have his 2nd round of ear tubes put in. I hate the thought of all of this but I hope and pray that it will help him and that he will be free from ear infections and all the horrible antibiotics he has had to take. He is such a good little guy, most of the time we hardly even know he is sick. Please keep him in your prayers tomorrow, 7am surgery.



















Fell asleep watching cars the other day, so cute!

Happy 9th Birthday to JORDAN!

Our sweet Jordan turned 9 on Sept 1. Where in the world has 9 years gone? I know that it was just yesterday we brought that sweet baby boy into our home. He has been a joy from the moment we held his perfect little body. He has the sweetest spirit and personality. Everyone who knows Jordan loves him.

We had several days of celebrating as we tend to do in this family. We call it

"our birthday week."

We celebrated with a visit from Uncle Chris and an early surprise

GUITAR HERO!

Boy have we had fun with that. Then because we needed to be a full band we got the drums as well. We had an awesome birthday party with a ton of kids at Jump for Fun.

We hope it was a great day for a great kid! Love you Jordan!