Friday, February 4, 2011

Snow Day 2011


My kids are going to start think that it always snows in February! It never snows in Texas. I can only remember a few times that we really got any real snow. We do tend to get ice once or twice a year, but actual snow doesn't happen often. The first real snow I remember in Texas was about 8 years ago on Valentines Day. I remember it because it was the first year we were in our house and we got Simba (our dog) that day. I remember watching him jump around in the backyard in all the snow. That was the first real snow I had seen while in Texas. Then, last year we got a really good snow. It lasted for several days.

This week we have been out of school for 4 days. Crazy! That never happens here in Texas. At first it was for ice and then last night we received about 5 1/2 inches of snow. The snow is much prettier to look at than the ice.


It is great and all, but we are getting some serious cabin fever. We went out today and played for a little while, but since we just got back from Colorado and alot of snow...it is not that big of a deal and we are true Texans. It is too cold out there for us!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Colorado

I have to start this blog post by saying that this may of been one of the best vacations that we have ever taken! We have so many great pictures that I don't even know how I am going to pick just a few to post.

Gary and Laurie invited the whole Edmonds family to their beautiful cabin in South Fork, Colorado for Christmas. So we loaded up the car on Christmas Day and headed to Colorado. We left at like 1:00 in the afternoon. We drove to Raton, New Mexico and stopped for the night.

We woke up Sunday morning and attended church there in Raton. It was really a blessing. The church we went to were only expecting 2 members to show that day and we more than tripled their numbers. After church, we ate lunch and drove the rest of the way to Colorado.

The drive from Raton to South Fork was beautiful! I loved driving through the mountains. We were so happy to get to the cabin and to see everyone. We ate some yummy chicken spaghetti that Laurie whipped up and just hung out.

On Monday, we went sledding. The kids LOVED it! It was so much fun!

Monday night we had our "Edmonds Family Christmas".

On Tuesday, we went on a sleigh ride. It was so beautiful and that it didn't look real! I can't even explain how beautiful it was. We were all cuddled up together with big blankets to keep us warm.

Tuesday was also PawPaw's birthday so we celebrated with a big dinner and cake. We all wrote special letters to PawPaw to let him know just how much he means to us.
On Wednesday, we wanted to take the kids sledding again. There was a snow storm coming so we decided to leave early to try to beat the snow storm. We got up the mountain...barely. It was not safe to drive up there, so we changed our mind and decided to go to another town down the mountain, Creede. It was the neatest little town. We had a lot of fun with Laurie, Gary, Emily and Caroline.

The whole time we had been in Colorado, I was looking forward to seeing some wild life. I saw NONE. I was very disappointed that the bears were hibernating because I want to see one up close really bad. I kept talking about going to some of the caves and just taking a peak in. WELL, we spotted one on the way back to the cabin, so Laurie stopped so that we could try to get in. Emily, Caroline, and I climbed up but we weren't sure how we would be able to get down. Needless to say, we aborted that mission. I was happy that we at least tried! Thanks Laurie!
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We had planned to leave on Thursday, but that was up in the air because of the snow storm. We watched the news to decide what to do. We ended up deciding that it was better to leave on Thursday morning because we thought that the roads might be better on Thursday than on Friday. I wasn't quite ready to leave, but I believed it was best.

Thursday morning we got up and packed to leave. The first two hours of our drive was adventurous. First, we saw a truck lose control and run through three fences before flipping in a field. We stopped and Brock got out to help the motorist not knowing what he was going to find. Surprising to us, as well as himself, he was fine and just had a few scratches. After the paramedics arrived, we were on our way. The one mountain pass that we knew might be tricky was that and a lot more. I was so scared.

There were two times that I really feared for our lives. At one point we skidded completely sideways and a few minutes later, the snow was blowing so hard that we couldn't see the road. After we got through the mountain pass, we were safe! We drove to Amarillo to stay the night. It was raining pretty hard that night. We were excited to get our room upgraded and we got a jacuzzi bathtub. Connor decided that he wanted to take a bath...he makes me mention that he never takes baths. He takes showers! Anways, I put a little bit of bubble bath in the tub and this is what happened!


Friday morning, we drove the rest of the way home...it seemed like it was taking forever but we were so happy to be home. We stopped to eat at a Dairy Queen too.

Christmas 2010



Usually, our Christmas starts at PawPaw and MawMaw's house the weekend before Christmas, but since we were all meeting in Colorado this year, we decided to do that when we got there. We usually go to Tony and Debbie's house the day after Christmas, but again, since we are going to Colorado, we went to their house on Christmas Eve for lunch.

The kids have a great time any time they go to Papa and Nana's house. Of course, it was no difference this time...they were opening presents. We usually have so many presents that we can't fit them in the car!

Next, we went to Papa and Mimi's house for dinner on Christmas Eve night. This is always fun and a bit crazy. It is so crazy because there are 10 adults and 9 kids. It is crowded and fun!!!! Again, we usually have so many presents that we can't fit them all into the car! This year was no exception.

The kids watched the computer to track Santa all night. They were so excited!
I always read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" before setting out milk and cookies for Santa.



Connor always writes a letter to Santa, and this year Jaxson was able to write one as well!

We had a great time Christmas morning. Santa brought Connor and Jax a laptop and a Kinect, Kaden got an iXL, and Halle got a new kitchen. We had a nice, big breakfast, opened presents and then played for awhile before packing up to leave for Colorado.

Christmas Cookies 2010


Every year, we make sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies and decorate them! This year, the day we were planning on making them, Tracie called and said that Briona wanted to come over. So we invited Bri and Charlie over to make cookies and spend the night. Then, we decided to call Kennedie and McKenlie too. McKenlie wasn't quite ready to spend the night away from mom yet, but Kennedie came over. We had a blast baking and decorating. It was a great time and memory. Who knows, maybe we have made a new tradition. We may all have to make cookies together every year...McKenlie and Braleigh will have to join us next time.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Thanksgiving 2010



Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite holidays. I love spending time with our families and having time to just hang out! This year, we went to Gary and Laurie's house for lunch.


If my boys grow up to be 1/4 the men, their great grandfather is, they will be amazing men. They are so lucky to have such a strong male role model.
Jax is such a cutie!

I love, love, love pictures of Brock and Halle. I can't wait to see their relationship flourish over the next 10-20 years.
Halle and my daddy. K Man, Halle and Braleigh at my parents house for Thanksgiving dinner.

Halloween 2010


Halloween is one of the kids' favorite holidays. We always go to the church's "Trunk or Treat" and then we go around the neighborhood.

So, I know everyone thinks that they have "the cutest kids", but seriously...I do. Halle was a beautiful butterfly, Jax was a Clonetrooper, Connor was Josh Hamilton, and Kaden was Iron Man.

San Antonio - November 2010


Brock is the color announcer for Texas A&M-Commerce football. He loves it and is really good at it. It is a bit of a hassle being alone with the kids every weekend during football, but it is worth it to see him excel at something that he is really good at!

One perk is that we got to with him to the game he did in San Antonio. We left on a Thursday and sent the evening at the River Walk.

Friday, we went to the San Antonio Zoo. We had a great time and it was a great zoo. We went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe that evening.

Saturday, we woke up and went to tour the Alamo. It is funny how things like that change the older you get. I have been to the Alamo several times, but each time it gets more interesting and more important.

The kids love staying in hotels, but it can get kind of boring at night. Connor and Jax let me "do" their hair. hehehehe