January

What has happened since we rang in the new year??

I say this every semester: Going back to work gets in the way of all of my hobbies! We have been pretty busy and it is hard to believe that the first month of 2015 is almost behind us! Here's what we've been up to:

Daddy's first day of powerlifting practice happened to be New Year's Day. The kids and I had fun with noisemakers at home and we were all very glad when Chance got home and we had a tasty meal at Freebirds.



Our area has had record-setting rainfall so far this year, and rain brings puddles! We really need to get the kids some rain boots, because they love, love, love walking through puddles! There is a giant one on the trail by our playground and we let them wade through it one day. Annie went through the first time in the stroller and then begged to get out. It is so cute how she will follow her brother anywhere!



Since Chance leaves for work so early, I try to take a picture of the kids in the morning sometimes so he can see them. They get pretty excited about these pics for Daddy and sometimes even accessorize.



We celebrated Cooper's 3rd birthday with a terrifying (for Annie) and fun (for Cade) trip to Chuck E. Cheese.



Cade made a New Year's resolution of running 10 laps in PE for 6 weeks in a row. He accomplished this last week!! We are so proud of him and his love of running.



While the Cougars were busy WINNING the powerlifting meet in Belton, the kids and I had a fun Saturday with lunch (and ice cream!) at Chick fil A and an afternoon at the playground. I love how when Annie says "cheese" for a picture, she looks at her brother instead of the camera. They really played well together most of the day. We miss Chance so much while he is gone, but I'm so thankful for this time with Cade and Annie! I'm also quite thankful when Chance gets home :)

A Sweet Ending to 2014

Once we got back from our Christmas travels, we really enjoyed some relaxing time at home. It was cold and wet outside, so by the end of the week we were all a little stir-crazy, but it was still so nice to be together all day with not many obligations.

Our annual trip to Santa's Wonderland with Garrett and Vandi had to be postponed until after Christmas, but it was still fun and special! It was super cold, but the boys enjoyed their favorite things - the hayride, petting zoo, and pony rides. After all the activities, they were "starving" (even though we all ate ahead of time to avoid buying overpriced food), so we ate pizza and then went home to be warm.



On December 30, Chance and I got to go on a date!! We celebrated getting engaged 13 years ago! We ate sushi and went to Murphy's Law in downtown Bryan. I am so thankful for our life together and so glad I said yes!



Knowing that no one in our group would make it to midnight, we didn't even try to ring in the new year, but instead had a special dinner (at a restaurant!) as a family and got a sweet treat on the way home. Cade put away an entire half pound of shrimp at the Shipwreck Grill and Annie enjoyed her chicken tenders (standard fare for her!). And of course our treats came from Spoons, where 3/4 of our family would probably eat every day if we could!



Here's to 2015!

Although It's Been Said Many Times, Many Ways

Merry Christmas, to you!

Our last Christmas stop was Alyssa's family in New Braunfels. Chance and I jumped ship pretty quick and headed to the San Marcos outlet (on the day after Christmas!) after dropping the kids off with Oma and Opa for lunch. We had quite a successful shopping trip and the kids had great fun playing/working with Oma and Opa in the backyard. They raked leaves for the fire, gathered acorns for the deer, and I'm not sure what Annie was doing with all the balls!



We "finally" let the kids open presents on Friday afternoon. No matter where we are, it is so fun to see the delight on their faces as they open their gifts. We are one lucky little family.



That night, we had our usual fun with fireworks at Oma and Opa's house. They are the only ones in all of our families that live outside the city limits, so we take full advantage of the chance to have fun with fire. Annie and Cade both loved the throwdown poppers, and we saw some pretty fountains too! Afterwards, we also had a fire in the backyard. As you scroll through the pics, you'll notice that males of all ages gaze into fire with utter fascination!



The next day was very cold and rainy, so I was so glad that we got to go to another trampoline park. The blurry picture isn't great, but I had to have evidence of our one hour of straight jumping! All 4 of us were exhausted by the end and my parents said they were tired from just watching! We all had so much fun.



Our big event on Saturday was the Guenther Christmas reunion. This is the annual get together for my Opa's side of the family. Even though many people from his generation are sadly gone, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren continue the gathering and it is so wonderful to see everyone each Christmas. People who hardly ever see each other get to catch up and there are always smiles and hugs all around.



Big family photos are a requirement here, and one of these years I will get out all of the old ones and see how much everyone has changed since I was little. The youngest kids, who would be the great-great-grandchildren of Great Oma and Great Ope Guenther, got a picture together and ohmygoodness is it hard to get them all to look at the camera. But Annie was in heaven, because she finally had some little people to play with. Her big cousins are nice, but there were some little guys she could run around with here and she was screaming-ly ecstatic!



The next day, we closed out Christmas with gifts and lunch at my Oma's house. There is something about her house that makes Annie behave even more crazy than usual, and she absolutely refuses to cooperate in pictures. First, she petted tortured Oma's dog, Mia. Every kid in our family (starting with my Opa), has taken a picture in this little rocking chair. Maybe we will try hers again some other time. And please notice Annie's refusal to be in the pic with Great Oma and Cade. I may just have to crop out my own daughter. We finally convinced her to participate, and then she looked like a bored teenager. Goodness.



Opening presents was fun, but the paper fight afterward was even better. I was probably Annie's age when I first participated, and it is great fun to see the aggression of the next generation! My mom and brother even brought their own "ammo" since we didn't have a lot of gifts in big packages this year!



And that's a "wrap"! We gathered our stuff, packed back into the truck, and made our trip back to College Station to stay home and see friends for a week before school and work start up again. Thank you, families, for Christmas 2014!