Graham cracker HOUSES
{Monday, Dec. 9th}

 Family Night activity rocked this week.

Such a fun tradition to make good memories of this time of year.

 

Santa & other happenings
{1st week of Dec}

 Santa was at North East Mall.

And Cohen could not wait to talk with him. He told him what he wants for Christmas (a drum set) also about how and when he's going to Utah and how old he is and how he rides his bike with Brend and likes to eat snacks.... PEOPLE. PERSON. I love him.

I got talked into being a model in a fashion show for my good friend Carolyn's shop. She's amazing and runs the whole show (which turned out to be way bigger than I thought) we ended up in a magazine. Woo. First for everything. ;)

The boys were so funny and giddy setting up Christmas decor.

 Brend NEVER sleeps like this, he was starting to get sick. And two days later we were eating ice cream outside in shorts, two days before it snowed and dropped 60 degrees. Texas is weird.

 Oh Brend. This is just him, personality screamin' out.

And Ernie our Elf was CRAZY one day and decided to hang from our fan for a whole day. Yikes!

 HUGE ICE STORM CAME!!!! Not snow, but ice. YUCKY!

It was actually really exciting for a day, the boys had a blast sliding around. But we had to get really creative with keeping entertained in the house for 4 days. We ventured out on short little errands, going 8 mph, but other than that we stayed in and stayed warm.

 No need for sleds and snow boots, until this storm. We had to improvise. :)

 And then....

my early black friday deal Christmas gift came in the mail!!!

FINALLY. Been wanting this for years.

Watch out: you thought I take alot of pics before, you just wait.

 And my first model.....

BROCKY. My handsome man. Such a photogenic man.

Just playing with some cool settings on my phone.

 These "ice" boys couldn't get enough of it, even in the dark.

 My camera is A M A Z I N G and I barely know what I'm doing!

Cant wait to learn more and more.

 Almost two inches of ice.

As the sun came out the ice started the melt from the bottom up, Brend and I loved stepping on the melted spots.

 STUCK IN THE HOUSE for too many days,

but had some fun mastering flying the helicopter alone.

 Little Miss Pepper. 

Our good friends little girl came to play on Sunday, and I took advantage of a little photo shoot. She is beautiful!

 Brock introducing Cohen to MAZES.

This is one of the 500 million things I love about Brock, he thinks of the little AWESOME fun things to teach our boys.

 LOTS of drawing and coloring during the ice storm.

Brend now stays on the paper all the time. He's doing great! And does everything LEFT handed. Lefty like his mama.

 Getting creative again for entertainment.

 PHOTO SHOOT! These handsome boys have lots more ahead of them.

  December has been wonderful and exciting.

We are now scrambling to get ready to drive to Utah for Christmas for 3 weeks. I am definitely anxious to see how it goes. :) 

the month of NOVEMBER

This month was wonderful. Like there was magic in the air... Cause there pretty much is the day after Halloween, when your next thought is "Thanksgiving is next!". I absolutely love this time of year, my favorite by far.

The leaves did change in Texas. Little late, but we enjoyed some really bright colors for a few weeks. Brock started his Pediatric Rotation (and loved it) but his schedule was so nice and "normal" he had every Saturday and Sunday off of work. Sweet! We took advantage and played at our favorite park for hours.

 Brend had a 24 hour somthing, stomach bug or may have eaten something. No bueno. Poor boy, he was so sweet and happy still. We got extra snuggles and loved it!

Brock working hard as ever, don't know how he does it. I love him and hope I never ever ever take for granted how hard of a worker he is.

We had popcorn explosions and lots a big gulps lately, it's great.

 Cohen's Preschool group.

These four and such great friends. They have played and learned together for a long time now! Love to see them discover and teach each other.

 INTRODUCING.....

Elizabeth {Elle} Arden Willard

Brock's sister Tiffy & Jaden had their first sweet little baby. I can not wait to snuggle her next week! I love her so much already, and I'm sure I'm already her favorite aunt.  

 WE ARE THANKFUL!

Thanksgiving break happened at just the right time.

It seems that we are in need of a break more than ever right before one comes. Our wonderful friends the Allsop's just moved to Houston from Utah and they came and stayed with us a few nights for the holiday weekend.

DATES ARE THEEEEE BEST!

Brock was sneaky and surprised me with going to the lighting of the giant tree downtown then ice skating and dinner.

He just gets me, ya know?

Always making me fall in love with him more and more.

A little bit of Heaven in TX
Mom & Dad in down for a week
 Oct 25 - Nov 2

 I say this every time... but these two people in my life are indescribable. They make you feel relaxed, happy, like a million bucks. My dad is the perfect example of "living in the moment" and he makes the best of everything, always having fun, and my cute mama is like a magnet and she makes you want to be next to her every second to laugh with and get hugs from. They both are so selfless and easy going, life is SIMPLY GOOD when they are around.

We did not waste a minute in the eight days they were here.

They were able to see Cohen's last two soccer games, which was very fun and meant a lot to him. Plenty of park time to enjoy the beautiful fall weather.

 Flower Mound pumpkin patch was extra fun with them this year.

 I can hear all three of their squeals and giggles in this pic, chasing the birds on the way to the car.

 PUMPKIN CARVING for FHE.

Cohen has been telling all our friends that we got "6 pumpkins NOT 4 cause we need 2 extra for when my Grandma and Grandpa will be here to carve with us". He was just a little excited.

 Morning stroll in jammies to the park.

 Our "zoo day" got rained out so we headed to the Grapevine Mills Mall to play and eat and shop.

 SOOOOOooooooo fun to shop with my cute mama. We could have done hours and hours more and spent LOTS more money. ;)

 After the mall and my dad being so kind to watch the boys while me and my mom went crazy being girly girls, we drove over to the Bass Pro Shop. Such a cool store.

 During the week, THIS HAPPENED!! My dad took my drawing and made it real life! Piece of cake. He's amazing.

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN

A family of ninjas!

This was Cohen's request and we all followed. :)
Grandma and Grandpa came to TX with a surprised for the boys, ninja costumes! They love them, still playing with them.

We went to our ward {three wards combined} trunk or treat which is always so much fun! Such a great idea for this area.

After eating candy for dinner we had Whataburger for dessert. ;) Nothing like a burger and fries and 9:00 pm.

Friday we headed to the Ross Perot science and nature museum in Dallas. Such a cool place!! So interesting, I could spend hours there by myself.

After the museum we met Davita, Chels and Gabe and Cathy at Don Pepes in Dallas for dinner then went to Davita's to see her new house after. So good to see family and catch up.

Saturday morning Co had his last soccer game. He played well! You could tell all the kids were ready for the season to be over. I think the game was getting a little old. There was more hanging on the net and playing monsters on the field than usual. After the game the team and their families met at Double Dave's for pizza and they all got their trophies. He was SOOOOOO proud and excited. He has been patiently waiting for it the whole season.

 The time with visitors always goes by way too fast! We had to much fun and it took me a week to get back to reality. 

Thanks Mom & Dad for the perfect week in TX. So fun to host you and spent all my time with you. Can't wait until we live in the same state again!! xoxo