This is How They Roll

Here they are in action. The streets of Plano aren't safe.

2008 Christmas Festivities

Dallas Galleria

On the 23rd we went to check out the Christmas tree light show at the Galleria. There is a tree right in the middle of the ice skating rink (it's the largest indoor tree in the US of course, it's Texas remember).  The tree lights are syncronized with music, it's pretty cool. We also ate at Five Guys burgers, our favorite hamburger place (even better than In N Out).  Of course we had to make our regular stops at Gucci, Louie Vuitton and Tiffany while we were there...

Christmas Eve

We started off the evening by decorating ginger bread sleighs. It's a wonder we even got any of the candy on the sleigh and out of the boy's mouths.

Reading T'was the Night Before Christmas and Frosty to the boys.

Boys in their new Christmas PJ's all ready for Santa!

Christmas Morning

The pictures speak for themselves. We had a great Christmas morning. The boys were VERY excited to get their Jeep Power Wheel, which was their big present this year and one they are sharing. They had both been asking Santa for one for months; it's all they really wanted.  We were worried they wouldn't be excited because they thought they were getting one for sure. It didn't matter though, they still went crazy and have been in heaven ever since.  

We have an interesting story about the Power Wheel. The first one Santa delivered required quite a bit of assembly. Thankfully we attempted to put it together on the 23rd because it was missing about a third of its parts. We, or rather Santa had another one shipped to Walmart so we were able to get that one first thing Christmas Eve morning and make sure it had all its parts. We're happy we decided to break it out on the 23rd, had we waited until Christmas Eve night, they would have been without their major present.  Morale to the story--anything that requires assembly should be put together days in advance, even if it complicates hiding it.

Oh, the one BIG drawback to the Walmart Power Wheel is that it was three times the cost of the one without the parts. We were happy to find that one on sale a few weeks ago for a great price. Now we know why...I guess if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Needless to say we've filed a complaint with JC Penny for almost ruining our Christmas. That being said it was still worth every penny to see how excited they were on Christmas morning. Even now, four days later they're still obsessed with it. 

Merry Christmas

Phil's Christmas Letter- Click on it to make bigger.

Santa's Village

This past weekend we went to this cute Santa's Village in Richardson.  They had this park all decorated with different houses for Santa's Village.  They had a Reindeer shed, Santa's workshop, Frosty's house, Mrs. Claus' Bakery, the Post Office, North Pole Fire Dept, etc.  In each house they had a little something for the kids to do- ex Reindeer shed- they painted their noses red, Symphony Hall- they played musical instruments, etc .  It was really cute and the boys loved it.  

Reindeer Shed- Nathan is on a bucking reindeer saying "Yee Haw Cowboy"

Nathan in the Fire Station trying on the gear.

All the pretty lights and the major crowds!  That's Christmas!

Nate and Frosty!

Phil and the boys at Frosty's House.

Man Cold

This had been Phil for the last 2 weeks!

Happy 8th Anniversary!

Phil and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on the 19th.  We got a sitter for the kids and went to probably our favorite restaurant- Roy's- for dinner.  (It's kind of a tradition- I think we've gone there for the past 3 anniversaries now).  Anyways, at the dinner, they had cute little heart confetti on our table with special menu's printed with a "congrats" on them.  Then, for dessert, we got our favorite Molten Chocolate Lava Cake and the chef wrote in chocolate on the plate "Happy Anniversary Jennie and Phil."  I thought it was so cute, I made Phil take a picture.  Then, the waiter took our picture and printed it out and gave it to us in a "Roy's" frame.  I thought that was a really nice touch that they did for our anniversary.  

Happy Anniversary Phil!  I love you so much and marrying you was the best decision I've ever made!  Here's to 8 more happy years!

Doesn't that look yummy?  It took all I had not to lick the plate clean!

Not a bad picture our waiter took!

Merry Christmas!

Santa came to visit our Ward's Primary Activity Day last week.  Here's the picutre they took of Landen with him.  It turned out so good!

Landen's 5th Birthday!

This past Saturday, the 13th, was Landen's 5th Birthday.  We had a whirlwind of a day!  We told Landen that he could pick what he wanted to do for breakfast- bagels, donuts, McDonalds, make a big breakfast, etc.  Well, he picked McDonalds for breakfast- surprising.  Then, he had a Christmas Primary Activity Day that he went to that morning.  Then, we had his Birthday Party at Chuck E. Cheese.  Since, we just moved to TX and he doesn't have a lot of friends yet, we decided it would be a good year to have a family party.  Landen has been begging us to go to Chuck E Cheese forever, so we decided to go for his birthday to make it special for him.  My cousin Summer and her family were nice enough to drive up from Fort Worth and come, which made it a lot more fun for Landen to have Caden and Noah there.  Thank you so much!!  So, the boys (by boys, I mean Phil as well!) all had a great time eating pizza, playing on all the games, having cake and ice cream and of course, opening presents!  It was an exhausting day, but it was worth it.  Happy Birthday Landen!  WE LOVE YOU!

Eating Pizza!

Playing all the games!

Landen with his cake.   He said he wanted a Batman theme this year.  So, here is my attempt at a Batman cake.  

I don't know why he always has to make wierd faces.  Is it that hard to just look at the camara and smile???

Make a Wish!

Enjoying the cake!

The best part- opening presents!

Christmas Pictures

Last week, we got pictures taken of the boys and Landen's 5 year old pictures. They turned out really cute! See for yourseves...

Doesn't he look so grown up?

Christmas Skating Party

For Landen's preschool Christmas party, they went roller skating.  I was a bit worried about a whole bunch of 4 and 5 year olds roller skating- I thought it had disaster written all over it.  But it was a lot of fun.  Landen actually did really well and was even skating by himself at the end.  They did the hokey pokey, the chicken dance and some other fun dances that I didn't know (I think I'm getting too old to know them- scary!).  

All ready to go!  Doesn't he look cute!

Landen with one of the HS students who were there helping the kids and his friend Elizabeth.

Doing the Chicken Dance!

His whole Class with the HS Student helpers.

Nathan with Landen's teacher, Mrs. McCutchen.  He found a new best friend.  He wouldn't leave her side.  (I think I took the picture right as he was blinking and that's why he's making that wierd face.)

This is what Nathan did the whole time- once I unstrapped him from the stoller and he had freedom.  He really used that freedom to his advantage.  He was putting on a show for everyone!  

Six Flags

This Saturday, we went with my cousin Summer and her family to Six Flags- Holiday in the Park.  It was a lot of fun.  The boys all had a great time.  There were lots of fun rides for them to go on and even a few "fast roller costers" (as Nathan calls them).  The park was decorated really cute with lots of lights for Christmas.  And on the train ride around the park, we even got to sing carols as we rode.   Here are some pictures from our day!

Trimming the Tree

Here are some pictures of us decorating the Christmas tree. My parents were still here, so we put them to work. It was amazing how fast we got the tree up and decorated with so many helpers!

Landen still refuses to wear clothes around the house. We're just lucky he at least has pants on in this picture. I think he still thinks he's in Arizona, but it's ALOT colder here!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. My Mom and Dad, my brothers Garrett and Austin and his girlfriend Maegan all came out to Texas to visit us and see our new place. This is the first time they've been out to visit since we moved here. We all have a great time. We did A LOT of shopping, ate A LOT of good food and had A LOT of fun! On Thanksgiving morning, we all loaded up in my car (all 8 of us- we were crammed in there!) and drove to my Uncle Brad's house in Houston. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and it was so great to be with so much family.

Thanksgiving day- preparing the meal, the men and boys playing football, and watching football.

That evening, after we all digested our food, we went swimming in my Aunt and Uncle's pool (they heated it). The kids loved it! Garrett wasn't too into going swimming, so my mom sat out with him and watched us all. Notice the picture of Nate asleep. The day- with the driving down from Dallas, playing with the cousins, eating, swimming- really tired him out!

On Friday, morning, we split up- girls and boys- and all went shopping to our various stores. Girls- clothes, Boys- electronics. Then, all the women came back and did a really cute craft that my cousin Summer put together for us. It was this way cute Advent Calendar. Then, that evening, to top off the fun trip, all the women went to see Twilight. We all ended up really liking the movie and were pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Then, we all loaded back in my car and headed back home to Dallas. Overall, it was a great Thanksgiving and we all had a wonderful time!

Like Uncle, Like Nephews

My brother Austin and his girlfriend Maegan (along with my parents and older brother Garrett)came down to visit us over Thanksgiving. Maegan decided to style the boys hair so it looked like their Uncle Austin (or Micky as Nathan calls him- don't know why???)They looked so cute with their hair all spiky and very cool! Landen hated it and thought it was too weird, but he kept it long enough for the picture, barely. Nate thought it was pretty cool. He really liked feeling how spiky it was!

Our Next Car (riiiiiight)

I haven’t posted anything for a week, there‘s nothing too exciting it going on (not to say anything I post is that exciting anyway).

We’ve been laughing for a while about something Landen said a few weeks ago. All kids say funny things; I could probably fill my blog with all sorts of comical comments from the boys. I imagine anyone with small kids could. That would get old though, but since I have nothing else to post you get one this week.

We were leaving our favorite BBQ place Rudy’s and we notice two 16 year old kids getting into a black Lamborghini (pictured above). Seeing a car like that will always draw your attention. Seeing two kids hop in is another experience in itself.

Phil was with Landen and his eyes lit up when he saw how they opened the car doors (which is little different than the doors on my mini-van). For about ten minutes Landen was all over Phil telling him that he wanted that to be our “next car.” Phil tried to explain several different ways how that wasn’t likely EVER going to happen. Finally I think he got him off of it because he said it only had two seats with nowhere for carseats to go. Never mind that the car costs a quarter of a million. Perfect for a 16 year old kid's first car don't you think?

Camping at Lake Ray Roberts

This past weekend, we took the boys camping up at Lake Ray Roberts. We went with my cousin Summer and her family. This is the first time we have taken the boys camping, so we were excited, but a bit nervous to see how it'd turn out. We all had a great time. The kids loved it! We went up Friday afternoon and set up camp while the boys all had a great time just exploring and getting into things. Then, we had hot dogs over the camp fire for dinner and of course smores for dessert. Our excitement for the night was that we had a little visitor that kept coming into our campsite- A SKUNK! He would just come in and eat the crumbs from under the table. We had to just sit and watch it because we couldn't really try to scare it away. He was a very tame skunk, but a bit of a nuisance. The boys were all a bit afraid of him. Luckily, he never sprayed us and finally gave up visiting. That night was a bit chilly- it got down to 46 degrees, which for our family who just moved from AZ, it was freezing. Nate and I were both snuggled in my sleeping bag, so we were toasty, but not that comfortable (at least I wasn't). But, overall, the boys slept pretty well and did better than we expected. We've already decided to go again in the spring!

Here's our lovely campsite!

The boys- Caden, Noah, Landen and Nate sitting by the fire trying to get warm.

Phil- the main Chef for our breakfast! Pancakes, eggs and sausage- YUMMY!

Noah, Landen and Caden drinking their Hot Cocoa.

On Saturday morning, after we cleaned up camp, we took the boys over to this playground by the lake.

This is our play by play of trying to take the boys fishing. Summer and Ben got their boys this fancy fishing pole where you push a button and it casts the line out for you. So, we decided to let the kids try it out. Well, Landen went to cast it and the hook (which is encased in this bullet type thing) cast out into the lake, but it wasn't connected to any fishing line for some reason. So, we all sat there looking at it out in the lake and wondering what went wrong. Then Landen turns to Ben and says, "Well, you're the scientist..." (Landen kept telling Ben all weekend that he was a scientist and Ben had agreed.) It was pretty funny. The timing was perfect. So, Ben being the scientist he is got to wade out in the freezing water to get the hook/ bullet thing. Needless to say, our fishing didn't go exactly as planned. Nathan, didn't care one bit about fishing- he was just interested in throwing rocks in the lake. He did that the whole time and loved it. Who knew that could be so fun!