s p r i n g

I love it! These blossoms have come and gone now, but at the time, it was so beautiful that Taylin and I took a few pictures to remember all the wonderfully beautiful flowers that were in bloom on the trees.

Did I mention... love it!

he becomes a young man

In our church, when a boy turns 12, he is ordained a deacon and joins the young men's program. It is a pretty big deal. So now that Tanner is 12, he will be apart of these great programs. We are proud of his worthiness to become a deacon and accept the responsibilities that come with holding the priesthood.

He will be wearing a tie each Sunday and therefore, he has graduated to a "real" tie, not one that clips on, so he learned how to tie his tie from the expert... Dad!

It was super nice that Huy's parents could be apart of his ordination. It is always great to have them visit and spend time with the kids. They are an important part of their lives and it is great that they can be apart of the kids' lives too!

My cute kids! Love 'em.

tanner turns 12!

Oh - my - goodness! My baby boy isn't such a baby anymore. What is a mother to do?! I guess, give him a party. His buddies came over for an evening of games (video and basketball and football), pizza, and cake. Come to find out, these boys have a little more energy than I thought. Our plans ended faster than anticipated so we had to improvise. Huy took them to Austin's Park for some laser tag, miniture golf, go-carts, and video games on a moments notice. That seemed to be a good thing for all of them. Thanks sweetie for saving the party!

(Pictured above: Ryan S., Kaylie, Taylin, Drew G., Connor K., Tanner, and Lucus S.)



Tanner enjoyed th video game - Madden 10, one of his favorites.

It was a good time for a while, but since we couldn't get the upstairs TV to work so they could all
play at once, they had to gather around and play a tournament. Lucas was the winner!

How many football themed cakes can one make? We will probably be the ones to figure it out. I think this would be #12. (I remember Tanner's first cake was a football field with all the lines and marking with little stick figure players placed on it.) Huy was the designer, I was the froster. Thanks, again, for your help sweetie!

We weren't sure he was going to get all those candles blown out, but... he did! He wanted a chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream - his favorites. It was a fun night!

On Tanner's actual birthday, he chose to eat at one of his favorite restaurants... Pluckers.

And he ate his favorite food... wings. Yum!

He opened some presents... a basketball.

...and oh, boy... clothes from Justice?

No... just a couple of ties for Sundays.

He also got some clothes from his grandparents, a Nike outfit (size XL that he swims in, but wears anyway), and some church clothes.

And although we already had his cake at his party (5 days earlier) another one was necessary on his special day. This delicious 6 layer chocolate cake came from the Cheesecake Factory. I wanted to eat the whole thing myself, but resisted.

Happy Birthday buddy! We are so proud of the young man that you are becoming. Keep making good choices and being a good example to your sisters. We love you!

kaylie turns 6!

Her "birthday" fell on a Sunday this year so we had a good time celebrating as a family.



Taylin made her breakfast and she was able to eat in front of the TV. (How fun is that since the kids aren't allowed to usually?)

Taylin also made it for Tanner since he would have to get up and go to school on his actual birthday (two days after Kaylie's).

The highlight of her day was opening her... ipod! What six year old needs an ipod? This one. It was the only thing she asked for and after seeing this reaction, it was so worth it. She loved it!



Oh, she liked her big girl new car seat as well!

She also got some clothes and toys from her grandparents and aunts. She was thrilled, one happy little girl.

Later that evening, we had brownies as her cake since she was going to have her "real" cake at her party, a few days later. When you're six, it's not really about the cake anyway, it is about blowing out the candles, right?

Here are just a few of the "big girl" thing she does now... makes yummy sugar cookies and...

... sleeps in curlers!

Kaylie asked for a flower party (with a little guidance from her mother, I'll admit) so she picked out these beautiful purple flowers to deliver to her friends.

Taylin helped with some face painting (this was a hit incase you ever thought of doing it).

Even Taylin chose a design, quickly forgetting about it and rubbing some off when she put her glasses on... so silly.

The girls make felt flowers and glued them on a headband, decorated a flower pot and planted a flower in it, and before we knew it, time was running out.

We hurry and sang "Happy Birthday" and ate cake (and cupcakes) and opened presents. It was such fun, little girls are just that way!

A BIG thanks to Kaylie's grandmother for all her help. I couldn't have pulled it off without her. It was fun to have her be apart of it too. She is so wonderful! We love her.

She took Kaylie to Build-A-Bear so she could pick out her own present... this cute puppy named Cookie. Cookie is very loved by Kaylie!

Happy Birthday Kaylie! You are such a sweetie and we love you!

tanner plays for the mavericks

The basketball season was a big success! The team won all of their games, fairly easily too. Tanner played awesome. Good job dude!

Warning: pictures may appear blurry. They are. Gotta figure out how to take better action shots.



He is one sweaty kid.



He takes it all alone.

Size is not a factor.

He thought the one long black sock (from football) was cool. Sometimes, you just have to go with things even though you may not agree.

He shoots and scores.

He rebounds.

And in the end, they were number 1!

snow??? in texas???

Who woulda thought. It sure doesn't happen very often, nor does it stay for very long, but it sure is fun to see it in Texas. Here was the forecast... notice it didn't last.



Soon after getting the kids off to school, it started to fall, about 8:30 a.m.

A little more collection by 9:30 a.m.

Enough to make the first snowman. Yes, Huy made it for you-know-who.

You would have thought it was moving around. First went the head...

Then he ate the whole thing.

After some fun, it was time to go back inside and get something done. He longingly waited to return.

This is what snow falling outside my kitchen windows looks like.

By noon, it was really starting to stick and come down in big flakes.

All I could think about, besides how beautiful it is when it snows, was that the kids were in school and missing all the fun.

But no sooner than their arrival home, they promptly went out to play.

Taylin collected some in a jar for the freezer. What do you do with frozen snow anyway??

And then Tanner got home. He had a snowball fight with a few of the boys in the cul-de-sac, but no need for a heavy coat, even when it snows in Texas.

By 2 p.m. it had stopped snowing and by 6 p.m., most of it had melted away. It was fun while it lasted!