December 2014

Ever since Camille was an infant and had RSV she wheezes when she gets a bad cold.  By now she's an old pro at the nebulizer.  Unfortunately, Cecil is a wheezer too.  Good thing big sister can help him feel better about having to use the breathing machine. Same big ol' brown eyes and same wheezy lungs.
 

 

I really love all the festive, fun, and spiritual activities there are to do around this time of the year.  I took the kids to Burnet again this year for "A Walk Through Bethlehem".  Although super crowded, it is so amazing.  A church puts it on a couple weekends in December and basically acts as though its the time of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.  There is candle making, weaving, soilders, a tavern, etc. etc.  At the very end, you follow a star and see the baby Jesus.  It's so cool and isn't lost on the girls.

 

 

This is how Cecil feels about three hour church.  I can't say I feel much better than him.

 

 

I was surprised to get all four of them in a picture with Santa at the ward party.  I can't imagine this happening every year.

 

 

The YMCA puts on a great Christmas party the Saturday before Christmas.  This is on the horse-drawn sleigh pulled by Clydesdale's.  It was really cool.

 

My two favorites Sunday's every year is Easter and Christmas. This year, the boys were under the weather, so me and the girls got prettied up and went alone.

 

 

It was a really special Christmas this year.  We traveled to Arizona to spend it at the Cabin with the Taylor's.  Here's all the cousins with Grandma Nettie and Papa.  I really miss being near all these people. The cabin is so special and I wish my children could have more experiences there.

 

On Christmas Eve we had a small nativity play, sang a few songs and enjoyed the company.

 

 

It was super cold outside and only flurried a little, but it didn't stop anyone from hiking around, playing on the rope swing,

 

or spending a lot of time in my favorite spot, the porch swing.

 

The day after Christmas we all hurried off the mountain to ready for Jillian's baptism that was to be held that weekend.  I really can't believe that she's at this point.  I feel so grateful to have been surrounded by the Taylor family and some Peterson's too. It was such a wonderful day.  She got baptized in a dress from our wonderful friends the Rattray's.  Their daughter Allie took her first communion in this dress.  I just really love it.

 

 

Here's the crowd that came.  The energy and spirit was so wonderful.  Jillian's dress after the water was my baptism dress from when I was 8.  I love seeing her in it and she really really loves it, especially the "poofy sleeves", which makes me smile.  I was trying to alter the dress and give it cap sleeves and no collar but she just really loved it as is, so I left it.  I'm happy I did.

 

I had everyone write a thought or testimony on index cards for Jillian to come back to and read throughout her life. They were all so wonderful and Jillian really treasures them. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful families.

 

Speaking of hand-me-downs, here's an outfit that Jeanette made for a 3 year old Jeffrey.  Now it fits my little Coco.  Isn't it so adorable?

 

One of the day's before we left, we hiked the 'Hole in the Mountain' in Phoenix.  It's a simple and short walk to the top, but has great views.  I don't really miss living in Arizona.  I just really miss the people there.

 

There's a pretty cool view of the city through the hole.

 

The day before New Years Eve we departed AZ and headed to Sonora TX to ring in the new year with some of Jeff's friends.  A huge snow/ice storm decided to follow us and the trip was treacherous and actually pretty scary.  When we made it to the ranch house all was froze over, even the animals.  We had a cold, but fun New Year's.  

 

November 2014

Big, big news this November.  Coco is fully potty trained. He loves wearing big boy undies and I love that I only have one in diapers now.

 

 

Jillian's class had a Thanksgiving presentation in class.  Jill was a pilgrim girl and looked adorable.

 

The girls have a whole week off for Thanksgiving break.  It's so wonderful.  Jeff had to stay and work all week, so me and the kids made the drive out to Houston to visit Jeff and Nettie's family.  I feel so lucky to have them only 3.5 hrs away but really wish that we got together more.  Our kids get along great and I still look up to my brothers for advice and raising good kids.  While we were there we visited the Houston Zoo. 

 

The carousel ride is always a big hit when we see one.   

 

We had a quiet Thanksgiving dinner with some friends that I didn't get any pictures of :(

That weekend Jeff's high school alma mater played in a play-off game in the Baylor stadium, so naturally we all made the trek up to watch the game.

 

The last week of November we were out shopping and saw who we all thought was the "real" Santa.  Pretty convincing if you ask me.

 

July 2014

For the Fourth of July we all woke up early to get ready for the Round Rock Parade.  The weather was good for the first two hours...then, the sun came blazing out and the parade seemed to never end.  It was still fun and the kids had a great time collecting candy. 

We went out to lunch at CiCi's Pizza and then to a friends house for fireworks.  Jeff felt like it was super unsafe (which says a lot from him) so we split early.

We have a friend that has a great pool and she's always inviting everyone over.  It's fun when the boys are occupied and I can swim with the girls. 

We ventured out to the Children's Museum and Coco ended up like this.  I didn't have a change of clothes so he was stuck in a diaper the rest of the outing. 

The museum is so great and right across the street is an awesome park with a huge pond and amphitheater.  The heat is intense unless you can get in or near some body of water.  I just love having the kids around to go one little adventures with me.  

April 2014

Every Spring we love attending the Round Rock Express games.  We usually sit on the lawn and let the run around. Often times they'll have fireworks or a concert after the game. It's really fun. 

Even Cecil had a good time. 

This particular time they had Bob Schneider in concert. He's a famous Austin native musician. Jeff and I first heard of him right after we moved here. We took the kids to the zoo and some random lady gave us his CD. She was appalled that we didn't know who he was. Jeff and I have loved him ever since. We all really enjoyed the concert. 

Jillian needed some help with homework one day so I sent Ce to see if he could help. 

Fern Bluff has a huge fundraiser in the Spring, called The Bobcat Bash. It was quite the shindig. They had all sorts of booths, games, music, attractions, etc. etc. The girls loved everything! Coco's favorite thing was the real firetruck. 

I finally transferred my nursing license. Now it's time to decide what to do: work, or claim retirement. 

I planned a little neighborhood egg hunt the Friday before Easter. We had a pretty good turn out and we all had fun chatting and letting the kids run around. 

Here we are Easter morning at church. Our church is held at 8 am for all of 2014. We are lucky if we get seats in the foyer.

We got four little chicks for Easter. I've been missing having hen's and fresh eggs and the girls have really been wanting pets. These little chicks were so cute. 

The girls named them Peggy, Rosie, Alice, and Red.  Rosie was the runt of the group. She was a Silky and had hair feet. Alice was the giant and kinda ruled the roost. 

Instead of having a big Easter dinner, I wanted to go enjoy nature. We planned a potluck picnic and invited Stan and the Rattray's. We went to McKinney Fall's.  It was beautiful. We ate yummy food, then hiked and biked around. 

We ended up at the Upper Falls. There was a cliff to jump off that Stan and Sara did. Everyone else wadded around a bit.

We ended the outing with desert and few games, such as Red Rover. We will definitely be back. 

The girls were invited to a birthday party that had pony rides. As much as Jillian loves horses, she gets so timid around them. Camille was brave as could be and rode them over and over. 

Everyone is still all over Cecil all the time. He is really a patient little baby. 

Camille had a field trip and I was able to meet them for lunch at a park. I wish I could be more involved at the school, but it's really too hard with the two babies at home. Camille was thrilled to see me there and we had a fun time. 

I've always been drawn to yoga and as I get older with a more hectic life I feel like I need it even more. This was a "stop drop and yoga" challenge from social media. Cecil looks like he'll catch me if I fall