January 2014

Wesley enjoying having his friends from church over for his 13th birthday party. Can't believe we have a teenager! They played ping-pong, ate pizza and ice cream cake, watched Pee-Wee Herman's Big Adventure ( a huge hit) and played Spot It and Quelf.  It was crazy but fun! 

Wesley eating charred marshmallows at our friend's annual Christmas Tree bonfire (they take their live tree, burn it and turn it into a party). 

Now, the kids true personalities come out!

Lots of fun with Rugby.  I don't know what we did for entertainment before we got him.  The kids sure love him and I love watching them with him.

Happy Birthday Wes, you're just growing up too fast!

Wesley always loves a good kiss from his Mommy.  I still steal them as often as I can!

Wes got spoiled and also had a friend from school birthday party.  They got to play laser tag!  Don't they look tough. :)

At the bonfire...

Even Bethy loves the dog! He's really good with her.  She hugs (more like squeezes) him all the time and he is really gentle and calm.

We gave Ken a certificate for Indoor Skydiving for Christmas.  We all went and watched.  He loved it!  It looked cool but way too scary for me!

Carter is the cutest "weed" I've ever seen.  He had to dress up for his 2nd grade program at school and it and he was adorable! The boys were all weeds and the girls were all flowers.  I think a little bit of discrimination is going on here. :)

We were so blessed to get to go to Conner's baptism.  He is such a great nephew and cousin.  We had a great time visiting with the Beams and my parents. 

 Even though he is actually scared of Papa's green comb, Wesley is officially in the order of the green comb...probably because he is now a teenager.  He is not quite up to the dark green comb like Papa; so he will start out with his light green comb.  Wes uses it every day and treats it special. :)  We stayed in a hotel room right next to my parents.  It was nice to spend some time with them.

Rugby loves to play with his best friend, Ginger.  They look like they are killing each other, but I guess they are having a great time.  It's nice because they wear each other out and sleep the rest of the day. :)

December 2013

Cameron and Carter did such a great job at their recital.  They each played a Christmas song and then another song that they had been working on.  Riley Sheldon (she is 13 years old) teaches them and actually comes to our house.  It has been convenient and affordable way to get them started on their instruments. Robert and Karalie came with us to the concert and it was great to have them.

Here is all her students!

I got to go and watch Bethany at her dance class this month.  She is really improving and starting to actually do the positions and moves correctly  She is in this stage where she thinks anything that is glittery, frilly or poofy is itchy.  So she always asks to put a shirt under those clothes.  Well, at least she is always modest.

One of Carter's best friends from school, Caiden, moved to Houston this month.  Carter was very sad to see him go.  But at least he lives close by the Beams so we will get to visit him when we go see the Beams.  In fact, we will see him at the beginning of February.

Bethany was so excited to go see Santa.  We went on a weekday in the morning and still had to wait in line for about a half hour.  Luckily, their computer was down so I was able to take my own picture and not have to spend $20 just to get one picture.  Bethany told Santa that she wanted a teddy bear :)

 Wesley did Cross Country at Middle School and their meets were at the park next to our house.  Cross Country is definitely not his strength, but we were proud of him for sticking with it.

When we were decorating for Christmas, Bethany couldn't help using her mothering skill to tuck Santa into bed :)

A Christmas party at Suzanne's house with some of my new friends Jen, Tara, Pat and Tom!

Carter and Cameron having fun at their "Winter" parties at school.  At least in Texas, they are now allowed to say, "Merry Christmas!"in the schools.   We're making some progress.

Playing with Easter Eggs at Christmas time? 

Our children's favorite Christmas surprise was when our new puppy, Rugby (6 months old), was delivered to our house on Christmas Eve.  They were shocked that mom actually allowed it and so excited.  He is part Lab and German Shepherd (and maybe something else).  We rescued him from the Collin County Shelter and he is a very sweet dog.  He loves to play, snuggle, do tricks and unfortunately loves to chew anything he can get his paws on (much to Wendy's dismay).  At least, he is potty trained...that was a must.

As you can see the kids are loving him!

Christmas Eve in their new jammies from Gram!

Jon and Whitney came and stayed for a week over Christmas. It was so fun to have them.  This is our Christmas Eve nativity pageant.

They woke up in the morning to a big huge box covered with a blanket in our living room.  That was our last present to open.

She asked Santa and she got it...her teddy bear!  She wanted to name it "Tit."  I told her that wasn't the best word, so she came up with "Blueberry" instead.

The boys got Rainbow looms and tons of rubber bands to make the bracelet and necklaces that are all the rage right now with boys and girls.

I can't remember what Wesley so excited about.  But he was stunned into silence over one of his presents...I think it was his earphones!

After the treasure hunt finally getting to open our new Ping-Pong table!

Dad playing Quelf with the Putnams.  Yes, this game is weird!

We had a great visit with the Putnams.  They all still get along great and just play and play and sleep very little.  No one was sick this year so it was extra fun! We got to visit with the Cheneys as well while we were in Kingwood.

We went to a New Year's Eve party at the Hatch's home (a family in our ward).  We had fun playing games, eating and chatting. After that, we went with the Manns to the Ivens New Year's Eve party to actually ring in the New Year.  We felt so popular :)