Xander's 9th Birthday

We had a blast this past weekend with family in town to celebrate Xander's birthday. My mother's sister Marilyn was in town from South Dakota so we were able to visit with her for an afternoon.

Thursday morning Collin's preschool went to a pumpkin patch up in Celina where they were able to go on a hayride and pick a pumpkin out of a real pumpkin patch.

Later that day my brother Lance and his gang drove in to watch BYU get pummeled by TCU (no fun) and to celebrate Xander's 9th birthday. At the game we met up with old friends we hadn't seen in a while. My cousin Laura Smoot and her husband Sharm were in town from Utah, so we visited with them for a few minutes at half time. Always fun to catch up.

Friday night we all went camping at Erwin Park north of McKinney and had a blast. The weather was absolutely perfect. Everyone was a little chilly, but that is better than Texas heat. Friday night we roasted hotdogs and smores. We told ghost stories around the fire and spooked the little ones out just in time to go to sleep. Landon wanted to go home when we heard some wrestling in the woods behind us. The great thing was that everyone had stayed up 'til almost 1 am the night before, so it wasn't difficult getting the kiddos to sleep. I say that, but I was at home in my warm bed by 10 o'clock. (I did feel guilty about that, but I wasn't about to let Quinn who is 2 months old camp. Someone had to take him home to sleep comfortably. :) Lucky me!) Robbi and I got up early the next morning (not as early as the campers) and took out doughnuts and hot chocolate (luke warm by the time we arrived) to celebrate Xander's birthday. We took out his presents and opened them around the fire. His favorite part was throwing the wrapping paper into the fire. We had a blast, and Xander said it was his best birthday ever. We love you Xander!!!!!

Life of a new mom!!

Need I say more!!!!!

After 2 long years my sister Kim is moving back to Texas.

Words can not express how happy our family is that her family is returning home. I can't believe I made it through the two years without her. She is my best friend and I have missed her. My prayers have been answered!

Update for the past week of activities!

I am finally getting sleep, so life is good again. Quinn is starting to sleep through the night. Last night I put him in his bed awake at 9:15. He fell asleep on his own and slept until 6:08 this morning. Dreamy!!! He is smiling and laughing now which is so much fun. I made him a blanket to match his nickname "Quinnie the Pooh". Before he was born one of the boys said that when he has poo poo we can call him that. It has kind of stuck. Landon has a monkey from Build-A-Bear that is dressed like a football player, so we put the helmet on Quinn so he could be like his older brothers. It was pretty funny. The boys laughed hysterically. :)

Barry celebrated his 34th . Of course we went to eat Mexican Food which is his favorite. There is a new restaurant right across the street from Pizza Hut Park where FC Dallas plays soccer, so he loved it. We bought him NBA Live 2008, but guess who wanted to play it more than Barry. I wonder why they wanted to get that for their dad. No alterior motives I'm sure. Barry parents bought him a bike and Collin was devastated when he didn't get to go along on a bike ride. He cried the whole time the boys were gone. I found a seat that attaches to the back of Barry's bike at a garage sale for $10. I offered her $5 and she wanted to $15. At first she said no to $10 when I wanted to meet her in the middle. I walked away from the seat, and she came back and told me she would take $10. I love wheelin' and dealin'.

Xander earned his Wolf in Cub Scouts. He is doing really well, and soccer practice doesn't conflict this year, so he has been able to attend his den meetings more regularly. His den has 18 boys. INSANE!!!!! He has a lot of fun there though. We have great leaders that are so patient with a growing ward.

My crazy mom and dad!

My dad is so crazy. I love this picture that my sister snapped when we were in McAllen. My dad can't be just NORMAL, everything is about getting a laugh out of people. He keeps us on our toes. This is one of those pics that I will cherish for always. That is my Grandpa Bess's hand holding Quinn's foot when Quinn was about 5 weeks old. I think it is so sweet. Thanks Kim for capturing that moment.

One night we all sat down to have some ice cream, and my mom decided to eat some leftover spinach from dinner instead. Notice that I am chowing on the ice cream while she is pointing to her muscles getting bigger. My you know what is getting bigger! My mom will live to be a 103 because she's "no fool". (Jimminie Crickett)