We attempted to take about a thousand pictures for our Christmas cards but our camera is such a piece of hud every one made us look possessed. We don't take many pictures of the whole family so here is one, even if we look a little scary.

The kids and I made gingerbread houses and Paige wanted to be in the middle of it all. She managed to dump out all of the candy and spread it all over. As you can tell the look in her eyes says just how excited she was!

Dave and I were Mary and Joseph in our ward Christmas party program. The kids thought that it was great! The next day they found some sheets and blankets and created their own Mary and Joseph costumes. Very cute!

Aww, it is Mary and Joseph

Ethan as Joseph

Addy as Mary

Yesterday at Addyson's school, Glen Oaks, they had a Thanksgiving feast for all of the kids and their families. Ethan and I brought Addyson's favorite meal Quesadilla and corn because I knew that she wouldn't eat anything they were serving. She was sad because she saw all of the other kids eating turkey so she insisted that I get her some turkey and bread. Of course, just as I suspected she took one bite of the turkey and said it was yucky! I guess I have to give her points for even trying. A friend took this picture of Addyson with her friends Aubrey and Courtney in their turkey hats. Aren't they so cute you just want to eat them up-Gobble Gobble!

It has been a long time since I have posted anything on the blog, I am a slacker I know. Dave's Mac went down and we lost a lot of pictures. We have had an exciting couple of months with Addyson turning 6, DisneyWorld, Halloween, and our camping trip. The pictures are a little out of sequence but enjoy!

Paige was a mermaid. This was my first attempt at making a homemade costume. I don't think that I did too bad, except Paige kept trying to eat her shells.

Addyson was princess Fiona, I tried to get her to go green but she wanted to be the pretty Fiona. Ethan was Peter Pan. I am suprised he didn't try to fly this year. Last year he was buzz lightyear and he jumped off of everything he could find and said that he was flying.

On November 2nd, we went on a camping with a group of our friends to Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas. There were 8 families and all of our crazy children. The weather was perfect during the day, and night was a little chilly but it was great camping weather. The first day that we got there we went to Fossil Rim animal reserve. We drove through in our cars and fed the animals from our windows. The animals were pretty friendly, almost too friendly. Day 2 we packed up and visited the lifesize dinosaurs near our campsite (not real of course) , took a hike, and headed home. We love our to get together with friends and camping is the best activity to do with kids, it is cheap and they love it!

The ostrich's were very aggressive, scary in fact. We had to roll the window up for this one!

There is the Ostrich trying to get some food from the Deragon's

Careful the zebras bite!

I was so excited to have a giraffe eating out of my hand, even though it was kind of against the rules:)

On the second day of our trip we packed up our campsites and went hiking through the trails. We were able to see some Dinosaur footprints a long the way.

On October 12th we took the family to Orland to go to DisneyWorld. We were fortunate to not have to pay for flights and very little for Hotel, thanks to the Timeshare sales industry(which we did not buy). We thought that it would be great family fun- well, not so much. Addyson was terrified of everything, it is Disneyworld for heavens sake how can you be scared of princesses and mouses! Ethan did pretty well, but he was lacking in the sleep department so it didn't take long for him to stop having fun. It was hot and busy but we still managed to have some fun, fortunately we took the trip with my brother Ken and his family which made it much more enjoyable. We also got some great photos along the way to remember the trip.

This was Addyson's favorite part of Disney World, the castle. Ethan, not so much- he chose not to be pictured!

It took a lot of effort and constant words of comfort, "Addyson they are princesses, they are very nice and will not bite you" to get her to take a picture but we finally got pictures and autographs with Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle.

The days at Magic Kingdom were pretty exhausting!

Disney World

The resort that my brother stayed at offered some great activities, including songs and smores by a bonfire. We took the kids for a swim at the pool and headed over for some smores.

She got lots a great presents from friends, (which we still need to write Thank you's for). I took a risk and got her some roller skates hopefully I don't regret it when I am having to take her to the Emergency room.

Addyson's Turns 6

Addyson turned 6 on September 20th. She was so happy to get a special Birthday hat at school and a special gift from her Principal.

I love California

We had the opportunity to visit some friends in California. We flew out on Friday evening and staying until Sunday morning. We went to San Clemente on Saturday and grilled and ate lunch and then we spent the day playing at the beach. Dave and I were able to do some boogey boarding, which was awesome. I did a little bit of streaking out there everytime I got hit by big waves, but it was all good!

Me and the kids overlooking the San Clemente beach. It was such a beautiful day!

While we were getting ready to eat a fire truck drove by and gave the kids fireman hats and stickers. They were really nice, and the kids loved it!

Ethan didn't like the ocean very much, he thought it was too scary. He spent most of his time rolling in the sand!

Dave with James(an old mission companion) and his wife Katherine. Dave and James have stayed good friends after all of these years. James actually got Dave his first job here in Dallas at Ernst and Young and then when we moved here they moved away a month later.

Addyson has taken up photography! Addy always manages to get her hands on our digital camera and snap photos of her toys in different arangements. I have to go through our camera and delete them but I had to laugh when I saw this one of Dave's butt. Addy and I were hysterical, Dave didn't think it was very funny:)

Paige got her first tooth! Every one of our children has gotten their first tooth at exactly 4 months. She turned 4 months on August 29th and her tooth came through on Aug. 28th. A few days later her 2nd tooth came through. She loves to chew on everything, including her mommy.

Ethan started preschool last week. He is going to Kary's Korner just like Addyson did. He is very excited to be big and go, he wanted to go so bad last year. Every day he comes home and tells me how good he was. I can't believe my kids are getting so big.

Addyson started kindergarten! The first day was a little tough, she was really scared, but once Mrs. McCormack pulled her away from me she did fine. She loves school now, and is excited everyday that she gets to go.

Not leaving on a jet plane:(

We tried to squeeze in one more trip before school started. This is us in the DFW airport waiting to try and get on a plane to Portland, OR. We were in the airport for about 4 hours trying to get on a place, but it just wasn't meant to be. We didn't end up going to Portland, but our luggage did! Luckily we were able to get everything back the next day. It was a bummer we were very excited to see my brother and his family and my old friends:(

Paige is growing more and more each day. She is still such an angel and a joy to have around, not to mention she is SO cute! She loves to be outside just like her sister and brother, and she seems to really like the water as well. It is too soon to tell but I am certainly hoping that she gets my skin color and not Dave's because we love swimming!

I had the opportunity to visit my old stomping grounds in Colorado Springs, CO for the weekend. I brought Addyson and Paige for a girls weekend and left Ethan at home w/ his dad. I haven't been back to my old home town for almost 10 years and it is just not the same but it was fun to see. We drove around in the beautiful mountains and visited The Garden of the Gods where we had a picnic and did some hiking. I do miss the mountains!!

Fun with cousins! While in Nashville we went to the Nashville Zoo and enjoyed the great outdoors that Tennesse has to offer. I think the best part for the kids was being pushed on the tire swing by uncle Ken. I am still amazed that none of them got sick!

On July 29th Ken and Carrie blessed their newest girl, Kensey Mae. The kids and I flew out to Nashville for the week to hang out with them and be there for the blessing. My mom, brother and sister-in-law, and nephew drove out for a few days and Dave flew out for the weekend. I love hanging out with my family laughing, playing games, and just talking about old times! Kensey is very blessed to join such a great family!

Paige's baby blessing

We blessed Paige on July 1st. Ken, Carrie, and their girls drove down from Nashville and Dave's mom and Dad flew in from Calgary as well. We also had an old High School friend drive up with his wife and kids from W. Texas. Needless to say with all of our family that live Texas and the ones that traveled here, we had loads of fun! Dave did a great job blessing Paige and she looked beautiful!

Summer has begun

Summer has officially begun.  The kids took swim lessons and now they are set to go swimming as much as they possibly can!  They love to swim!  We are lucky enough to have a great community beach club pool with sand and a splash pad.  We will enjoy many hot days swimming.

Camping

We went on our annual camping trip with friends to Lake Ray Roberts.  We braved the outdoors with a newborn and we were so glad that we did. The kids had a blast catching bugs, eating marshmallows, swimming in the lake and sleeping out in the great outdoors.    

Dave has a Birthday

Dave turned 31 on June 7th.  We had a simple birthday celebration at home with the kids and my mom.  The kids helped decorate his cake and wrap his presents.  

Ethan turns 3

Ethan turned 3 on May 14th. We were finally able to celebrate with his friends and family a couple of weeks later at Chuck-E-Cheese. He had a spiderman party and got a whole bunch of new spiderman toys that he is so excited about.

Addyson graduates

Addyson graduated from preschool and is off to Kindergarten next year. She is sad to leave her teachers and her friends that she went to preschool with but is so excited for all of the fun stuff that she will be able to do in Kindergarten. We can't believe that she is so big!

Soccer Diva

Addyson finished her first season of soccer recently. She loved it! I don't know if she really cared for the sport of soccer, she mostly loved the teammates, and her cute coach. She was afraid to kick the ball most of the time and she spent most of the time on the field dancing, but she was a joy to watch.

New sister

Addyson and Ethan are so excited to have a baby sister. Ethan's first words when he saw Paige was "I am so happy!" They love to hold her and watch her while she sleeps. Their favorite thing to do is to see who can get her to open her eyes!

Paige Alexa Lee

We have added another kid to our clan! On April 29th Paige Alexa Lee was born at 6:44 in the morning. We were so excited to finally meet her. She is such an angel, an answer to her mother's prayers. She is such a happy, mellow baby who sleeps a lot!