A Dance!

Britt and Rylie's first daddy/daughter dance!

Yippee!!!!

Guess who gets to go to the Stadium Of Fire? C'mon sing it with me..... Stadium of FIRE phoom phooom, STADIUM OF FIRE tadum.... OOOOO I am so excited!!! Thank you MOM and DAD for getting tickets. I can hardly wait! For those of you that might not know what the Stadium of Fire phoom phoom is.... it is a big 4th of July show in Utah. It is held in the Cougar Stadium in Provo, GO COUGS!! They have a concert and lots of big fireworks and lets not forget the theme song... Sing it with me - jk you don't really have too, my mom will sing it with me. And just to top it all off guess who the big star will be that is performing this year?

YIPEE!!

There is a first time for everything..... right?

The first time my kids ever built a snowman or made snow angels...

The first time the Dallas area had 11 inches of snow in history.....

First time photos of our home and neighborhood covered in snow....

It was pretty and fun for a day - but I didn't move to Texas to play in Snow. I moved here for the Sunshine. Bring on the Summer please!!!

Pinewood Derby Baby!

Jackson started cub scouts in January. He had his first pinewood derby race a few weeks ago. When he brought his car home (block of wood) Britt and I just looked at each other and shrugged. We are not the two most handiest people on earth. Really not handy at all if you must know! WE can barely hang a picture straight on the wall. Basically we knew with our help Jackson was going to come in last at the big race. Britt cut the wood into a car shape, Jackson painted it and I threw the wheels on it about 20 minutes before the race. Being the GREAT parents that we are we had a LONG TALK with Jackson on the way to the BIG RACE and told him it was ok if he came in last, next year will be better when mom and dad get a little better at making cars and not to cry if he came in last yada yada yada. We think we had him prepped and ready to not expect his car to do to well. We got to the church and then had to weigh his car in... the cars are supposed to weigh as close to 5oz as you can get it. Well, Jackson's car weighed in at 2.4 oz. OOPS... first big mistake, you have to expect it with how handy we are really. Luckily someone had an extra weight and fastened it to J's car for us. It now weighed 4.8 oz. Close enough for us, we weren't really expecting much. There were around 30 cars and each car had to race 3 times on 3 different tracks. When it was J's cars turn Britt and I gave J the thumbs up and said, now remember don't get upset if the car loses, no biggie right. And then a miracle happened right before our eyes and his car wins all three races and he comes in 2nd overall with the 2nd fastest time - WHO KNEW really? We were shocked as you all are right now. So now with ONE pinewood derby under our belt we are feeling more confident with our handy-ness. Look at the trophy J got and now sports in his room with all the other ones. Jackson's car is the solid blue one! SWEET!!

27 Boys & 6 Girls!!!

That is how many kids were at Jackson's 8th birthday party! A party it was too! Jackson's actual birthday is December 28th and his good friend Bryce's is January 28th. So they had their party together right in the middle on January 16th. It was an indoor swim party this year! It really was a lot of fun and no one got hurt and no fights between any of the boys. It was great!! There are a lot of pictures because when I got home and looked through them I had to laugh at Jackson. He is doing some pretty great poses in these pictures. It made me happy that he had so much fun at his party and he has really great little friends that he is so comfortable with.

What's next?...... A Birthday and a Baptism!!

December 28th Jackson turned 8. A big year for Jackson boy!! Not only did he turn 8 but he got baptized too. We were lucky enough to have our parents and Uncle Craig and Aunt Tara here for the big day. Thanks again guys for making the long trip. Two trips to Texas in 7 months is a lot to expect but you all came and we are so glad you did! We really appreciate it and love you all bunches. The 2nd of January was the big day.

Uncle Craig and Aunt Tara came from Kentucky and Florida.

Grandpa and Grandma Buchanan came from Utah.

Granddaddy and Grandmother Richardson came from Kentucky.

It was a very special day! Jackson good job for making the decision to be baptized. You are a sweet boy and we enjoy you every minute of the day. You bring a lot of fun to our home. Your personality is so fun and happy. We are so blessed and grateful to have you in our home.

Another post and pics of Jackson's crazy fun birthday party to come.

A visit with Santa, making Gingerbread Houses, & Christmas Morning!!

Our activities in December were many. Here is just a glimpse of 3 of them. We had a visit with Santa Claus. The kids were sure to tell him everything they wanted. Santa was a very good listener! Jackson asked Santa what his address was at the North Pole?? His answer 1 North Pole. That seemed to satisfy Jackson - thank goodness!Next we had a gingerbread house making/decorating night at our house with friends. The kids had fun and did a great job decorating their houses. I didn't get a picture of the finished products - shoot! Christmas morning was exciting as always! The kids were full of excitement and happy with what they worked so hard to be good for all year. Rylie got her big mountain bike (pink of course) and Jackson got a BB gun and enough Dallas Cowboys football deco to cover his whole room from top to bottom. Seriously you should see his room. It is hard to believe another Christmas season has come and gone. We have so much to be thankful for.

Don't you just love Rylie's pose showing off her stuff? Price is Right here she comes. What a ham!