Talbot New Year

We hurried home from Katy to buy groceries and prepare for the Talbot and Grants arrival the next day.  We took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent the afternoon at the park.  Spencer leaves on his mission to Brazil in two weeks.

Devin and all the kids enjoyed walking Sammy.

After the park we drove to a soccer field and the kids played for another hour until they were all hungry.

Cici's pizza buffet has become a Talbot New Year's tradition.  It's a great way to fill up LOTS of hungry teenage boys!  (We brought McKay back with us, then he rode the Greyhound back to Houston.)

New Year's Eve we finished up the puzzle and then had a great fireworks dispaly.  At the firework stand, Uncle Matt asked for the biggest boom they had.  It was a $60 mortar pack that made for a fabulous finale!  Way to help ring in 2014, Matt!

The girls had a beauty parlor.

Melanie, Jon, Dave, Debbie, Matt, and Julie

Texas Talbots (Devin's asleep)  We sure had fun hosting them in our home!  Spencer, Dallin, Nathan, Dayton, Kristen, Jennah, Drew, Heidi, Jacob, Alli, Julia, Preston, and Danica (tallest to shortest)

Cousin Time in Katy

Although Christmas day was fun, by the next day the kids were all anxious to get together with their cousins.  Russ hosted Mom and Dad, Christine's family, Suzanne, Dave, and us-quite the group!  The Resistance "fever" spread to the cousins and the game was played over and over with all different groups, young and old.

Devin and Trevor had fun cousin time. 

Of course part of the highlight of any cousin get together is a family football game! 

Friday morning the boys got up early and did baptisms for the dead at the Houston temple.  That was a special, memorable experience!  Dave was able to baptize and I distributed towels. 

Man, I love this guy! 

The girls stayed busy the whole weekend and always seemed to be having a great time. 

One of their activities was a tea party.  I've never attended one of their tea parties before since usually I'm in Austin with the boys when the girl cousins put them on.  What a special treat! 

More Resistance.  Devin, Sierra, Emma, Danica, Lauren, Uncle Dave and Bryce

Russ and Jenny took off for a few days to the hill country.  The rest of us held down the fort and took on a few projects to surprise them.  The ladies organized the pantry, no small feat, while the men changed lightbulbs (on high ceiliings, etc) and other odd jobs.  Russ and Jen are always so generous and such gracious hosts, it was fun to be able to do some small thing in retun.

Christmas

This was our last Christmas before Dallin graduates. The kids congregated at the top of the stairs and banged on the floor to wake me and Dave up.

Devin graduated from a big wheel. 

Danica finally got a girl game for the DS and Devin got several more books on CD. 

Dayton got a new fishing pole.  He and Dave need to go try it out. 

Drew was happy with his Cougar ball. 

Dallin got books and games this year.

Danica made me quite a few cards.  She sure catches the spirit of giving! 

Danica got an Americal Girl doll.  She was so excited.  (But Dave's not sure who's having more fun, me sewing doll clothes or Danica dressing her doll.)  I made the little outfit in the pic.  We sewed up a pair of jammies Christmas morning. 

Dayton asked if I would please play airsoft with him since it was Christmas. How can I turn that down? So although I've never had the slightest desire to try it out, Dayton, Devin and I had an airsoft battle.  It was more fun than I anticipated and it sure made Dayton happy!

Dayton bought a Star Wars lego set for Devin which I had fun helping him build.  It was such a peaceful and relaxing day.  We enjoyed being together all day with no other commitments.  We played Dallin's new game The Resistance that evening for several hours.  Each time it ended the boys unanimously wanted to play again.

Christmas Eve

We tried something new this Christmas eve that was a lot of fun.  We let each person pick an activity and we did it together as a family.  Drew wanted to kick field goals.  (Gratefully there was a park nearby to mix things up for the little kids.)

Dallin wanted DDR.  He's gotten really good at it. 

Dayton wanted a family airsoft battle.  Since we only had five pairs of goggles, Danica and I volunteered to opt out.  The boys had a good time! 

Danica had us watch a movie (Cars 2) and Devin wanted to open a present.  This year we all bought gifts for each other.  It was so fun to see the excitement that the kids had for the gifts they bought each other.  They made a big effort to have each gift special.

Dayton used his seminary points and bought gifts for me and Dave at the seminary auction. 

It took most of the day to get through everyone's activity and it was so fun to spend the whole day together!

David's Birthday, 44

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband!  He had a chocolate pie instead of cake to celebrate.

So fun to have my parents here to celebrate birthdays.

Dave got a BYU tie, a piano guys cd, and a jigsaw.

What a lucky man to have such cute kids who adore him!

Fredericksburg Get-a-way, 19th Anniversary

I surprised Dave with the location of our anniversary get-away:  Fredericksburg.  I booked the hotel and made the arrangements.  A special thanks to my parents for keeping the kids!  Fredericksburg is a quaint little German town.  We started off with some German food, snitzel, red cabbage, and hot potato salad. It was yummy stuff.

Our hotel was just off main street so we could walk everywhere.  It had a beautiful pool and grounds.

We walked across this bridge several times each day to get to main street. 

Here's our hotel. It had a yummy breakfast as well as hot chocolate available all day, which we put to good use.

We spent quite a bit of time enjoying the National Museum of the Pacific War.  (Admiral Nimitz who was in charge of the Pacific War was from Fredericksburg.) This type of plane was used to bomb Tokyo six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

There were lots of cool exhibits and displays. 

This portion of the museum was by guided tour only.  It was a quiet week in Fredericksburg and we got a private tour!  This was an Avenger torpedo plane.  

PT boat, like the one Kennedy developed leadership skills on. 

A few times each year they do reenactments here.  We'll have to bring the boys to see it. 

The weather was beautiful for a 10 mile bike ride through the hill country later that afternoon.

We did some window shopping and grabbed a few treats-chocolate dipped twinkie and chocolate dipped rice krispy treat. Delish!

This store was Dave's favorite.  It sold all kinds of dips, salsas, cobbler, sauces, etc.  You could sample each one.  I liked the turtle fudge.  Dave liked the mango salsa. 

The town was bedecked in Christmas lights and decorations.  That is one of my favorite things about having a December anniversary! 

Dinner was Mexican that evening. 

We had taken an early morning walk and enjoyed the town all lit up.  We were the only ones up and about.  It was so pretty that we went back in the evening. 

Our last day we spent a few more hours trying to see the rest of the war museum.

Then we went to Enchanted Rock State Park.  I'd never been before.  It was a perfect day to be outdoors. 

We made it to the top.

It was such a great weekend!  So nice to just be able to relax and enjoy time together with no interruptions.  Thanks for 19 great years, sweetheart!