Merry Christmas!

 We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  We sure enjoyed our Christmas holiday!  We have started to try and create some of our own family traditions and it's really helped us slow down and think a little more about why we celebrate Christmas.  But it has also created some fun family memories!  Christmas Eve is now our day to do things as our own family.  We started going to a matinee and afterwards getting pizza for dinner.  We read the Christmas story in Luke and watch a few church videos about Christ.  And this year after the kids opened their one gift (which is always pajamas) they went to their rooms to find tickets to the "minivan" Express.  We all jumped into the car and headed to Quik Trip (our local awesome gas station with amazing hot chocolate) where the kids all got to go get their own hot chocolate in their pajamas.  After that we headed around town on our very own Christmas Light Scavenger Hunt while listening to Christmas music.  We had a blast!  It's definitely going to be a new part of our traditions!

After that we headed home where the kids have started another tradition since we've lived in this house.  They all sleep together upstairs and wait for us to come up and get them!  They were so excited for Christmas!

Avery's favorite gift was her new phone.

Austin's favorite gift was his basketball hoop!  It hangs on his closet door and he plays on this thing all the time!

And the little girls got a new craft station homemade by the Christmas elves themselves!

And it also included a wall of dry erase boards!  Let the creativity begin!

 After that we headed over to see our families.  We went over to Grandma and Grandpa John's house where the kids made trains out of candy.

 And then we headed over to Gum-Gum's house where Nana helped the kids create some donut hole snowmen!

 They also got to open up presents while there.  Gum-Gum got them all fake glasses.... they all loved them!  For some reason its the big thing here!  I keep telling them if they actually HAD to wear them they would hate them.  But I have to admit- they look so darn cute!

Christmas Card Pictures

 I love taking pictures.  One of my favorite things about the Christmas holiday is getting pictures from friends and family.  However, my family doesn't quite share that same love... so it's quite a chore getting some of them to cooperate (Randy).  The day I decided we would have the time to take pictures was actually quite cold.  We have a field at the end of our street so I loaded up the family and a ladder and set the timer.  Wa'la!!!  But when I got home I didn't like all the pics.  However... this one had to do because it included my dear sweet husband who I knew would not be up for going back out another day to retake.

 I mustered up the courage to get my kids back in their outfits... and to my surprised they didn't throw a big fit!  Score!!

 And double-score because the weather was warmer and the light was so much better!  I love the color of the tall yellow grass with the red in their clothes!

Look how happy they are!  I think I promised them a trip to Sonic Drive-in or something... but it worked!  Christmas cards are out! 

Ashton's Ornament Party

 Every year our Pre-K has an ornament party where one adult comes and goes around each of the Pre-K classrooms with their Pre-K student and makes an ornament.  Ashton decided I would be the lucky one!  With her being our last, I really tried to take in every moment.  She made some neat ornaments to hang up on our Christmas tree.

After we finished with the ornaments we went to the cafeteria where we decorated cookies to eat!  We had such a great time together!

Thunder vs. Lakers

Randy was given tickets from a vendor to go watch the OKC Thunder vs. LA Lakers.  This was my very first real Thunder game to go to, and I was super pumped that we were playing against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.  We took our friends Trey and Carey Auschwitz.  Of course with the Lakers in town the entire stadium was sold out. The seats we got were completely the last row, nose bleed!  I remember seeing people up on that row when I would be watching the game from home and saying that I would never buy tickets to sit up there.  But honestly, they weren't that bad!  Thunder fans are amazing and it was such a great atmosphere.  Best part- they beat the Lakers!!

Thanksgiving '12

So this year we broke tradition and went to Houston for Thanksgiving.  I mean, I guess it was time to spend a Thanksgiving with Randy's side of the family!  Randy's brother Robert and his wife Jenny had recently moved into a nice big house and invited us to come down- so we accepted.  Randy's brother Ricky and his wife Anne, and also his parents came too.  But we were the first to arrive, so we spent our first day down at Galveston.

 Galveston was so beautiful and full of historic homes and beautiful trees!  We loved driving around and just sight-seeing.  But of course the kids were most excited about the beach!

 Here is Avery and Austin testing out the waters.  It was way too cold for me... but these two ended up getting in!

 I love this picture of Avery before taking a dip in the ocean.

 These girls were good just building castles in the sand.

 We had a great Thanksgiving.  Lots of good food and fun.  Addie and Ashton spent a lot of their time on their cousin Hudson's little car.

 Once Ricky and Anne and their family came, we went out for some laser tag.  So much fun!

 I think our protective mom instinct must have come out because Anne and I played great!

 We spent a couple nights eating out.  Avery enjoyed time with her Uncle Bubba...

and Ashton loved her time with her cousin Tyler!

Austin's Veteran Program

The fourth grade at Ranch Height Elementary was in charge of the Veteran Day program this year.  Austin did a great job!  Randy was able to take off for a little bit of work to come join me in watching him.  Love this little boy!

Happy Birthday, Randy!

So, I have to throw in a little confession.  I've gotten behind on my blog and am in the process of catching up because it is important to me.  Having said that, my biggest problem with catching up is not remembering everything!  This is why I plan on never getting behind... at least this far... again!  (I'm about 9 months behind- oops!)  So my husband is the most important person in my life.  I love and adore my kids but they come second to him.  I feel terrible though because the only thing I remember about his birthday is that we went to his favorite Bartlesville restaurant called Frank and Lola's.  So, instead of talking about what we did for his birthday, I thought I'd give a little list of some of his favorite things.  Sometimes when we are driving long distances I try to keep him awake by asking different questions.  One time I asked him about his favorite things... and I think if one day my kids are reading this they might find this fun.  So these are some of my handsome, amazing, wonderful husbands' favorite things... at least at age 35!

Favorite:
cologne- Affliction from Buckle
color- blue
candy bar- Snickers
gum- Extra's Peppermint
drink- Coca Cola
snack- Beef Jerky
mint- Lifesaver's Spearmint
cake- chocolate
dessert- cheesecake
fruit- grapes
cookie- chocolate chip
movie- Gladiator
scent- Shallan's perfume (love him!)
type of books- scriptures
type of magazines- Sports Illustrated
restaurant- Pappadeux's
place to shop- Dick's Sporting Goods
board game- Apples to Apples
tv show- Duck Dynasty
jewelry- wedding ring
accessories- sunglasses

Halloween '12

 It's that time of year again!  Always stressful trying to decide what to be for Halloween!  Avery came up with an awesome outfit.  She's Clark Kent turning in to Superman!  That way if the weather got cold she would have a jacket to wear... so smart!!  (And I have to say- super cute!)

 Austin was an OU football player.

 And Addie was his biggest fan as an OU cheerleader!

 We finally got Ashton to be the lion!  I LOVED this costume and now I have a picture of each of my kids in it! 

 This Halloween we went with our friends the Auschwitz's to our church for their Trunk or Treat.

 We also went to our neighborhoods block party 

 and then went trick or treating.  Avery actually took off at this point and went to a friends Halloween party and trick or treating with them.  Her first year to not go with us- sniff, sniff- growing up!

But as always... our favorite thing to do is sit outside our house and pass out candy!

Ashton's field trip to the fire station

 Ashton was so excited for her field trip to the fire station!  She had been when it was Addie's turn and now it was finally her chance.

 They asked for a teacher to volunteer to put on the fire gear... so this is one of Ashton's teachers, Mrs. Hammock.

 Once she got the entire gear on, the kids all got to come up and touch her.  They were reminded that even though she looked different and breathed different that it was someone who was nice and there to help.

 They got to go all through the fire station and then their favorite part which was going in the fire truck....

and spraying the fire hose!

Camping for Fall Break

 Like I said, we were a day later than we had planned, but we made it out with our friends to camp for Fall Break.  We live just 20 minutes away from Osage Hills State Park so its always a great option when we don't have big plans for school breaks.  This year we went with two other families, the Vaclaw's and the Hansen's.

 There are some great trails and we love to go down to the river and see how high or low it is.

 This year it was back up and the kids enjoyed skipping rocks into the river.

It's always great to get out of town and just relax.  We always bring games and this year we attempted some crafts too.  Here is Avery with her friend Izzy.

OKC Thunder Scrimmage

 It was fall break and we were going camping... but last minute Randy was given tickets to the Blue vs. White OKC Thunder scrimmage in Bixby, OK.  With it not being their regular court and not sure if the main players would even be there playing, we had a tough decision to make.  In the end, we decided to go.  We had four tickets so we decided to take Avery and Austin with us.  We started out by going to dinner at Hide-Away Pizza.  This was our first time at this restaurant... so yummy!

 When we got to the gymnasium, we were so glad we decided to postpone our camping trip by one day.  Court-side seats!!

 The kids loved seeing Rumble!

 Not only did we have court-side seats, but it was all the regular players playing!  Half of them were wearing white jerseys and half in blue and they were playing against each other getting ready for the season.  Up close and personal with Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Eric Manor.

 You can kind of see Kevin Durant in this picture of James Harden shooting free throws.  We sat next to the blue teams bench, so we didn't get to see Kevin and Russell super up close.

But we got plenty of James Harden (who now is playing for the Houston Rockets) and my favorite Nick Collison!  Such an incredible, fun night!