And so the photo shoot began...

It started out as all smiles...

We were having a great time...

But by the end...

We had all gone a bit crazy and couldn't take much more!

Merry Christmas!!!

Not your traditional Thanksgiving

We didn't have any visitors coming into town this year, and although we were invited to share Thanksgiving with friends, we decided to take a mini-vacation as a family and use the days off to go the the Texas beach in Corpus Christi. We stopped at a Golden Corral for our "not traditional Thanksgiving dinner." The kids found something to eat and I'll just say that I missed my Mom's cooking! Funny thing was that the usual warm Texas weather didn't hold out for the holiday weekend. A cold front moved in and well, we were a bit cold, a bit wind blown, and a bit wet at times. We still had a great time playing on the beach, taking a dip in the hot tub, going to see the movie "Bee Movie," and Huy got up early to get some good deals on Black Friday.

This is our beauitful pilgrim girl who came for dinner!

Texting in church
Huy is notoriously known for texting people while in church. And sometimes the kids like to play games on his phone or text people too. When we came home from church today, upon checking my email, this was the text message waiting for me on my email (Taylin had sent it to me) ...

"I Taylin know how to count to five in vietnamese this is how:
1- mop
2- hi
3- ba
4- bom
5- nam"

She's gonna be a GREAT negotiator...

I was getting Kaylie ready for her preschool today, doing her hair up in pretties while she "washed" things in the sink. After finishing her hair, I said it was time to go and get her shoes on. She, of course, fussed a bit, but to stop an all-out tantrum, I said, "Okay, in one minute." She kept about her business and said, "Okay Mom, in two minutes." With the tilt of my head, I re-emphasized, "one minute Kaylie." And she then questioned, "Okay Mom, three minutes?"... and before I could once again re-emphasize the "one minute," she went back to her business and told herself, and the items she was washing, "Okay, three more minutes. Thanks Mom."

How can you not just want to squeeze all that cuteness out of her and give her a bunch of kisses? I just couldn't control myself and so I squeezed her and kissed her and squeezed her and kissed her some more and then we smiled together! What a great way to start a great day!!

Check her out!!!

Taylin was all smiles when she finally received her first pair of "way cool" glasses. She had been asking for days after arriving home from school, "Did you get my glasses today Mom?" To her, and my, dissappointment, it took several extra days to get them. She hoped to get them Friday, but we had to wait until Tuesday and so it was a long weekend. But now she is "Miss Sophisticated" and loves her new glasses.

It may be hard to tell, but they are kind of a red and blue stripe. She tried on several pair, but she must have known these were the ones from the beginning because she kept going back to this pair and just seemed to know that they were "the ones." And she was right! She looks awesome in them!!

We went into the eye doctor just kind of expecting a check-up on her eyes, not even thinking we would walk out with a prescription for glasses, but it was a good thing. She said upon putting them on for the first time, and dropping them below her nose and then placing them back on again, "Things look so different. Blurry (with them below her nose), clear (putting them back on correctly), blurry, clear," followed by a big smile!!

She is supposed to wear them at school, to a movie, and in the car - times that she needs to see things that are far away. She is doing great with them. We are so proud!!

Congratulations kids!

It was a great day today! Tanner brought home an "A Honor Roll" report card and Taylin brought home a super duper one as well (they don't start letter grades until 3rd grade). They are such awesome students and we are so proud of them. They work hard and put forth a lot of effort to do well in school. Keep it up guys!

Trick-or-Treat???

It was a tough year for the kids to decide on that final costume. For most of the month of October the girls were planning on being dogs and Tanner was going to be a transformer, Optimus Prime. But on Halloween night, it seemed that everyone had a change of heart - Kaylie wanted to be a princess, Taylin thought she wanted to be a Steelers football player and Tanner was in his transformer costume until Taylin decided the pads and helmet were too uncomfortable and she changed back into her dog costume and then Tanner changed his mind and put the Steelers outfit on. Got all that? They all turned out darn cute no matter the costume!

And we can't forget the most unforgettable, "the Wendy's guy!" Huy was an original. What can we say about that?!

The kids also had a good time carving pumpkins. They are getting old enough to be a bigger part in it. Can you guess whose is who's?

Regionals in New Orleans

Tanner's flag football team has been working hard all season to be the best so they could take their talent to the NFL Regional Tournament in New Orleans. After much anticipation, they made it to game day. They were pretty nervous, but pretty pumped as well!

The morning of the tournament, the team was able to take a private tour of the Superdome for our team only. It was definately one highlight of the trip. The boys were able to walk on the field where the New Orleans Saints play, practice a few drills of their own, and sit on the bench "where Reggie Bush sat." The boys thought that was the best. And then they saw the locker room and inspected Reggie's locker, looking for a souvenier to take home, but it was cleaned out.

As a woman who likes football, but doesn't love it, the whole "Superdome experience" was cool, but I'm not sure I understood how cool it was. The "big" boys (pictured above) were just as excited to see the locker room - Drew Brees' locker to be exact - and throw on the field and run a few plays themselves. It was a chance to be a pro football player that they have never had before.

The team played in one of two pools (11 teams in the 9-11 age group) and had 3 games. The first game they won 6 to zero, the second they won in overtime 7 to 6, and the third game they won 27 to 13. This put them into the semi-final game which they sadly lost. They were so close, but just couldn't pull it together in that last game, but they did have some good competition throughout the tournament and they did very well. 3rd place is pretty darn great! They were proud of themselves, and we were proud of them as well. Way to go Saints!!

New Orleans is an interesting city. We were able to take a brief sightseeing trip with Aaron and Micah Ricks (who came to play on the team too) and we saw the Mississippi River, had a little experience on Bourbon street (ask Huy to see the moves he learned), and enjoyed a beignet (a French donut)...yum! All I can say is that I'm glad it was daylight, there are a lot of smokers there, and they girls did great at Karmen and Ty's house back in Fort Worth. A big "thank you" to them for helping to make this weekend possible!

My Dad...

Just a quick update. Two days after Kaylie and I returned home (the 20th), my mother called to report that my dad had gone back into the hospital and had two more stints (he already has about four) put into a major artery to his heart because he was having trouble breathing and having cold sweats. After some testing, the doctors concluded it was a mild heart attack because there had been some muscle damage. They will also have to go back to the hospital in about 6-8 weeks to repair another artery that is mostly blocked and we're waiting to hear how that will happen, more stints or bypass surgery.

He is home again and feeling better again, and back on a better road to recovery. I told him he could have had that excitement when I was there, but he said, "then what fun would we have had?"

Sure love you Dad!!

A Fall visit to Utah

What a beautiful time of year in Utah. The trees on the mountains were beginning to change colors and the air was crisp. It was just lovely! Kaylie and I were there for a week to visit my dad. He had a hip replacement surgery on the 4th so I came to help where I could. I was mostly able to spend a lot of time visiting with both him and my mom, but we also were able to watch a few movies, play with Kaylie and Kaylie played with Buck. They became buddies because she took him for walks on the leash from one end of the driveway to the other side of the yard and back and forth and back and forth until they both were very tired. She also loved throwing the frisbee with him too. I saw my dad improve a lot while I was there and although it is a bit of a long road to hoe, he's doing very well. We had a great time being there.

While there, we were able to see the cousins too. This is Luke and he is now 3 months old. He has chubbed out since we last saw him in July, and what a cutie he is. It's so fun to squeeze him and tickle his double chin!

Kaylie spent the day with Ba Noi and Aunt Linh and Uncle Mark and Noah and Luke. They had a great time at the discovery museum. When Aunt Linh brought Kaylie home, she and Noah had blue tongues from a sucker. They were so cute!

Meet "the Creature"

This is Mo (a.k.a. the creature, as named by Kaylie). He is one of the latest members of our family - a little dwarf hamster. He was a gracious gift from our friends the Clarks when we visiting their house over Labor Day weekend. We brought him home and the kids (and Huy) thought he seemed lonely so Karmen promptly replied that she would meet us in Waco (that's halfway) to get us another one because "it's best they not be apart for too long. It will make it harder to put a second in the cage with him," said Karmen. How convienent right? So the following week, Mo was no longer alone. His brother, or sister (sadly we don't know what gender they are and hopefully we won't know by a litter of our own), joined him and we named it Meinie as in Einie, Meanie, Meinie, and Mo! (Meinie is all white.)

It's hard to know who likes the creatures the most... the kids or Huy!? We went out and picked out this spaceship of a cage and although they had a hard time climbing the tubes, they are fattening up and getting bigger and now can climb the tubes and run on the wheel. The kids are learning to clean the cage and are wondering if a dog wouldn't be better!

Kaylie's first day of preschool

First of all, I can't believe my baby is starting preschool, but it's true. Kaylie was somewhat excited for her first day of preschool. She would tell me "no" one minute about getting dressed, eating breakfast, but then she was happy to put on her new shoes and her backpack. She barely wanted to smile for the picture so it was a good thing her dad was there to make her smile so she at least looked like she was excited about pre-K. And when we did drop her off, she knew right where to go to her classroom and she sat right down to start a puzzle and then she gave us kisses and said goodbye. No real fuss, not super excited about it either. It was a good thing, but it was hard for Mom to leave her baby there all day. I was very lonely without her, but I also got a lot done! By-the-way, check out her fabulous rings!!

When I went to pick Kaylie up, she was zonked out on her mat, sweating and drooling all over it, but before school, she insisted on not putting her blankets or a stuffed animal in her backpack for nap time. If you look real close, you can see the start of her name on her forehead where she lied on the mat and the ink rubbed off. I guess preschool is a tough job because she was wiped out!

1st day of school

We can hardly believe summer is over and we're back to school and on a busy schedule. Tanner and Taylin started school on Monday, August 27th. Tanner will be in the 4th grade this year and his teacher is Mrs. Guthrie. Taylin will be in the 2nd grade and her teacher is Mrs. Young. They had mixed emotions about going back to school.

As you can tell, Taylin was quite excited. She was awake before I could even get up to her room to wake her and that is very unusual. She was also excited to wear something new from head to toe. Tanner wasn't too sure about starting school, but he didn't complain about it either. I think he was playing the "I'm getting older and I'm too cool to be excited" card, but deep inside himself, he was happy to be going back to school to see his friends and be on a schedule!

They both had a great day. Let the fun begin!!

Summer's last hurrah!

For one last hurrah before school started, we took the kids to Sea World and had a wonderful weekend. On the first day, we went for a couple of hours to the Lost Lagoon (the waterpark side) and the kids enjoyed the big slides and the wave pool. Kaylie even went on the littler slide and climbed on floating hippos. They all love the water and have become quite tan over the summer. I'll forever be jealous of that, but I'm glad they have nice skin - thanks Dad!

We stayed the night at a nice hotel and had a fun evening playing in the lazy river and riding bikes around. We had dinner at Chili's, a little dessert at Marble Slab (my pick of course), and then we all crashed after a fun day.

On the second day, we went back to Sea World to enjoy a few exhibits we usually run out of time to see so we actually were able to feed the dolphins (usually we watch others do it because it is so crowded, but not that day) which is just too cool. Then everyone but Kaylie and I, rode the log ride, the kids played a few games and came home with their prized toys, and we ended at the shark exhibit, hoping to see them feed the sharks, but they only fed the stingrays. Tanner was a little disappointed, but maybe we'll be able to catch them feeding Tanner to the sharks another day! : )

A visit from the Clarks

The Clarks (our friends from Fort Worth) came for a visit to celebrate Karmen's, Kimberly's, Huy's and Ty's birthdays. To do so, we went tubing down the Comal River in New Braunfels. It was so crowded - there were people all the way up and down the river as far as one could see. We were practically touching people's, whom we didn't know, tubes and struck a few conversations with them. We were still able to have a good time.

The adults also went out for dinner at Saltgrass Steak House and to a movie (we saw Bourne Ultimatum - great movie!).

As the Clark's were about to head for home, the kids asked if they could go to the Clark's with them or if Cole and Lauren could stay with us. We ended up sending Taylin with the Clarks and Cole stayed with us for two nights and then we met up in Waco to trade back.

Taylin had a great time and learned to knit. Thanks Karmen!

The boys had fun! Tanner was happy to have a "brother" around 24-7! They went to the new skate park and tried out their Heelies and we also went to the pool and Rockin'River.



Thanks for coming to our house Cole!!

Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory

We took a little day trip (about a two hour ride) to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory (in Brenham, Texas) with our friends, the Walkers. We had a great time learning, and seeing, how ice cream is made, but of course, the best part was eating it.

Do you know...
the top 5 ice cream flavors are...
1. Homemade Vanilla
2. Dutch Chocolate
3. Cookies and Cream
4. The Great Divide (half-n-half of #1 and #2)
5. Pralines and Cream

We're so glad Kyla volunteered to be the caboose
because then we got a scoop of ice cream first!! Thanks Kyla!!

Things change

Little Luke got a little chubbier over the month we were there, still pretty tiny, but oh so cute. We can't wait to see him again, but don't look forward to seeing how much he'll change by then.

Before we left on our trip, Tayin's tooth was loose and her new tooth was growing in behind it. The dentist said she needed to get the baby tooth out asap. Well by the end of the month we were in Utah, Ba Noi pulled the tooth out that was finally so loose that Taylin could push it sideways with her tongue, as pictured here. And by the way, the new tooth is growing into place just fine now.

We had a great time in Utah and can't wait to return again next year. Thank you to everyone who made it so much fun. We love you all!!

At the Ranch...

My dad was suppose to have a hip replacement surgery while we were on our trip in Utah, but circumstances were that they had to postpone it until a later date. Because of the surgery, we hadn't planned to visit the ranch, but when the surgery didn't happen, we decided to go for a few days and we were so happy we could go - we had a wonderful time!

The kids helped Grandma and Grandpa and learned a little about how to get the horse "ready to ride." Tanner helped saddle the horse, Scout, and they enjoyed feeding her grain.

Everyone had a turn to ride Scout and Tanner and Taylin rode her all by themselves. They improved so much from day one to day two.

As big sister does, little sister follows.

We cooled off in a nearby stream. The kids played with Buck (Grandpa's dog) by tossing rocks and having him chase after it, in the water. Taylin lost her flip flop in one muddy section and Grandpa helped her search for it, but to no avail, so we moved to clearer waters to play.

Four-wheelin' was a great pastime - the kids rode around the yard in front of Grandma's house, but went on some bigger rides too!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a great time!!