{ The Kirkland Crew }

Christmas in Texas

2012-01-24T09:27:00.000-08:00

Better late than never, right?

Well, after we arrived home from our California adventures, we headed over to my parents house in Moody, TX, where my brother and his wife and their kiddos were waiting. Adam and Chandra had made the long 29 hour flight from China with 2 kiddos in tow, just to be here this Christmas. All the cousins were delighted!

We made sure to have tons of activities planned; like trips to the zoo, making smores in the campfire, finger painting, face painting, puppet shows, and of course the all time favorite, hide and seek.

Everyone had a blast and, let me tell you, there is nothing quite like a household full of kids under the age of 4! :) Here are some photos from our time together:

Adam and his youngest, Tristan

Elijah, Noah and Joaquin watching the leopard

Noah, Joaquin and Elijah in the aquarium

Chandra and Tristan looking for Nemo

Joaquin loved the alligator and the alligator loved Joaquin!

Trying to get all four of the boys to line up their heads in the peek throughs!

Tristan, Noah and Joaquin in the tepee

Sweet lil Tristan

MiMi's attempt at making the manger scene for dress up day

Elijah, Joaquin, Tristan, and Noah getting ready to head to bed

Christmas in California...

2012-01-03T12:36:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Ian, the boys and I flew to California for a week to be with all the Kirkland crew. While we were there we had lots of adventures! Gamma and Gampa took the boys to the Discovery museum and to Disney Land! They had their first experience with Krispy Kreme and In and Out, and were blown away with the load of presents under the tree on Christmas morning! They were absolutely spoiled since they were the only grand kids / nephews around. And of course, they had an absolute BLAST!

Here are some photos of those adventures: (beware, there are quite a few pics)

The massive Christmas morning opening of presents

We all chipped in and got Ian a gift certificate to get his pilots license!

The creators of the whole shindig... Gamma and Gampa

all the boys got matching army jackets

Joaquin played his t-ball set all day! Thanks Aunt Katie! He loves it!!

Gamma and Gampa brought t-shirts back from Italy for the boys!

all the girls in our matching Christmas jammy shirts

Tarzan Joaquin

Tarzan Elijah

the fam in Tarzan's tree house

Casey Jr. Train ride...of course we were all put in the Wild Animals cage :)

my little sharing boy

mommy and her pony

happy boy, Joaquin in line for the Merry-go-round

Daddy and Mommy getting Elijah set to go on his horse

teacup boys

Elijah hiding under my mad hatter hat

mad hatter hat attitude

lollypop men

Joaquin loved driving Gampa around

the boys had special mickey mouse hats with their names on them

Elijah was the ever experienced driver here...

Gamma and Elijah looking out the submarine window on the Nemo ride

Aunt Katie and Joaquin looking out the sub windows

lollypops

can't go to Disney land and not get a big lollypop

Goofy's bounce house

Joaquin poking his head out of the pumpkin eye

silly Gampa

The boys with Pluto

Small World boats

mommy and Elijah on Small World

Joaquin loved pointing out all the recognizable decorations

Mommy and Elijah trying to get out of jail

Gampa and Elijah waiting in line for Small World

Gamma and Elijah in line for Nemo

almost time for santa...

finding dinosaur bones at the Discovery Museum

Elijah loved the space shuttle exhibit

Aunt Melanie and Joaquin, the boys loved to run around and wake everyone up in the morning

discovery wands telling us which bone to find

mommy and the boys trying to make the floating magnetic boats in the magnetism exhibit

Gampa, Gamma, Mommy, Elijah and Joa

Christmas Traditions

2011-12-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

The yearly gingerbread house turned out much better this year! The boys and I had a blast and they really wanted to make a "pretty home". Now we are just trying to keep it up high enough on the counter so that they can't eat it!

The boys also put their 2011 handprints on our Christmas tree mat. We started that tradition last year and hope that the boys can see how much they have grown over the years.
Christmas is such a wonderful time of traditions. The advent calendar also has 2 doors open now, and it is one of the boys favorite things to do after dinner. We open the door and read the scripture inside and get to eat the 2 pieces of chocolate inside. :)
We hope your holidays are full of fun family traditions; drawing us all together in a common joy.

Giving Thanks!

2011-11-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We all drove up to Dallas to spend the holiday with the Youngs in Carrollton.

Nammama, Bill, Aunt Carol, Uncle Jeff, cousins Emily, Brett and Bryce and my mother, father and brother JB, as well as my Aunt Kellye were all there to celebrate together.

When we first arrived, all the cousins were dressed up as pilgrims and Indians! I wish I would have gotten a picture of that, but they got changed into their regular clothes too fast for me to get it. All that to say, it was a wonderful welcome when they opened the door!

The boys had a blast playing with all the cousins old toys and everyone else enjoyed looking at old photos and scrapbooks and of course, watching the football games. :)

We also celebrated Grandaddy Bill's birthday together that day. So, not only did we all eat pumpkin and pecan pie, but we also had amazing birthday cake! Needless to say, we had a full day and full tummies to boot.

After the festivities died down we all piled in the car and headed back to my parents house to crash for the night. The boys were exhausted.

The holiday weekend was then spent at my parents house (MiMi and Papaw's) getting all the Christmas decorations out and preping the tree. Elijah absolutely LOVES Christmas anything, so he was so excited to decorate the tree. He kept saying, "Mommy, this makes me so happy!" (This boy going to break the mold for guys who don't express their feelings verbally, cause Elijah is all about it!)

We returned home to our house just in time to head to church on Sunday for the beginning of Advent. It truly is such a special time of family, love, traditions, and exemplary joy!

Here are some photos from the weekend:
Elijah decorating MiMi and Papaw's tree

Uncle John with his dog Issa

MiMi and the little decorators (mind you they woke up and right away wanted to start decorating the tree, hence the p.j.'s)

goofing around with MiMi

Thanksgiving day at the Young's house

J.B., Grandaddy Bill, mom, Elijah and cousin Emily around Bill's birthday cake

The boys loved running around outside with cousin Bryce.

somehow Joaquin ended up with these weird goggles on and then didn't want to take them off all day. (Bryce even ended up giving them to Joaquin and he happily wore them all the way home...falling asleep in his carseat with them still on!)

Elijah running around the cones

my dad and Bryce planning basketball with the boys trying their best at defense...

JB and Namama around the fireplace

the boys love their great Namama

Aunt Carol, Joaquin, Emily and mom reading Emily's scrapbook

Aunt Kellye and Joaquin playing

Joaquin and Em

mom working up some magic in the kitchen

and of course, the common cooking and hang out room ends up being the kitchen

Halloween

2011-11-01T09:11:00.001-07:00

The boys had a blast walking around the neighborhood last night. We are still working on our "trick or treat" timing, though, so that they understand they have to wait till someone answers the door before they yell, "TRICK OR TREAT", at the top of their lungs. The first few houses, they just shouted at the door, but by the end of the street, they had pretty much gotten the hang of it.

Elijah, now being 3, completely understood the more houses we went to, the more candy he would get. So, he was amped to visit as many houses as he possibly could. Jaoquin, on the other hand, was pooped and ready to go back home after a few houses. Honestly, I think he was just ready to get to EAT the candy, instead of having to wait till we had been to all the houses and back home before he could dig into his pumpkin full of goodies.

Anyway, this year, Ian came up with a fun tradition for Halloween. We always struggle with what to really celebrate about Halloween without making things seem frightening for the little guys, and Ian and I really love the way Mexico celebrates and views the Day of the Dead (which is actually tomorrow). So, we decided to blend the purpose of Halloween with the view of a time to celebrate those that have died before us that we love and appreciate and want to use this time to celebrate their lives and acknowledge them. So, Ian decided we would have a little ceremony where we write the names of our loved ones that have died that we want to acknowledge and honor on a little scroll and dedicate a little prayer and celebration to them. The boys don't really get it right now, but we are excited to start a tradition that doesn't look as skulls and the like with a scary outlook, rather an honorable remembrance of loved ones.

Halloween Parade at Mother's Day Out

2011-10-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the boys participated in their yearly Mother's Day out Halloween Parade. All the kids at the church line up and walk down the hallways while parents whoop and take photos of their cuties!

Not too long ago Joaquin and Elijah received a surprise package in the mail from Gamma and Gampa, and inside were the most precious little costumes! Elijah was a big time pilot and Joaquin was a hard workin fire fighter! The boys LOVED their outfits and it was difficult to keep them out of them every single day.

So, when we woke up yesterday and told them they were going to get to wear their costumes to school, they jumped up in eagerness and got dressed!

Here are a few photos from the morning parade.

Yesterday the boys participated in their yearly Mother's Day out Halloween Parade. All the kids at the church line up and walk down the hallways while parents whoop and take photos of their cuties!

Not too long ago Joaquin and Elijah received a surprise package in the mail from Gamma and Gampa, and inside were the most precious little costumes! Elijah was a big time pilot and Joaquin was a hard workin fire fighter! The boys LOVED their outfits and it was difficult to keep them out of them every single day.

So, when we woke up yesterday and told them they were going to get to wear their costumes to school, they jumped up in eagerness and got dressed!

Here are a few photos from the morning parade.

Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-24T07:45:00.001-07:00

Well, we finally made it over to the pumpkin patch! This weekend Ian and I took the boys over to the church pumpkin patch and the boys had a blast crawling on the mounds of pumpkins and choosing their favorite ones to take home.

Once we were home Ian and the boys carved out the pumpkin faces. Each of our little guys had their own mini-pumkin and Ian took on the family one. Here are a few picks from the evening.

Joaquin's mini-pumpkin choice

Elijah's mini-pumpkin choice

The boys loved the pumpkins with all the weird bumps!

This is my attempt at the posed pumpkin patch pic...

sitting on the big ones!

my precious boys...

they had so much fun on these mounds!

and, daddy's freaky pumpkin face...
:)

Chris and Melanie get married!!

2011-10-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been such a long time since I have reported, but this summer has been crazy. Moving, working from home, boys out of school and at home all the time, and non-stop things "to-do"--so the blog kinda got put on the back-burner. However, I do want to try to keep up and catch up on a few things that are too important to skip.

This May, Ian's brother, Chris, got married to the wonderful, Melanie! We were so excited to be a part of the whole thing! The boys were both ring bearers and were precious in their little tuxedos! The family all gathered in Utah where Melanie's parents held the wedding in their beautiful back-yard, that was specially landscaped for the occasion!

The wedding was over-the-top gorgeous and it was so much fun to be all together with the family. The Kirkland's rented a couple houses in the neighborhood and so we were all able to stay together during the week long festivities! Here are some photos from the special union!
(My apologies ahead of time for the copyrighted mark on the proofs) The family had a blast and the wedding will be a special memory for all involved!

Ian's Commercial Debut

2011-08-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

It was such a fun surprise to us that Ian was asked to shoot a Toshiba commercial this past week! He has been filming for 4 days in Houston and has had a blast!

A friend of his, Mark, who works at Toshiba suggested that Ian send in a tryout video of himself reading the script, so Ian said, "sure". We didn't think to much it really; we got out the flip video and took a couple videos of him reading the text and emailed it in. Then, the next day we got a call saying "you got the job"! So, off he headed off to Houston on Saturday and has been shooting the commercial, voice overs, and directional videos in English and Spanish! I'm so proud of my man! :)

New Home

2011-07-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I know it has been wayyyyy too long since I have written. We have been through a whirlwind of changes recently and I have been so busy that blog updates have fallen by the wayside.

For those of you that don't know already, the Kirkland Crew moved into a new home last month. We arrived home from Chris and Melanie's wedding (Ian's brother and new sister-in-law)--which was amazing by the way--and the next day packed up a U-Haul of our things. Ian and I were crazy enough to think we could pack up our household and move by ourselves with 2 kids in tow! That lasted till about 2pm when I called my parents, defeated, and admitted that we did in fact need help. (Man, moving with kids is an ENTIRELY different type of move than it is when you are kid-less and married. I had NO idea of the balancing act it requires!)

Anyway, the whole event was so sudden because when the people who wanted our old house finally signed the contract, they wanted to move in in 2 weeks. Luckily, we had an investment property about 10 min. away in the next town that we had just picked up and would be able to move into until we figured out what we wanted to do. This house needed a lot of rehab so we weren't super excited about it at the time, but after a month or so of rehabbing it, Ian and I are finally starting to enjoy living here. As I am sure anyone who has ever lived in a house while a renovation/rehab is going on knows, you just never quite feel settled in until it is all said and done. So I am happy to say, we are finally taking a deep breath, looking around the house and saying, "ahhh, yes, this is nice, now." Here are some photos of our new place.

living room

Master bedroom

kitchen

the boys upstairs playroom

looking down on the living room from the playroom balcony

The backyard backs to the greenbelt, so there is no one behind us, which is great. You can't really see it in the photo, but there is a nice sized covered back patio where we have a patio table and such

Entry way

Front of the house with our newly planted planter (thanks Ian!)

Joaquin's room

Elijah's room

The only 2 rooms I didn't take photos of are the office and the 4th bedroom that is designated as Ian's music room. The house itself is a little under 3000 sq. feet and has lots of things we love about it. Although, we just put it back on the market this week to see if we can flip it that quickly. Ha! Who knows, we will just see what happens.

Anyway, I knew a lot of you were wanting to see photos of our new place and hear a lot more about it, so I felt a new blog piece was in order. I send love to you all!

This made me laugh...sad vs. happy face

2011-05-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

Elijah has the best bottom lip pucker when he is sad. I tried to catch it on video, but it didn't turn out as expected! :) He is just not a super sad guy I guess.

Happy Birthday Mommy

2011-05-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful 32nd Birthday this year! My mother had spoken with Ian ahead of time and set up a spa day extravaganza. Ian watched the boys all day while mom and I relaxed at the Lake Austin Spa and Resort. It was perfect weather outside and after our facials and massages we spent most of our time in a hammock, under an oak tree, down on the lake. My mother and father were so generous to plan the whole thing out for me! Mom and I hung out all day in the steam room and sauna and meddled around in our spa robes. When I got home late that evening, Elijah said he had something to tell me. I got the video camera out (having a sneaking suspicion that Daddy had prepped him with something to say...)

As most of you know, every birthday I make a point to ask the birthday boy or girl what lesson they have learned that year or piece of wisdom that they can pass on from that year of life. This year, when Ian asked me what I wanted to pass on from the wisdom of the year, I didn't hesitate to answer. I said it was the lesson of being at peace with your spiritual evolution. It is so easy for me to get down on myself for not "growing" fast enough spiritually or not "doing more" than I am currently. I am pretty sure most people are plagued with this same guilt because no matter how much you "do" there is always a thought that you could still do more. And, in all honesty, you could; I could. But, that isn't the point, in my opinion. In my opinion, the point is to be present where you are. In my experience, and a lot this year in particular, I have been reminded that to simply listen to the Holy Spirit within you in EACH MOMENT is the most you can "do". It means you are living in perfect timing with God's spirit within you and if you are doing that, you are following God in everything. There is no need to "force open the gates of heaven". Just as all nature reflects, our spiritual budding and evolution, occurs in God's perfect timing for our lives. If we live in a continual dance with the kingdom within, we are assured to get where God wants us to go...

Elijah turns 3 and Joaquin turns 2!

2011-04-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

We decided to celebrate Joaquin's birthday a month early this year since we will be at Ian's brother, Chris's wedding on his birthday. And, since Elijah and Joaquin are exactly 13 months apart (April 26th and May 26th) we had a dual birthday party. We figured the boys are small enough to share a party now and soon enough when they get older they probably will want their own separate day of celebration, but for now, it was fun to do them together!

Birthday boy Elijah

He carefully licked all the icing off his #3 candle

Birthday boy Joaquin

This little one, on the other hand, watched his brother getting the icing off the candle, took a huge bite out of the wax #2 and swallowed it faster than we could all say "no"!

Clapping after the boys blew out their candle

This is what we look like when we actually say "cheese". Really a horrible face for a kid to give to the camera!

Me trying to teach him a big smile!

Mommy trying to tickle and make him laugh. His face in this photo makes me think this is what he is going to look like when he gets older and mommy embarrasses him! Ha!

Joaquin's bandit playdough masque daddy made

I have to admit that the playdough potato head set that Uncle John gave the boys was super fun! Mommy and Daddy played just as much as the boys did!

Ian's playdough mustache

Joaquin showing off his new train set

I can't believe Joaquin is already 2! Our boys are growing up so quickly!

He loved his Thomas the train choo-choo set

I've been trying to teach Elijah to "smile normal" when the camera comes out.

I swear, I hate whomever came up with the "cheese" thing for kids to say for the camera! It makes them all look horribly constipated and uncomfortable for pictures and they are scarred for life to not know how to act normal in front of a camera!

I finally got a normal 1/2 smile

"Thomasssss," he yelled!

Both boys were so happy to have their names put into the birthday song. It just makes your heart full to see a child genuinely happy because you know it is real. There is no filter at their age and what you see is truly what you get. That being said, when they are in a state of joy it simply magnetizes you into that same state of happiness! This is one reason why kids birthday parties are so much fun to be a part of!

The boys had a blast opening their presents!

Elijah's Birthday present from Gamma and Gampa!

2011-04-26T13:11:00.001-07:00

Today Elijah turned 3! I can't believe my little man has already been here for 3 full years! Elijah went to Mother's Day Out today at the church so I brought cupcakes in during their lunch in his honor. He was so happy to have the day dedicated to him! Then, when we arrived home after school he got to open his box from Gamma and Gampa! This was the cutest thing ever! I have never seen one of these giggle boxes! What a great idea! Here is a video of Elijah opening his birthday box! He has started expressing his feelings lately and of course the first thing he says after getting to open his box is, "that makes me happy!" :)

Easter Weekend

2011-04-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted about the family. We have been so busy with the boys and our businesses that I've gone from posting 1 blog a week to 1 a month! All that being said, I hope you and your family had a wonderful weekend celebrating Christ's resurrection! We were in Moody, at my parents house and took some photos of the weekend.

This hammock in the backyard is always a favorite when we visit MiMi and Papaw's house! It was such a beautiful weekend and perfect for all the outdoor activities!

The boys love to cuddle up in Uncle John's lap!

Balancing on the hammock and on daddy's foot! Joaquin loves to play!

Here is our best attempt at a family Easter photo before we headed off to church. The boys had on the cutest little seersucker suits!

Waking up and learning the the Easter Bunny had stopped by was a real treat for the boys!

They have a book that tells the story of the Easter Bunny so they were excited to see he had dropped by!

Blue ears, blue ring pop and blue teeth to boot!

Into the candy first thing in the morning! It started early!

Here are the only couple shots I took of Elijah at his school's Easter Egg Hunt Party.

He found soooo many eggs and had to show them all to mommy!

And here are a couple videos of the weekend as well:

practice makes perfect

2011-04-06T11:10:00.000-07:00

I am always so amazed at the steady beats Elijah can keep with the foot pedal and both hands! He has Ian's musical talent for sure!

Peek-a-Boo (The Full Monty)

2011-03-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

So...I was doing laundry this morning while the boys played peek-a-boo behind the curtains. I thought it was really cute, so I went to grab the video camera. Naturally, there were clothes all over the place in the laundry room, so nothing seemed unusual. Little did I know Elijah had a little show planned...

Valentines Day

2011-02-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

Elijah and his "Love Bug" that mimi gave him

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Valentines Day! I love that we have a day set aside to remind us to tell those we love how we feel.

Ian and I decided to have a family Valentine celebration this year and it was so special. Sunday night we all dressed up for the occasion and sat down to a "fancy dinner". (The fact that I lit a candle in the middle of the table really impressed the boys.) We all sat at the big table with place mats and our own "flower on a plate".

I cooked steamed artichoke for everyone and the boys LOVED getting to see their own "flower" open up and eat the petals. We taught them how to eat the artichoke with their teeth and that got a kick out of that one too! For desert I made everyone caramel apples with flax seed granola on them. (Hey, I at least tried to get something healthy on those pure sugar apples!)

Ian and I had champagne and chocolate covered strawberries too. I considered fondue, but decided to pre-dip the fruit just in case the boys got a little to excited about the dipping part and the table got crazy. :)

Ian and I both agreed that it was a really special Valentine celebration having our boys be a part of our fancy dinner. Elijah and Joaquin knew it was a big deal and we could tell they felt very special getting to be a part of everything.

Let me also just say that to all our friends and family out there reading this, whether we tell you a lot or hardly at all, we love you all. Ian and I truly believe that each and every person in our lives is there for a reason and has a particular roll they are to play in our lives. We are so grateful for all that we learn, glean, and aspire to because of your presence in our day to day world.

Even more than that, now that we are parents our gratitude and joy is multiplied to see those we care about loving on our boys. That is the greatest gift you could ever give us, to invest in the hearts and lives of our children. Thank you for helping us raise them; when you love Ian and I you are building us up and helping us be better parents to our children. All that to say, we love you. Happy Valentine day! May you feel and experience love all around you today and forever...

Elijah going to town on his flax/caramel apple

Joaquin, happy with his caramel face

Joaquin eating his artichoke (AKA flower petals)

My Valentines

Snow Day

2011-02-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

It was such a fun surprise to wake up to snow today! The weather report was forecasting snow but weather reports in Texas aren't always that accurate. We are known to have sudden changes in temperature, to say the least.

So, last night before the boys went to bed we prayed for snow and the boys were so excited to wake up to find their prayers answered! :) We attempted a snow man in the front yard, but the final product was a nub with a stick in it because the boys hands got too cold to stay out any longer. That is the problem about living in a city that very rarely sees snow...you have no snow clothes prepared to keep you warm! Everything just ended up cold and wet, so the boys all came by the fire. We made a big pallet on the floor and cuddled and had story time.

Here are a few videos of the morning.

The snowman attempt...

Happy Snow Feet...

Where we ended up...

2.5 year old genius drummer

2011-01-10T08:14:00.000-08:00

Elijah is such a stud with his rhythm! Already at two and a half he uses both sticks and the foot pedal; mommy just learned to do that!

Christmas Pics

2011-01-04T12:32:00.000-08:00

OK, I finally got around to downloading my camera pics onto our computer and now I can post them. These cover a few weeks during the Christmas season, so be ready for a long post! We actually had a few different "Christmas Celebrations" with the family this year.

Ian and I trade off years with our parents and this was our year to stay in Texas for the holiday. My mom's side of the family could only get together a week before Christmas, so we all celebrated a bit early. The Kirkland's sent tons of boxes full of presents so the boys got to open all those and celebrate the Kirkland Christmas a day early.

Then, Adam and Chandra flew in from China with their two boys on Christmas Eve. My dad's side of the family came over on Christmas day so we had that celebration together. Then, about 4 days later my mom's brother and his daughter came into town and we all got together again to go to the museum.

So, this year involved about 3 weeks of straight Christmas time! :) Of course the boys were in heaven. Here are pics from the holidays.

Elijah, Noah, and Joaquin getting their baths before heading to bed. It was quite a chore to have the boys all sleeping in rooms next to each other at MiMi's house. They loved to shout through the walls to each other and see how long they could resist falling asleep! :)

They LOVED playing together, if you can't tell

Cynde (my dad's sis), mom and dad. Cynde brought over all these old pictures of people from my dad's family for them to look at. They had so much fun remembering all the faces.

Chandra and baby Tristan in his cute little Christmas outfit

the boys having some snacks at the booth table

Christmas morning. The kids were so excited to see all the goodies in their stockings!

Playing legos

Joaquin, MiMi, Namama and Elijah next to the freaky mannequin mom dressed up as Santa. It scared everyone at night to see him in the light of the hallway.

Namama and Bill gave the boys little Peter Rabbits and the book series for Christmas. It was a special treat for them to all sit down and read the book together!

And, this was the mega-gift of the season... the mini-drumset

Uncle Bobby, Aunt Mary, and their girls gave the boys a drumset just their size and, as you can imagine, it blew them away!

The biggest issue has become sharing time with the drums...

Christmas is so much more fun with little kids around.

Their little faces just light up with joy when they get to unwrap something!

Another musical toy the boys love!

Uncle Brett gave Elijah a cool cat keyboard with a microphone!

The reading of the Christmas story is a tradition. Someone is selected every year to read Luke 2 before we open all the presents.

Uncle Bobby was the reader this year. It has become a very special reading and we all say a prayer of thanks afterward.

Joni's outfit for Christmas day

There is always music when the family gets together.

Before everyone heads to bed at night the guitars usually come out and we all sit around to listen to the guys play.

Almost asleep while cuddling with Uncle John

Elijah was getting sleepy...

Uncle Jeff, Elijah, Joaquin and cousin Brett watching the Veggie Tales story of St. Nicholas

Uncle Jeff and Elijah became fast buddies

And Uncle Bobby and Joaquin became fast buds too!

Uncle Bobby reading a night night story to Joaquin

Uncle Jeff let go of Joaquin hanging onto that kitchen library ladder pole!

typical scene from the guys playing pool upstairs

Our room at MiMi and Papaws house for the holidays

Brett concentrating on his shot :)

I'm not sure who won that game, but Joaquin couldn't stand not getting to roll the balls around on the table! It was all Ian could do to keep him from storming the table.

Papaw and Joaquin; they have the same baby-blues

the gals- Namama, Mary and mom

getting ready for dinner; Em, Namama and Elijah

Namama and Elijah saying cheese

Elijah and Namama had so much fun together

Joni's Rudolf T-shirt (says "Rudolf's got nothing on me")

The typical, everyone always ends up congregating in the kitchen!

Elijah, at his MDO Christmas party, eating all sorts of sugar goodies

Joaquin at his school Christmas Party.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my little sunshine!

The Mayborn Museum

2011-01-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

A couple days after Christmas, all the little boy cousins, Uncle John, Cousin Natalie, and mommy and daddy's to a trip to the children's museum at Baylor. As we walked into the museum, Noah and Elijah were holding hands walking towards the trains and it was such a precious moment!

And of course Uncle John had to jump in the Middle Eastern head hole. It was so funny and the boys of course think Uncle John is hilarious!

The Native American room was an instant favorite of the boys with the Tepee and the drums!

And, then Ian caught a quick shot in the wall of mirrors with the boys!

Everyone had such a great time that day! Elijah and Noah are such great play buddies and they are all so much fun to watch now that they are older and get really excited about learning!

Christmas Videos

2011-01-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

I haven't had time to process the photos from Christmas yet, but it is fast to just upload the videos. So, here are some clips from this Christmas! This first one was of the boys opening one of their gifts from Gamma and Gampa!

Here is a video from Christmas morning. We spent the night of Christmas Eve at my parents house in Moody with Adam and Chandra, their two boys, Noah and Tristan, my Aunt Kellye, my younger brother John, and my parents. It was so special that Adam and Chandra and their boys were visiting from China and that Elijah and Noah got to play together. This video is of the cousins (mind you they are only one month apart in age) playing the piano together.

This was the first Christmas where Elijah was old enough to learn about St. Nick. He still isn't to the age where he is waking up and running down the stairs to see what goodies Santa brought, but it was so much fun to see the boys eyes light up when they realized their stockings were full of toys on Christmas morning!

Christmas Lights

2010-12-20T09:55:00.000-08:00

Ian had a wonderful idea when we were playing outside in the backyard this weekend. He decided the boys should put up Christmas lights on their playground clubhouse. The boys had a blast winding the lights around their playhouse and through the tunnel underneath and around the slide. :) It was so precious and in the end they were so proud of their little clubhouse!

Hide and Go Seek

2010-12-15T08:49:00.000-08:00

It is so precious now that the boys can play together. They have just recently gotten into playing Hide and Go Seek with one another and we keep encouraging them because it helps them practice their counting skills! Here are a couple playful clips of the boys...

The Christmas Show

2010-12-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

Elijah and Joaquin had their annual Christmas show at church for the Parents Day Out program they attend. The kiddos were supposed to get dressed up in their "Christmas best" and perform their Christmas songs they had been practicing. Last year it was hilarious because Elijah wouldn't stand still long enough to stay on the stage. This year it was practically the same thing with Joaquin. Ian and I were switching back and forth between sides of the stage because Elijah's class was positioned on one side and Joaquin's was on the other. Those "performances" are crazy! Whew, it made me glad I was never a teacher for little kiddos. They were way too unorganized for me with kids and parents running all over the place. It seemed more like a designated photo op on a stage in their Christmas clothes than an actual program. Anyway, here are some cute pics from the "event".

Joaquin did ring his jingle bell bracelet for a couple minutes at the start of singing Jingle Bells.

Proud Daddy and his boys after the show. (Elijah attempting to say "cheese" for the camera)

Elijah singing (standing) on stage for the Jingle Bell song.

Kiddos from Elijah's class

He was NOT putting on a show for anyone.

Getting all dressed to go to church

Little Drummer Boy (birthday-suit version)

2010-12-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

Elijah was quite the character today. After changing his diaper I was trying to put back on his pants and I said, "Elijah come here, I need to put back on your pants", to which he replied, "no you don't cause I'm gonna be naked in a minute". Then he suddenly whipped off his Velcro pull up diaper like a Chip and Dale male dancer and said, "there we go!" then ran to the drum set to play his drums completely nude! Is there some inner artist mandate that you can only be at your most creative when you strip down to being just as God made you?

That being said, of course I had to grab my camera to blogify the moment. :)

on the throne

and playing the kick drum...

Elijah's debut

2010-12-05T14:04:00.001-08:00

Elijah has started doing the cutest thing! He picked up a packet of breath mints that sorta resembled a pick and started strumming the guitar while singing. He has played around on the guitar before, but this "act" is new. He actually put the guitar on his lap as if he was playing it, grabbed something that looked like Daddy's pick, and started serenading. Here is a video clip I tried to get. He was on a role and of course when I got the camera out he wasn't belting it like he was before, but you still get the picture.

Bath Runner

2010-11-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

It never fails that as soon as we get ready to take a bath (get all our clothes off and are about to jump in the tub) Joaquin makes a run for it. He books it as fast as he can, and that little guy can run, and then hides from me. I'm left with my hands full trying to get Elijah in the tub then looking around for my buck-naked hiding kiddo. Here is evidence of his flight tonight.

New Traditions

2010-11-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

We decided to start a new Christmas tradition this year! We bought a durable white tree skirt and put the boys hand prints on it and labeled it for this year. We are going to do this every year so they can see how they've grown! :) It is funny how Christmas becomes special in a new way when you have kids around. It quadruples the spirit of love and joy in the house!

Gingerbread House...or something like that

2010-11-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas!

2010-11-27T11:49:00.000-08:00

Putting together the manger scene and the tree...

Potty

2010-11-22T08:41:00.001-08:00

Elijah has been an on-again-off-again potty-er for the past year. He would be doing great and then suddenly decide he wasn't interested anymore. We tried all sorts of candy and huge praise treatments but in the end just decided he would potty when he wanted to, end of story. The other day I picked up this little frog potty and had it sitting in the bathroom next to our big potty. (Now, I need to mention that the past year of potty-training was done with a baby bjorn potty seat that fits on top of our big potty. So, this little sized potty was a new thing.) This morning he got the potty out and parked it in the middle of the living room. I was encouraging him to go "pretend potty" on it and made a big deal about it being his own little special froggy potty.

Suddenly, he started stripping down and plopped himself on the potty. When I asked him if he needed to go potty he said "yeah, pee pee poo poo on froggy potty." I walked over and sure enough with in 1 minute on that little potty he had fulfilled its' purpose! I was so proud and of course quickly got him a pee pee poo poo reward lollipop and snapped a few pictures. :)

He has now been stripping down every few minutes to go pee pee on the froggy potty! It's just like the froggy potty clicked with him or something! I don't know and I don't want to jinx it, so I will stop talking about it. Although, let me just say, if you are reading this and are not yet a parent it may seem weird to have an entire entry about the crapper. I know what you are thinking, because I used to think that way. However, it is a freaking HUGE deal when you FINALLY feel a break through in the potty-training department. OK, enough about that. :)

Happy Day. Happy Boy.

Reading

2010-11-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday while I was cooking dinner, I overheard Elijah talking to Joaquin. They were in the living room sitting on the couch and I couldn't see what they were up to from where I stood in the kitchen. The more I listened the more I wondered what they were doing. Joaquin was quiet as a mouse and Elijah was speaking with a sound of such confidence and persuasion that I had to walk over to see what they were doing. When I peaked over the top of the couch I saw Elijah and Joaquin with a book in their lap. Elijah proceeded to run his fingers along the words and "read" the book to Joaquin, who was intently listening and following the finger line along the words. It was so precious I quickly snapped a few shots with my phone. Ah, moments like these I will remember forever.

Saturday morning breakfast

2010-11-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

Not unlike a lot of families, we have a tradition of a big Saturday morning breakfast together. This usually means Daddy plays around with the boys in "the big bed" (AKA mommy and daddy's bed) while mommy makes pancakes or waffles or eggs and toast or muffins or... you get the picture.

This morning, after having some blueberry muffins and Mexican eggs (the boys favorite) Ian offered to clean up. Suddenly, as I was putting some laundry in the dryer, I heard the boys squealing with laughter so I grabbed my camera and headed towards the high-pitched giggles. (I've heard that sound enough times to know that usually means it's a picture worthy opportunity).

Here is what I saw when I entered the kitchen:

Little boys with bubbles for hats and hair :)

Joaquin even had the little comb-over bubble due :)

I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of Joni, but that was what the boys thought was the funniest! Joni, our little pug dog, was running around with bubble hair and a bubble beard!

Ahhhhh, I love Saturday mornings with my family; it's never short of laughter!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

This year Halloween was so much more fun! Now that both boys are semi-aware of what is going on the trick-or-treating was 100 times better. Mommy and Daddy decided to dress up at the last minute (although our dressing pretty much consisted of wearing wigs and sunglasses and random outfits from our closets). The boys thought it was so funny that Daddy and Mommy were wearing weird hair! Here are some shots and videos from the evening workin' the street. :) I uploaded them backwards, so the timeline reads from finish to start. :)

This is the end of the night when the boys were ready to head home and could no longer walk without tripping or dropping their candy bags. Daddy resorted to carrying them home. :)

Joaquin was fascinated with the neighbor's little pirate head skull lights around their front porch. It is so funny what kids decide to like. He could have cared less about the candy (until we got home, that is, and Elijah started opening the wrappers to his candy selection; THEN Joaquin jumped in on the candy action!)

This was our first house. Daddy, dressed as Dog the Bounty Hunter, taught the boys to say, "trick-or-treat" and "thank-you" of course at the end.

Mommy, dressed as Sandy from Grease, and her little elephant and lion before they headed out

The elephant, the dog, and the lion :)

The boys played around in their costumes all week. They switched them around and wanted to wear a different one each day!

Here is some video Ian took with the flip of our trick-or-treating. It is kinda dark and hard to see, but I thought I would post it for anyone who wanted to see.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-31T15:40:00.001-07:00

Mom and I took the boys to the pumpkin patch on Friday and the boys LOVED it! We had such a fun day. Here are a few pics from Friday:

holding hands :)

Joaquin trying to climb over the gate

My precious Elijah

Joaquin loves to swing

Mommy and the boys saying "cheese" for the camera

MiMi and Joaquin

Elijah, pumpkin eyes, and Joaquin in the baby pumpkin wagon

The boys loved holding that weird gourd pumpkin

Elijah sitting on the biggest pumpkin in the bunch.

They thought it was so funny to ride the pumpkins like they were horses.

MiMi and the boys by the scarecrow

Gamma and Gampa's visit

2010-10-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

We had a real treat last weekend...Gamma and Gampa came to visit! The boys were so excited to get to spend time with Gamma and Gampa and of course they were spoiled beyond belief! No sooner than Gamma and Gampa had stepped their feet in the door, did the boys get presents! They loved their little wooden tool set and Gamma and Gampa showed them how to use the little hammer and nail in the pegs to the box. They loved it! Of course, Joaquin didn't really know what he was doing, but he loved carrying the tool box around and trying to screw the wooden screws into the tiny bolts. :)

We also all went to Baylor homecoming and met up with my parents at the game. Thank goodness we had so many hands because the game weather was CRAZY! It raining right as it was supposed to start, so everyone had to pile under the stands for an hour and by the time the game started it was 4pm (it was scheduled to start at 2:30). Then a cold front came in and the temp dropped about 20 degrees! But, they were all passing the boys around from lap to lap and letting them try out every new food known to man... including green cotton candy! I got to cheer during the 3rd quarter and Ian was taking great pictures until we later realized that Rachel forgot to replace the camera card after my last photo shoot download. So, all the pictures I have from that day I had to steal from other people! :)

After the game, both sides of the family went over to La Fiesta for some great Margaritas and Mexican food! And of course, the boys were practically falling asleep in their plates of food while sitting in their high chairs!

On Sunday I corralled up the team to wear white shirts and all take a family photo shoot. Of course, not 5 minutes before we were going to leave to go take the pictures, Joaquin tripped and hit his head against the flower pot and got a huge bump and bruise right in between his eyes! We tried at least. Ian found a beautiful spot in Georgetown and when Allyson and I finally found them it was noon. (Not the best time to be taking pictures outside.) Nonetheless, we took some fun shots with the boys and had a nice lunch in the downtown afterwards.

Monday, Allyson and I took the boys to the Domain in Austin and did a little walking around the shops and letting the boys play on the playscape and fountains in the area. By the time Gamma and Gampa headed back to California, the boys were pooped! It was a wonderful weekend with family, though, and we are so grateful to have had everyone together.

Mel, Sally (my old college roommates) and me before the rain.

Diamond-head

Paper dolls, I am the last one on the right.

Joaquin on the playground with Gamma at the Domain

Joaquin looking through one of the toy nuts from the tool box.

Here is the only picture I have from homecoming. Mom took it from her phone of Ronnie and I (my old stunt partner) right before we left the game.

Gampa and Elijah

Gamma and Joaquin throwing rocks downstream

The posed shot of Gamma and Gampa and the boys

Thanks Papaw!

2010-10-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hang on, I gotta call Daddy real quick...

2010-10-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

Isn't it precious when they get their play phone and do stuff like this:

Moody Cotton Festival and a few more things...

2010-09-27T12:44:00.001-07:00

Elijah pushing Joaquin around on the tricycle in MiMi's driveway. He is such a good big brother, always helping Joaquin and teaching him how to do things.

Daddy and the boys at the Moody Cotton Festival

and, Joaquin is ready for his close up, please...

My attempt at getting the boys to take a picture with me in front of the bounce playground

MiMi and the boys playing the musical instrument at the zoo playground

Elijah and Joaquin at the Waco zoo sitting on the giant snake at the kids play area

Elijah saying "cheese" for the camera. He knows the camera means he should say "cheese" but for some reason when he says cheese it doesn't really look like he is smiling; it looks like he is talking! (Since of course, he is!) Whoever made up that "say cheese" thing was an idiot! It doesn't work at all unless you tell them "say cheese and FREEZE like that!"

playing with MiMi's hat

This is what happens when Ian tries to put the boys in the tub at night. They all play around on mommy and daddy's bed until the tub is full of water. The boys think it is hilarious to run around with their T-shirts on their heads when they are taking their clothes off for the bath!

And of course, every little boy loves to tackle and wrestle with daddy.

Reading daddy's book together on a Saturday morning.

I love my little nudie booties swimmin' around in the tub!

Joaquin is not camera shy :)

Elijah LOVES to wear his big boy underwear; however, he does NOT like to use the potty. So, mommy has resorted to setting the microwave timer for 30 min. and every 30 min. we go sit on the potty. Of course, as soon as Elijah puts on his big boy underwear, Joaquin wants to join in. So, he gets to wear the big boy underwear over his diaper during the day time when Elijah is potty-training and wearing his own big boy drawers. :)

This is the boys favorite Waco zoo activity...playing in the water! We have season passes so some days we just go in our swimsuits and water socks to play in the fountains. This time MiMi joined in on the action. Joaquin loves to slap the water around with his hands, while Elijah loves to stop out the fountains.

Every year after the cotton harvest, my parents little town of Moody, TX, has a Cotton Festival. There is a parade in the morning and lots of booths and play areas set up in the downtown all day. The kids dance around to the live music, ride pony's, bounce in the bounce houses, smack each other over the head with confetti eggs and the like while the parents buy small town cookbooks, welded art pieces, homemade candles and such. It is always such a fun day. Mom runs the pie contest and auction every year and dad helps set up the parade and booths. This was the first year, though, that the boys really got to enjoy the parade and festivities! They had a blast!

Nashville

2010-09-13T12:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Ian watched the boys and I took a special little flight out to Nashville! My close friend Carolyn has been living out there for a couple years now and it was the first chance (between all the pregnancies and newborns) to be able to visit! We had such a wonderful time just hanging out. We actually realized that it had been over 8 years since we had hung out together just the 2 of us!

The first night after I arrived we grabbed some sushi at Whole Foods and went to watch Shakespeare in the Park under the stars. It was so much fun and it was the perfect introduction to the city. The following day we headed out to hear some live music. She had already bought tickets to hear the Civil War, and I fell back in love with going to music shows. There is just something about being in an audience and watching as well as listening to beautiful music!

The next day we drove out to the country a bit and visited the horse, Sam, that Carolyn had been leasing. Then, we headed a couple miles over to a local vineyard, lay out a picnic and lounged the day away in the shade with a beautiful view. We also made sure to get all dressed up one evening and "hit the town", which I am proud to say, when we hit that dance floor we could still groove with the best of them. :)

I also had a chance to meet up with an old friend from Cali, Christi Rush, who had moved to Nashville with her husband a few years prior. It was such a fun filled girls weekend and I soaked up every minute of it! Here are a few pics from my trip.

one of my favorite "guitar as a gun" shots from one of Carolyn's photo shoots we had while I was there

Carolyn's cat, Smudge

being lazy at the vineyard

beautiful view from our picnic blanket

trying to hold the camera and get a good shot

Carolyn in her element

2 year old music man

2010-09-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

Elijah is completely into music, as many of you know, but I continue to be amazed at how intrinsically he understands it! He loves anything musical, but lately he has gotten specifically into beats. He asks daddy (and mommy unfortunately) continually to beat-box, always wants to hear the songs with "bass" that his daddy taught him about, and he will sneak into the music room turn on a song on the keyboard and sit down and play the drums to it as often as he can! I tried to catch him on video without him knowing it and I feel like this video doesn't show just how amazing he really is at the drums, but at least you get the idea. Sometimes he is playing so well I can't even tell what is the music in the background and what is him! Is this normal for a 2 year old or do I just have a genius baby? :) (I have mommy bragging rights here!)

Another thing that amazes me regarding Elijah's musical awareness is how he refers to certain songs. His current favorite is the Clark Gable song by the Postal Service. (Hense, the above video...) He always asks me to play the "up and down song". I think that is crazy clever because the music notes do go up and down in the beginning of the song, but I don't know HOW he knows that high notes are "up" and low notes are "down". It's not like he is reading musical notes in his spare time! He just seems to know that higher pitch vs. lower pitch is similar to the understanding of what high and low mean! I'm so impressed! This is the kind of stuff that makes it so fun just to watch your kid grow and blossom! They continue to amaze us!

Monique's Visit

2010-09-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Every summer since Ian and I moved to Texas Monique has come to visit. Monique was a student of mine when I taught Freshman Honors English back in California. She also lived close to our old apartment so we would take her to school with us sometimes. We have all grown close through the years and now that she is a Senior at Stanford, it was our last big hurrah summer visit. (Unless she goes to law school out here :))

It has been a fun tradition every year to revisit our favorite restaurants and try to find something new that we haven't done before. So this time, we took her tubing on the Guadalupe River, to the Alamo Drafthouse, and down to the Riverwalk in San Antonio. We had a blast together and it is such a nice excuse for Ian and I to get off our booties and take advantage of all the fun things this area has to offer. Funny, how when you live somewhere you get so complacent to all that is around you. (I guess we did the same thing when we lived by the beach in Cali!) Anyway, here are a few pictures from our time together. We took pictures with underwater throw away cameras on the river but I haven't had time to scan in the pics, so these are from the rest of the week.

Joaquin, Ian and Monique on the Riverwalk

Eating out...lots of Tex-mex!

Daddy was showing the boys this huge bear outside the chocolate factory.
They LOVED him!

Trying to get a picture of the fam on the riverwalk

Daddy and Joaquin on the grounds of the Alamo

We are an official Texan family

"Visit the Alamo" - you can check that one off your list, Monique

Monique,

We love you and are so grateful you came to visit!- Rachel and Ian and the boys

Good ole' Times

2010-08-26T15:50:00.001-07:00

Last weekend my closest and oldest childhood friend and I got our families back together again at mom's house. Emily and I were inseparable when we were young and Jan, Emily's mother, was like a second mother to me. It is so amazing when you get back together with someone after all these years and you just pick up wherever you left off. It has always been that way with us, and it was so wonderful to have all the kiddos and our moms together this time. We all had lunch together then let the kids run around in the yard while we caught up. (By the way, Ian got to have a weekend off all daddy duty and he was at home soaking up the quiet house!) Here are some pictures from our weekend.

We kept saying we needed to get a picture all together on Saturday when we all had make-up on and looked nice for the occasion. Of course, that never happened and we ended up asking my dad to take a quick shot on Sunday morning after we had finally gotten all the kids out of bed, dressed, fed and the cars all packed up. Hey, at least we got one shot of us all together. (Although you can't see Emily's newest little man, Dane. He is in the car seat carrier right behind all of us)

Here are Olivia, Grant, Elijah, and Joaquin all playing in MiMi's sandbox.

Jan, Emily and I after lunch on Saturday

Grant and Elijah had the same exact swimsuits! They were so cute all playing in the baby pool and on the little play scape.

MiMi rigged up the slide to drop right into the baby pool and they all had a blast with that!

We really had such a wonderful weekend and although it is a totally different ball game now that we have 5 kids between us, true friendships just grow deeper with time! It really is such a gift from God to have friends to share your life with!

Always making me smile...

2010-08-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

So, Joaquin thought it was sooo funny to take the nipple off his sippy cup and suction it to his face! And, I have to admit, it was pretty hilarious! He was running around all day and Elijah kept laughing, pointing, and yelling "ipple face! ipple face buba!" I tried to catch him in action but he is pretty fast!

Elijah also decided to show off his new "I can dress myself" skillz by grabbing mommy's undies out of the laundry and putting them on over is shorts. So, this morning was a joyful start to the day with my little panty wearin' and nipple face boys! :)

Hill Family Reunion 2010

2010-08-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

We had our yearly Hill Family Reunion a couple weekends ago at the Moody House. It was so wonderful to see everyone and hear what is going on in every one's lives. Most of us that used to sit at the "kids table" are all grown up now and the term "kids" is now used to reference my two boys. Every summer my mom's brothers and sisters, my mom's parents (Namama and Grandaddy Bill) and all the cousins try to get together for at least a 3 day weekend.

The past few years my mother has hosted the event since their house is large enough to handle the crowd. We always stay up late playing games, eating tons of sweets, and reminiscing. The mornings are full of babies running around and the "adults" having coffee and tea outside under the trees while the older kids sleep late into the afternoon! We all gather together for cooking meals some even put on their jogging shoes and go for a run around the small town of Moody. And, I know I didn't do it justice by my short description, but it really is a blast and such a special time of celebrating family. Here are a few pics from last weekend.

Brice, Sarah, JB, Carol, and my mom at one of the lunches

The crew sitting down for our last meal before everyone headed their own ways.

Catherine (I snuck in some candid shots when people didn't know I was taking them) :)

Sarah and Elijah playing legos

Carol often played chef

Ali

Bryce

hanging out during the afternoon

Brett

Elijah taking his legos very seriously

the weekend includes lots of dog bonding too!

everyone brings their pooches to play

JB's dog-- Issa

hanging out in the kitchen...why is it that everyone always congregates in the kitchen? no matter how big the rest of the house is?

my sweet mother, the hostess with the mostest

Buddy showing Elijah his camera tricks

Ian and Joaquin playing around on the couch

boys boys boys...

Ian, Joaquin, Bryce, Elijah and Brett

bigger boys

Bobby and Grandaddy Bill

Namama and her two girls, mom and Carol

MiMi and Elijah

Uncle Bobby and Joaquin

Breakfast outside

lego mania!

MiMi and Joaquin on the scooter

Em on the backyard swing

kids in the pool + people on the swing + dogs in the yard + people lounging = a good time

Elijah loved the sprinkler

Bryce keeping Joaquin entertained in the baby pool

Video Tribute

2010-08-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything. Sorry about that. Summer gets so busy and crammed with activities! I picked up the flip this morning to catch a video of Joaquin playing with Joni and when I was uploading the video I realized there were a lot of clips on the camera that I had planned on sharing on the blog and never did. So, this is a catch up video blog entry. :)

These first two films are from Noah's 2nd birthday party, back when they were still living in the states! They rented one of those big blow up slide and jumpy things and the kids were playing on it all day!
This next one is from our time in Mexico when Uncle Stu taught Elijah his fancy dance!

Here is our fourth of July pop fireworks in the backyard. The boys loved it, and so did Joni for that matter!

This one might take a bit of explaining... you see, Ian and I made up a little brush your teeth song that the boys love. We say, "We're gonna brush our teeth on the--left, left, left, left, left, left, left--on the right, right, right, right, right, right, right, in the front, front, front, front, front--ALL of Elijah and Joaquin's teeeeth!" So, when Daddy and I are home to give them a bath together it is a tradition to brush our teeth when we are drying off and putting on our jammies. Daddy does a little beat-box and Mommy sings. One night Daddy decided we needed to video it to save the memory. So, here is our brush your teeth song for your viewing pleasure. :)

This video is from the carousel the boys road at the miniature golf place for my dad's birthday. They had a blast!

And, finally, this is the video I took today that started all this video tribute nonsense. It just wanted to capture Joni and Joaquin playing in the house since it is something they always do. He gives a nice wave hello to all you watching the video too!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

2010-08-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

Today is my father's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Yesterday, mom, Kellye, and I planned a secret little day for Papaw. Dad knew we were doing something for his birthday, but we didn't tell him what we were doing and we didn't tell him who would be there. It was a total surprise that Kellye was waiting at a Putt Putt Golf course to celebrate! (For those of your that don't know my dad's sister, Kellye, check out her website: www.kellyegray.com. The schedule of a jazz artist is always busy, so we were so excited that she was able to be with us that day!) So, Ian, the boys, JB, mom, Kellye and I were all there to celebrate with dad.

Let me just say that my father is an amazing man! I am so blessed to have had him as my dad in this life! He is the most encouraging, uplifting, genuine person I know. His spirit just permeates any room he is in and people just grow when they are around him. He can't help it; he is just that kind of guy! God has definitely set him apart in this life!

All in all, the kids had a blast running around the putt putt course, and when it got too hot outside we headed in for some fun inside. After the golf we all had dinner and a relaxed time to catch up. Dad was totally surprised by the whole affair and we had a blast! Here are a few pics from yesterday:

Dad blowing out his candle after dinner!

Elijah on the carousel

Joaquin LOVED riding on the horses!

The birthday boy actually won the putt-putt tournament!

Joaquin and Elijah got some good golf practice in!

Ian and Joaquin getting their golf clubs ready. The tiny clubs were so cute!

Here is a pic of the whole crew before we played miniature golf. Dad, mom, Elijah, me, Ian, Joaquin, John, and Kellye! We had a blast!

Joni's new swimsuit!

2010-07-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

Joni's New look

2010-07-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

I took Joni in to the pet groomers to get her nails clipped because she scratches the boys sometimes by accident. When I was explaining the situation to the groomer she said they had a solution to that problem; fake nails! I thought she was kidding and totally laughed it off till she went over to the shelf and pulled off a package of plastic nail tips! Oh my gosh! I couldn't believe it! 20$ to put on these "fake nail tips" that last 2 months! They are freaking awesome! I told her I didn't care what color they were so when I arrived an hour later to pick up Joni I found her all done up in a purple ribbon to match her purple nails! It is hilarious, and she hasn't even tried to take them off. I secretly think she likes them. She keeps jumping up on my legs to put her nails close to my painted toes to make the comparison! :) And, honestly I don't know why I didn't do this sooner! You can't even hear her paws on the wood or tile floors and it just feels like soft paws when she jumps up on you! I don't have to worry about her playing too rough with the boys and she doesn't snag the carpet upstairs! AND SHE LOOKS FREAKING CUTE!

Joaquin's Baptism, Blessing and Dedication

2010-07-12T11:41:00.001-07:00

Some of you may remember, but it was about a year ago that Elijah was dedicated to the Lord in the San Gabriel River. It was an amazing day filled with God's spirit. He even sent a hawk to circle above us a few times as an obvious symbol of His presence. So, it was only fitting that Joaquin would be dedicated in the same place.

After Elijah was born Ian and I were talked and talked about what to do about a dedication. We belong to a rather large church and baby dedications are done in a less personal way. So, we knew we wanted to do something different.

I have been told many times by my father the story of our personal dedications. My father took my siblings and I out under and particular tree that he prayed under often and it was there that he prayed over us and personally dedicated us to the Lord, one by one after we were born. I always thought that was so beautiful and Ian and I wanted to do something similar with our boys.

I have also always loved the biblical tradition of the blessing. Before someone passed away, they would take each of their children and grandchildren and bestow a particular blessing on them. It was in this spirit that we decided to dedicate, baptize and bless our children.

A few months after Joaquin's first birthday Ian and I decided it was time to formally dedicate, bless and baptise him. This past Sunday afternoon there was a beautiful, cloudless sky over the San Gabriel River. The sun was scorching, but we expected no less since Joaquin's middle name is Sol! We took the boys in their diapers into the shallow water where there is a limestone passing that is easy to cross and performed our small but sacred ceremony.

Ian and I both laid our hands on Joaquin and voiced out loud our individual gratitude for him, dedicating him back into God's hands as His child, and we let the Holy Spirit lead our words as we gave our individual blessings of hope for his future. Then Ian took him a bit further out and we baptised him with water to represent a clean, renewal of life. It seemed like such an appropriate symbol for children, so pure and clean and honest.

It was so incredibly special to us and we are so grateful that our little Joaquin Sol chose Ian an I as his parents. In the words of the great poet Kahlil Gibran:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,

but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children

as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might

that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

so He loves also the bow that is stable.

We love you, our little sunshine!

Renewing our Wedding Vows

2010-06-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

For our 7 year anniversary Ian put together a wedding vow renewal ceremony. Ian told me that he wanted to say our vows to each other again on the beach in Puerto Vallarta since we were already planning to go on vacation there and that is where we went for our honeymoon. So, I bought a white linen dress and a little orchid mini-veil. I thought it would be sweet to do our personal vows for each other one night; little did I know that Ian had a lot more up his sleeve.

Once we were in P.V. Ian informed all the family there that we would be having our ceremony at 6pm on Thursday night. I was excited that his whole side of the family would be there to share in our vow renewal and that he was making it a special deal for everyone.

Thursday afternoon I hear a knock at our room door. Standing outside is a lady with a beautiful bouquet of white roses and a matching boutonniere. Right away, I realized that this was a lot bigger than I had imagined. Ian had met with the wedding coordinator at the resort and planned the whole event without me knowing much of anything. It was overwhelmingly thoughtful and I loved every moment of it.

Ian's brothers took family pictures before the wedding and beautiful shots during the ceremony as a wonderful gift to us. When we walked out to the beach there was a white curtain cabana on a small jetty in the ocean set up especially for our vow renewal. Ian had them put out white covered chairs and line the walkway with straw mats and tiki torches and candles. It was beautiful!

The ceremony itself was so special. We actually remembered our vows perfectly when the time came. It is funny that when you sit down to write your vows you really assess what it is that you want in a marriage and what you hope to accomplish. It really was neat to restate our intentions and refocus our relationship on those main goals. Ian and I wrote our vows more than 7 years ago, but they are still just as pertinent as ever. They are short, so I will share them with you all:

Ian: I make these promises to you Rachel Elizabeth.

Rachel: And I to you, Ian Matthew

Ian: That above all others on this earth, I choose you.

Rachel: And I you, my love

Ian: I promise to love you for who you are and not who I want you to be.

Rachel: And I promise to honor and respect you above myself.

Ian: I will cherish and provide for you.

Rachel: And I will glorify God with all the love that you give to me.

Ian: And I will point you to God, rather than myself.

Rachel: For the rest of our existence.

Ian: For the rest of our existence.

Rachel: We bind these oaths in Jesus' name.

Together: Amen

The ceremony also included the blessing of our wedding rings and a blending of two vials of sand from the beach (which was completely appropriate since it was the same beach where we had our honeymoon and started our lives as husband and wife.)

Afterwards, the family all had a champagne toast and an amazing dinner at a restaurant overlooking the ocean. It really was the perfect day! Thank you, Ian, for wanting to marry me over and over again. I love you. And thank you for all of you that stood as our witnesses 7 years ago and the family members that were there this time around. We are grateful for your examples to us as a couple and your support as friends in this journey of life!

Here are some pictures that were taken of our renewal ceremony:

Bride and Groom :)

The boys had these precious matching sear sucker suits that MiMi had given them.

They looked adorable!

Our family walk from our hotel room out to the beach

The whole family before the ceremony

our little family

Walking out to the jetty cabana

Ian stopped to write our names in the sand

We just had to walk out to the water before the ceremony!

It was a gorgeous evening on the water

water splashing us

my love

I still can't believe Ian put all this together for me.

It was like getting the joy of having two weddings in one lifetime!

The ceremony

such a special memory

blending of the sand

"You may kiss your bride"

Exiting the ceremony

The family right after the renewal; we exited the ceremony with our boys in our arms

my beautiful bouquet Ian picked out for me

Walking back down the straw mat isle

I kept joking that they were my "bridesmaids" :)

Everyone at the patio bar for the champagne toast afterward

Our attempt to twist arms and drink for the toast! :)

Puerto Vallarta

2010-06-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

We just returned home from our first "family" vacation. Ian and his family have been going on family vacations to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico since he was one year old! He has so many special memories of his childhood there, learning how to swim, going on jungle walks, getting fresh tortillas from the tortilleria, and the walking on the Malecón. It was special for Ian to get to share so much of his personal childhood with our boys.

Elijah and Joaquin were completely spoiled from all the attention they were getting. Gamma and Gampa, Uncle Stu, Aunt Katie, Uncle Chris and Aunt Melanie as well as Lita (their great-grandmother) were constantly playing in the pool, around the beach, going for walks, and sharing fancy meals. Gamma and Gampa let Ian and I go out with the brothers and sisters while they watched the boys a couple nights too! It was an amazing vacation. We spent most of our time at the pool during the day, then after the boys napped we would all get dressed and head into town for dinner! We got numerous comments from all the locals about how cute Elijah and Joaquin were with their blue eyes and blonde hair. We felt like such proud parents to have our kids oohh'ed and ahhh'ed over. Elijah really broke out of his shell and gave high "cincos" to everyone in town and Joaquin was a constant flirt with all his dimpled smiles!

Ian went above and beyond for our anniversary (but that will be another post later...) Here are some pictures of our wonderful family time in P.V.

View from hotel room.

Our attempt at a human totem pole... Daddy, Mommy and Joaquin

Ian and I in front of the Iglesia de Guadalupe

all the big guys...

Aunt Katie and Elijah (this was way past his bedtime)

Gamma and Gampa and the boys

Aunt Melanie and Uncle Chris

the family in the pool. there was a large baby area with water about a foot deep. the boys loved it!

Ian and the boys in front of a fountain on the resort grounds

Mommy and Joaquin under my favorite laying-out hat

Ian and I after dinner one night

Stuart, Elijah, Ian and Joaquin on the Rio Cuale

Everyone out at dinner one night

Joaquin has such great balance. He loved showing off his skillz in the pool with Daddy.

Elijah on the stairs outside the flea market

Downtown

Katie on the Malecón

crazy sand sculptures

Stu during breakfast one morning

Gamma keeping Elijah occupied while we were trying to eat breakfast.

Daddy and Joaquin engrossed in the World Cup game

One silly night out at Senior Frogs

Daddy and the boys with their sombreros

tequilla shots! owwww!

Elijah was doing his g-funk dance Uncle Stu taught him!

Mojitos at La Bodeguita del Medio

Cheers!

Brothers!

Elijah crawled up next to daddy to "lay out" like daddy was. It was so precious!

The center of the pool had an island that had a hot-tub in the center of it and waterfalls off every side. It was beautiful!

Gamma and Joaquin during sunset on the Malecón

(I don't remember exactly why he was pantless)

Performers on the Malecón

our little family all dressed to go out to dinner one night

Gampa and Elijah on the bridge over to the island in the pool. This was one of Elijah's favorite things to do... go on the bridge and look for Iguanas.

Joaquin surfing on Daddy's tummy :)

poolside chilaxin

swim up bars! ahhhhh! Elijah always got a lemonade and he thought he was super cool! He loved sitting on the little stools in the pool.

Aunt Katie, Joaquin, Uncle Stu and Elijah on one of the waterfalls

The crew headed out to dinner one night on the Malecón.

Uncle Chris, Ian and the boys in the pool

Ian and Joaquin

Ian's stained feet. The tanner on his sandals rubbed off on his feet and would not come off! It was so funny I had to take a picture!

View from the living room/kitchen area of our room.

Chris, Melanie and I outside the tortilleria

the shakey bridge

The boys having lunch on the living room couch.

If you can't tell... WE HAD A BLAST!

Tristan's Christening

2010-06-29T06:44:00.001-07:00

I wanted to make sure I had an entry about my new nephew, Tristan's Christening. Chandra and Adam had a beautiful ceremony to dedicate their son to Christ. Tristan's God parents also stood to promise to guide and direct Tristan in the ways of the Lord. It was so touching to all share the occasion with family and friends. Namama and Bill, Buddy and Natalie, Mom, Dad, JB and Ian and I were all there to celebrate as well as most of Chandra's family. The baptismal gown that Tristan wore has actually been in the family for over 5 generations.

It was about a year ago that Chandra planned Noah's christening so it was neat to have Tristan's ceremony in the same chapel were Noah was christened. Afterward, Chandra and Adam had a reception at a beautiful winery about 15 minutes outside of Salado. I wanted to share some pictures Ian and I took of the event. We are so blessed by our family and are so excited to have Tristan as our newest nephew and cousin to our boys!

These pictures are not in any particular order so bare with me...

MiMi and Noah and Elijah on their way into the reception hall

Adam and Noah having cake

Ian and I on the vineyard grounds

In the back of the winery where the reception was held. This is a view of the vineyard.

Adam and Namama

Ian and Joaquin

Namama and Noah at the reception

Mother and son

Noah stood up on the podium after the ceremony and it was so stinking cute. Looked like he had something he wanted to preach! :)

MiMi and baby Tristan

Adam and me at the church

Papaw and Joaquin (we were trying to keep him quiet with a passy... wasn't all that effective)

Natalie and Elijah playing "push the nose button" :)

Noah, Adam and Elijah

Daddy giving little Tristan kisses with Chandra in the church doorway

Dad, JB, Mom, Tristan, Namama, Bill, Chandra, Noah, and Adam after the ceremony

Chandra, her Dad Karl, Adam, Godparents Deborah and Bob, and Chandra's aunt Vicki

The Godparents and pastor with Tristan and Adam and Chandra

Sprinkle baptism with Godparents, Bob and Deborah Shafer

Tristan's dedication

The beautiful Church in Salado where both Noah and Tristan were christened

Noah's Birthday

2010-06-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the family went up to Belton for cousin Noah's 2nd Birthday. It was wonderful to see so many of our family members there and the boys had a blast. As always, Chandra and Adam went above and beyond with the party. I tell Chandra all the time that she should start an event planning business because she is so good with all the parties and get-togethers she plans. Adam was also an amazing host and whipped up some to die for goodies on the grill!

One of the highlights for the kiddos was the blow up water slide jumpy house thing they had in the back yard. Well, maybe I should rephrase and say that it wasn't really a highlight for Elijah...maybe more like a low light. He was terrified of the bouncy house and screamed the entire time we tried to get him used to it. But, Ian and Joaquin had a great time in it. Truthfully, by the end it was mostly just Adam, Ian, Natalie, MiMi, Noah and Joaquin that did the sliding, but it was hilarious to watch! Adam and Ian were trying to get the most "air" at the bottom of the slide and Noah was braving it on his own! I think the big boys had more fun than anyone else.

Chandra's family was in town for Tristan's Christening (more on that in the next blog post) and so it was wonderful to spend time with all of them too! There was also a big crew from my mom's side of the family; Namama, Bill, Buddy and Natalie all came in for the weekend. The boys soaked up every minute they could with the family and we had a blast. Here are some pictures from the day:

And Joaquin is off!

The bounce house slip and slide

Namama, MiMi and Tristan

cool dude Joaquin

precious...all babies love Grandaddy Bill. Seriously, he has some natural calm to him and this is what happens when he holds them for a bit! My kids did the same thing; just knocked out asleep when Bill would hold them!

I have never seen Elijah eat more cake than he did at Noah's party. I swear, he is turning into his gampa. Gampa is the only person I have ever seen eat more cake and ice cream than Elijah did that day! Some serious sweet tooth in those genes!

Ian and Joaquin playing with the balloons...

It took them a couple hours to get this thing put together! They had to go at it a couple different times. Noah would think it was done and hop in and then a wheel would fall off or something and the guys would be at it again! It was hilarious!

Birthday boy

He had his own little cake to eat separate from the big one everyone else was served from. He was showing me the big "2" shaped icing he was about to eat...

Elijah blowing his party favor

Joaquin and is favorite "globo"

It was a train theme

Noah, mommy and daddy blowing out his cute train cake

The birthday boy!!

One thing I love about summer...

2010-06-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

Is baby boys playing in the sprinkler in the backyard! Making sweet memories of fun summer days. (Cutie booties!)