Colt's Birthday.

Colt turned two!! The kids have REALLY been into the movie How to Train Your Dragon recently, so a Toothless the Dragon cake was requested for Colt's birthday celebration. Colt is such a joy to have in our family. His adorable dimples and sweet smile help him get away with alot. He keeps me on my toes all. day. long. Eventhough he is the third child, he is constantly teaching me new things about parenthood. He has a big temper, and a big heart to match it. The bigger he gets, the more I see he has some of both his siblings in him. He is determined and full of energy like Caroline and he will get super cuddly and loving just like Gunner. We still call him baby Colt around here, though he is clearly not a baby anymore. We love him to pieces and are so glad he is apart of our family.     

The finished product. I'd say it was a success, I'm no professional for sure, but I really enjoy making fun cakes for the kids birthdays.  

The Birthday Boy.

Digging into his cake. 

Getting a little help from Dad. 

Love you Baby Colt. 

Christmas

 This year we spent Christmas as a family of five at home here in Midland. It was fun to see how excited the kids were about each present. I love the magic that the season brings and the time we get to spend together as a family.  

Here are the kids as they were coming into the room, seeing all that Santa brought. 

Caroline really, really wanted this sea horse stuffed animal. 

Colt was content playing with his new Dusty airplane all morning long!!

 My favorite gift for the kids were these costumes. I love Gunner's astronaut outfit!!

 My little mermaid. 

Visitors

The Vallery's stopped in for a quick visit while on their way to Sunnyvale. It was so much fun to see our cousins!! We wish they lived closer!!

The Spartan

On November 1st, Brett and his co-worker/friend Austin ran the Spartan Race in Dallas. The race consisted of a 13 mile run with obstacles throughout that have to be completed or you are penalized with burpees. Some examples of what obstacles the guys did are,the rope climb,the water walk and the inverted wall climb. They trained and prepared for months before and I couldn't be prouder of Brett's success.   

This is Brett and Austin jumping over the fire, right before crossing the finish line.

They did it!

Congratulating Dad. 

Proud of our man.

Me,Brett,Austin,Gina

After the race we went to Sunnyvale for a quick visit with family. LeeAnn was kind enough to make a celebration cake for Brett!

Colt thoroughly enjoyed it!

Surgery...

Last month our Gunner man had to have a hernia surgery. Midland does not have a pediatric surgeon so we headed out to Lubbock for the procedure. We had been to Lubbock a few times before to meet with a surgeon in hopes that maybe we could just monitor Gunner and see if  there were any changes or not, but after our last visit, the doctor thought it would be best to go ahead and remove all the extra fluid he had, because she was pretty sure it would only get worse, not better. His surgery was scheduled for first thing Friday morning, so since we live two hours away, Gunner and I drove up the night before and spent the night. We were lucky enough to stay in the Ronald McDonald House. I had no idea what to expect. It was amazing. They were so unbelievably kind and helpful. When we got to the hospital the next morning, the schedule was not right, so poor Gunner had to wait hours for his procedure. And then, it went longer than expected so we ended up being at the hospital all day long. The Ronald McDonald House let us stay one more night, no questions asked. Gunner was in alot of pain, so it was good not to drive all the way back that night. Ultimately things went well, and Gunner recovered great, thanks to prayers and good doctors. 

Gunner having fun in the toy room the night before his surgery.

Getting prepped for surgery. 

Just about ready to go. 

And done. 

Feeling much better the next morning, ready to get home. 

First Field Trip...

 On Halloween the boys and I went to Fiddlesticks Farm here in Midland with Caroline's kindergarten class for their first field trip. 

The whole class.

Colt loved all the tractors. 

 Me and Colt on the hayride. 

 I sat with the boys and rode the cow train. 

 They were in Heaven. 

 Caroline's teacher sent me this picture of Caroline and her friend Caroline S. sitting together on the bus ride back to school. They had so much fun they couldn't stay awake. 

It was fun for all of us! Looking forward to many more field trips!

Boston

In October, my sisters Sarah, LeeAnn and I all flew out to Boston where our parents are serving a mission for a visit. It was SO much fun!! We were kid free for three days so we went and did everything!! I was actually really nervous to leave the kids, I have never taken a trip alone, but Brett did amazing!! He's a great father to our three!!

We took a stroll through the Boston Public Garden. 

Just us girls! It couldn't have been a more beautiful day!!

One of the coolest things about being in Boston was all the architecture. Most of the buildings are old and beautiful in town. Everything was so pretty. 

One of the days we were there we took a ferry ride over to Martha's Vineyard. It was freezing!! Thankfully there was an inside area to sit because the boat ride was about 30 minutes. 

We walked the beach and found a few lighthouses.  

We also took a tour of Harvard. Such a fun and beautiful campus. Loved the history of this place too. I was in awe of the buildings and culture and beauty of Harvard. 

We walked the 294 steps to the top of Bunker Hill one day. It was very steep and narrow and you walked up and down on the same stairs, so it was very tight. And way farther than you think. But it was a great view of the city and made for a good workout. 

The Bunker Hill Monument behind us. 

On Martha's Vineyard there is a little part of town famously called the Gingerbread Houses. All the intricate details and bright colors of each home make them look like gingerbread houses. These pictures unfortunately really do not do them justice. They were neater up close. Some almost looked like doll houses to me. I think Caroline would have really enjoyed seeing these.   

Many of the houses had themes. This one was my favorite, the house of love.

We also went to the local Farmers Market one afternoon.  This Pineapple man thought he was hilarious. 

The USS Constitution. Probably my favorite thing we went to see. Loved this ship. Loved the history.