Hanging at the Stockyards

With family in town we decided to go over to the Stockyards to get some real Texas experiences :).  The was the cattle drive, the petting zoo, shops, riding the bull, etc.  I am sharing pictures of the kids.  I figure the family can post about riding the bull since it was their turn to do it ;).  

The petting zoo is free, accept if you want to buy food to feed them.  The animals think everyone has food and are really friendly - until you aren't feeding them, then they just walk away.  This one alpaca would come right up to our faces - a little close for comfort... but he never stayed long enough to get petted very well.  Grant really tried to pet him though :).

little goats

Sharing food that spilled out of the cups - yes I am that cheap.

While waiting for the cattle drive the kids got to pet one of the "cowboy's" horses.  

Clark liked petting it too!

More petting zoo animals... 

Clark was cranky and fell asleep by the time we were done so he didn't end up with a souvenir.  The cowboy hat sure looked nice on him though :).  

It's always fun to spend some time hanging out at the Stockyards with all of the real Texas Cowboys ;)!

Playground Games...

Part of our Christmas to our kids this year was getting the backyard some more things for the kids to do.  The swings had deteriorated and Jeff got them back together again.  He also made a tether ball pole and got that set up for everyone.  It was all finished when we had company in town so everyone had lots of fun taking turns playing...

Here is cousin Bree

Talmage and Ella

Oh, and let's not leave the Daddy's out... they had to break it in... I mean, make sure it worked :).

They got really into it.  So cute to watch Jeff and his brother Nathan.

Talmage and Grant

Tiffany and I... it was a good workout and I have the bruises to prove it!  It's amazing how much that rope can hurt if it gets your arm!  

The Daddy's decided to make it more challenging by using anything but their arms - soccer rules ;).  

Fun times!

Talmage and Ella

I'm glad the kids have more to do outside.  They already love it out there and now they get to enjoy one of their parents fun games as kids ;).  

The love of Fire!

I think boys are born with a love for fire... at least that's my only explanation for it.  For Christmas Talmage gave Jeff waterproof matches (that he waterproofed by himself) and I think that was probably one of the best presents Jeff has gotten... 

He really enjoyed lighting those matches.  Not really lighting them - because they are cheap and don't light easy, and also waterproofing them makes lighting them much harder anyways... but Jeff loves the smell of matches.  I think there are people out there that agree, I just am not one of them.  It's an alright smell, but after like 10 matches I'm done smelling it ;).  

Part of the fun of the presents was sharing it...

First Jeff had lots of turns

Then he helped the kids learn how to light a match and hold it. 
Here is Talmage

Grant

and Sandra

I would like to add that if my house burns down it's not my fault.  I had no intention of my children learning about matches, but I guess it's better to be learned under parent supervision anyway.  Hopefully they also learned some fire safety along with all that fun of lighting a match ;).  It's great to know that Jeff is so great at sharing his gifts!

8 year old and Baptism!

Our handsome Grant turned 8 at the end of December.  We had Jeff's parents and my mom in town for the festivities which for us included being baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was a special day.  

Grant chose to open his presents early in the day so he would have all day to play with them... since the evening would be busy with the baptism ;).

Here he is with all of his goodies!

Jeff baptized and confirmed Grant.  It was very nice.  Sandra and I said the prayers, Grandpa and Talmage gave talks, and the Grandma's helped with music.  It was a small gathering, which was what Grant wanted since he gets nervous in front of a lot of people.  We had a really nice day :)

Our handsome 8 year old!

Let's not forget blowing out the candles.  We let the kids pick their dessert and Grant picked ice cream cones... so 8 candles got piled on top of his cone... like a fireball ;).

Make a wish!

We even had Jeff's brother and family in town for the baptism so we had lots of fun with cousins... they all got to eat dinner and dessert outside.  One of the benefits of a mild Texas winter :).

Happy Birthday Grant!  We love you and are so happy with the good things you are accomplishing in your life!  Grant loves animals, creating things, running, soccer, his little brother, science, math, reading, and lots of other things.  I can't believe how fast the kids are growing up!

Merry Christmas :)

We have been pretty busy over the break.  First we had to prepare for Christmas - somehow amid all of the crazy birthdays and such there was stuff I hadn't gotten done yet, then it was family in town for a birthday and baptism... very busy indeed... but that's another post, or two :).

But we did have a very nice low key Christmas.  We decided to open most of our presents on Saturday so the kids could have more time to play and enjoy them since Christmas was on Sunday.  Jeff and I did outside stuff for the kids - a tether ball with pole, new swings, and a new circle swing.  They have been playing so much outside and it's been really nice :).  

Here are some of the presents the kids opened from family...

girls with clothes

boys with science kits and experiments ;)

girls painting horses

Clark with his new noisy toy - driving everywhere!

Boys doing a new game

Every year we trade names for Christmas to do a more personal home made gift... here's how that turned out:


Clark got socktopuses from Mommy :)

The boys got rock monsters from the girls

Sandra got an eagle from Grant (with lots of help from Mommy)

Daddy got waterproof matches from Talmage

Mhari got flowers for her hair from Daddy

Modeling the pink flower

All the kids also got a new animal from us.  Oh, and I got a night of Daddy giving Clark a bath from Clark... so thoughtful... and it's already been redeemed :) 

Christmas is always fun to get new things and the kids really enjoyed the fun of giving to each other too.  We hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas!

2011 kids pictures!!

It has been another year and it was time for the annual trip to the gardens to update my kids pictures.  I tried to go in November when there were still lots of leaves on the trees and lots of pretty colors, but that plan was frustrated.  Then it got cold... and wet... and no good for photos.  I finally went yesterday and these are my favorites.  They are all growing up so fast!

Clark - 18 months!

Being silly

Cute, but no smile

Mhari - 4 years old!

Such a big girl - no longer a toddler ;(

Sandra - 6 years old!

Wanted a better smile, but that one was blurry :(

Love those dimples!

Grant - 7, almost 8 years old!

So handsome!

Talmage - 9 years old!

What a big kid!

All 5 :)

My 3 boys!

My 2 girls... just one more to add in May ;)

So beautiful!

Oh, I love my kids - They are crazy, busy, fun, wild, and loud, but they make life wonderful.  I couldn't imagine my life without them!