We had a Fabulous Fourth

The kiddo's watching the parade begin
...and patiently awaiting the candy!

Diamond baby with mama checking out some floats

Motorcycle man ready for the bike parade at church

O girl riding in the bike parade

Auntie Brit & Uncle Ben joined us later for some fun in the sun

Mama & O taking a break by the pool

Brit & the girls box sledding before the fireworks

Ben & O get some super speed

Daddy & the girls lost their box and kept on..."bum sledding!"

We finished the night off with some 
super awesome fireworks at the stadium

We had a super awesome 4th and fun with family...how about you?

Christmas 2010

Snacker was more excited to give 
than to receive...he insisted mama open first!

"Just one hug and you'll fall in love!"

Batman made a quick appearance Christmas morning

New books always bring a smile to Bryce's face!

Diamond baby got a little gift opening help 
from her 80's rockstar/princess sister.
(She gets a little help playing with the toys as well!)

Snacker loves the new Wii game (and his new camo boxers).

Turkey for me...turkey for you

  I like to eat turkey in a big brown shoe...

Master Chef Bryce (he did all the cooking!)
and his magnificent turkey friend

THE BEAST has been hunted. Let THE FEAST begin!

Our friends Oscar & Maria joined us
(in a Monet-esque photo??)

Auntie Brit & Uncle Ben brought the fun

Snacker and his buddy Didi enjoyed
pre-feast Power Ranger action

Our two cuties watch the floats
go by in the Parade of Lights

The turkey has been gobbled, the cold weather has set in,
we're feeling festive holiday feelings..so bring on Christmas!

Halloween....comes before Thanksgiving!

Diamond baby takes a ride at the pumpkin patch

Auntie Brit & Little O pick out pumpkins

Our chariot...and slave

Snackie pulls a wagon load

Green Power Ranger

Marshmallow S'more baby

Cat, monkey, mouse - girl?

A tasty witches potion 
at our friends party

 A delicious pumpkin stew

We had a happy Halloween, 
and we hope you did too

BOO!

Newness

A new year brings a renewed resolve to return to blogging...a return to documenting the moments of importance in the lives of this little family!  This means, as well, that I must resolve to procrastinate less, and simply enjoy life more.

The end of 2009 brought many enjoyable moments. The birth of our 3rd child at the November was certainly one of those "moments" - rather literally. She came in what they call a "rapid delivery" - less than 20 minutes from when I signed in at the hospital. And she has been welcomed well by The Snack and O-girl - as well as a few other family members. Bryce's mother joined us two days after delivery to help us ease into life with three children. She took great care of us and we literally could not have functioned without her!! My sister Heather arrived in time for Christmas lunch (after getting stuck overnight in a freak snowstorm while driving down from Utah). And my sister Britney and her husband Ben came just in time for some New Years eve fun.

Bryce says this Christmas was our best one yet...we had the gift of a beautiful healthy baby girl, we had the joy of watching two happy little kids on Christmas morning, and we enjoyed the first white Christmas in Texas in over 80 years! Who could ask for more?

Halloween '08

"Looky there Cap'n...them's comin' fer our booty!"

We sat down for a little candy break at the trunk-or-treat party, and Baby O warns Cap'n Snack that mama's laid claim on the Twix bars!


Snacker had a blast carving pumpkins with daddy this year...or more accurately, he had a blast playing in the slop!




And we all had a good time at our friends costume party where mommy and daddy went as ourselves...super geeks! :)

a little lovin'

I love living where I live right now! Having to be away from family is sooo hard, but good friends make all the difference. We've got some great friends in our apartment complex here in Texas, with kids the same age as Snack. It seems we are always looking for excuses to get together, so holidays - big or small - never get forgotten.

For Valentines we decided to put out mailboxes so each kid could deliver a little valentine to each friend. I surprised The Snack with this Blues Clues mailbox when he woke up from his nap...he loved it...despite my poor artistic skills! So every time we checked the box we'd sing our "here's the mail it never fails..." song. It really made the day special for him. He was so sweet, he'd always say, "we got a letter because they love me?" And the little messages he wanted me to write on the valentines he gave away were so darling...

"Snack, what do you want to say to London?"

"Uhmmm...because I love you."

As for Bryce and I, our Valentines plans could not interfere with the watching of The Lost! So we made sure to schedule that in. No really, we could have...and should have gone on a date considering one of our wonderful friends here offered to babysit, but I have such a hard time saying yes. But alas...she is a good friend, and she wouldn't let the offer go unanswered, so we're going out tonight! And Bryce, being the sweet heart that he his, does let me choose the movie...once a year...so we're seing a chick flick, believe it or not!

Definately, Maybe here we come!

A Vacation....from the Vacation

Oh yes...there was certainly snow!

I'm back. Golly it's been over a month since I last posted, I guess I needed a little break. We went back to Connecticut for 2 1/2 weeks over the Christmas holidays. It was a great trip...but as these things go, the real vacation was needed when we got back home! We departed for our trip thinking 2 1/2 weeks was a looooonnggg time, but the time passed too quickly, and the loooonnngg list of things we thought we'd have ample time to do while we were there quickly was forgotten! The best part of the trip was simply hanging out & playing games with the fam. I don't know why we try to plan so much when in the end there is nothing better than laughing our heads off playing Cranium or Scattergories etc! And the truth is, trying to get 26 some odd people (and believe me we're "odd")to go out to dinner etc. is quite a feat. Next time, guys, lets just go to a lodge where the best thing to do is simply relax and play games!

Some Favorite Photos:

Dad-n and The Snack huddle together to keep warm while we're waiting to see Santa Clause (fortunately for us this day it was slightly warmer than the single digit temps we experienced later in the week).

Some of the Grandkids help Grandma & Grampa tell the Nativity story.

Christmas morning Auntie Heather helps The Snack get excited to open Christmas presents.

My little Guitar Hero rocking out with Uncle Willie.

Grandma following The Snack through a tunnel at Mystic Aquarium (The Snack LOVED this place!).