Tripp is 1!!!

How is it possible? I can't believe an entire year has passed! I look back at pictures from when he was first born and it seems like ages ago! He is all over the place and loving playing with Sissy... and all her toys! To celebrate his actual birthday, the kids and I were already in Fort Worth, while Jeff was away for work. That evening he drove up and met us for dinner at Boston's Pizza and then we drove around and looked at all the pretty Christmas lights! Tripp was a mess at Boston's... he kept flirting with the hostess!!!

Tripp's 1st birthday party!

What a great day!!! We feel so very blessed with such an amazing family and wonderful friends! Tripp doesn't actually turn 1 for 2 more weeks... but when he was born I always swore that he would have NO Christmas decorations in the house on his birthday! Well, mission accomplished! We didn't decorate for Christmas until tonight... thats another post! Anyways, his theme this year was "cowboy". I had the best time planning the party! We had hamburgers grilled by my awesome brother-in-law and sweet step-father. For the kids that wouldn't eat a burger, chicken nuggets! I made huge cowboy hat cookies and red velvet and cream cheese cupcakes! For party favors (which I COMPLETELY forgot to hand out) I sewed all 9 kids a denim and bandana crayone roll up and the adults got trail mix.

The guest list included, Mimi, Poppy, Nana, Uncle Steve, Chicher, Leandra, Uncle John, Aunt Mandy, Cousins Hannah, Jonah, Josiah, Jeff's cousin's Deanna, John, Hadley, and Corbin. Our sweet friends that came were, Shantel, Aiden, Cindy, Van, Isaiah, Shea, Tyler, and Anslee.

Tripp had so much fun playing with everyone, but when it came time to eat cake, he was exhuasted and we hadn't even opened presents yet! He was in awe of everyone singing happy birthday to him and loved the cupcake. Then we opened gifts and he perked up real quick (I think the sugar kicked in)! We had a great time hanging out with our family into the late afternoon and letting the kids play while Tripp napped! All in all... a VERY successful 1st birthday!!!

Again, thank you all who have loved our children and been a part of our lives; we love you all!

Thanksgiving 2010

For Thanksgiving this year we went to our cousins' Deanna & John's house. We had a big turn out and Sadie got to play with her cousins Corbin and Hadley. She also got to see Grandpa Whitt. After lunch we went out to Grandpa Norris' and watched the football game. Sadie had a lot of fun playing with Grammy, as usual! We only lasted until half time... Tripp was done for the night, and letting everyone know about it!Someone was not too thrilled about getting her picture made!

Tripp's 1st Haircut

We took Tripp to Cool Cuts 4 Kids in Keller a few weeks ago. His hair was getting so long, it blew in the wind. And in our house, that doesn't work ;) We waited while 2 boys before us were getting their first haircut and they both cried the entire time. We were a little nervous how he would do. But not one peep. At one point he tried to grab the clippers out of the ladies hands, but that was it! Before

First Cut

All done!!

Thankful for so many things...

I get to this post every year and cry tears of joy through the entire thing. I have so much to be thankful for and I feel as though I don't appreciate it throughout the year! This year, I'm thankful for the health of my 2 children. I've had so many friends lately that are finding out or in limbo about their children's health. It breaks my heart for them, but makes me thank God for Sadie and Tripp. I'm also so thankful for my husband. Jeff does so much to provide a great life for us and put us in a situation where I can stay home. He loves our kids so much and wants to be an amazing father! I'm thankful for our family! My mom, Jim, Jeff's mom, our siblings, neices, nephfews, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents.... I could go on and on. You guys mean so much to us! I'm thankful for my car, I know weird! But, without it, I couldn't just hop in and drive a few hours to see you all! I'm thankful for some of the dearest friends in the world! You know exactly who you are! The kind that melt my heart to talk to, the kind that love my children so very much, the kind that I can never get sick of! I'm thankful for the 4 walls we live in. The other day, I was laying in bed thinking about how I'm starting to fall in love with this place. I could imagine the kids growing up here, running through the house, know this as home! I watched Sadie go past the dining room table, knowing that in a few years she will be so much bigger going past it! I'm thankful for the friends we have made in Brownwood, that have helped make this transition easier! I could go on and on.... but most of all, I'm thankful for OUR LORD, who loves us so much that he continues to bless us, even though we don't deserve it!

I hope you guy have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sorry it's been so long!

Well, I've been MIA, I guess! A few weekends ago, we went to Grapevine for the weekend. The kids stayed at my mom and Jim's house, while we stayed at the Gaylord. We had a great, RELAXING time! Went to dinner, saw celebrities, enjoyed the gorgeous hotel, and got massages!!! It was wonderful! The hotel does it up big for the Christmas season, so on Sunday, we asked Mimi and Poppy to bring the kids up and let them see all the neat stuff. We even let Sadie decorate 2 gingerbread men! It was so much fun!

Jeff and I in the hotel room, before dinner

Halloween 2010

Since Halloween was on a Sunday this year, we didn't know if people would be celebrating Saturday or Sunday. We were already in Hico for Jeff's best friend, Decker's birthday party so that night we took the kids, along with Aunt Mandy, and cousins Hannah, Jonah, and Josiah, and Nana, to the Hico park for their Project Graduation Festical. They played games, got candy, did the bounce house, face painting and a hay ride. Sadie LOVED the bounce house most of all! Afterwards, we all went to Chicken Express for dinner. Then off to Nana's to let all the kids play. They had a blast! Sunday night, we dressed both kids up and took them to a few houses in our neighborhood to trick or treat. Sadie got the hang of it and knew exactly what to do. We let her stay up late and sit on the front porch handing out candy. She had so much fun seeing all the kids in their costumes... and eating chocolate of course! We ran out of candy around 8, YIKES! and then it was off to bed for Sadie! Next year will be even better, since Tripp will be almost 2 and understand what's going on!

Fort Worth Zoo

Monday the kids and I met my dear friend, Ashley and her boys at the Fort Worth Zoo. Ashley and I have been friends for 25 years! She is the type of friend that no matter how long its been since we've talked we can pick up right where we left off. Her oldest boy, Slade, is 3 1/2 and her youngest, Brant is 7 mo. It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time. We had to leave to get back to Brownwood for Jeff's County Convention, so there are a few pics of the kids before we left for that too :)

Another fun weekend!

Saturday was Tarleton's Homecoming. We drove in for the parade with the truck loaded down with some furniture for Jeff's mom's new house. She moved into it on Friday. Sadie and Tripp were loving watching the parade and being with their cousins, Corbin and Hadley! She was much less scared this year! Still not a fan of the Purple Poo, hard to explain... here's a picture:

We were sad because we didn't get to see Jeff's sister, Krysta, or my neice, Leandra. They were both in it, but its started raining a lot and we didn't want the furniture to damage.

We spent the rest of the day with Nana at her new house and then met Kate & Decker for dinner in Stephenville.

Sunday we had lunch in town and then drove out to Grandpa Norris & Grammy's house. Sadie just loves to be with Grammy and as soon as we got there Grammy took Sadie outside and spent the afternoon with her. I love it! Tripp snuggled up in Grandpa's lap while he and Jeff chatted. I remembered to when I was growing up and spending every Saturday or Sunday with my cousins and grandparents and it makes me so happy to see us doing the same with our kids!

Sadie & Jaxson

I HAD to share this picture of Sadie and Jaxson playing in Tawny's makeup case!

Baked Apples, Playtime, & Gymnastics

This past week the kids and I didn't get out of the house too much. I had a pinched nerve in my neck and was just not in the mood to leave! On Monday, I decided to do a small baking project with Sadie. We baked apples for her and Tripp. I don't think I left them in quite long enough... still a little hard for Tripp, but Sadie LOVED them and she had a blast making them.On Tuesday we had lots of playtime with Tripp, Sadie & Mommy!

(I love in this one, how Tripp is sitting RIGHT next to her to play)Wednesday, we had a playdate at McDonalds with Cindy, Isaiah, Shea, and Anslee. They had a blast and both kids were so excited to get OUT of the house! Then Thursday we drove to Stephenville for Sadie's first gymnastics class. She had so much fun, but was a little overwhelmed and excited about all there was to do. The insturctors told me that the first few classes are always like that, but they get better. They also told me that Sadie is right on par with her abilities and the other 3 and 4 year olds in the class! She was the littlest one today, but they told me there is another 2 1/2 year old in the class.