fun with family (part 2)

A few days after Christmas, my brother Mark and his family came to town for a visit. They drove all the way from Minnesota! We had so much fun having them here. During the week and a half that they were here we went to the park, the Museum of Natural Science, the zoo, the beach, Chuck E Cheese, Jump n Jungle, and the movies. Here's a few photos from our trip to the beach. It was an overcast day with a high around 63. Saige was the only one brave enough to go in the water.

She loved it! It was so much fun to watch her running back and forth

collecting seashells

riding skateboards at the park

aunt courtney and lolo

evan and colby

and a few family pictures from a really quick photo shoot at the end of the street

we miss ya'll! wish you lived closer so we could play more!

fun with family (part I)

We had such a wonderful christmas and new years! It was extra special because of all the family in town. First, Grammy and Grandpa came home from their mission in New York. We are so happy to have them home again! Then, a few days before Christmas, Dan's brother Andy and his family stopped by for a visit on their way to Florida. The kids haven't seen their zalit cousins in over three years!

on one of the days they were here we took them to the Battleship Texas and San Jacinto monument for some Texas history.

my brother Philip and sister Emily and her kids came along too. Uncle Philip is a big help with Lorelei

Lily manning the guns

andy and dan

the guns were a big hit with the kids!

even baby Ben got a turn

elayna getting ready to swab the deck

we also went to the san jacinto monument...

that's avery standing on the steps of the monument. Avery's birthday, March 2nd, is the day Texas declared her independence.

happy new year!

i am so behind on my blog. lots to post from the past month. hopefully i can get caught up this week.

three months

this little guy turned three months old last week. he is so smiley and always laughing. i wish i had a sound clip to go with this photo. his laughter is the cutest thing ever.

gingerbread houses

oranges

grammy and grandpa's orange tree is loaded with oranges! evan is my little helper when i go out to pick oranges. he eats them like they're candy!

evan is obsessed with his coonskin hat! it belonged to his daddy when he was a little boy:)

2 months

can't believe my baby boy is already 2 months old. i just love all the cute little faces and sounds he makes!

first day of church

had to get a few quick photos of him in his cute little church outfit after church. he was so sleepy. he slept almost the entire three hours of church

baby ben and his handsome daddy

and one with mommy

halloween 2013

halloween started out wet, dark and dreary. it rained all morning and all afternoon. the kids were really worried that trick-or-treating would be rained out, but by 4:30 the rain stopped and the sun came out from behind the clouds. it turned out to be a lovely halloween evening!

elayna dressed up as a scarecrow.

kyla wanted to be a mummy. we had so much fun making her costume. we tore an old white bed sheet into 2-4 inch strips and then tea dyed them so they wouldn't be so white. (i wish we would have soaked them longer) Then i hot glued the strips onto an old white shirt and sweat pants. this was such an easy, inexpensive costume and she loved it

avery was a vampire. we bought her dress at target when costumes were 30% off

evan wanted to be a skeleton. i found the black shirt with the ribcage bones on it at target and then we added the arm and leg bones with contact paper using this template. Evan was so ready to go trick-or-treating. he was all dressed in his costume at 3pm and kept asking every thirty minutes if it was time to go yet.

lolo was a pretty princess :) i had originally bought her a bumble bee costume but she did not like it one bit!

and last but not least...benjamin bunny

can't believe halloween is already over. christmas will be here before we know it!