Breil the Balla

Breil started basketball this year. He is the littlest on the team but he is not phased. His shooting skills still need quite a bit of work but he handles the ball pretty well. Watching the games is hilarious as these little boys try to figure out the game. We have had a lot of fun watching him so far this season.

Parade of Lights

The Friday after Thanksgiving the city of Fort Worth has a big parade and they light the Christmas Tree. Jared and I took the kids and brought my brother David along. We had a good time. It was sooooo crowded and we had a hard time seeing but the kids still had a good time. Above Ella was licking her fingers from the wonderful cotton candy she had just consumed. Below Breil is still eating his and poor David is getting cotton candy all in his hair. He was a good sport. As he always is :)
I had the kids all sit on the curb before we left. They were mesmerized by all the people.

Thanksgiving

So this is the only picture I have of Thanksgiving. Kind of sad I know but it is what it is. I think Jared gets tired of taking pictures sometimes so it is hard to get pictures out of him. I have started bringing my camera to take my own pictures but I forgot this time. My mom showed Harlee how to do this and she did it over and over and over and over. It was hilarious!

craft fair

This past weekend was the Indianette Craft Fair and I got to work it as a vendor. My mom is the director so I usually get to go and help but dont usually get to be a vendor. The company I work for bought a booth and we marketed. As far as marketing for Cabot this was one of the best events we have done. The people were interested in the cheese and the Coop and all that goes with it. The only glitch in the fair for my mom was that Santa got sick. So, my mom being in charge and my sister being on the team they found a Santa...Jared! It was hilariious! A few people came up to my booth saying...I think they got a teenager to play Santa! Hah!! Poor Jared :( He ended up loving it though! Here are a few pictures!

We Are Still Alive

My little sister and the kiddos.

The cutest Pippi Longstocking you ever did see!

On the Riverwalk in San Antonio

Happy Birthday Papa

We love you papa!

4th of July

We spent the 4th at my mom's in her pool. It was the first time in awhile that most of the family was there. Becky, Frank and Lauren came from Florida. CJ, Brandon, Ryan and Brittany came from San Antonio. All the Dallas folks came too! We were missing just 3 people. My 2 brothers and my cousin Duey. It was so fun to have everyone together. It seems right now all is good in our family right now and it was a blast!

Harlee got out of the pool and got dressed and then later got back in in her diaper. Becky said she looked like Daffy Duck with her big ole swollen diaper!

Brandon spent a lot of time goofing around on the couch with Lauren and Ella!

Harlee got a yummy fudge pop that went everywhere!

Burgers Lake

The weekend of July 4th we took the kids out to Burgers Lake. We didnt get any pictures of the kids in the water because Jared did not want to take his camera out to the water but we got some of our little picnic. The lake is so much fun with water slides, boards, a trapeze and a beach. The kids had a blast! We brought my cousin Brittany and Uncle David.

Jared the grilling stud...
Uncle David loves his hot dogs!

Melted Cheese!

The studly uncle David!

IT was so hot that day! They are just dripping in sweat!

Fathers Day

Happy Late Fathers Day to Jared! The kids and I wanted to do something fun this year so we started to collect some of his favorite things and put them in a gift basket along with the new MLB Wii game. The kids contributed ideas for the basket and they were spot on. They sure know their dad. He is the most amazing dad ever! He plays with them like he is one of them and they sure do know how special he is. I am so lucky to be married to a man like him! We love you!!!

random

So this summer so far I have been carrying my camera around and taking more random pictures of the kids. I dont take enough I decided.

My friend Serena came to visit me from Amarillo and we took the kids downtown to the Water Gardens and for smoothies. We did not end up staying long. It was 102 degrees that day with a heat index of 110 so it was SCORCHIN!!! Serena called it "Satans Lair". That is a good way to describe the heat here sometimes. SOmetimes I really miss Idaho! LOL Above is the kids just bein hot and below is Harlee chompin down. She was not hot yet. We were in Jamba Juice still.
Ella is an amateur photographer. HEr favorite past time is getting my camera and taking pictures. Below is her handywork and I thought it was cute!

Last Day of Kindergarten

On June 5th Ella had her last day of Kindergarten. I was a big dork and took a picture because I was a little sad that she was not in Kindergarten anymore. It seems like just yesterday we had her and it seemed like so far away that she would even go to school. Now, here we are in First Grade! What is this? I cant believe it!

Fort Worth Zoo

THe other day a friend of mine and I took our kids to the zoo. She has 2 boys that are my little ones age so it is a lot of fun to play. It was a beautiful day so I even let Ella play hooky and come with us.

In Texas town at the zoo they have a bucket of water that dumps over on the kids. I have never let my kids go through it because it is usually not hot enough when I go but I braved it and took my kids the other day. It was hot enough that they were completely dry an hour later and they got to cool off. I had a hard time getting them to stay still so I could get some fun shots so I just started clicking my camera.
Harlee had the most fun but I could not get any shots of her face so I threw her in the stroller when we were done and took this. Out of all 5 kids she was the most drenched.

This is Breil and his new buddies Luke and Cameron. Cameron is 4 just like Breil and they have become fast friends. He has never had a "boy" friend his age before so this is a lot of fun for him. Cameron and Breil ran a lot and I would assume their little legs were exhausted.

We tried to get pictures of all the kids together and they just would not stay put. This lady offered to take a picture of my friend and me with all of the kids but it was not happening. So this is what came of they "group" picture.

Nephi's Courage

This is BReils favorite primary song. It has gotten a little old for all of us because it has been his favorite since before he was in Primary. We recorded a video for my little brother who is on a mission and I thought I would share. He is a little showman.

Fort Worth Water Gardens

There is this cool place down at the bottom that you can run circles at the center of the falls. Breil had to be convinced to go down there and this was the only shot of him not holding his dads hand but Ella just jumped and ran. There was no fear. Harlee stayed above and watched.
This was the best shot of Breil in front. The sun was strong that day so it was hard to get pictures.

This is off to the side of the main garden. It is my favorite part because you can sit on the steps and your feet get sprayed.

Ella posing so pretty!

Harlee taking a load off. I think she thinks I am crazy or something.

A week or so ago we took the kids downtown to the Water Gardens. It is a huge place that people go here in Fort Worth. It is a really cool place and when it is hot outside it is fun to get sprayed with a little water. They just sit perfectly in the middle of downtown. This particular day they were not very crowded either. I took the camera for the day too. Jared wanted it stated that I took these pictures. I am proud of it too!

Easter 2009

Easter Sunday

Harlee has decided she will NOT sit and pose for any pictures. This has become very frustrating for Jared. He decided to sit her there anyway. We figure it still captures the moment (I guess). It was sad though. Ella is on the high end of here size and Harlee is on the small end so this was the first and probably only time they will ever be in matching dresses! Oh well. We tried!
We had a couple of egg hunts over the weekend but this was one of them. The little boy with the red hair is Aidan. He is my cousin. He and Breil have become good buddies lately. Note: Breil is 7 months older than Aido. Bman is a little dude!

Harlee did more aimless wandering than actual hunting but it was still a lot of fun! THis was also the last day she was willing to smile for the camera. Those days are long gone :(

Zoo Field Trip

This is Ella at the end of the day before leaving! She had a long and fun day!
Hannah and Ella in the giant Texas chairs in Texas town. They needed to take a load off.

The girls were so excited to look at the elephants. There was a baby elephant, sort of. He is 10 years old but amazingly a lot smaller than the others and the girls got a kick out of it.

At the beginning. They are very ready to go!

Yesterday I went to the Zoo with Ella and her Kindergarten class. My mom kept the little kids so I could go alone and spend the day with Ella. I also signed up to chaperone a group but only ended up with 1 extra little girl. HEr name is Hannah. She was pretty easy and the girls and I had a lot of fun. Here are a couple of photos from the day!