Ok, let's play a quick game of catch up....

I have really gotten into doing Ava's hair. I've been following a couple hair blogs (see side bar) and I am learning so much.

WAY easier then it looks.

My goofballs after church today.

Three out of four of my beautiful angels.

This was Ethan's first Sunday in nursery, he loved it, and didn't cry at all. He's getting way too big, way too fast.

Strut your stuff baby!

We spent about seven weeks in Seattle this summer (it's way too hot in Texas this time of year), and we visited the Seattle aquarium. Effey the Octopus!

Ok, I want to know something, is there a skater gene that some people are born with, because I couldn't get Ethan off this skateboard, and he naturally has a skunk tail. I can't remember how many people asked me if we cut Ethan's hair into a mohawk on purpose. FYI, NO we did not. It's completely natural!

Relaxin'

Matt, Ethan, and Quinn on the double innertube. Ethan loved it! I was surprised, I thought he might be a little scared, but no, he didn't even want to get off.

This is the house my Dad was working on when he passed away. The whole bottom part is brick, and he designed it and built it. He is so talented.

Swimmin' in Lake Sammamish. Good times, good times.

Cutie Patuties!!!

Well, we wore Ava out! That's not easy to do.

Already drivin' the boat:)

Grandpa and Quinn, goin' for a ride on the innertube.

Ahhh! It must be love. Check out that amazing view behind us. This was up near Anacortes, WA. Beautiful!

What a good lookin' couple.

Matt and Quinn doing some tubin' on the Columbia river. This is were I spent most of my summer's growing up. One of the best places on earth (if you ask me).

Ava and baby Audrey. She's such a sweetie.

Christopher and Quinn had so much fun camping up at Larrabee beach. They become good buds.

Ethan, Xochitl, and Ava at Larrabee beach.

Ava and Xochitl stiking a pose for the camera.

My mom came up to Seattle while I was there, and surprised me with going through the Temple for her first time. It was awesome. This is me with my mom, and grandma, right afterwards. This is also the same temple I took my endowments out at, and Matt and I were sealed in.

Hmmm, I think I'm thinking, but not sure what about.

My nerdy sister, I think she may be a vampire, she didn't take her shades off, and it's not even sunny. That's Snoqualmie falls in the background.

Ava, Ethan, and my sister Emma.

Oh, my little cutie pie!

When I was in Seattle I got to go to Derek and Natasha's wedding. It was so much fun.

Mommy and her baby girl.

We were also able to attend Lucia's baptism when we were in Seattle.


Matt did the confirmation.

I love my Emma, but boy does she have a stubborn streak!

Another hair do from the blogs I follow. I love having a guinea pig to try these hair do's out on, though I don't think she likes it all that much.

Top view.Front view.

My mom came down to Dallas, and of course I had to take her to Joe T. Garcia's, and if you want to come visit us we will take you there too.


This was my Mother's day dinner. Steak, lobster, shrimp, corn on the cob. It dosen't get much better then that.Matt turned 31 in April, he's almost catching up with me!


Ethan sure enjoyed the cake!


This picture cracks me up of Matt's dad chatting with a little girl at Quinn's school. Totally Mike:)

For Quinn's special day we got to go to his class and bring treats, and read some of Quinn's favorite books. It was so much fun, and Grandpa and Grandma got to come too.

Grandpa reading one of the stories.

Quinn with Daddy.

Diane and Joanne came through Dallas on their way to Germany, but ended up getting stuck here because of the volcano in Iceland that was erupting. We had fun with them though, this is Diane and Ava playing under the blanket.

Diane was such a good sport letting Ava do her hair. She ended up with a round brush stuck in it.

My sister Trisia and her two kids came down to visit. This is us at the Fort Worth zoo. It's a great zoo if you ever get the chance to go.

Koda, Jazzy, Quinn, Ethan, and Ava. I just love these kids.


We also made a trip to Utah. These three guys have been joined at the hip since birth (literally). It was so fun to see them all together again.

Ethan and Henry lovin' their bath time. Thanks Uncle Tyler!

We celebrated Ava's 4th birthday while we were there. My little Sher-bear is in the background. She is so stinkin' cute, and sassy, I love it!

We also visited the three apartments that we lived in while in Utah (all in the same ward, not easy to do in Provo).




Quinn's preschool class, he had a blast.




The mandatory picture with the elephant at the Fort Worth zoo.

And, I had to add this awesome picture of Matt cutting my baby's hair when I wasn't home. He did need a little trim, but he took too much off. Luckily it is growning back quickly. (Luckily for Matt that is ;).

I guess that wasn't really a quick catch up. It's pretty stinkin' long, but if you made it this far, you deserve an award. So go buy yourself one!

Sacramento and San Francisco

Last weekend we went to visit our friends, the Routsongs, in Sacramento. On Saturday we drove out to San Francisco (my favorite city). (This is the hill that our reverse went out in the Suburban, more explanation below).

We had to make a stop at Ghiradelli Square for some chocolate. Kristy got me addicted to the 60% Cacoa, with carmel inside. It's so good, and is probably the main reason I put a few pounds on during our trip.

Down at Fisherman's Warf, Quinn and Ava decided to befriend a gargoyle. Ava was more willing to befriend him then Quinn.

I also became addicted to Settlers of Catan while in Sacramento. I love that game, even though I have yet to win. This picture was taken at about one in the morning!

We went to In 'n Out three out of the five days we were there. Ethan loved it. (Probably also attributed to my gainage!)

Matt and I celebrated our eight years of marriage while there. Matt got me a night guard to celebrate, to keep me from grinding my teeth at night. He's so romantical! This is our friend Jeff Routsong. He and Matt have been best friends since high school. He just started a dental practice in Rocklin California. Look him up if you live near by, he's a great dentist!

Kristy borrowed her parents 1992 Suburban while we were there. It was a lot of fun because we were able to all ride together. While we were in San Francisco the reverse decided to stop working. So this picture is of us sitting on the side of the street waiting for Jeff. (Ava's not very happy about it). For the rest of our trip we could not drive in reverse.

Up at Muir Woods Beach overlook. It was very windy, but absolutely beautiful.

Muir Wood's beach overlook again.

Down on the warf they have a double decker carousel. Quinn is on the top floor riding a panda bear.

Christina with her favorite guy, in her favorite city.

We saw this sign when we were driving into San Francisco. It's my new favorite sign.

Thanks Jeff, Kristy, and Carsee (Carson), we had a great time, and hope to do it again soon!

Really Cute Pics of Really Cute Kids!

My friend Megan took these pics at Nash Farms. She did such a great job. You can check her photography out at http://www.poppylanephotography.blogspot.com/. Here they are for your viewing pleasure!

Ok, ok, I'm back (for now!) Does life ever get really overwhelming for you? Well it definitely does for me, and that's what the last couple of months have been like. I had to do a post today, because...

Ethan is 1 today!!!

I can't believe it's been a whole year since this sweet little boy joined our family. He is the sweetest little baby. He definitely broke the mold though. He only weighs 17lbs. 7oz., he is shy, but almost always has a smile on his face. He also prefers his daddy over his mommy (most of the time), which makes me happy, because the other two always preferred me at this age, and it's fun to see him cling to his daddy (Ethan definitely has his daddy right where he wants him!)

Ethan had tubes put in his ears last Monday. Hopefully this will stop the ear infections. We are three for three now with the ear tubes. Our poor kids, but I know it definitely could be worse.

I'm so thankful for my beautiful children, and wonderful, amazing, perfect husband. I love them so much, and am blessed beyond measure.

Thanksgiving in the ER...

That's right, I had to take our first trip to the emergency room for one of our kids. Last week my little Ethan fell out of his high chair (my fault), we didn't notice he wasn't putting any weight on his right leg until the next day. Once we noticed we rushed him to his pediatricians office. They gave us an order for an x-ray, but told us to wait a few days before we do it because he will probably just start using it again in a couple days. Yesterday morning he still wasn't putting any weight on his right leg, so I said "That's It!, I'm taking him in for an x-ray". So after sitting in the waiting room for a half hour, they came and told me his tibia is broken, and I need to take him straight to the emergency room. So off to the emergency room we go, by the way, the whole time Ethan was smiling and giggling. They put a splint on his leg and sent us home. As soon as I put him down, he started crawling and his splint fell right off. Matt and I kept putting it back on, and it kept falling right back off. I was so frustrated, and so stressed out. So I called my pediatrician and she suggested that I take him to Children's hospital, because they know how to better treat children. So as soon as Ethan woke up this morning I drove him to Children's hospital. They did some more x-ray's and then put a soft cast on his leg. He crawled around on it all day and it didn't come off once. I am so much happier, but Ethan is not. He hates the cast because it is limiting his mobility, which is the point! They said it should be healed in about four weeks, but we do have to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon next week, so we will see what he has to say. On this Thanksgiving day, I am extremely thankful for a sweet, lovable, and happy little baby, who has crawled around on a broken leg for over a week, just smiling away as if nothings wrong, and who was giggling while they were putting a splint on his broken leg.

Here he is just playing with some toys, wearing his cute little hospital gown.

Trick or Treat

Doesn't he look like the Cowardly Lion? He kept eating his mane, it was so cute.

We went to main street on Friday night to do some early trick or treating. Here is Optimus Prime and Cinderella.

Matt's parents came into town to celebrate Halloween with us. We had so much fun, and got more candy then we know what to do with!

Happy Halloween

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