The Texas Welch's

Elfie

2010-12-30T13:53:00.001-08:00

A Picture with Elfie underneath the tree on Christmas Eve before he leaves us till next year ( he always sits under the tree the night before Christmas).

This year has been a lot of fun trying to come up with creative hiding spots for our elf. Matthew again would not go potty in the bathroom when Elfie was hiding in there. Paige had fun in the mornings trying to find him and sometimes even found him before Matthew did. Some fun places we had him this year included on top of the fan, hanging from the light in the kitchen and the one that Matthew thought was the sillies was when he appeared in Matthew's stocking. Will miss you Elfie, hope the kids behave for me with out ya!

Christmas Morning Video

2010-12-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

A Christmas tradition that comes from Clay's childhood is wrapping the door way Christmas night. This is awesome because the kids can't come through and see what Santa brought them until the parents are up and ready. I cherish this because I get to see the reaction on their face and it keeps mommy and daddy asleep just a little longer!

Family Photos Captured by Ambyr Porter

2010-12-27T19:43:00.000-08:00

8 Years and Still Going Strong!

2010-12-27T19:14:00.000-08:00

Parents with Their Children

2010-12-27T19:10:00.000-08:00

My Work, My Love, My Furture

2010-12-27T19:01:00.000-08:00

Pooh Bear

2010-12-27T18:07:00.001-08:00

Miss Paige

2010-12-27T17:44:00.001-08:00

The Graham Kiddos

2010-12-27T17:13:00.001-08:00

The Love of Sisters and a Brother

2010-12-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

These amazing pictures were captured by Ambyr Porter in down town Pilot Point. My sister Stacey and her dog Mr. Jake and my brother Allan and his amazing girlfriend Summer had a fun time together getting the family together for family pictures.

Santa Picture

2010-12-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

Yeah Paige was not afraid of Santa this year! Matthew asked Santa for the Lego Police Headquarters and Paige asked Santa for a doll house. The magic of Christmas is wonderful. A few days ago we were in a scurry trying to find slippers for Matthew. He insisted that he needed them so his feet would stay warm if the Polar Express comes and picks him up on Christmas Eve.

Paige's School Program

2010-12-22T20:20:00.000-08:00

Unlike her dance recital, Paige did amazing at her school program. She did all the motions and rang her bells. We loved seeing Paige finally perform. If only Matthew was feeling better. He had to sit in the hall way because he was coughing so much. He even had a person come from the church and pray for him for about 5 minutes while the program was going on. Something new for me, but hey that is what comes with Paige being in a Christian Church MDO.

First Grade Field Trip

2010-12-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

This is the first field trip that i have been able to attend because Clay was in town to watch Paige, Grammy was also in town to attend this event. The 1st graders took a field trip to the food pantry. They have collected food through the hole school and they loaded up the food ( mostly in big blue) and headed to the food pantry to sort the food and learn where the food goes and the hole process. After the food pantry they traveled to to down town Fort Worth to see the homeless tree that the city put up each year. After the tree they all headed to the park for lunch and play time. It was so much fun to be a part of this and Matthew was so excited to have mommy and grammy along.

Paige's First Dance Recital

2010-12-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

I was so excited for Paige's first dance recital. She did amazing during all the practices and had the moves done. Her class of five was dancing to Mele Kalikimaka from Christmas Vacation, which was awesome because this is a Welch staple for Christmas.
The girls looked so cute but Paige's performance was lacking. She got up there and played with her hula skirt the hole time and did not do one dance move. One the way home Paige kept saying "I dances" and Matthew kept saying back "No you just stood there.' Hopefully the spring recital will be better.

Evergreen

2010-12-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

Clay is going from flying an ATR to a 747!
Finally after 3 years of thinking that this was going to be our year for Clay to get out of Empire and just coming short many times he is just waiting for a class date to train in the 747 to fly cargo internationally for Evergreen airlines. He will be in training for 3 months and then his schedule will be 18 days on, 16 days off. We couldn't be more proud of the hard work and Clay to get to this position. We can't wait to see where this takes us!

Aliens!!!

2010-12-17T18:48:00.000-08:00

I was so excited that we were able to stop in Roswell, it has always been a place I wanted to visit. even though we only stopped for an hour because we really wanted to get home. Matthew and I were having a debate on if aliens were real or not. he kept saying that they were make believe and I insisted that they were real. He would have non of it.
On a side not, the kids at night at our house would ride around on their scooters with all the lights out while holding their lanterns trying to find aliens around the house to shoot. I thought that since we were in Roswell that we could pick up some aliens and hide them around the house so they could actually find a shot real aliens. The kids for the past couple of months have finally started to play really well together. Since it has been warm they have spent every evening out in the back yard until dinner time.

The Arches on the Way Home

2010-12-16T21:04:00.001-08:00

Loved this stop and loved that the sun was shinning. Mather nature is breath taking.

Snow Time

2010-12-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

Reason Number 102 Not to Move to Utah

2010-12-16T19:39:00.001-08:00

The need to shovel snow and knock down the snow from the branches to help prevent the branches from breaking. Clay is gone so much and there is no way you would be seeing my butt out there. Plus you would walk outside and it was so cold that it felt like someone was sticking needles all over my body. We loved the visit but there is no way that I could live there. I love the Texas winters.

Thanksgiving Week Activities Included....

2010-12-16T19:11:00.000-08:00

Build-a-Bear

baby William 2 days old

turkey cookies

snuggles and hugs from Grandma Bea

mini grandma Christmas party

smores over the stove top

plenty of fun playing and painting with Uncle Casey

a carousal ride after group pictures of all the grand children ( It was very sad because Matthew said that the carousal and train ride were boring! Why is my baby boy growing up so fast?)

and our little princess arriving from a train ride in the mall

The Arches in Moab

2010-12-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Second day of our road trip took us to the Arches National Park in Moab. We fell in love with this place. The beauty is overwhelming. Paige loves to collect rocks so this place was right up her alley. We were bummed because it was very cloudy and the pictures did not come out amazing so we decided that on the way back we would stop again and hope that the sun was shinning. This was a good stopping point for the kids to get out and run around.
The last hour of the road trip everyone was done. Paige was crying and Clay had to hold her hand. We almost made it out of the valley and it started to snow lightly no worries. Then 10 miles out from the Welch house it started pouring down and our bags in the back were starting to get wet. We made it and that night it snowed about 6 inches. It was wonderful to wake up to a wintery wonderland.

Seeing Daddy's Airplane in Midland

2010-12-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving break we headed to Utah to visit the Welch's. Matthew was really excited and his only request was to make turkey cookies. I took Matthew out of school a little early and we loaded up the car for the long hard road trip. I got both the kiddos pillow pets, Matthew a yellow duck and Paige a purple horse. The five hours to Midland went really well. We only stopped once. The kids really were entertained with the miles of windmills. Why is it when you are looking for a McDonald's there is none to be found?
We made it to Midland and had dinner with Dad at McDonald's. We were able to park in the hanger and switch all the stuff in the car into the truck. The kids were running all over the hanger and helped Clay switch the battery in the truck.
The kids were then able to sit in the plane Clay flies for now the ATR. This was special because soon he will be flying a 747. Clay turned an engine on and everything.
Since Clay was still on a night schedule he planned on driving the whole night while we all slept. Paige had a really hard time sleeping in her car seat. She would wake up every hour crying. Around 4:30 am we arrived in Farmington were we crashed at Mike's parents house for a few hours and took a shower. Over all the kids did amazing that first day.

Yearly Buffalo Ridge Park

2010-11-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

Why do my precious angles have to grow up so fast?

Matthew Lost His 2nd Tooth

2010-11-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

This one was way over due to come out. For a couple of weeks Matthew and Clay worked night after night on wiggling this thing out. Finally Clay twist the tooth all the way around and let Matthew pull it out. I dont know why this kid grows his new teeth behind the old tooth making it painful and hard to get out.

Dance Practice

2010-11-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

The girls are getting ready for their fall performance! She loves dance so much and I am glad that she is living one of my dreams!

2 Nights of Trick or Treating

2010-11-02T15:50:00.000-07:00

2 Days of Alliance Air Show

2010-11-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

Still don't understand how this one naps with so much noise.

Just to show how close over head they were flying here is Fat Albert

Bonds Ranch Ward Halloween Party

2010-11-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

Princess Paige and her Knight in Shinning Armor Ryan

This Halloween weekend was filled to the top with fun activities and I think that Clay and I were more worn out by the end of the weekend more than the kids.

Paige had a play date Halloween party at the Johnston's Friday mid morning. We ate yummy food and talked while all the kiddos played, tons of fun.

Friday evening was our ward party. Matthew won best costume in his age division as a Lego brick. I got the idea for the costume from a good friend and decided that I would make his costume this year. Matthew really wanted to go as Batman and had to be talked into a Lego. I think this will be my last year of being able to talk him into anything.

They all had fun going trunk to trunk gaining candy until Matthew missed a step and went tumbling straight forward. He can't really move in the suit so he just toppled straight forward like a tree was falling. That night a little repair had to be made to the Lego brick.

Halloween Bags

2010-11-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

I made these simple reversible Halloween totes for the kiddos this year!

1st Grade Pumpkin Carving Party

2010-10-29T15:02:00.001-07:00

This was an awesome idea for a little get together for the 1st graders. We are simple pumpkin carvers and let our kids just draw a face and then we cut it out. Matthew was going around to all of his friends to see their pumpkin and then brought his friends over to see his, my little social bug! The best part was there was no mess at my house to clean up. We were alsotrying to be as quick as we could be so we could home and watch game 2 of the World Series.

Argyle and Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

The bunny that could not get away!

2010-10-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

We went to this extremely over the top 5th birthday party that had about 75 people there and anything and everything you could think off for this Halloween themed birthday party. I mean there was a hotdog machine, cotton candy machine, popcorn machine, nacho machine, petting zoo, mimiture horse ride and the list goes on. It was super fun for folks of all ages.

Anyway,s Paige sat down in this chair and held this poor bunny for a while. They had put all the other animals away and Paige was still sitting with the bunny in her lap. Paige was very kind to give the bunny back when it was time for his caging. She was just super cute with the death grip on the bunny.

State Fair of Texas

2010-10-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

Fall T-Ball

2010-10-06T18:05:00.001-07:00

Matthew and his teacher Ms. Price and Riley from his 1st grade class

Matthew is one of the really good players on his team this season which is a huge confidence booster for him. He received the first game ball of the season and he still talks about that to this day. He finally knows how to run!!! Last season he would just take his time around the bases but he RUNS this season. His normal spot to play is short stop and he is gettin plenty of play time! The outfielders know it is their job to get the ball to Matthew. He is understanding the concept of when you can touch the base or when you have to tag the player. He is able to catch and throw the ball amazingly and his new glove has helped out a bunch. His batting is getting to the out field. All in all this season he has grown leaps and bounds. The team all together has been frustrating to me because there are about 5 4 year olds on the team and dirt is more important than the game. Once I changed my attitude about the process and saw how much he has soared this season made me actually love the game. One more season of T-ball and then we are off to coaches pitch!

Canoe Trip

2010-10-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

The Good Old Welch Canoe finally got back into the water after many years of being abandoned. Clay was so excited to take this baby out since he had the truck down from midland. We got an early start and the kiddos were cold the whole time (note to self jackets next time). With little ones we lated maybe a good 30 minutes, but it was a blast and everyone was fine and dandy until we reached the deck and little Miss Paige was tuging to get her life jacket off and tripped and fell head first into the metal ramp lip that pokes out. Clay is really take this hard because I was still in the canoe and he was watching them and feels some what responsible. Kids fall and hurt themselves not a lot that a partent can do. Hopefully it will heal in time for pictures in a couple of weeks.

Paige's First Day of Mother's Day Out

2010-09-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

This girl is something else. Clay and I both took her to school. As soon as she saw the building she started saying "Atticus there! Atticus there!" She was excited to see her buddy. We walked her in and she ran straight into her class opened the play house door, closed the play house door and began to play. We didn't even get a good bye.

Then her third dance class started and she cried through the whole thing. On Thursday we dropped her off at MDO and they almost called me to come get her because she cried for an hour. In nursery she cried herself to sleep. Clay and I were totally confused as to why a switch just flipped and she was this hysterical child when left with out her parents. Clay was gone for 5 weeks and this was his first week home, so we sorta thought it was that. But then there was sleep issues. During the summer she would go to bed around 6:30pm and not even wake up till 9:00am. The week that school started she was going to bed at 8:00 or 9:00 and waking up at 6:30 or so. So we added a nap back into her afternoon and finally got her going down at 7:30 and I have to wake her up to take Matthew to school. Now that she has enough sleep she has been happy go lucky girl again.

Matthew's 1st Day of 1st Grade

2010-09-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

This year Clay was here for all the excitment of the first day of school. He walked Matthew to school, waited with him in the cafetria and walked him to his class. Matthew was so excited to start school again that he could hardly sleep the night before the big day. His teachers name is Ms. Price and I heard that she is pretty awesome. Matthew's best friend Katilynn who lives right across the street is in his class this year.

Every morning when we drop him off as he is getting out of the car he has a big Paige not to do list. " Make sure she doesn't touch my legos, or play with the Wii and make sure she doesn't go into my room. Love ya Mom!"

Around the World Eastbound the Whole Way

2010-09-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

I received a call from some people that I had been in touch with before about moving an aircraft from France to Indonesia. Of course my answer to the question of "Was I interested?" was a resounding "YES!". One of the coolest things about this trip was that after all the travel was said and done I would be going around the entire world Eastbound the whole way until returning to DFW. So lets dive right in. The initial travel was from DFW to Philly then on to Paris. From Paris we caught the high speed rail to Dinard France. Dinard is a beautiful place in the Northwestern corner of France. It reminded me of Northern California. Just dating back a few hundred years. The pictures above are of the train station we arrived in at Dinard. All told just the travel to get there was 23 hours. layovers and a 4 hour train ride took it's toll.

This was the view of the beach from my hotel. It was very chilly but that did not stop the patrons of the beach from having a good time. You can tell from the surrounding building that this place is just filled with historic stuff to see.

This is the hotel side that faces the beach.

This is the front of the hotel and some of the surrounding streets.

Downtown Dinard. We had some great food in our two nights that we spent in town before we left to begin the flight.

All of the above pictures were taken one morning when I decided to go on a walk rather than wait around the hotel for word as to when we were leaving. We had suffered some major delays and I just wanted to check out the sites without the other pilot. So I started walking toward the beach where I found this paved walkway. So away I go down the walkway. This turned into basically a paved trail along the rocky beach right where the water meets the cliffs. It was so cool. The homes that were along this trail were simply outstanding. And the old architecture was great to look at.

Ok, so there was a gap in my picture taking story. The above picture s of the Alps. What happened was we finally got out of Dinard and it was in the late afternoon. The sky was cloudy so really there was nothing to see. We went from Dinard, France to Luxembourg, Luxembourg. However by the time we landed it was well into the evening. So no pictures of the first leg. Then we leave in the very early hour the next day when it was raining and just all around crumby. And then the clouds started breaking over the Alps when we got closer to Italy.

All over the above pictures are enroute over Italy and Greece. It was rather funny because our routing was almost identical to the routing we had when we came over in the F last year. Just like last time Italy and the islands of Greece did not disappoint. Water so blue the pictures can not do it justice.

As we push on we approach my arch rival from the last time I was here. Egypt. As we proceed across the Mediterranean there comes a large mass of sand ahead. it just amazes me that as soon as you get to Egypt this are even dirtier in the air. However I did get to snap a quick shot the pyramids on the approach. Never mind flying the airplane, having a very hard time understanding ATC, and having to babysit Grandpa over there in the First Officers seat. I'm gettin' me a picture of the Pyramids!! One thing you can really tell from the pictures is that there is just a ton of people crammed into a very small space here.

Here is the hotel we stayed at in Cairo. The hotel was very nice. Clean and the food was very good as well. Which was a good thing to have as we had a rather long day for day 2 getting here. Luckily we arrived in the afternoon so I could actually see things. That night outside my hotel window was some kind of party by the pool. The girls that were "singing" seemed very happy with their ability. I found it painful, yet those were the sounds I heard outside my window all night long. In many of the places I have seen there are some fast and crazy drivers. Cairo takes the cake in this department. You would think that their sole goal in life is to how fast they can go and how close they can get to one another at the previously mentioned high speed. Absolutely nuts! One notable thing I found pretty interesting. When the van pulls up the hotel there is a bomb sniffing dog that walks around the van as well as a soldier that uses a mirror that is attached to the pole to look under the vehicle in case the dog misses a bomb. Rather interesting introduction to Cairo.

Us about to leave Cairo on our way to Muscat, Oman.

Pictures over Egypt and Saudi. The picture on the right is of the airport we stopped at on my last go-over. But the ATR has much longer legs than the F27 so we did not need a fuel stop this time. I must say I was happy to not stop there. Last time they would not let us go in to use the restroom. They said we had to stay by our aircraft. Which was a cargo bird with no lav. Really agitated us. So we proceeded to offload our "water storage tanks" on the ground right then and there. So I was glad that we did not have to stop here.

Making our approach into Muscat I was able to clip a few pictures of the buildings.

Airport parking and some of our neighbors. The Russian airplane getting fueled landed right behind us. Never seen this particular airplane in real life before, pretty cool. the other pictures are just of the drive to the hotel. Sadly I did not get a picture of the hotel we stayed at. I just completely forgot.

These photos are of the Muscat, Oman to Calcutta, India leg. The one on the left is worth mentioning simply because I was over Pakistan. Kinda dorky but I thought it was cool. The other two are just flying through the India Tropical storms.

The F/O was in the back doing paperwork.

En-route and a quick arrival shot of Calcutta. This was the nicest hotel stay we had on the trip. The food was pure greatness!! I went "Man vs. Food" style at one of the hotel restaurants and let me tell you.... Man won. I do love Indian food. Now as I tell you that the hotel was the nicest we had been to, getting there was something else. it was a hour long drive through some nasty places. Not unsafe, just dirty and gross. Overall it was a great overnight.

First Officer Krueger and just a picture of the back. As you can see we were bringing new seats for install when the aircraft gets to Jakarta.

En-route shots of the India - Malaysia leg. Very pretty islands.

Pictures of the arrival into Langkowe, Malaysia. Not only are the islands so very cool looking. There were boats out fishing that we flew right over on the approach.

These pictures are of the airport at Langkowe, Malaysia. This was supposed to be an overnight for us after India but due to the fact that we had lost two days because of the two air turnbacks out of Dinard we had to bypass this stop and push on to Jakarta, Indonesia to make up some time. Langkowe is a resort destination and it is something to see. Had I know that this stop was going to be so nice I would have bypassed Egypt in a heartbeat to stay here for the night. But sadly it was not in the cards this time 'round.

This picture needs a little bit of explanation. The old man that had the money got in an argument with handlers about the charges. So they took it upon themselves to blockade out aircraft with ground equipment and have a few friendly police officers come over to us to try to give the old man the proper encouragement to pay the bill. The discussion got a little heated and I thought we may be spending the night in a Malaysian jail. Money eventually exchanged hands and we went on our merry way for the final leg.

These are photos of us leaving Malaysia. Although the visit was full of Springer style drama this little island in the Pacific has now made it to one of the places that at some point I want to spend a week vacationing.

Well we arrived into Jakarta, Indonesia in the middle of the night and a few hours later I was catching my flight to Bangkok, Thailand then on to LAX. The two in airport pictures are from Thailand. The airport is build using a tent system. Rather like DEN. I thought it was noteworthy. The other thing I saw that was entertaining was a DQ and Burger King. I don't know why I found it funny but when I saw the DQ I suddenly had the song from the commercial go through my head. "DQ....Thats what I like about Texas!" I just wanted to add "DQ.... Thats what I like about Texas.... only in Bangkok!!"

On the long 16.5 hour flight to LAX I did have the privilege of being in business class. And I was seated just to the right of "Hyde" from "That 70's Show". When I got to LAX I caught the overnight flight to DFW then the 7:30 am flight over to Midland So I could go to work that afternoon. I broke many personal records on that commute to work!!

What a crazy trip.

Summer Evenings at NRH2O

2010-09-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

June and July of this past summer I had a hard time getting over bronchitis and just did not feel up to spending the day in the heat at the water park. Once August hit I was up to my old self and we spent almost every evening at the park. Clay was gone for about 5 weeks, with a day here and a day there with him home. He was able to get a contract to ferry an ATR from Washington to Indonesia. So with the long summer days and bored kids the water park was a blessing!

We had our schedule down. We pack up our dinner and leave the house around 3:00. Some nights we stopped by Risky's BBQ and got 6 pulled beef sandwiches for $5.00. By the time we arrived at the park many of the people that have been there since opening were leaving. We were always able to find chairs underneath the huge umbrellas. We would stay until they closed at 6 or 7. On the way home Paige would fall asleep and transfer very well to her bed once we got home. Matthew was so tired too that he would have a bowl of cereal and off he went to bed. It worked out perfect for me since Clay was gone so much. Before this it was up to an hour battle to put Paige to bed. She thought it was a game and kept getting up and up and up, laughing all the way back to her bed. The Super Nanny tactics did not work on this stubborn child. With her falling a sleep in the car there was no battle and a very happy mommy because who wants a battle at the end of the day when you yourself are ready for bed.

Paige and Matthew loved the water park! Matthew was able to teach himself how to swim really well. He was also able to learn how to do a front and back flip and handstand in the water. His favorite part this summer is what we called the wipe out zone. There are 2 obstacles the first is where you run across floating circles on the water and the other you walk across floating logs on the water. Paige really loved the orange and yellow slide.

The week before school started I was watching Matthew's good friend Wyatt while his family was busy packing up their house for the move to Utah. It was fun for Matthew to have a buddy to run around with at the park.

Eagle Mountain Lake

2010-09-04T12:01:00.001-07:00

Our good friends Brent and Angie invited us out to their parent's house located on Eagle Mountain Lake. This was the first time for both the kids to enjoy one of Texas' great lakes. Matthew's favorite thing was riding with Brent on his brand new jet ski. I did a lot of relaxing on Chill Town, the huge floating raft.

After about 3 hours in the sun it was time to change and head on the boat for dinner. We didn't bring clothes to change into so we dashed home and in 11 minutes the kids and Clay were able to shower and change, feed the dog and get back in the car. Not bad for a family of 4.

Angie's dad drove all of us on his pontoon boat across the lake to a restaurant on the marina. This was so relaxing to me. The wind blowing, enjoying the crisp summer night. We ended up eating at Scampi's Cove after arriving at other locations that had already closed. This was some amazing grub! Clay and I had a hamburger that had a fried egg and bacon on it!! One of the best burger's I have ever had.

On the way back the kiddos fell asleep on the boat. Clay was feeling a bit motion sickness for the first time ever in his many years of enjoying a boat and had to move to the back of the boat. Brent took his spot next to Paige and the rest of the ride Paige was holding on to Brent's finger. It was fun to see the smile on Brent's face.

Our adventure as a family on the lake ended with tons of adventures and first for the kids. Hopefully next time Clay and I can get on the jet ski for our first jet ski adventure.

Let the Dancing Begin!

2010-08-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for the day the Paige turned 2 and she was able to enroll in dance class. We went to register and we were put on a waiting list which really made me sad, then on Saturday we got a call that that had opened another 2 to 3 year old class on Wednesdays from 9:45 to 10:30. Clay that I was a little crazy because I was really excited.

On the list of goods to get for the class, she needed tap and ballet shoes and it specifically noted they can't be Walmart or Payless brand. I stopped by Payless to see how much money they were and was thinking great the shoes are going to be twice as much at the dance store, but to my surprise they were actually cheaper. They also called for pink tights, so I headed to kidtokid thinking that I could get them cheaper there, so I bought a pair of pink dance tights, but another think I have learned is that ballet pink is not pink but more of a peachy color. Lots to learn!

Paige was so darling trying on dance shoes. First she tried on Ballet shoes. She sat on the bench very quietly watching as the lady tried on about 5 different pairs of shoes. Once the perfect fit was found she said that Paige could get up and try them. Paige grabbed my hands and said "Dance Mommy" so we stood and danced in circles for a minute. Then it was time for the tap shoes, she again sat there very quietly while she was fitted for shoes and as soon as she was allowed to walk around she again said "Mommy Dance" and she grabbed my arms and danced. She was also able to pick out a cute bag to put all her gear in.

The first day of dance class was cute. She was excited to wear her leotard and tights (the tights ended up being way to big but I finally found some that fit perfect!!) Her teachers name is Miss Lauren and I think she is going to be an awesome teacher. There are only 4 girls in her class and Paige more or less just sat and took everything in for the first day! She seemed to really enjoy herself. It is going to be hard to get pictures because you are looking through a window that has blinds on it! :(

Going Straight

2010-08-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

When the boys are away the girls will play! This day Paige and I had a few hours to ourselfs which ended up being a beauty day for Paige. She got her nails painted and stayed still long enough for mommy to straighten her hair.

Toy Story 3

2010-08-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

This was Paige's first movie to enjoy in the movie theatre. I just think it was fun because Grammy took Matthew to see his first movie Cars and here we are 4 years later and Grammy is taking Paige to see her first movie. She loved it but we knew she would because she love Buzz.

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

2010-07-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

July 4th at Lone Star Park

2010-07-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

Got some cool pictures with the fireworks mode on the camera.

Matthew was not a happy camper!!

Last minute plans landed us at the good old Lone Star Park for some horse racing and fireworks for the 4th. Grammy, Allan and Summer joined in on the celebration. Lots of fun games, good food and spectacular fireworks.

Summer fun on the Trampoline

2010-07-22T14:21:00.001-07:00

What better way to beat the heat with two little ones in Texas than to just throw the sprinkler on underneath the trampoline! Paige was hesitant at first but eventually warmed up to it. I love it when these two play together well. Hearing these two giggle together in delight is priceless.

Thing 1 and Thing 2

2010-07-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

Matthew 6 Years Old

2010-07-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

Paige 2 Years Old

2010-07-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

Matthew lost his first tooth!!!

2010-06-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we realized that Matthew had a tooth that had already grown in behind his already wiggly tooth. Since then with the help of Summer, Daddy, Mommy and finally today Grammy was able to wiggle it out. Hopefully now the other tooth can start to push itself forward.

Jo vs. Paige

2010-06-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Over the past four weeks I took the plunged and started the dreaded process of potty training Paige. Paige and I are both very strong willed people and it was a battle at first to see how long I could sit there and wait for her to go and for Paige how long she could sit there and hold. In the battle of Jo vs. Paige, Jo won. The first 2 weeks were difficult for me and my patients. The determination paid off and she now is able to tell me when she needs to go and can hold it until we make it to a bathroom at a store. She still has accidents here and there but for the most part she is potty trained.
Once she was pretty well on her way to being potty trained she was able to pick out panties that she wanted and the outcome was "Buzz" boy underwear. Forget about the pretty girly underwear, Paige wanted "Buzz".

Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Matthew's first year in school has come and gone in a flash. He entered Kindergarten not knowing even knowing his letters. Over the past year he mastered the skills of reading at a second grade level, writing imaginative stories, simple addition and subtraction and improved his computer skills. They had to research an animal on the computer and write and essay about the animal. He came home with printed material that he had found on the computer by himself about an alligator. He really enjoyed Fine Arts and when it was free choice he was the artist in the class room. It is truly amazing to me how much they are learning the first year of school. My first year I just came out knowing my ABC's. Here's to my First Grader.

Academic Awards Ceremony

2010-06-16T12:36:00.001-07:00

Matthews took home the award for Best Story Teller, Highest Counter and Excellent Citizenship.

Matthew Turns 6!

2010-05-28T11:43:00.001-07:00

Start the morning off with chocolate chip pancakes and ice cream.

Clay went and ate lunch with Matthew.
At 2:00 I took up cupcakes and hats to his class to have a little party.

Left school a little early to spend some time at NRH2O.

Present Time

Matthew was so excited about his birthday. He has been counting down the days for about a week. I decided this year that he could chose between a birthday party or passes to the local water park for the summer. I am so glad that he picked the water park because we are going to have a remarkable summer.
It was hard to shop for presents this year for him. Clay and I took him to the store many time to pick out toys and still did not come up with a lot of ideas. It was all about legos and hot wheels again.
He thought it was extra special that his dad brought him McDonald's for lunch and that they got to eat together. I was lucky enough to go up later and have a little party in his class room. The kids were so excited that they got to keep their party hats and frosting was every where. Matthew picked out NASCAR cupcakes this year.
After school we were off to NRH2O. This place is amazing and 1/2 the park is geared towards little kids. Matthew and Paige had a great time and it was hard to get them out of the park. After putting the kids down Clay and I were dragging and reminded that we are getting old and are starting to have a hard time keeping up with these kids.

View From Home Plate Seats

2010-05-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Legendary Nolan Ryan ( in the striped shirt)

Ranger Game!

2010-05-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

For Matthew's 6th Birthday celebration with the Graham's Uncle Allan hooked us all up with tickets to the Rangers vs Cubs game. He had seats 1-4 row A right behind home plate. This was a once in a life time experience. We got to our seats and there was free popcorn, drinks, peanuts, and programs. Then a lady brought over game balls for the kids. After that we were told that we could eat the Nolan Ryan buffet in the Diamond Club for free, so we headed on over before the game started to fill the kiddos bellies up (I love free!!)
The kids did an amazing job in the heat. We would rotate who went up with the kids to sit in the AC. Paige took about an hour nap and at that time Summer, Allan and Stacey watched the kids while I watched some ball with my man. Matthew and Daddy spent time alone watching the game and Matthew kept asking so many questions. It was an amazing bonding time for them.
While in the bar in the AC it was so cool to watch the TV and see us on the tube. Paige kept yelling "Mommy, Mommy" when she saw me.
Everyone had an awesome time and there is know way I can begin to thank my brother for the awesome experience.

Kindergarten Graduation Picture

2010-05-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

T-Ball Pictures

2010-05-19T13:29:00.000-07:00

Rock Hounds

Matthew's Class Picture

2010-05-19T13:28:00.001-07:00

Fun at the Park!

2010-04-29T08:39:00.001-07:00

Matthew on the Trapeze

2010-04-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

The Kindergartners put on a circus for the families. Each child got to pick what they wanted to be from a lion to a seal to a clown and Matthew picked to do the Trapeze. I thought he did an amazing job and he was so proud of himself. His face is priceless here.

Blimp Landing

2010-04-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went to watch the Direct TV Blimp land after school one day. It circled over head many times before finally coming down. Paige lounged on my lap and Matthew stood staring at the sky saying this is boring. I told him that we could leave if he wanted to but he said no I want to see it land.

Paige's Class Picture

2010-04-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

Paige's Field Day

2010-04-29T07:58:00.001-07:00

Texas Bluebonnets

2010-04-29T07:41:00.001-07:00

Easter

2010-04-06T12:10:00.001-07:00

Easter day was wonderful this year. We woke up and had homemade cinnamon rolls to eat while watching conference and then a yummy Easter feast for lunch of ham, sweet potatoes, baked potatoes, asparagus and roles. Then Clay was off to the airport while the rest of us headed over to the Langford's for their annual Easter party. This was Paige's first time on a horse and she loved it.

Paige turns 2

2010-04-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

This year I had made plans to have a big party for Paige, a cupcake themed party where her friends could come and decorate cupcakes and I had all these ideas rolling and then finances where not available at the time, so I decided to hold off until next year for the cupcake party and plus she still doesn't understand the whole birthday thing yet.
Once I decided not to do a party I just did plan a thing, I don't know if it came out of depression or what. At the last minute, Colleen, Garrett and Megan came into town and we took are little girl to Chuck e Cheese for her birthday. We all had so much fun and it was a perfect way for a 2 year old to spend her birthday.

On her actual Birthday, she had school and they had a little party for her. I took up cupcakes, hats and blowers. The kids had a lot of fun with it. (Pink outfit pictures taken on her birthday)

Easter Outfits

2010-03-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

First Open House at School

2010-03-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

Life size cut out of Matthew.

Rice Baby
For 2 weeks the kids learned all about taking care of a baby and all about family. The first day they made these rice babies and they weigh as much as the kids did when they were born.

Me, Dad, Mom, Grandpa (I laugh that he drew a cane with this person), Grammy and Dog.

School Work

2010-03-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

I am at the jungle. I am lost. A tiger wants to eat me. I do not have any food.

Spring Break, I did play Batman Wii and all the levels are easy and people come and play.

Hot Wheel Battle Force 5

Paige Painting

Why I love having a Boy

2010-03-13T18:43:00.001-08:00

To counter Jo's brief post...

Having Matt is great. He loves Legos, Bikes, T-ball, and of course layin' the smack down on some Wii Lego Batman. So now I have a perfect excuse to play like a kid as much as possible!!

Clayton

Why I Love Having a Girl

2010-03-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

Squeals of joy and clapping of the hands while mommy painted my toes for the first time this spring. Every time my socks come off the squeals of joy and clapping of the hands return because my toe nails are still painted.

Paige's 1st Tea Party

2010-02-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

Record Breaking 12 inches of Snow!!!

2010-02-12T11:36:00.001-08:00

After 24 hours of unbelievable snowfall, us Texans are left with a record breaking 12.5 inches of snow and fun for days. With school out it has been so much fun watching the snow fall, playing with family and friends and coming in to get warm with a bowl of warm soup. We were not able to make it New Mexico this year to ski so this was a nice band aide for that wound.

Paige thought Mommy needed a bite of snow too.

The Girls.

Paige watching the sledders, eating snow in her princess chair Clay made her out of snow.

Missy enjoying the snow.

Paige loved eating the snow.

Sledding

Clay shoveling the driveway so the slush doesn't turn to ice.

The neighborhood kids building a huge snowball.

Pure frustration, slamming the car door shut after getting her car stuck in the
snow.

Paigey Paige

2010-02-10T13:19:00.001-08:00

She loves her dolls. She now must have one of her dollies go with her when we leave the house. she will spend hours covering and recovering them with a blanket. She also likes to rock them and pat their backs and the dollies receive lots of kisses. A new thing is that she has to have her dollies tucked in with her at night. Last night she finally tried to feed one of her dolls her snack and milk.

She loves to color and stickers keep her content all through sacrament meeting.

Miss Diva in her car and collecting rocks in her pockets.

Every time you put Paige down for a nap you can hear her playing around for a while until it goes silent. I had to wake her up one time to go and pick Matt up and this is what I found.

Loving the jewelry.

Miss Paige, Miss Paige has such a strong will. We tried for a couple of days to potty train and I just stopped out of frustration. The last couple of days, a couple of times she has just put herself on. So I guess she will just do it by herself. She loves playing games, her favorite is Perfection and she is really good at matching up the pieces. She also loves to pester her brother. All of the sudden she started pushing and hitting Matt at times when she is frustrated. We are still trying to nip that one in the butt and don't know where she picked it up. She will place her finger over her mouth and say shh when she wants him to be quite. She says bad girl to whom ever is not pleasing her at the time (picked it up from Matt). She loves the Wiggles and her favorite movie is Bolt. She likes to pull chairs around in the kitchen to watch and help out.

Matthew

2010-02-03T10:27:00.001-08:00

Matthew has really taken to his skateboard and still talks about going to the skate park at Grapevine Mills (he will have to improve a lot before he can step foot in there).

This was a picture of Matthew on his first field trip. They went to the Elm Fork Education Center at UNT.He told me that I need to pack him everything that he needed for his long bus ride and that I need to put extra food for the long trip. I packed his lunch in a gallon zip lock bag because I did not have a brown paper sack and he was concerned that someone would steal his food because they could see what he had and would like it. He was truly excited about this and sad that I couldn't attend because they did not allow siblings to come along. He kept talking about his first bus ride and going into space.

Matthew's first ER trip.I got a call from school saying Matthew had a 103 temperature and that we needed to come and get him. Once we got home he fell asleep on the bathroom floor while waiting to get into CareNow. They checked everything, They swapped him to death, took blood from his arm, chest x-ray, the works. Then the doctor comes in and says that you need to take him to the ER right away because we think his appendix is about to erupt because Matthew was complaining of severe stomach pain. I was freaking out inside, I really did not want my boy to have surgery. We rush to the ER and after about 2 hours they decide that it is a virus and he needs to drink plenty of water and take Tylenol for the fever. Really not cool CareNow. Matthew is still talking about the blood they took from his arm.

Matthew has become quite the reader. He is one of the top readers in his class and is doing really well at school. He had a problem with rhyming and we had to work extra hard on it, but he finally grasped the concept and went from a 0 to 100 in a four day span.

Matthew loves his legos. His new thing is taking apart the lego creations and putting it all back together with the help of the manuals. Hours upon hours of fun. The only downside is when one small piece is missing and searching for the one piece in a container filled with thousands of other legos.

Feeding Horses

2010-02-03T10:10:00.001-08:00

Since I was about 7 months pregnant I have not been asked to feed the Langford's horses because they were having their son feed them. When I got the call to feed I was over joyed. It is an amazing way to start the day and end the day. The kids were my big helpers. Each time Paige would run out of the car and greet the horses in the barn. She would giggle every time a horse would sniff at her hair. Matthew is old enough now that he could actually help me with the grain and the hay. What a fun couple of days we had and can't wait to do it again.

The Gaylord

2010-01-30T09:34:00.000-08:00

Clay for our anniversary surprised me with a weekend get away trip. I was really hesitant because Paige had never been left alone with anyone. Colleen planned on coming down and staying with the kiddos. We debated on rather to go to San Antonio but then I mentioned the Gaylord to Clay and they have this amazing deal for anniversaries where you pay one night and you get a second night free.
It was a relaxing weekend with my honey. Our room had a view of the River Walk so we did get a little piece of San Antonio. We were planning on leaving to eat, see a movie, go to the mall or something but instead we ended up staying at the hotel just walking around and being lazy. We ate at an all you can eat Rio Cafe and it was amazing. I tried lamb for the first time and loved it!! We loved sitting on our patio talking and watching the people while listening to live music from the restaurant below.
It was an amazing weekend and what we needed more than we thought. We are ready to pack our bags now for another getaway (hopefully it will not be 5 years till the next one). The kids did amazing with Grandma.

Snow Again

2010-01-01T14:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas

2010-01-01T13:29:00.001-08:00

Santa delivered a remote control car and motorcycle to Matthew and for Paige a kitchen.

Grammy was in charge of taking everything out of the package once opened. It was cute to see Paige open a present and take it directly over to Grammy.

Paige with her morning hair and Missy sniffing her Christmas bone.

The kids got me a necklace and a bracelet (thank you so much Clay I love them).

The kids received so many presents from grandparents, aunts and uncles. Thank you everyone for thinking of the kids. They loved everyone of them.

Matthew with a quilt from Grandma Bea, Clay said he had one just like it when he was young. Paige with all her jewelry from China.

At Christmas dinner Grandpa kept teasing Paige. These two are so cute together.

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-31T07:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas cookies decorating was so much fun. Once the frosting was mixed they got to lick the beaters. Paige kept on dipping hers back into the bowl of frosting for more. Matthew did an awesome job frosting and decorating. Paige with the help of dad had busy hands. On hers she would put the red hot in her mouth and then put it on the cookie. Paige had a few cookies set a side just for her.

White Christmas in Texas!

2009-12-30T17:03:00.000-08:00

I have lived in Texas for almost 30 years and I can not remember a year where we actually had snow on the ground on Christmas. The day before Christmas Eve the high was 73 degrees and the kids were outside in shorts. Christmas Eve comes and it starts snowing. I thought there was no way that it would stick because it was so hot the day before. Well it stuck. The roads ended up being very icy. My brother had a hard time getting in Christmas Eve from Dallas which took him 3 hours, he ended up spending the night on the couch. My sister didn't even attempt to journey out. By nightfall most roads were closed. Texas wasn't ready for this storm. The kids sure did enjoy it. Matthew said "it snowing for Santa."

A New Christmas Tradition

2009-12-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

Elfie
Meet Elfie, our "Elf on a Shelf." This little guy has magical powers and he was sent to us from Santa Claus to watch over Matthew and Paige. He doesn't say anything because it is his job to listen. Each night he returns to the North Pole and tells Santa all that has happened that day. Then each morning he returns and is in a different spot. You can't touch him because if you do he loses his magic. On Christmas Eve he returns to live with Santa until next December.
Matthew has had so much fun with this. He would say "that Elfie is a tricky one." He would wake up most mornings hunting the house for him. One morning he was found sitting on the back of the toilet. Matthew came up to me and wanted to know if he could use my bathroom, because he didn't want Elfie to watch him go potty. It also helped with managing bad behavior. All I had to say is "Elfie is watching" and the behavior was fixed.

Paige's Christmas Show

2009-12-15T07:49:00.000-08:00

My little Angel. Her Mother's Day Out put a Christmas program together for the parents. Her class rang bells to Jingle Bells and hand signs to Away in the Manger. It was fun to watch her participate in the program. She loves her class and Teacher.

Holiday in The Park

2009-12-15T07:14:00.001-08:00

Our good friends Nicki and Brian invited us to join them and Emma to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags on Bell Helicopter Day. For $30 the whole family got into the park, our choice of lunch, a bracelet that let us enjoy hot chocolate all day and get 3 pictures, awesome deal. It was a really cold day and we tried everything to stay warm. Matthew had so much fun riding rides with Emma. His favorite ride was the mine trains. Paige was a trooper and spent most the day in her stroller bundled up. Clay and Brian really enjoyed the Superman ride. We all were tired and cold by the end of our fun day. We love spending time with this group of friends.

Grandma Comes to Town

2009-12-15T07:00:00.001-08:00

Colleen came into town and we had 2 full days of shopping. It was so much fun spending time with her shopping for the kids and a little bit for us. The kids love when Grandma comes to town.

Santa Pictures

2009-12-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

Matthew drew pictures and wrote Santa a letter before heading off to see him. This year he asked Santa for a remote control motorcycle. Paige stood and watched Matthew talk with Santa and was not sure of the man in the red suit. When placed on Santa's lap the tears started flowing. We survived another year of pictures with Santa.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

Paige helping Aunt Stacey with the rolls.

Jeff and Matthew with the legos.

Paige watching the Cowboys with Uncle Allan.

A little trampoline fun.
This year I had my sister and brother over for Thanksgiving. Clay just happened to be over nighting at Alliance and he invited the FO over to eat with us to. I made all the fixens including a ham, turkey and an apple pie.

Paige 1st bowl of ceral.

2009-12-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

I was out running errands and I come home to this, Paige for the first time eating ceral with milk like a big girl. Clay had no idea that she had not done this before. This is also a picture of her crazy morining hair ( a tangled mess).

Clay catching the Christmas Spirit

2009-12-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Clay is usually a Grinch when it comes to Christmas. This year he wanted to put lights on the house. He had two little helpers help him accomplish this task. He even had them up before Thanksgiving. He is enjoying the joy that the season brings to the kids. At night once Matthew saw all the lights lit up he said "This is the best Christmas ever!"

Enjoying a fall afternoon in Texas.

2009-11-29T16:48:00.000-08:00

Matthew has gotten the hang of swinging himself in the swings and Paige runs up the playground and down the slides by herself.