December 2009

Merry Christmas 2009! Ricky, Jennifer, Braden (9), Kanton (7), Ashton (5), and Bryson (10 months)

Kanton, Braden, Bryson, Ashton

Ten months old!!

September & October Updates

Braden, Kanton, and Ashton after soccer

the reason Upward should not send us white uniforms...Ashton looks like a Tide commercial!

Kanton playing soccer in the fog

workin' the bib...Thanks, Paula!!

the start of Ashton's shingles

We have just been extremely busy the past couple of months. With school, taxiing, soccer on Tuesdays and Saturdays, AWANA, church, and now festivals, it's been crazy...not to mention we had 4/6 family members have a birthday within 6 weeks of each other. Kanton had his party, and it was a blast!! We had 35 kids, 18 adults, and 7 pizzas. We did 8 expiraments, and had tons of fun!! I think I will definitely do this party again. We moved Ashton's party due to conflicts with fall break and swine flu! It will be November 7, so updates will follow. Soccer is over in a week, and we're getting into the full swing of all! I plan on doing lots of baking with the kids, decluttering, and getting ready for Christmas.

Bryson is now 8 months old. He is crawling everywhere, and he is so fun. He is happy at 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m....and all hours between. He hardly fusses at all. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 2nd dose of flu shots, and we are anticipating the H1N1 vaccine as well. I pray for my kids daily to remain healthy. There is no medicine for the kids under 2, and Kanton has asthma. He has had pneumonia more than 6 times, and he has also had RSV. Ashton was hospitalized with pneumonia for a few days when he was a baby, and had RSV as well. Braden had a febrile seizure when he was 2, and he was diagnosed with bronchitis at the time. He has not had as much trouble as Kanton. Bryson had RSV in May, so we are praying that the swine flu stays away!!

On Thursday night, Kanton asked Jesus into his heart! Way to go, Kanton!!

Happy Fall, Y'all!!

Kanton's party pictures will have to come later. My computer is running way too slow in this rain!

First Day of School 2009

Bryson

Braden

Kanton

Ashton

Braden going into 4th grade, Kanton going into 1st grade, and Ashton going into Pre-K

Galveston, Texas 8-16-09

This was the first time any of us had ever seen the ocean!

Well, we took a mini-vacation to Moody Gardens on August 16, 2009. We were blessed to have won tickets from KSBJ, our local Christian radio station. Yay!! We were so excited. Trying to find time to go was a little hard, because we got them and had to use them quickly. We decided that this weekend worked best due to other scheduling conflicts. The boys started school on Friday, the 14th, and we went that weekend. We had a great time. None of us had ever seen the ocean. We were so excited!! We went to Moody Gardens, and we had lots of fun. We got to see the Aquarium Pyramid, Rainforest Pyramid, and the Discovery Pyramid. We watched a 3-D movie of "Wild Ocean," and played at Palm Beach, the water park. I was very worried that it would be super hard with Mr. Bryson, who turned 6 months old on that day. He was wonderful. He cried about 10 minutes in the car on the way, but that is my fault. I let him sleep instead of waking him up, so I put him in the car when he was ready to play. He did well, adjusted, and we went. After Moody Gardens, which closes at 6:00 p.m., we went to the beach. We found locals who pointed us to Sea Wall Blvd, which was where Hurricane Ike hit pretty bad last year on my birthday, September 13, 2008. We parked alongside the road, and we pushed Bryson in the stroller. The other boys walked. Ricky carried the stroller down the steps, and everyone got in the ocean. We had to walk a long way to the water, so it is a good thing Ricky suggested the stroller. We got carried away watching the water, looking for shells, and playing in the sand. We had a blast, and we left late. The boys ate dinner in the car, fell asleep at their normal bed time...in the car, and got baths in the morning. They weren't even over tired the next day! We had a blast, and we're planning on making another run to the ocean soon.

in front of the Rainforest Pyramid

Braden, Kanton, Ashton & Bryson

They look so cool in their 3-D glasses!

the boys in the Rainforest Pyramid

Shark!

me & Bryson

Dinosaurs Alive

Bryson and I took a break from the water and watched from the shore.

Ricky and the boys in the ocean

dirty little toes....love it!

Hello!! Mr. Bryson is now 6 months old. My! What big, brown eyes you have!

Our First Design is Ready!

I feel like we waited forever, but our website is finally ready. Most of you know that we are making Christian t-shirts. We are very excited about what God's doing in this business, and we hope you can help us spread the word!

Go check it out: http://www.2hog.org/

They Saw It!

Ricky took the boys to Texas World Speedway on Sunday, July 5, to the Red, White, and Blue Charity Extravaganza. They saw the Wienermobile there. I missed it. :( Ricky was a little sad the whole thing wasn't in the picture, but it's still cute. I've always wanted to see that thing! Guess there's always next year!

Summertime

We are having a wonderful summer. Whoever panned the term "lazy days of summer" obviously didn't have 4 busy boys. We have been super busy. We went on a 10-day road trip to visit my parents in West Texas. We came back through San Angelo and visited friends. What a great trip it was, and I miss my friends there. We survived that trip with Bryson being 3 months old, nursing, and not taking a pacifier. Whew! On Mother's Day, Ricky and the kids planted a garden, and on Father's Day, we got to eat the green beans. After the trip, the 3 older guys did VBS at Christ United Methodist Church and had a blast. We have done Sports Camp at Grace Bible Church and Central Baptist Church. We enjoyed a wonderful 4th with great friends. Now, we are relaxing, taking our trips to the pool, and still trying to get the house clean...I've been trying all summer. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Summer Fun Days on Thursday. Also, we have 5 1/2 weeks until school starts. This summer is flying by. I hope the kids are having fun. We tried to make a solar oven, and it didn't work. Our cinnamon rolls were soggy. We tie-dyed t-shirts when my mom was here. The kids looked great!
We planted a garden and had enough green beans to eat for dinner. I have never seen kids arguing over who got the most green beans (like it was dessert). It was so funny!

Bryson turned 4 months old on 6-16-09. He is such a great little guy! At 4 months, he was 15 lbs 6 oz and 23 inches long!

Kanton and Ashton learned how to ride their bikes on the same day!

first try

I hope everyone is having as much fun as we are. We are truly blessed having kids that enjoy everything we do. We could dig a hole in the backyard, put water in it, and they would have a blast. I'm thankful that little things like visiting my parents and swimming in the hot tub is a 'vacation' to them, and we can do the bigger things when Bryson gets a little older. I can't imagine attempting the zoo in this hot weather or Sea World for that matter. We may try to see Blue Bell before the end of the summer, but that's about it until cooler weather comes!

I must throw in a funny story: When we were at my mom's house, the kids were playing in the hot tub in the backyard. They were splashing around, having fun, and they got quiet. We looked up and saw Braden on one side, Kanton on the other, and Ashton was in the middle. We heard Kanton say "Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit," and then they baptized Ashton! I think he was baptized 20 times. Maybe he will grow up to be a preacher one day. :)