Austin Turns 4

I can't believe Austin is 4 years old! Time has gone by so fast. Austin had a 4 wheeler party and he and his friends had so much fun riding them. Thanks to all of our friends and family for helping us celebrate. Austin was ready to eat that cake!! Daddy and Austin getting ready to ride the 4 wheeler. As you can see, it was pretty cold that day, but we went ahead and rode anyway. All the kids had a blast. I wish I could have posted pictures of everyone, but there were way too many.




Okay, so I had to post a picture of this. . . Our wonderful friends, Mandi and Adam (Carter's parents) gave Austin a movie for his birthday and this is what it was packaged in. I let Austin have one gumball a day and we still have 9/10 of them left! (as of May, when I am actually posting these pictures). All I have to say is watch out Mandi and Adam. Carter's birthday is in July and the war is on!

New Years

Ringing in the New Year with friends. We had so much fun having a night out without the kids! From left to right: Us. . . the Wood's. . . the Gibson's. . . and the Soben's.

8 Years!

On December 29th, Ricky and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary. I can't believe time has gone by so fast. Below are 8 reasons why I love my husband:

1. He loves me unconditionally.

2. He loves Austin and is a wonderful father.

3. He watches Austin when I need a night out with the girls.

4. He cleans the bathroom toilets for me! (That is one of my least favorite things to do.)

5. He lets me go shopping. . . ALOT!

6. He is always there for me when I need anything!

7. He can always make me laugh.

8. He is my soul mate. . . I could never ask for anything more!

I LOVE YOU !

Christmas Pictures

Here are a few pictures from Christmas. It was so much fun watching Austin this year. Santa brought him exactly what he wanted for Christmas - a big, big truck and a big, big drawing pad - although it's funny, I just now realized I don't have any pictures of those in this post. Well, anyway, you'll get to see some of the things he got for Christmas. :)

Austin helping me make snowflake cookies.

Sam (my brother-in law), Kreg (my nephew) and Ricky hanging out at my parents house.

Ky (my brother-in law) grilling out for supper. Ky is one of the best cooks I know and I always love it when he grills!

My sister Velre got this train set for Austin. See the somewhat small box that it is in?? Well, take a look at the picture below to see what it turned into!

Ricky opened the box the next day to put it together and there were a million parts. . . the directions read "Assembly time - 30 minutes. Take your time and enjoy!" But Ricky did get it put together and Austin and his friends have enjoyed playing with it so much. Thanks Velre!

Austin on Christmas morning looking into this stocking.

Funny story - Austin had a Fillmore car and about a year ago we lost it. Austin kept looking for it for a long time and then finally gave up. He hadn't mentioned it in several months and I guess Santa knew he had lost it so he brought Austin another one. When Austin pulled it out of the stocking he said, "I found Fillmore!" Hilarious!

This is Austin opening his Big Big Truck - but you'll have to imagine what it looks like.

Santa also brought Austin this cool desk.

Austin says he is "going to work" and gets up there to write and draw.

Daddy and Austin.

Mommy and Austin.

Austin's cousin Joshua came in to visit from Lubbock. This bag was just about his size.

Merry Christmas

There are many more Christmas pics to come, but I wanted to go ahead and post this one. . . its a message from Austin and our family. . . Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

My Early Christmas Present

For Christmas, Ricky got me a Nikon D80 camera. I was so excited and BEGGED him to let me use it before Christmas. Being the sweet, loving husband he is, he agreed.

It has been ages since we've had a proper family picture taken so we went out with the Soben's to take pictures with my NEW camera. It was so much fun! (Well, it was fun for Holly and me. . .the boys would probably disagree!)

Our good friends Wes and Holly with Davis and London.

The boys had so much fun riding down the street.

Even Ricky joined in!

We MAY have kept the kids out a little too long. . . I think London spoke for all the kids that it was time to go!

Davis and London

Davis and London got to come over and play tonight! Davis and Austin had so much fun playing with Lincoln Logs and putting the train tracks together while London had fun trying to knock everything down!

Austin, Davis and Ricky are in serious concentration. This is hard work!

The trains wore them out, so they decided they wanted to watch a movie and have a snack.

London is as cute as always. . . I love this little girl!

Bunco Christmas Party

The bunco group that I am a sub for had a Christmas party at the Leavenworth's home. This is such a crazy, fun group of ladies and we had a gift exchange where we got to steal gifts. Courtney. . . I am really sorry for stealing your tree, but I blame it on Karri for stealing my candles first. :) But I know you really wanted the gift that Mandi stole from you. . . Christmas gift exchanges are so much fun!

A Weekend Away

Our good friends Adam and Mandi (Carter and Averi's parents) invited us to go to Lubbock for the weekend to go Christmas shopping. . . .and we left the kids with the grandparents! It was a great time to get away and have fun with friends. We even finished all our Christmas shopping early. YEAH!!

The back of the Wood's surburban. . .and I think we went a couple of more places after this!

Christmas Party

We had our Sunday School Christmas Party this past Friday at the Hildebrand's home. It was really fun. We do a white elephant gift exchange and let me tell you there are some funny gifts that are given. As you can see below, the girls stay in the kitchen, talk and take pictures, while the guys stay out in the garage and play kanip-kanop.

This game is serious!!!