Catching up...

I have neglected our blog.  Yikes, I've started an entry that smacks of every other entry in my journal dating back to age 9.  I wish I would have known how annoying it is to read now ("I haven't written in such a long time." "Sorry for neglecting you, dear journal."  Bla bla just tell me what's going on already!...)  So! It's March already and getting sunny and springy here in Spring, TX.  The kids have all seriously been growing and getting cuter and funnier and smarter every day.  Brad's been working hard, and really enjoying his job which is SO nice.  He's been way in to cycling lately, getting read to ride the MS 150 (a 150 mile ride from Houston to Austin to raise money for the National MS Society, Erin did it a few years ago).  I'm writing, slowly but surely, and am almost ready to submit a short story and working on a novel (7 pages so far, yeah man!) We have a busy year ahead of us, full of fun plans and more growing :-)

Here are some pictures for you mom, finally!  I'll start with a few from Christmas:

Christmas Eve, getting ready for our live nativity. Clark was not a cooperative shepherd

Boppa came as Santa a few days before Christmas for a nice surprise!

Cora and Santa! (Isabelle noticed Santa's "hand" to which he responded that it got frozen on the way from the North Pole. Ha!)

Boys and the iPhone

Silly string for Christmas Eve!

Uncle Carl attacks!

Isabelle taking matters into her own hands...

Christmas Eve dinner

Christmas morning!!

Merry Christmas!

Our 2012 video Christmas card :-)
Clickhere

Nacogdoches

The kids could have been in the pool 24/7. So much fun.

  We spent Labor Day weekend in Nacogdoches with Brad's sister Heather and her family. It was perfect, we just love them!!

Getting ready for lunch!  Clark pretty much started and ended with that chip bag...

Brad's parents came for the day

Food and family - the best two things in the world

Clark and his chips.  And his beat up head and black eye (he fell on the pool deck, had a whirlwind trip to Urgent Care to glue his little cut closed.

This isn't Nacogdoches, but we'll live if it's not a separate post - Soren at soccer practice!!  He's been loving it and is pretty good too!

Love this picture of Soren and his Boppa

San Antonio The Westin La Cantera

Hiking - Maria is holding the bag they planned to put a rattlesnake in if they found one.  Luckily, none were found :)

We took a little trip to San Antonio mid-September for a night and a day at the Westin La Cantera, a little resort hotel with cool trails and a bunch of meandering swimming pools the kids couldn't get enough of.  It was a big treat for everyone!

(Can't format this dang blog now to save my life.  Why do they change things?!?!?)

Clark needed his blanky on the hike

Almost all of us...

Clark picking his nose at IHOP

Awesome pools

And waterfalls!

The kids, sunsoaked, watersoaked and happy

On our way home we stopped at Buc-ee's, my first experience, it's the best freakin rest stop I've ever seen!  Soren wouldn't wake up. I took him out of the car, put him in the stroller and back in the car and he still didn't wake up.  Clark was helping out here...

First Day of School

Isabelle and Cora on their first day at a new school (This is their third school since we moved to Spring!  The first change due to our move, this one due to boundary changes)

Soren's first day of preschool ever!!!!  He goes three mornings a week and really loves it.  Such a big boy!

Yosemite

 Brad and Isabelle went to Yosemite in August for their "Cousin Hike" trip.  They had an incredible time. Here are a few pictures!

Summer visitors!

Carl and Clark!

Right before church. Clark wasn't quite ready...

 This past summer we got to have my two sisters and one of my brothers visit. It was such a treat - Erin and Carl even overlapped for one of Erin's visits (yes, we got to see her in July and just recently in September).  We went out for a fantastic dinner, then the next day to a movie and then the temple - just the three of us!  It was good times.  And Brad gets even more extra points than he already had for taking over at home :-)

Auntie Paralee!  With the girls on their first day of school.  It was such a nice visit!

Going out to din

"I whip my hair back and forth" is probably the song they are doing here - the kids dance xbox kinect game everyone loves!

A rousing game of Uno.  Auntie Erin was always such a sport and played LOTS of card games with the kids as well as Monopoly. That's dedication.  And patience :-)