January 2017 and Nadia's Sealing

This new year has started off with a bang and has already included a lot of traveling. After the girls had gone back to school for only a week, we hit the road again. This time, we traveled to Dallas to be with my family in the Dallas Temple for Nadia's sealing to Scott and Nevla. Since her adoption in November, this was their next step, and having her sealed to them forever was a big deal. They chose the Dallas temple to be closer to all of the family and because that is where they were sealed when they were married. We traveled over and stayed in the same hotel near the temple as the rest of my family. It was fun to all be together. Here's everyone from our family who was at the temple except for Matt and Taylor who were there, but left before we took the picture.

I took a picture with Tyler and the temple spires behind us. And then grabbed a picture with Scott and Nadia, the girl of the hour. It was awesome because Chloe and Alexa were able to be in the sealing room too, since it was their family. They all looked so pretty in their white dresses. The other cool thing was their sealer happened to be our old stake president when Scott and Nevla and Tyler and I lived in the McKinney stake. It was funny because Tyler kept seeing him walk through the temple and saying he looked familiar, but I never got a look at him until we were in the sealing room. When he walked in, I thought he did indeed look familiar, but as Tyler and I discussed we still couldn't place him until Scott leaned forward and said he was our stake president in McKinney. "Oh yeah!" We were so happy to finally figure it out.

After the sealing and changing into more comfortable clothes, we all met at a Boston Market to eat lunch. Abby and Joseph had stayed with all the kids at the hotel, so we picked them up for lunch too. It was fun to be able to visit and hang out. With Nevla's family combined with ours, we took up the majority of the restaurant.

We spent that evening playing games in the lobby of the hotel. Mom was sad that she forgot to take any pictures while we were all together. Matt and Taylor told us the happy news that she's expecting again! We even got to see the Christmas morning video that they took of Matt when she told him. His surprised face is priceless. We're so happy for them!

The only other big event that we did all together where I took pictures was when we went to an indoor jungle gym called Going Bonkers. The girls had fun climbing through their huge gym, while the older kids enjoyed the video games. I took this picture right before we walked in because the girls liked the animal murals they had on the wall. 

That weekend, we also spent some time at a Nickelcade where all the games were a nickel. And we all drove to Stephanie's house (Nevla's sister), where Scott performed Nadia's baby blessing. It was great that there was so much family together to support Nadia, Scott, and Nevla for these sacred events. We loved that we were able to be a part of it too. 

That was our biggest event from January, but there are a few more pictures that I wanted to include. Tyler brought home his tenor sax after we were in Utah over Christmas and he's pulled it out to play a couple of times. Of course, when he does the girls all have to take a turn trying to make noise on it. They would blow as hard as possible to get a sound, and would be so excited as Tyler played the keys to make it sound like they were really playing a tune. They had a lot of fun. I videoed some of their "performances" but here's the only picture I took.

Finally, to end the month of January, we had some good news and bad news. Abby has been playing volleyball again through the YMCA and Tyler and I are coaching her team again. At one practice, as Abby was running backwards, she tripped and fell on her arm and after taking her to urgent care that night, they found out she has a buckle fracture. It's like a little crack in her bone, but that takes her out of playing volleyball for four weeks they said. That's the bad news, but the other part of the story is that this happened the night before Abby was suppose to perform for her UIL solo competition and she hurt her left arm which is the one she uses to play her French horn. The urgent care doctor gave her a splint that allowed her to still use her fingers, but she was still in pain just from picking up and holding her horn. Luckily, after a good night's rest, she went ahead with her performance; and the good news is that she played beautifully. Grandpa was her accompanist and they have been practicing since before Christmas break. She was the very first to play that morning for the judge; and she had to play in front of a room full of her peers and their families. But she did great, and she got a score of 1 which is the highest score. We were so proud of her! It was so amazing that she persevered and performed with a broken wrist and still scored so well. It was awesome! She's such a trooper. We love that Abby!

New Year's Eve 2016

After driving home from Utah, we were home for almost two days. It was just long enough to wash clothes and repack the suitcases for the next trip. Tyler worked for those two days, but then had another four day weekend, so we decided to head down to San Antonio to spend the New Year with Scott and Nevla and family. Their awesome news was that at the end of November, they were able to legally adopt the foster baby they have been taking care of for over a year. We are so excited for them and for the newest addition of Nadia officially to our family. Now that she's legally adopted, we can post pictures of her and spread the news and love. My girls have been in love with her from day one, so they always fight over holding her, feeding her, and playing with her. The bonus is that since Scott and Nevla had baby Alexa this summer, there are two babies to love and hold and feed! We love going to visit them and spend time hanging out, playing games and snuggling babies. We always have too much fun together, so I forget to take pictures. Our first picture spot was at Big Lou's Pizza where they sell huge pizzas that take up your entire table. I took this picture of Tessa and Aubrey holding their slices to show the size. Aubrey even ate her entire piece! It was good, but that place is always busy. We had tried two other times when we were visiting to eat there and the lines were just too long. We finally made it this time, around 2:00 on a Friday, and it was well worth it. So much pizza! The girls loved it.

It always seems to be rainy when we visit San Antonio, and this time was no different. We spent the afternoon after eating pizza walking it off at the Bass Pro Shop to stay out of the house, but not be stuck in the rain. There was this cute tree house in the middle of the kid's clothing section, so I had the girls stop for a picture. 

On Saturday, the weather was nice enough for us to take the girls to a park. We went to a new park that Nevla had never been to yet, but wanted visit; and it was great. The playgrounds were fun and there were some walking trails that the girls loved. I took the majority of my pictures here. I just have to say that you need to check out Taryn's poses and facial expressions in all of these pictures because they are so awesome. I crack up every time I look at them. I love these girls! 

The girls were almost sick of me by the time our walk was over because of how many times I made them stop for a picture, but the scenery was just too pretty to not take a picture. 

There was a mostly dried up river bed that the girls decided to explore. I hung out with Nadia at first who was strapped in her stroller and didn't get to explore with the older girls. This is Nadia Black, our newest niece who we love so much! 

There was a fallen tree in the river bed, so Aubrey walked out to the center of it so I could take some pictures of her. I love how her bright outfit really stands out from all the nature around her. 

We rang in the new year playing games, eating appetizer foods, watching the neighbors do fireworks, and watching all the city fireworks through their upstairs window. It was a lot of fun and all of the girls made it to the new year this year. After going to church on Sunday, we played more games and took all the pictures of the girls holding the babies. They were so excited to each take their turn holding a baby. Here's Aubrey with Alexa and then Abby holding Alexa.

Tessa took her turn with Alexa too, and we got Nadia to sit still long enough to take a picture with her and Taryn. I love that one.

I was trying to get all the girls together for a cousin's picture, but Taryn didn't want to join in, Chloe was gone, and Nadia wouldn't sit still for very long. This was the best I could get, but at least it had Alexa and Nadia in it together. We love these guys. 

We drove home all day Monday. Scott had that day off from work like Tyler did, but poor Chloe went back to school that day, so she was up and gone before we even woke up that morning. That weekend visit was an awesome way for us to finish off the year 2016. Our family had a great year in 2016 and look forward to what will come in 2017.

Final December Events and Christmas in Utah

December is always a busy time. Before the Christmas holidays, there are few more events that took place this year that I wanted to make sure got included in our blog. I played in a community performance of the Messiah. We had weekly rehearsals and I was the only horn player. It was fun to meet some new players and to get to play my horn. We had a few performances, but they were at our church, so no pictures could be taken. I grabbed one picture during the warm-up before our final performance. 

We had our Ward Christmas Party in December and the Relief Society was in charge, so I was over the program. We did a Mexican Fiesta complete with tamales for dinner, a pinata, and talking about the Las Posadas tradition. It was fun for everyone. Here's a picture of the girls after their turns hitting the pinata. And the primary sang a few songs during the program, and they did a great job singing. 

Our Ford Focus died in December. Tyler tried leaving for work one morning, and it just didn't ever start again. He found a new used car that week and so I took a picture of the girls with the Focus before they came and towed it away. I had a harder time with this than our last vehicle change, but the Focus had been with us since 2003 - longer than any of our kids! We brought three of our four kids home from the hospital in it. We've had it so long that I was convinced that the girls were going to learn how to drive in it and it would have been "their car." But alas, it wasn't meant to be, so I took one last picture to remember our Focus. 

On December 15th, Tyler and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. We went out to dinner after Tyler brought home these beautiful flowers for me. He also likes to get the traditional gifts that go with each year and for year 16 it's flatware, so he got me new, fancy silverware with a pretty box to hold it all. We ate at a new restaurant with yummy pastas and pizzas called Toscas, and it was delicious. 

We spent one evening with the Kasallis family celebrating Christmas together. We exchanged gifts and had a dollar white elephant gift exchange. It was a lot of fun as kids picked presents excitedly only to open a silly dollar store gift. Some of the favorites was a selfie stick and a framed picture of AJ.

School went all the way to December 23rd this year. We left for Utah that night and drove half way to our usual hotel in Farmington, NM. We luckily got there early enough to swim in the hotel pool. That was until someone else got sick in the pool area, so we left very quickly and spent the rest of the evening watching a movie in the hotel room. I took a quick picture while we fueled up the next morning to post on Facebook, showing that we were half way to Grandma's house. 

Once at Grandma and Grandpa's house, we waited for the rest of the family to get there and we ate food, visited, and played games. The first time I pulled out my camera was for the Nativity that night. We put the older girls in charge of the production and making sure every grandchild has a part and a costume. Taryn played the part of Mary this year. She was so cute! She even rode in on the donkey, who was played by Jacob.

Tessa and Julia were the angels, and Aubrey and Lucy were sheep. The story of the birth of Jesus was read while the kids acted out their parts. It was cute. Abby was one of the three wisemen. Here's a picture of everyone together. They did a great job! 

The kids also unwrapped their traditional Christmas Eve pajamas. All of the girls were matching this year and they even matched the moms. They were super cute, super comfy pajamas. 

Taryn and Lucy were inseparable again when we were together. You could always find them playing together. They were so cute! I took a selfie with them after they put on their matching pajama gowns. 

Christmas morning, all the kids were up before Grandma and Grandpa. We made them wait so the adults could sleep a little longer, but we finally got everyone up so Santa's gifts could be opened first. While waiting for everyone to come down, I had a picture taken of me with the girls in our matching pajamas. I also grabbed another picture as everyone snuggled together to stay warm while trying to wake up. 

Here are my girls in front of their Santa gifts and stockings. The bright flash from my camera was hard on their barely awake eyes. 

Christmas Day was on Sunday this year, so after opening the stockings and Santa gifts, we got ready for church. They only had Sacrament meeting, so after going for Sacrament, we came back home. I made sure we got a family picture before letting the girls change back into their pajamas. I loved how we were all in stripes together. 

Tim and Lora and family showed up Sunday afternoon. Here was my first picture of a majority of the grandkids together before we started opening the rest of our presents. I loved getting group pictures of as many grandkids together as I could. Everyone was hanging out after presents too and before our traditional talent show, so I took a picture then.

Aubrey's talent was playing the guitar with Uncle Tim. She strummed while he played and they both sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Tessa performed her Kids Excel dance for her talent. I videoed her performance but didn't take any pictures. Abby and I played a duet on our horns, O Come All Ye Faithful. Tyler recorded that too, but no pictures. 

The older cousin girls also prepared a group number for the talent show. Abby and Halley took turns playing the horn and flute while the other girls sang the song, How Great Thou Art. It was really good for having decided, prepared and practiced the entire thing in less than 24 hours. 

We love being with family and doing our family Christmas traditions. The kids love playing together and getting to spend so much time together. It's always sad when it's time to head home. It was a quick trip this time, but we loved every minute that we were able to be together.

Abby's First Semester of Middle School and 12th Birthday!!

Abby has transitioned to 6th grade and middle school really well. She likes school, has made good friends, and is doing extra curricular activities. Now that Abby's in middle school, I don't have any pictures from the school. They are all from after school activities. This first picture is from the band's fundraiser at Bob-O's that they had towards the beginning of the year. I first met Abby's "mijas" here. She has made three best friends and they all call each other mija. The other moms and I think it's funny, but even after explaining that it means "my daughter," they still like to use it. Abby's mija's are Cindy Renee, Hope, and Ali (who didn't get to go to the fundraiser). A couple other band kids were in their picture.

Abby's school has a dress code of navy blue and gray with khaki and blue slacks, but occasionally, they are allowed a free dress day. One of those free dress days is on picture day. Here's Abby with her hair all curled  and in an outfit of her own choosing for picture day. Beautiful lady! 

For Reflections, Abby wanted to enter a photograph that she took. She spent a lot of time trying to find the best shot for the theme "What's your story." She took some pictures after making this collage of things that describe her, but she ended up using a picture that she had taken on her phone. But this is still a good representation of our Abby and her interests.

Abby's been playing the French horn this year, and has picked it up quite quickly. She's very talented. Their first band concert was right around Halloween, so they were able to dress up for the concert.  

Abby's been first chair out of 10 horn players in the beginning band. She was also asked to play in the symphonic band, which is the next level up band made up of mostly 7th graders. So she performed with both bands during their Halloween concert. 

This isn't really school related, but it's Abby's mijas, so here's another picture. It was taken at our ward Christmas party, which was a Mexican fiesta. Two of her mijas, Cindy Renee and Ali, were able to come with us to the party. They took a picture at the photo booth with Claire Davis, Abby's friend from church who lives down the street from us.

Right before Abby's actual birthday, we had a birthday party with her mijas. We ended up spending the day with them and going to Rockin' Jump, eating out for lunch, and going to a play that Cindy Renee was acting in. It was a full day, but a lot of fun. We took a few pictures before we left the house for Rockin' Jump. We took one with all the girls, and then one with just the mijas - it's Ali, Abby, Cindy Renee, and Hope.

Rockin' Jump is like a trampoline park full of trampolines and foam pits. The girls had a blast. My girls had never been before, so they were all super excited to finally get to go. The older girls' favorite spot was probably the dodge ball area. They beat a group of younger boys who were also there for a birthday party. I grabbed a picture through the netting when they were all sitting together taking a rest too. We spent a lot of time there.

Tessa, Aubrey, and Taryn really liked the joust and the foam pit that you got to fall into. It was fun to watch them compete against each other and against total strangers. They all had a lot of fun. 

We left for lunch and ended up eating at Pei Wei. The girls enjoyed their meals and eating with chopsticks. Once you paid the Rockin' Jump admission, it was good for all day. So after we finished eating lunch, we went back to Rockin' Jump for a couple more hours to make sure we got our money's worth. 

That evening we kept Ali with us and we attended the play that Cindy Renee was in at UTEP. It was a fun family activity. It was kind of like a double play. There was a jazz version of the nutcracker with some really cool music, and then the play that Cindy Renee was in, A Christmas Carol. It was fun watching that one with the girls because they hadn't really seen it before, so afterwards, they were all about watching all the Christmas Carol shows and movies that we already owned now that they were familiar with the story. It was a great day celebrating Abby's birthday. Ali and Abby took a selfie while waiting for the play to start. It was a cute picture, and Abby wanted me to have a copy, so here it is.

I can't believe Abby's 12! I took one quick picture before she left for school on the morning of December 19th, her actual birthday. She's now officially a young woman, at least in regards to church activities. She started doing activities with the Beehives even before her birthday as they invited her to activities and lessons during the month of December. It was so nice of them to include her, and it made the transition into Young Women very smooth and easy for her. She loves it already! 

Abby requested a German chocolate cake for her birthday, so I made one from scratch using my Grandma Jeanne's recipe. It turned out super yummy which I was happy about since it was my first attempt. Abby was very pleased. We had a laid back family party the night of her birthday where we invited Grandma and Grandpa and the Kasallis's for dinner and cake. Abby got mostly clothes and money for her birthday presents, which is what most 12-year-old girls probably ask for. 

After Abby's birthday and right before school was let out for the Christmas break, Abby had another band concert. She played with both the beginning and symphonic bands again. This time, they had to dress in actual band concert attire which is white and black for the beginning band and white and black with a blazer for symphonic. I took a picture in her band blazer before we left for the school. It's such a good picture! She looks so grown up and gorgeous! 

Before the concert started, I was able to get some closeups of Abby in the beginning band with half of the horn section and also of her on the end of the row with the symphonic band. They played really well, and the symphonic band director, Mrs. Allen, told me after the concert that she wants Abby to play with the symphonic band when they go to competition. She's really doing so well and seems to enjoy playing. We're so proud of her!

Besides band and friends, Abby has stayed busy with school classes. She's continuing to make As and she likes all of her teachers. She participated in the Science Fair in December and did a project on coolers and which one retains ice the longest. It was a long process, but she did really well. She even entered it into the school's fair and won a second place ribbon! She's done so well in middle school and we just can't say enough good things about her. We love our Abby!