Life is precious.

I joined the world this week in mourning for the loss of the sweet children at Sandy Hook Elementary school. Besides hanging my RED HEART (did you hang yours too?) on my door and adding my name to a petition to tighten gun control... the only other thing I can think of to do is to appreciate these 3 a little more.   And smother them in as many kisses and hugs I can give. (That is when I am not punishing them for turning our entire family room into a giant fort or tracking mud in from outside all over the carpet.)

I love, love, love these blue boys. 

ps. Cal loved the funny story I told him of when his Dad peed his pants. Can you tell?  May or may not have been true...but it worked!

Go Cheetah's!

Cal and I both had our first experience with team sports!  (Him playing, me coaching.) It went better than I thought it would thanks to all the super parents and my co-coach Loni! All the kids made huge progress in the 3 months.  I learned that Cal is a super fast runner and is quite competitive. :)

 

Such a fun little bunch.
But I'm not going to lie, I'm glad my lazy Saturday morings are back for a bit. 

Thanksgiving

We were so glad Doug's family decided to join us in Houston this year.  He only had Thanksgiving off, so it made it hard to travel.  We had a fabulous feast with a few friends from our Branch.   My friend Tricia even taught me how to make an edible cornucopia. :)    

 It was quite an adventure participating in the craziness of Thursday night's "Black Friday" shopping.  And of course we had great times playing bocce ball, going out to the movie, bowling, eating Texas Barbecue, and more shopping! Thank you, thank you for making the trip! (In the stinky van nonetheless!)  We are so sad that soon our favorite Dallas cousins will be much more than a 5 hour road trip away.  :(

Haunted Happenings

October flew by full of parties and dressing up.  By the end of the month, I was so sick of costumes and my thrown-together Pirate get up. But the kids love it and it is fun to see them so excited and happy. 

 Zoo Boo

Not 1...but 2 trunk-or-treats! 

ps.  We LOVE our new branch! 

Preschool fun!

Halloween day/ night

8 month giggles and grins

"HAPE BRthDA"

 

Grandpa/Mayor Lewis came to town for 1 night and it happened to be his birthday! (And the first Presidential Debate...) 

We love any excuse to make an ice-cream cake!

Minha Familia

All of my siblings were together for a quick weekend.  It was such a rare treat. We had a beautiful morning honoring my Grandma Donna.  It is so fun to see long lost cousins.  We spent the rest of the day making homemade Butterfinger ice cream (Packard tradition) and looking at old scrapbooks. 

I brought my little cherub baby with me.  He was a big hit.  I am so in love with this little guy. 

He is sporting another one of his Daddy's beautiful, hand-made, hand-me-downs.