Gratitude

Back in November we were able to go back to Arizona to visit family and friends for Thanksgiving. It was again bittersweet. Because it had only been about 4 months since we left, we kind of felt like we were coming home. It was strange, but so good to see family - in a weird way because we stayed with them and didn't have our own place.

We were grateful for absolutely beautiful weather. Of course what else would we expect? And for the incredible growth our little ones have when we venture out on trips. Colby started riding one of Mimi and Papa's bikes without training wheels, which, if you don't know Colby is a serious accomplishment. We are so grateful for his therapist and all that he has braved this year! He is one fantastic kiddo.

As a side note...he has even started riding his own bike at home this month. Again, another huge accomplishment since his bike is much taller than this one, and because nothing is flat in Austin. He has also managed to ride around lots of other kids, and has even mastered his razor scooter!

Brody literally grew. I swear they grow over night, literally sometimes! He is turning into such a big boy. He loves nursery, and this trip proved he really doesn't care which nursery, even if it's unfamiliar he just jumps right in. He really tries as hard as he can to keep up with all the big kids, and he does such a good job. We are grateful for his happy, and huge personality....although we could do without the tooty two's that have inevitably dropped in for a little while.

One of the best days, was when we got to participate and attend Madisen, our niece's, baptism. She is such an amazing girl, and beautiful spirit. It was really special to have all the family there. I can't believe I don't have one picture of this girl!

We are really thankful this year for our family's little miracle, Braxton. He is so incredibly cute, and is practically a mini-me of his daddy, Jesse. Colby was just enamored by him. At 9 months old now (6months adjusted) you would never guess he was a preemie. We continue to keep this little fireball in our prayers, as he struggles with a few challenges, but are so grateful he is a part of our family.

Oh, and yes, we are grateful for family pictures, even though we took more pictures, than any of the kids (or adults for that matter) care to take again. We all survived the gigantic family picture with 28 people, 10 of which were kids. I'll post that later. And what a fantastic memory we will have later.

I was especially grateful to spend time with everyone, especially my sweet "kindred spirit" of a friend! I love that girl and her family. What an awesome trip, and hallelujah praises to me for finally beginning to catch up on this blog thing! :)

The "Keleton" & The "Cowboy"

If you are as tired of Halloween as I am, you probably don't even want to read this post! The day after Halloween I took down all of the Halloween decorations, I don't know what it is about Halloween, but I just don't care for all the junky decor, and gross lawn decorations. The night before Halloween we had our Ward's trunk or treat and it was really fun. I think the boys had more fun there than the little block party and trick or treating on Halloween.

Mimi sent the boys a darling package with Halloween t-shirts (to match their cousins of course).

Brody decided he wanted to be a cowboy this year. Imagine him saying it with the thickest Texas twang, and your heart would melt just like mine did. He would say "Colby a keleton and Brody a cowboy"

Of course the best part about this costume - oh yeah baby- the holster and guns.

Our new neighbors were kind enough to include us in the block party they have each year. This is all of the kiddos dressed up. Pretty much all of these guys are out and playing in the street every afternoon and evening.

Here he is the scary skeleton. Colby was going to be Darth Vader, but changed his mind a few weeks before. Brody screamed and cried no matter what costume he put on, so it didn't matter.

Auntie Marcie was my hero, it was so fun to have her there to see the kiddos trick-or-treat, but it was even better to be able to hang out with my sister and chat, amongst so many new faces.

There are all kinds of hills and steps here, and on our side of the neighborhood the houses are pretty far apart, so we went to about 8 houses and were done!

This year I did get a little crafty. I saw an idea in a Lowes add for Ghosts made out of small glass lamp shades. I couldn't find the add when I needed it, so I googled, and found this adorable idea.

I bought old glass containers from Goodwill and then modge-podged the inside, sprinkled with fine glitter and then painted on the faces. Okay, so I did have a little fun. But I am really glad its all done.

This month has been full of fun adventures. We found a turtle in the middle of the road, and when I finally convinced Colby to hold it, it stuck out its legs in an attempt to flee. It scared Colby to death who dropped the poor turtle and cried for a good while. We finally made it up to Dallas. It is hard to believe it had been over a year since I had been home. Colby and Brody got to go see their cousin Drew play soccer. Then we all got to hang out at my brother's house and have dinner. We even made a grand adventure to the Texas State Fair with my brother and his wife Angela. Besides the horrible crowd, and an unmentionable train ride to Fair Park, it was a lot of fun. We even got to visit mom's award winning pickles in the hall of fame. This year she won first prize for whole dill pickles, and canned tomatoes. She also won 3rd place for zucchini relish and sliced dill pickles. And what kind of yummy Texas State Fair food did we eat? We all sampled and shared, fresh squeezed lemonade, corn dogs, chicken fried bacon(to die for), fried butter, fried cookie dough, fried peanut butter and jelly, sausage on a stick, and ice cream. All of it was fat free! One of the highlights for me was visiting my Grandma. It was so good to see her, and be in her house. There are just so many memories still wrapped up in her house. It was fun for her to see the boys. The best part was when she picked Brody up and then played "this little piggy" with him. He loved it! When we got home we were all about the Halloween decorations and pumpkin patches. And just when we thought we could slow down... this weekend is Halloween. It's crazy to think that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. We are headed to AZ in a few weeks! If you are in town let me know, we would love to stop by and say hi.

Keep Austin Weird

Austin is a unique place. We have been couped up doing projects at home since we moved, so we thought we would finally have some fun for a Saturday.

One thing Matt and I love about Austin, is that everyone is always outdoors, and there are a million places to enjoy the fantastic Texas landscape. One of those place is smack dab in the middle of Austin. The Greenbelt. There are several places to enter it, but most are off a couple of the main highways through town.

You would never know you were in almost the heart of the city. People love to bring their mountain bikes down here to ride, and walk their dogs. It is shady and the trees are stunning.

The weather couldn't have been more beautiful.

I love these little unexpected beauties. It's little things like this that remind me of God's presence here on earth. These beautiful berries were so vibrant and there were just little patches of them scattered here and there.

They were fun for throwing too! I had told Colby a story about how his mom used to pick all the holly berries off her grandma's bushes and have holly berry wars with her cousins. It didn't take long for our own berry war to start.

Matt and I knew we were walking to the twin falls, but we had forgotten about this awesome little swimming hole. Darn, should have brought our swim suits!

Who needs swim suits? They are boys...right? We tried to keep them from getting too wet, but you know how that goes.

I had so much fun, and it was pretty awesome to share with them all the fun stories about how my mom and dad took me to do things like this all the time. We grew up in the woods, no I am serious, we really did grow up living 95% of our childhood outdoors. It was so much fun, and I am glad that they got to experience a little piece of that.

After naps, we continued the fun, and took them downtown. Austin prides itself on its "small town" feel, and love of all things unique. In fact right before we left 5 years ago, the city was trying to keep a new Super Walmart from being built and they succeeded. Aside from a few necessary chain stores (and I do love Walmart) there are lots of fun one-of-kind eating and shopping experiences here. Every where you go, you can buy shirts that say "Keep Austin Weird."

Matt and I had been wanting to try this little place called Home Slice Pizza...we will now be regulars. The wait for the actual restaurant was too long so we went right next door and ordered from the to-go window by the slice. It is seriously the best New York pizza I have had. Yep, ate right there on the dirty sidewalk. Totally awesome. The boys loved it.

This was our view across the street. All the fun shops on Congress. And...better still live music. Austin is all about live music, and across the street someone was singing at another restaurant so we got to hear that too.

After dinner, we walked just one street up to all the mobile food vendors (very popular here - and totally awesome) and had an amazing cupcake at Hey Cupcake! Once again there was a guy with his guitar playing and singing (he might have even been homeless). The food and music were fantastic and the boys got to experience what we love so much about this city!

I'm all about keeping Austin weird!