Thanksgiving 2013

Jeremy was in Oklahoma this year for Thanksgiving to spend time with his father and family. So, while he was gone, the littles had fun creating things with Grandma. Feather hats, Indian vests, thankful place mats, turkey's, stickers, etc... Grandmas facilitated well! 

I am so blessed to have a husband who loves me enough to trade one of his mini bikes for me to have a very nice camera. And this was the perfect time and place to use it! I was determined to take our own family photos this year for our Christmas gifts, and I have to say that they really turned out better than I anticipated! Here are a few that were not all used for print, but just for fun. 

This place was at Eagle Mountain Lake located north on Boat Club Road. There is a specific spot that many photographers use for many different poses and props. When we arrived there were also a few others there doing the SAME thing we were! Family photos! :) Here's an old truck that, of course, ALL my boys loved! 

Kien loves climbing and jumping! This was a great shot of him mid air! Go Kien! 

Gabe loves to climb, too, and what a great shot! Good job, Gabe! 

And this is my wondeful hubby. He's not a big fan of photo's, but I am thankful for him and the -once in a while- poses he gives me!  ;) 

I am trying to be creative on a whim, and this one was pretty cute. :) 

It was a bit cold, and my boys love to explore. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the lake through the trails, but we did manage to hike (yes I had heals on) down a little and find a cute bridge. 

What a perfect place to hear a story about Thanksgiving! (I don't recall the book, but it had to have been a festive one- lol) And from Grandma, too! She's a great story teller! 

Ahhh, yes, Texas really does have cactus. A lot of it, too! No, we didn't touch and no, we had no accidents! YAY!

The nigh was drawing near and the perfect lighting for picture taking was losing ground, we decided to surprise Greg's mom by taking the back roads to TMS for the Christmas Light show they host every year. As we were leaving, we saw them! I had heard that you could almost see deer every visit, and sure enough, they were walking around a fence just chilling. They weren't afraid of the cars that drove by, but were just hanging out. They were not fenced in at all. Pretty cool!

Then, as we were driving I noticed the silhouette of a bird I had never really seen before. As Greg and Nina were talking, I rudely interrupted and asked Nina (an avid bird watcher-identifier) what kind of bird was fat in the belly and had pointed ears. She gasped with, "That's probably a Great Horned Owl!" So we begged Greg to turn around and drive back by to see if it truly was. And, yes, it truly was! We stopped so I could photograph him, (or her). After this shot through the back window of the truck, I decided I had to get closer. I walked around the back of the truck and looked down to step into the tall grass by the fence and by the time I looked up to take my shot, it had dove into the ground. Gone. So this is the only photo I was able to take. :)

Because Jeremy was in Oklahoma for that week, I did make an effort to take him with the little boys for a family picture. Of course, I wouldn't be able to attain one that had us ALL in the same photo, but this would definitely work! 

Jeremy does NOT  like his photo taken much at all. I was able to coax him into a few shots to prove to the world that he really is a happy guy, so he smiled for me ;) ... (It helped to mention the name of a girl, too haha) It was fun, and we managed to find some pretty decent shots! 

Maybe this time...

WOW! June 2013 was the last post with all intentions of blogging more... prior was October 2012 -- woah, was that a big fat fail or what?! Ha! Life has given us a few events and has kept us -oh -so busy and unable to keep up with our blogging and the details plentiful.  I hope that will change as my heart wants it to, and who knows when. Although I should be packing something.. yes, I said packing... I will just share stories. ;)

To help not keep the suspense or cause one to continually search below the reasons for my packing comment, I will start off with that.

So here we are. Faced with this wonderful opportunity that we can clearly see God's hand and plan. The next chapter. 

My husband has been with this company for 2 years. It's time for celebration! Well-- in a BIG way, I might add.

It all began when the job was becoming more and family less. Sure, I am a SAHM and us women can sure carry a lot on our shoulders. BUT-- should we really be? Maybe for a season or two-- certainly our gracious Father gives us the unmeasurable strength and agility. And that is exactly what He has done.

My husband had been seeking for different location, different promotions and as simple as that, the doors were always a close. He called it the dangling carrot. So many changes so quickly, maybe, just maybe he fell through the cracks. And ALAS! An opportunity. After 2 hard years of learning the ropes and open for growth and opportunity, it has FINALLY began. Let me just add that this shift in our lives is not one for a measly transfer to another location within the city. No, but of course it's not that calm, easy, effortless or painless (the story of our lives). This would be the opportunity of a lifetime... for just one season.

This new chapter in our lives is welcomed and has been prayed for endlessly. Never did we know that a relocation package could be so satisfying or realistic for that matter. Never did we imagine the location would be in another state. Side by side, no less, but this would mean to give up everything we know and a home we have enjoyed together and raised our older's and started with the younger's yet find something even better on the other side. God is good! 

With advancement comes sacrifice, and isn't that true no matter the measure?! Yes. It. Is. In this case it requires us to pick up and move. Piece of cake! 

Not far, though. Only 186 miles north. We will be leaving good ole' Texas to reside in Oklahoma -which to different people could mean it is a good move or a bad one. (LOL--oh, just go with it my fellow sport rivals)

Follow us to find wisdom, laughter, mistakes, frustrations and a not so general detail of the location change and updates from a year ago. ;) 

Moving!

Yes! You read that correctly! We are moving! After 10 years of living in Texas, we venture away with Greg's job!

So here we are.

Faced with this wonderful opportunity that we can clearly see God's hand and plan.

The next chapter.

My husband has been with a company for 2 years. His 2 year anniversary technically is in two days; It's time for celebration! Well-- in a BIG way, I might add.

He's been in the collision business since 2007, but have ALWAYS had a love for cars, trucks, or just plain anything that has an engine and wheels since he was -well- a wee lil' tot! After the long hours and torturous rollercoaster -happy -then mad -then happy -then mad customers and 'each man for his own' -- 'dog eat dog' industry he finally got an opportunity to GROW.

It all began when the job was becoming more and family less. Sure, I am a SAHM and us women can sure carry a lot on our shoulders. BUT-- should we really? And for how long?

Maybe for a season or two-- certainly our gracious Father gives us the unmeasurable strength and agility. And that is exactly what He has done.

My husband had been seeking different locations, {to be closer to home} and different promotions (because he is a go getter) and as simple as that, the doors were always a close. He called it the dangling carrot. So many changes so quickly, maybe, just maybe he fell through the cracks. And ALAS! An opportunity.

After 2 hard years of learning the ropes and open for growth and opportunity, it has FINALLY began. Let me just add that this shift in our lives is not one for a measley transfer to another location in the city. No, but of course it's not that calm, easy, effortless or painless. This would be the opportunity of a lifetime... for just one season.

This new chapter in our lives is welcomed and has been prayed for endlessly.

Never did we know that a relocation package could be so satisfying or realistic for that matter.
Never did we imagine the location would be in another state. Side by side, no less, but this would mean to give up everything we know and a home we have enjoyed together and raised our olders and started with the youngers --yet find something even better on the other side.

God is good!
More to come!

A lot of updates... stay tuned...

For the lack of a better term, BUSY is the word. Now that summer is here, (oh wait, I homeschool year round) HOPEFULLY I can make more time for the blogs to keep everyone updated. I am failing falling behind miserably. And that is ok, for this season... Season over? Possibly! Hang tight!

First Field Trip! UNOFFICIAL!

First Field Trip! UNOFFICIAL

Today we went on our first official field trip! Well, It all began as a trip to our local nursery so that I could get some pricing on a tree as our died back in June. It's taken us this long to get it removed and finally go shopping for one. So, as we were walking through the tree's I think the best one for us is going to be a Chinese Pistache! They grow easily in our area which is a good thing because I am not that good, focused or diligent enough to care for a needy tree! Ha! 

Here is a Chinese Pistache that is 4 years old, (The one we are buying is actually 2 years old) It's a great shade tree, too!

While we were there, they happen to have two bounce houses! The first one was a fire engine one that had like a "rock climbing" wall in it, which lead into a slide to the other side. The boys were excited! Well, at least ONE of them was... 

 Here is my daring Kien who loves anything climbing! He got all the way to the top! 

And of course, he had to stop and pose from the other side. Meanwhile, Gabriel was waiting next to me as I was taking pictures.

And WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! No fear = lots of fun! (safely of course) 

Now mind you, Gabe is a very observant -watchful one. He doesn't like to just get out there without evaluating first. He saw brother do it, and was very skeptical! He refused to go in the first time around. Finally, when he saw Kien having a great time (and my encouraging him a few times) he finally decided that it was OK to go inside! Kien even came over to help him in! What a helpful brother!

Of course, Kien totally ditched Gabe ad went straight up and down the slide, leaving his brother to himself. He got up and was trying to walk to me FRIGHTENED saying, "I want you, I want out, I want youuuuuuuu!" Looking at the photo don't be deceived. If you zoom in, you might realize that look in his eye is actually being scared and unsure. :( I was hoping he would have had the courage to go through to the slide, but no go. So, of course, I came to the rescue to help him know in his heart that he didn't have to be afraid.

Off to the second bounce house... This one had Toy Story Characters on the outside, so Gabe clearly stated he would, "like to "try" the Toy Story one." We put shoes on and went over to the 2nd one. Kien jumped in straight away! He loved this one as well and tried to jump as high as he could, but I just couldn't catch a very good shot of him in the air!

And as for Gabe? Well, this is about as far as he got. On the step outside the bounce house. Yeah, again, he didn't want to go inside. There was a little boy who joined Kien, and even then Gabe wanted NOTHING to do with it. And that is OK!

Once we put our shoes on we went over to the area designated for photo ops with tons of pumpkins, decor and hay bails. The boys were very interested in going around this "mini maze."

They were shaking hands with this welcoming scarecrow! Gabriel didn't know what to think at first, but then be realized it wasn't real and wanted to hold his hand also!

I loved this one because it was just their size! They even liked it! Kien, as my inquisitive acrobat could only hold it in for a couple shots and then just HAD to climb the fence behind!

As he was climbing up, I thought I should be the good parent who controls their child from going wild all over the property when I noticed that there was running water behind them and realized THAT is what he was looking at. So, walking over the little bridge, look at what we found! Ornamental Koi fish! So we learned that Koi is "carp" in Japanese! Very pretty domesticated fish!

I couldn't resist this perfect "brothers" photo. They were checking out the fish together! And then I had to ask them for a huggy photo as well :)   

Gabe wanted to go back to the hay and look at the pumpkins. This one was GINORMOUS! They couldn't even roll it over! :) 

After their efforts, we decided to go over the bridge again and look at fish. 

This time around I was assuming that it was feeding time, because either side of the bridge we walked over the fish would follow with their lips coming above the water as if it was that time! I giggled and told the boys to look, they are so hungry they are kissing each other! Ha!

I asked the woman standing by the register if she would happen to let children feed the fish, and she smiled and handed us a paper cup 1/2 full of fish food! Oh, the boys were EXCITED! Even GABE wanted some of this action! And it was FUN! They giggled as the fish were trying to beat one another to the food. :)

So, once we purchased the bail of hay, we went home and had some jello in an orange for a snack. It was a great trip to the nursery! We will be going back very soon!