Wanna come over to play?

Here are a couple shots of the kids playing. The weather has been so mild, they've expended much energy these days outside. Logan and Luke are showing me their muscles and it's hard to tell if Claire is impressed or not.....


I think these cousins are so lucky to have each other right in the same neighborhood. I would have LOVED to experience that as a child!

The Nutcracker

A girlfriend of mine, Michelle Freeze, (also the kids dentist) organized a Mother-Daughter activity for us to all see The Nutcracker. About 28 of us met early for dinner and then travelled together to the Bass Concert Hall on the UT campus. It was a unique night for us because the girls and I were able to dress up a little bit and feel pretty special! I love being with my girls and they are growing up to be beautiful both on the inside and out. It was a pleasure to spend an evening with them and chat all about girly stuff. The performance was awesome and the costumes were exquisite. It would have been fun to see them up close. I can't wait to go again next year, and in the future to bring Claire with us. (To the left is after the show and below is before the show :)

Progressive Dinner

These are just a couple photos of our RS progressive dinner this year. It was a lot of fun to get together with everyone, eat and feel the spirit of Christmas and friendship. We have such a wonderful ward, with many great and inspiring women. These are just a few of them, as we had about 45-50 (I think) here that night. The two women on the left are some of my neighbors. I was so glad they were able to attend!

The dinner was split between my house and my neighbor's, Jenny Young. We enjoyed potato cheese soup, salad, and homeade rolls. There were so many delicious desserts, it was hard to choose just a couple. We had a beautiful rendition of "Mary Did You Know" from Desiree S. It was so touching, her voice is angelic. We had the reading of several scriptures and everyone sang Christmas carols together. I loved hearing these women sing together, it made me think of the strong pioneer women and what it must have been like for them to gather together too.



Above, is a photo with Shana, Cheryl Breeden and another one of our neighbors. It was great to have them there and hear their questions about the church. Every else pictured is in our ward.

Trail of Lights

Saturday night we spent the evening with our good friends the Briuligo's. They live in our cul-de-sac and Kathrine and Katie are best buds! We were going to eat at Chuy's down by Zilker Park, but for traffic control reasons(stemming from the Trail of Lights), the roads were blocked. We ended up eating at Texas Land and Cattle, (which is yummy too!) and then we were just about 1/2 mile from the park. It was so crowded this year. I think because the weather has been mild.

These aren't the best photos. Again.... my camera was acting up. I tried to capture the beauty of all the lights as best I could. It's always wonderful to watch the kids with their eyes wide open taking everything in.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Trail of Lights, it's a mile long trail you walk along that is decorated with all types of lights, Christmas stories, and decorations. They also have performances of dancing, singing and places to get hot chocolate and other tasty snacks. Zilker Park is a very cool place.

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

Tonight my parents came over to cook sugar cookies with the kids. I did this every year as a child and have such fond memories of it. Mom brought the dough over ready to go, so after a quick dinner (which my parents also brought, Thank you, Thank you! :) We pulled out an apron for everyone and the fun began. I think you can tell from the photos they had a blast. Claire worked the same piece of dough for about 30 minutes. Tasty. Logan and I made the thickest cookies, while Kathrine and Taylor kept them wafer thin. We had sugar cookies as snacks for about 3 days straight!









I love Christmas traditions.

Hangin' With Sophie's Family

Tonight we spent some time at Mom's house with Rob & Audge. It was Rob's last night here. Claire was being so sweet and cuddly with her new cousin. I can't wait until they can hang out together. Sophie got a little tired with all the commotion. This picture of Rob and Chris is classic because I literally took about 12 pictures before they both had their eyes open. I was laughing so hard.....Logan was a patient subject while his Dad and Uncle goofed around. I so wish they lived closer. We have a great time together. We are working on a plan to get them here, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Fondue Night

Since we had so many Novemeber and December birthdays in our group of girlfriends, I thought it might be nice to get together at someone's home to celebrate and socialize. Sometimes when we go to a restaurant, it's hard to visit with everyone, much less get a seat. It was fun to have everyone wear their jammies and consume, milk, dark, and white chocolate with all types of goodies dipped in. I think one of my favoirte things was fresh sliced bananas dipped in the white chocolate. My friend brought a chocolate fountain and that was a lot of fun! We also watched the movie 'Chocolat' and had some eye candy with Johnny Depp! My favorite guest was my sister visiting from California. Sorry everyone else. :)

Happy Birthday y'all!! I'm not quite sure what I was thinking with my pose.....not the most flattering. :O

Singing in Sacrament

The girls were able to sing together in sacrament on Sunday. It's probably their last time for a while as Kathrine will be leaving the achievement day group for YW in February. It was cute to see their group of peers singing, "How could the Father Tell the World." We put Claire in the picture even though she wasn't singing (yet) because she just looked so darn cute! Kathrine and Claire had their hair curled with the spiral curling iron today. Claire was a great client and sat very still on the counter while I curled all her long blond hair. She's irresistable!

River Walk

I'm a little bit bummed out with my camera lately. I think I have it fixed, but on this night it was acting up again. I didn't get any great photos even though I took a ton. We took the family down to the River Walk in San Antonio and saw all the lights and went on the boat ride. Later we got something to eat. My sister Audrey, her husband, Rob, and Sophie, my little niece came to visit. They arrived on Thursday night right during the Progressive Dinner at our house (I'll post some photos of that soon.) Things were a little crazy for a couple of days so I was glad we had this time to spend together. Boy...it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo crowded. We could hardly push our strollers. It felt very festive! Here's one of Mom & Dad. River Walk is a unique area where a river actually runs through the middle of the city. It is very old and the history dates back to the 1600's. The boat tour is interesting because it tells you all about the history of the buildings along the river itself. All the restaurants are right on the river's edge. Sometimes its hard to walk along the sidewalk because there isn't any fence or railing between you and the water. Here's Audge with Sophie, the cutest and most well behaved baby ever!
Chris and I getting over exposed by the funky flash, but having fun anyway!

Spa Day

My friends and I just went to the spa together. We had some gift certificates to spend and with the year coming to an end, they were going to expire! Yikes. I couldn't let that happen!!!! The Spa at Lake Austin is probably one of my favorite places in Austin. It is soooooooo beautiful year round being situated right on the lake. There are many large trees and the buildings are designed to compliment the landscape. It's like walking into the pages of a magazine. Not only is it beautiful in surroundings, but the inside is very eclectic, it's a style of interior design that really appeals to me. Here I am with Caroline Williams and Aren Wood. Happy Birthday to Aren! By the way, don't enlarge these photos, we've had some treatments done already and we are make-up less, but relaxed.
This is right on the lake, there are hammocks and comfy chairs to sit and read or nap. It was cold this time, but usually I try and make some time to sit out here. It's peaceful. I can't believe it's right down the street in my neighborhood. Here's Aren enjoying herself and getting proof of it. Cool picture. I have to mention a thank you to the men for watching the kids all day while we pampered ourselves.

Our Christmas Tree

Claire was excited to run around outside on this cold, cold night and peek in and out of all the trees. Everything is more fun through her eyes. I'm going to miss having little ones around when that day comes.




Okay....this isn't really the Christmas tree we picked, but it's a nice one huh? We were going to get this one until we realized it had a big hole in the side with no branches.












Is this the tree we picked? I can't remember now. I just know, the one I was holding ended up back in the pile. Here Kathrine is pointing to her favorite one.




Chris....... being the faithful father and cutting the twine around every one we wanted to look at. Finally we came to a decision and tied it down to the car. Since it was a school night, we came home took baths, and had hot chocolate with whipped cream. Yum! We decorated it the next day and I'll try and post the finished product at some point. (Logan was there, but escaped the camera somehow.)

Company Party 2006

The company party was on Dec. 8th. It was a lot of fun. The food was delicious and the hotel was really nice! We had all types of cuisine, from pot stickers, to chicken tostadas. There was bruchetta, prime rib, pizza, shrimp, and many desserts. Including my favorite, creme brulee. We ate and chatted, there were some presentations and games, then the most interesting activity of the night began as the Karaoke Machine was wheeled out. Here the boys sing, "Bye, Bye, Bye." Aren't they quite the boy band? I actually got up with a group and did "The YMCA." It was fun, but I'm sure I made a fool of myself since I have about zero rhythm. Oh well....I sang as loud as I could because I didn't have a microphone. :)



Here's a picture of the girls. Glad it came out. I had photos of everyone and their spouses but my camera was being weird that night so most of the photos I took didn't come out clear. Bummer.













Here's a pic of my two good friends Shekendra VanSickle and Sonya Nallira. They are both from California. Shekendra I've known for at least 12 years, but I just met Sonya when she moved here about 2 years ago. It's like we've known each other forever. It's nice to have some Cali girls in the pack!

Just shy of 16 years.....

Aren also took a couple photos of just Chris and I. I can't believe we've been married almost 16 years. It's been an adventure, but the thing I like the most is I've experienced it with my best friend. It's the journey that never ends and I'm glad I have Chris to navigate it with me. Not to say we haven't had our ups and downs....but Chris has made me laugh through it all. There's nothing a little love and laughter can't fix. One of the things I'm most grateful for at this time of year is a faithful, loving husband who has always tried to honor his priesthood and our family. What will the next 16 years hold for us? I'm not sure, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Christmas Photos

Here are a few new photos for the house. My good friend Aren Wood took us out to Deer Creek in Austin and snapped some photos of our family for our Christmas card. These are some extras that I really liked. I can't wait to frame some of them. It's been a long time since we took family photos. I love the one of Claire and Chris! How did I get so lucky, with such great kiddos??!!! Thank you Aren, you are awesome! (We are saving the family photo for the Christmas card :)

Thanksgiving Day company

We loved having Thanksgiving at the house! It was so peaceful and slow paced not having to go anywhere and smelling the yummy food cooking all day! Thank you to everyone who came and helped out cooking. Above is the kids table. Kathrine helped set the table and made everyone's name tag. They had Shirley Temples for drinks. One of my favorites!

Below is a picture of our family and Jeff's family, Sister Payne and Sister Jensen. It's always wonderful to have the sisters in our home, but it was a special treat to have Sister Payne with us one last time before she returned home this week. She has been a phenomenal missionary here and our family will miss her dearly. She has touched several lives while she has been in the Austin area.

Also below, is the adult table. I had so much fun decorating and setting the table this year. I actually had some Thanksgiving stuff. It only took 15 & 1/2 years to aquire it! The food looked festive too, even though you had to drowned the turkey in some crazy gravy I made......I really struck out this year with food, but hey....the table looked great before we started. :)

I'm so sad, I don't have a picture, but our friends the Barker's who have been traveling around everywhere were able to arrive just before dinner started and share the meal with us! We miss seeing them day to day, so it was nice to share the evening together.