A new cousin!!

On the 8th of December Chris and Marla (my brother and his wife) had their first baby!! Kaden Christopher was 10 lbs. 4 oz!! It's the first cousin my kids have on my side of the family and they are soooo excited!! Aaron said they are most excited about teaching him how to ride a horse. :) Because that's what cousins do best right?! sorry it's blurry- but it's the first picture with my mom and her 5 grandkids! She was thrilled!

Kaden Christopher- he has the cutest red hair! I love it!

My mom is in heaven!

aunt Jesse getting her baby time before I snatch him away!

And it's my time!! What a big boy!

A proud dad! We are so excited that he's part of our family!! Welcome, Kaden!!

Quick photo shoot!

This year we are not on top of things! Last year by this time we'd already sent out Christmas cards and delivered neighborhood gifts....not the case this year. Yesterday we attempted to have a quick photo shoot with the promise of hot coco afterwards if everyone cooperated. I love those quirky grins of Ashton's- but hey- everyone is looking at the camera- what more can I ask for?! This is going out in our Christmas card-- Ella said my hair looks REALLY long- ok- it it a little longer than I've had it in the past, but I am wearing a brown vest- and I don't have hair like Goldilocks Sorry Ella. :)

I really don't want to know what is going through Ashton's mind at this moment. ahhh the love.

Not bad- At least we didn't have to pay anyone to take these. :) And I must say-- What a cute bunch of kids!! And we did have a coco party afterwards.

Gymnastics performance

Yesterday (Thursday) Ella had her annual Christmas-time gymnastics performance. They just show the parents what they've been working on, and then they do a beam routine. Ella did awesome!! She can hold her handstand for at least 5 seconds. (which is actually a long time- I sure can't do that!)

Smile!

Ella's beam routine.

Violin RECITAL!! AHHH!

I have a new appreciation for all my beginning piano students who fearlessly play at their first recital. IT'S SCARY! For those of you who don't know, I have started a new hobby- the violin. :) I have loved it, but it has also been a humbling experience! It will take me a long time to sound decent I am afraid!
So, Adam was away on his annual hunting trip and missed the recital- I still had a loving audience though. My daughters cheered me on. (No, the boys were not invited. oops) Ella was in charge of videoing it, and she missed the beginning. hehehe. Oh well.
A few disclaimers before I post the video-
1. I am a BEGINNER!
2. Yes, I did tune the violin before I started. :)
3. Yes, I should have put rosin on the bow- lesson learned.
4.I should have warmed up more.
5. I did have the song memorized- I definitely did not want to play it memorized for a crowd. (So I didn't- I don't know if having the music there helped or not)
6. I love playing the violin!!

A good laugh

There must be such a thing as "too much Super hero's" for Ashton. I will explain....We were taking Ella to school late today (I let her sleep in because we all had a long night). Anyway- we were walking back down the hall from dropping Ella off in her class, and we see a group of kids coming towards us. Ashton had been running ahead, but then hurried back to me pointing and said, "Look mom! Humans!" I laughed so hard, I couldn't stop laughing! Thanks Ashton, I needed that!

Thanksgiving and more

We spent Thanksgiving with Adam's parents, and his sister Becky her daughter Callie and her husband Adam. It was a beautiful day, and we all spent some time outside soaking up the sun! Adam's parent's house is almost done, so it was fun to have a get together there. The kids on the porch swing.

Grandma serving food to the patiently waiting grand kids. :)

I love this picture! Adam and his dad were working in the kitchen. They are passing a dish and not even making eye contact! That's team work. :)

Livia is Max's new best friend!

"Here Maxy, Maxy". :)

We have set up the Christmas tree! We figured out a way to hang the stockings on the railing. Adam put a little magnet inside the hooks. I think it looks nice. :)

Beautiful Ella

This is right before Livvy got bonked on the cheek with a section of the tree. She got a nice bruise from that!

They were soooo excited to get that tree up!

OK- random picture I know. Aaron took this and I think it makes Max look like the dog on Neverending Story. FALCOR!

Adam's adventure

Saturday Adam and his friend Shayne decided to go "caving". They found the Crystal Ice Caves- in the desert not too far from here. They had a great time and took some fun pics. No, the kids and I were not invited. This was not a "kid friendly" cave. To his credit- Adam made it up to me Saturday night by taking me to the Texas Roadhouse-with no kids. yummy! I'm not sure who this person is. :) But it shows how small the opening to the cave was!! They then had to have ropes and climbing gear and were lowered down 50 ft! (Ok, definatly not kid friendly)

Look at that cave man!

Shayne standing by the ice pillars.

Shayne in the cave

Adam by the ice pillars. Cool! (Literally)