We Saw Santa

  Now that it is officially December and after Thanksgiving, I am posting our Santa pics. (We took them weeks ago.) My boys were so excited to see Santa! (Colton was such a good sport.) You can tell by Carter's smile that he was so happy to talk to Santa! 

Cooper Wiley--7 years old

Colton Wyatt--10 years old

Carter Wesley- 4 years old

Carter asked for a robot, Christmas slippers and  an electric toy--pretty general

Cooper asked for a Kindle Fire or Samsung Galaxy

Colton asked for Skylanders Swap Force

Love how all of these turned out!!! Another great session with Be True Photography. 

Thankful

I give thanks to the Lord for all he has done,
For a wonderful husband and three healthy sons.
For a home where we gather and say grace,
For faith that gets us through challenges we face.
For family we cherish those near and those far,
For friends that accept us just as we are.
For a life filled with laughter, joy and love,
For all of God's blessings sent from above! 

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

Break in!

Cooper and I went to a birthday party at a place called The Main Event the other afternoon. When we walked out around 7, this is what we found....

Grrrrrrrrr.....

I couldn't believe it! Cooper was a little shaken up. Me too if I am being honest. The glass was everywhere. My console had been emptied. I am sure they were disappointed when they only found Boogie wipes, bandaids and snacks in there--they left it all on the seat. Definitely a mom car! They did take a Consuela tote and an empty Brighton purse and wallet.(I had changed purses for a wedding the day before) Luckily though, I had my actual wallet and checkbook in a smaller purse in the party with me. That would have been horrible to deal with. Our bibles were sitting out in plain site from church that morning. The boys made a comment that the thieves should have taken those because they could use them! So true! I told the boys if someone is that desperate that they have to resort to stealing to get what they need, they must need it way worse than us. We are very blessed in our life. But you should have seen me driving home, in the cold, with a wind breaker flapping in the window, protecting me from wind and flying glass. An experience for sure! =)

Regardless, we are thankful it wasn't much worse. Just super annoying! 

New floors!!

We had carpet in our living room and laminate wood floors in our dining room. They were both looking pretty sad. The carpet was so stained and although after getting it cleaned looked good for a bit, all the stains came right back pretty quick. The laminate wood floors were in our entry way and dining room. They had gotten so scratched up and dull looking. It was time to redo!
Cody and I picked out a ceramic tile that has the look of wood. (Kind of an early Christmas present to ourselves.) Here is the step by step as it was getting done.
                                                         
                                                                     Before...
                                           (The pictures don't show just how bad it was.)

Phase 2--all old floor is gone. 

Here is the after...

SO much better!! It looks so much like wood but it is way easier to clean and take care of. We love it!! 

Wurstfest

For those of you not from the area, Wurstfest is the Lone Star State's biggest and best German Culture and heritage celebration. Also known as the 10 day salute to sausage.
Anyway, we finally made it out there on the 10th day of the fun. We met some of our favorite friends there and had a great afternoon enjoying yummy food, silly hats, a few rides, some games and watching our little friends perform their German dance.

Ryan and Carter 

Reagan and Morgan looking adorable in their German dresses

Fun Friends with the turkey puppet guy =)

Hannah and Colton ready to ride some rides

My boys fitting in in their hats

Hunting season has begun

As you now by now my hubby is an avid hunter. The season really starts in September for him because he bow hunts. Last weekend, he was able to shoot a trophy he is really excited about! So happy for him!

This weekend, the big boys are there with him. They enjoy going and he loves them being there. Luckily, Carter chose to stay home with Mama! (Better enjoy that while it lasts!) Anyway, I just got a text from Colton. He said it was from the son that loves me most. =) It was attached to this picture. 

He sure knows how to make his Mama feel loved! 

Oh and I am not sure I ever shared how the large Elk turned out. Here it is on the wall. 

Have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It is big but it is pretty!

Happy Halloween

We had another memorable and fun Halloween! We had some of our favorite friends and family over for some pizza and a trick or treat hayride. 
Here are lots of pictures but I missed getting some of the other cuties that were with us. 

My Property of Area 51 alien, Alien Agent and Bandido(Zorro)

Ready to go!

Colton and Hayden

Cooper and Ian

Carter and Grady

My sweet friends Melissa and Jenni
Love these ladies!!

Cooper and Carson

Colton, Hayden, Austin S, Luke, Austin, Graham

Griffin

Me and my baby

Graham and Colton

Carter and Opi

My mom and Nana
They are such good sports and  pass our candy every year. 

Once again, it was school night so we had to rush everything a bit. We still had lots of fun and the kids got more than enough candy. Just glad next year it will be on a Friday night!!! 

A side note:
Carter saw his costume in a catalog. I wanted to find him something more cutesy because he is only 4 after all. But he couldn't be talked into anything else. It was listed as a Bandido. Looks like Zorro to us. Anyway, he looked adorable in it and loved it!!!