Reunion Pics

The lake.

A very unhappy Riley with his sleeping arrangement.

More fishing.

Mariana in the cabin.

Learning to fish.

Reunion Pics

Early morning fishing.

Dinner.

Mariana fishing...notice the pink fishing pole :)

Nadirah, Tyler and Sheldon canoeing.

Reunion Pics

Filleting the fish...add a little salt and lime...so yummy!

Me fishing.

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Riley's catch of the day.

Feeding the Elk.

Family Reunion Pics

Bailey, Erica, Grace and Wyatt feeding the horses.

Riley trying to get a close up pic.

Riley and Bailey posing with the cows.

Nadirah, Mariana and Uncle Robert paddle boating.

Mariana holding a worm.

Meridian State Park

Sunday after church we were sitting at home deciding what to do for Memorial Day when someone suggested camping...so off we went. It only took us two hours to find a place, make a reservation, pack and get on the road for our first family camping trip in the 15 years Jeremy and I have been married. For those of you who know me well know that I am not exactly a "camper" so Riley's synopsis of how the trip was to unfold went something like this: "Mom will have fun today during the day but tonight she won't be able to sleep on the hard ground in a tent and tomorrow she'll be tired and miserable." I am happy to report that I was in fact able to sleep (with a little help from Benadryl), I peed in the woods (hopefully for the last time), cooked with camping gear, and was able to enjoy day 2. Now I will say that I would never be able to make it longer than overnight because I would NOT shower in a state park! Anyway, the kids enjoyed themselves and Nadirah proved to be quite the helper/camper. She helped Jeremy with all the set up and take down. Riley and Bailey made fishing pools from sticks which needless to say did not catch any fish. And no camping trip would be complete without Smores at dark. Day 2 was spent hiking around the state park and swimming before packing up to head back home.

Field Day

Bailey's 5th grade field day at Bear Creek Intermediate ~ always a fun day for the kids.

NSM Lip Sync 2009

Riley's team placed 3rd!

Kids Cafe

Our church strives to help transform the world first through a personal relationship with Christ and through that a desire to help communities and the world. Each month on Thursday night our home team is able to volunteer in Haltom City at the Kids Cafe which feeds underpriviliged children a hot meal every evening. Our responsibility is to serve the food, refill drinks, pass out seconds as well as dessert, develop relationships with the kiddos and finally to clean-up once they leave. This week only the girls came, but Riley usually serves too. The little kids love getting to know the "big" kids!!

Easter Egg Hunt

We decided to make the kids hunt for their candy again this year since last year was so much fun. This year they had an extra obstacle...Aunt Colleen. She was pretty intense running all through the house, knocking kids over, stealing candy...okay so not really but she was entertaining. It was really cold out so we had to hide all of the eggs inside making it much harder to find good hiding spots. Jesse played a part even though he was napping (notice the egg tucked nicely under his arm). Of course being inside Jeremy and I were careful to count all of the plastic eggs and eatin' eggs (what Riley called hard-boiled eggs when he was little) to ensure all were found. When all was hunted Riley ended up with the most eggs and Bailey with the least, but only temporarily. Apparently we miscounted and for the next three days Bailey contined to find more eggs all over the house :)

Laser Tag

Jeremy and Riley play paintball a lot and always come home with huge whelps and bruises. The girls and I are uninterested in that so Jeremy found this outdoor laser tag place for all of us. It was a lot of fun! The girls loved playing and shooting guns that don't leave any unsightly marks. They were super heavy though. I was surprised Bailey was able to lug that huge thing around all afternoon. I'm pretty sure that our team won most of the games until I played. I am so bad!! I did not shoot anyone before being killed 9 times!! Of course that made it all the funnier for everyone....except me of course :)

The Victory Garden

Jeremy and Bailey decided to plant a garden. They have done a lot of research, ordering of seeds, and composting since January. Finally, March (a.k.a. planting day) arrived. They are growing tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, onion, garlic, carrots, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, broccoli and spinach. It's all organic and I am so excited!! They check on it at least once every day...so cute. For some reason Jeremy started calling it the Victory Garden. Maybe he'll comment and let us know why.

Lunch with Mariana

We live in the same city as my niece, Mariana, and every so often I pick her up from school, take her to McDonal's and spend the afternoon with her. This day my kids were all off school, so we got her at lunchtime and as usual headed to McDonald's for pollo and french fries. It was such a beautiful day that we decided to take her to the park too. She had a lot of fun playing with the kids. I'm sure she took a really great nap when she got home!

Christmas

Now here we are with some of our goodies and pajamas. The girls love their new Guitar Hero. Riley got some work out stuff he was excited about plus some really cool shoes, watch and clothes. Jeremy and I bought each other the same gift: Nano, armband and iTunes card. Funny enough Colleen and I bought each other the same gift too: the glass tupperware we've been wanting.

Christmas Eve: Would You Rather?

This Christmas our family all decided to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day together at Jesse's. Every year on Christmas Eve we exchange one gift and it's always pajamas; a tradition started by my dad and step mom. So this year was no different. We did add a little twist and give our kids a new game...Would You Rather? To win you have to be the first team to complete four challenge questions. So here are Bailey and Jesse successfully completing one of their tasks. They had to lap milk like a cat for 30 seconds. Enjoy!

The Nutcracker

On Friday Jeremy, Bailey and I went to see The Nutcracker perfomed at Bass Hall. Of course it was amazing! As the Snow Queen and the Nutcracker dance in the Land of Snow as the first act comes to a conclusion it actually "snows" inside. It was super cool and I'm sure this was one of the favorite moments especially for the kids. The performance started at 8:00 so Bailey was really tired; on school days she wakes up at 6:30! She was a trooper though and managed to stay awake until about half way through Act II. It was funny because even though she was sleeping when the audience clapped for a performance she'd jump right in there and then go right back to sleep. Jeremy is not really into theater, so he managed pretty well too. I only noticed him checking the synopsis twice...trying to figure out how much longer he had to endure.