Madison's Baptism

Yesterday morning we went to the stake center for Madison's baptism. She had a beautiful dress and a beautiful smile to match. She was so excited.

She is pretty amazing and a really fun girl..check out her silly picture.

Here is a family picture--the Stott's (David and Amy...Amy is Aaron's cousin, and their kids Madison, Landon, and Riley). Then Aaron's Aunt Becky and Uncle Kent. Then Aaron's cousins (Amy's brothers) Jeremy and Zach. It was a lot of fun to visit with them. David parents also flew in from Boise so we were able to meet  them. His mom's name is pretty awesome...Michelle. She is great. It was a great baptism. I really love baptisms, they are such an important ordinance and so special.

After Madison's baptism, we went to our car and ate lunch, then came back in for Olivia Campbell's baptism. The Campbells are our friends in the ward. Their oldest son is friends with Blake. The mom is the one who is pregnant with #5, but been on bed rest because she has been hemorrhaging. The dad is now in the Bishopric. They are a great family. We enjoy spending time with them and were happy that they invited to the baptism.

After the baptism we dropped off some things at Amy's house that they left at the baptism, then headed home and got ready for Cindy and Jon to come over. Cindy and Aaron worked  together in CA and moved out to Texas 14 years ago. We became friends with them in CA and even better friends with them when we moved to Texas. Jon just turned 60 on Christmas Eve. They brought over KFC for dinner and then we made lava cakes for dessert. It was so nice to visit with them. Sometimes my kids, more specifically Dylan has a hard time talking with adults for a long time, but they talk and talk with Cindy and Jon. They love Jon and Cindy and Jon and Cindy love them. We made plans to visit them in Spring when it gets warmer. They live a mile from a lake. 

Heard Museum

December 28--Friday morning we met the Neumann's for breakfast at a place on our downtown square. We were the only ones there...we got there right when it opened because well, our kids eat early and we wanted to avoid any hangry kids. It was super yummy and then we decided to go to the Heard. It was cold and 2 days before it rained A LOT (like enough to cancel a bowl game), so not all the trails were opened, but we still had a fun time and were able to enjoy the outdoors.

Winter in Dallas...so colorful...yicks!

Hmmmm..really, this trail is closed? Crazy how much rain we got.

We tried to get out to our favorite trail because it is apart of the wetlands and there is a wooden pathway that you can  take through there so we wanted to see how high the water levels were, but it was way too muddy. 

We came home and played some more. The kids have been really enjoying their presents.

Life After Christmas

The day after Christmas, I went to Target and Walmart to check out their deals. Then I came home, we ate, then went to see the new Spiderman movie. We ran some errands, and then went to eat at IHop because well, kids eat free.

The next day we went grocery shopping and they had Dylan's Tbone steaks on sale. He was so happy and it was tasty.

The kids played and played and played with their new toys, so Aaron and I were able to get some stuff done around the house. We also watched a movie at our house.

Merry Christmas

The night before Christmas the boys decided that they wanted to eat breakfast at 7am before opening presents. They wanted to play in the morning when they woke up until it was  time to eat. What responsible kids.

They woke up a little after 6  and played. I made some yummy cinnamon rolls, with some bacon, eggs and egg nog.

Then we started to open gifts. They first looked at their stockings.

Then they looked under the tree.

They each got a binder with trading card holders to put their Pokemon cards in. Thanks Santa.

Dylan got a new bike helmet that fits really well with the packaging still on it on top of a Santa hat.

Dylan got Aaron some stuff for the grill.

Blake got Dylan a new game.

Dylan got Blake an Imaginext set. They love to give gifts to one another.

Pokemon

This playmobil set is from Grandma and Gramps Bass.

He got this lego set and a playmobil set from Grandma and Gramps Bass.

From G&G Johnson

From G&G Johnson

A fitness tracker from Santa.

Pokemon cards from Uncle Robert and Aunt Sarah.

From Santa.

The big family gift this year is our cruise that we will go on in June. This wasn't a surprise for the kids, but the lego set was. Costco had this set, which I thought was cool (my mom even thought it would be fun for the kids) but I thought it was too much, but then they lowered the price $15 so I bought it, thinking it would be a fun way to present the cruise present.

Aaron's folks and my folks are joining us on the cruise. It is going to be fun!

My parents also sent a bunch of goodies for the boys and some Amazong gift cards for Aaron and me.

Uncle James and Aunt Shannon.

Uncle David, Aunt Kristi, and Seth and Kaleb sent the boys a gift card to Amazon.

My folks also sent the boys coal. I have a feeling my dad was behind this. It is candy, so they really weren't sad about it. I think it is pretty funny.

Aaron's folks gave us some pillow chairs for the media room--they are super comfy and really cool.

My Grandma sent us a gift card to Target and some money to the boys.

Aaron got me some new barstools. Costco had a great deal on them and I have been wanting a 4th barstool because we had 3 and we frequently needed a 4th when friends came over. We put the barstools together, which was more work then we hoped.

I got Aaron a new smart watch, clothes and some movies.

Then we heated up our spa and went in. It was actually nice weather--in the 60s so it made getting out of the spa a lot better.

Then the Neumann's came over for Christmas dinner. We had so much fun with them. 

We are grateful for this time of year and for the time we have to celebrate the birth of Jesus. While we miss being with family on the holidays, we are grateful for wonderful friends that we have. Thank you to all for the wonderful gifts. We feel spoiled and loved!! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

December 24--We watched "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" because it is our christmas eve tradition, then we went to the cowboy park. We asked the kids what they wanted to do during the break and they both said go to a park. School and sports get in the way sometime huh?

We came home and then made cinnamon rolls for the next morning and then soup to take over to the Stott's house. Amy Stott is Aaron's cousin and their oldest daughter is getting baptized on Saturday so other family is in town--her 2 brothers and mom and dad. We ate and then the kids did the nativity. Dylan was a Shepard and Blake was a wise man. 

We looked at some Christmas lights on our way home, then got our cookies out for Santa and then went to bed.

Lunch With the Schwarz Family

When the Schwarz were over at our house the night before they invited us to go to lunch with them the next day. We had other friends that were going to come over so we didn't know if we could make it happen. Well, those friends canceled, so we went to lunch. This restaurant has this chocolate pinata that our friends are obsessed with. Since their girls have hit the pinata several times before, they let our boys give it a go.

I wish this wasn't blurry, but Dylan gave it a huge whack as you can kind of tell by Adam's face. 

We then went home and watched "Elf" because it is one of our Christmas movies.

School Christmas Party

December 21--the boys had their class Christmas parties in the afternoon. I went back and forth between their parties.

They exchanged books.

Dylan insisted that he read his book before he left school that day.

Blake in his room right after their book exchange.

Blake's class.

You might wonder why my kids wear their jackets in their classroom. I asked them both that question. Well, they are related to me who happens to be cold all the time, but they had no reason. I think they are worried about losing the jackets. You know, their lockers are like a 30 second walk from their classrooms. 

That night we had the Schwarz family over for dinner. They used to be in our ward, then moved 3 years ago, then moved back a year ago. We like them a lot and have a good time. They have been renting a house, but just bought a house so they will move in July when it will be done.

We also watched the BYU game. Way to pull it off Cougs....you had me worried there.