Sleeping Beauties!!

It is 9am and my children are still asleep. They were up late last night waiting for daddy to return home for work.

They look so peaceful when they sleep. I wish I could sleep as well as they do.

Getti Up Horsey!

We had to leave Bryan friday Jan. 18th in the a.m. The kids played together for a little while and were just so cute. They enjoyed giving each other horsey rides around the house. We had a great time. Thanks for letting us have a quick visit.

The Bounce!

Now I will followup with our visit to Bryan last week. So I told you about Wed night when we arrived now lets move on to Thur. Jan 17th. Ryan, Nathan and myself decided to take the four older kids to this new thing in Bryan called "The Bounce". It is 8,000 sq ft. of inflatable fun (I think that is how it is written in the brochure). Anyways, they have toddler time in the am so we spent about 2 hours letting the kids slide, jump, climb, bounce and whatever else they could do safely. They had a blast. I had never heard of one of the places before but apparently they are cropping up in a lot of towns. We will definitely try this again!! After this we went back to Grandma & Grandpa's and hung out for the evening.

Family Home from KOREA!!

Well Ryan's sister Sara and her family finally returned home after a 2 year project in Korea with Nathan's job. They plan to stay in Bryan for the next 8 mo. and then off they go again on another adventure abroad. If only we could keep them close longer. Our kids really miss having all their cousins near by. They arrived in Texas on Jan. 9th and needed lots of rest to catch up on the time difference so we decided to give them a week before visiting. We left for Bryan wed. Jan. 16th after Ryan got off work at 4pm. It took us about 2 hours to get to Bryan. The kids were so excited to see Gabe & Josh and meet the new additions to the family the 6 mo. old twins Michael and Andrew. Madalyn was of course in heaven seeing the babies and immediatley wanted to hold them (for those of you that may not know Madalyn has been craving a baby sister for about a year now). Ethan was just as eager to hold the twins. The older boys were so excited to see Madalyn & Ethan walk in the door. It was so cute when they all hugged and immediatley began to play. Thankfully the four older kids played well together both days we were there. The twins had just been to the Dr. to get check ups and shots and both ended up sick. It was so sad to see them not feeling well. Hopefully they have made a full recovery and are back to the happy little guys we have heard they are.

Madalyn holding Andrew

Ethan holding Michael

Madalyn holding Michael

Meme & Papa's New Swing Set

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Get your own

A couple of weeks ago we spent time in Waco at my parents house. They decided to buy a swing set so the grandkids would have something to play on in the backyard. We had lots of fun putting it together in cold evening as the sun went down. We were all frozen (at least that is how we felt)by the time we went inside. The kids were so to play on it they could barely contain themselves. They asked several times "is it ready yet". Since it took a couple of hours to put together they busied themselves with the empty box and the slide flat on the ground. It is amazing how much fun kids have with the simplest things (like a box) & how creative they can be.

"Daddy's Little Helpers"

Friday Ryan was changing the oil in our truck with a couple of helpers. Ethan got right on the "creeper" and started "fixing" the truck. Madalyn of course had to have her turn . When she got on the "creeper" she would not go under the truck like Ethan. So I guess she was fixing the bumper.

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Get your own

Fun with Daddy

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Get your own

Since we were at my parents the week before last Ryan came after work on wednesday and spent his day off (thursday) and part of friday with us in Waco. Thursday the kids enjoyed spending time in the backyard playing with Daddy. They enjoyed playing on the rope swing and seeing how high they could go. Each of them claimed to go "up to the roof". I'm not sure they went quite that high but perhaps they got close.

Playground Fun

We stayed in Round Rock with Ryan for a few days. Ryan & I took the kids to the park next door everyday. The kids were so excited to have a playground next door to our apartment. This was Jan 1, 2008

MOVING: What a JOY!!!

So our plan for moving was that Ryan would have off Dec 28th - Dec. 30th (Fri-Sun). I left Thursday from Waco (leaving the kids with my mom) to Round Rock to pick up Ryan by 5pm when he got off work and off to Bryan we drove. We arrived in Bryan and got to bed early so we could get up refreshed and ready for the fun to begin. Friday Ryan and I finished packing in the morning and then waited for my Dad to arrive (He couldn't leave until Mom got off work to watch the kids)with truck and cattle trailer that we borrowed from Pepa. Ryan was unable to round up much help aside from family. We had Ryan, my Dad, my Father in law, Chris (brother-in-law) and two young men from church. We had decided to load everything that was going to our apartment first and everything that was going to storage last. As we filled about 2/3 of the trailer the men decided we would never make it in one trip. It was suggested we try to take what we had to Round Rock unload and come back to Bryan and finish loading the next day. So that is what we did. We got to Round Rock around 8:30 pm and the only person we could find in Round Rock to help us with such short notice was my cousin Brian. It took us about 1 hour to unload what had taken us 3 hours to load. Oh yeah those that went with us from Bryan where Ryan, myself, my Dad, Chris, & Ryan's parents. On our way back to Bryan we stopped at Whataburger to have some dinner. We arrived back in Bryan after 1am sometime and went to bed. Saturday Ryan and I got up and went back over to our townhome and finished bringing everything downstairs to make it easier to load the last of our stuff. by 9am my Dad was not at our place so I called my sister to check on him. My Dad and Chris arrived about an hour later with trailer. Ryan's Dad came back over too. I think it took about an hour to get it all loaded and then we went to my sisters house for lunch. We headed back to Round Rock and got to just past a tiny town called Thrawl when we had a tire on the trailer blow out. Ryan called our tow service plan provider and waited for about 15 min. with NO return call. So he got into our car and drove back a couple of miles to Thrawl to find some help. No Luck. So Ryan came back and He and my Dad changed the tire. Luckily the small jack was able to lift the trailer just enough to get the bad tire off and put the spare tire on. Now we were back on the road and headed to the storage building. We (Ryan , myself, Dad and a couple in our new ward in Round Rock) unloaded at the storage unit. We took a few things back to the apartment and then headed back to Waco to see the kids and get another much needed good nights sleep. Sunday we spent sometime at my parents house with the kids before we hit the road once again. We headed back to Bryan to clean the townhome and turn in the keys and stuff. I took us about 2 hours to get it all done and then we went back to my sisters and ate some dinner. Then once again we were back on the road this time to Round Rock. We got to our new apartment and got our bedroom situated just enough to go to sleep, after all Ryan had to work the next day. Monday I got up and tried to get some stuff put away so that when Ryan's parents came with the kids they would have room to play and a place to sleep. Ryan's parents had been in Denison for the weekend and went through Waco to pick up the kids. They wanted to go to Ryan's new job b/c they had never eaten at a Firehouse Sub shop. So when they arrived that afternoon we all went to see Ryan and eat lunch. Then Ryan's parents headed back to Bryan and the kids and I went home. Now you have heard all about our adventures with moving to Round Rock. Hopefully I will catch up my blog so that you will be reading about current activities.

Christmas Day

I didn't take very many christmas pictures b/c I was also video tapping. So here is one good picture of the kids with some presents. Madalyn & Ethan are also sporting new PJ's they opened on Christmas Eve. Madalyn got Princess PJ's & Ethan got Spiderman PJ's. I figured I should probably say what the kids are holding since it is hard to see. Madalyn has purple furry slippers & a princess lunch box. Ethan has a spiderman camera and a race track in the box in front.

DURANGO (Christmas Eve)

Ethan has always been afraid of any dog bigger than him and sometimes even the little ones. Since Uncle Travis got his dog Ethan has grown to be very fond of Durango. I have never seen him get more excited to see and animal like he does with Durango. Durango is very well behaved and lets the kids use him as a pillow when ever they wish. I think we all like Durango, he is a very pretty chocolate lab.

Meme & Papa were taking care of Durango for a few days so the kids got to spend lots of time with him. Now they wonder why Durango had to go home and could not stay to play. Hopefully Uncle Travis will come to visit more often.

Christmas Eve!

The kids wanted to wait for Daddy to get to Meme & Papa's before making cookies for Santa. I think it was around 8pm when he arrived and the kids were so excited to see him.

We decided to make peppermint candy cane cookies. The kids tried to roll the cookie dough into ropes but it was not easy for them. Ethan decided it was more fun to play with the dough and Madalyn couldn't believe how soft the flour was.

After a while the kids were gone and Mommy and Meme were left to finish the cookies.

Sleep

I think my little guy just couldn't take another minute. I don't know how he could possibly be comfortable. This was on Friday, Dec. 21st when we drove to Waco for christmas.

Last Day of School

Friday was Madalyn's last day of school in Bryan, TX (b/c of our move to Round Rock). Madalyn's friends all wanted to give her a hug and say goodbye. It is so cute to see the friendships she made in just a few months of school. I took a picture of Madalyn with her teachers.

Christmas Party!

Madalyn had her first school christmas party on Dec. 20th. They got to exchange gifts (books) with the person they had previously picked. Madalyn was very excited to give the book to her friend b/c she helped pick it out and wrap it. The kids all seemed to be excited to exchange books. After the gifts the kids set at the tables and decorated sugar cookies.

The kids enjoyed having all the party treats and then they got to show off. They sang and danced to some christmas songs they had been learning.

They were so cute!!