Grandparent visits and San Antonio Fall 2015

SAN ANTONIO

My parents have a World Mark membership, so we enjoyed being able to stay in New Braunfels and visit San Antonio.

THE ALAMO

At the Alamo in front of the six flags of Texas--France, Spain, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, the Confederacy, and The United States of America.

A beautiful live oak tree on the grounds.

RIVER WALK

Kids on a bridge over the San Antonio River.

On a boat ride of the Riverwalk.

SPY EXHIBIT

We went to a really neat Spy exhibit.  That included a recreation of a laser room that the kids had to try to get through.  Here is Nathan in front of a getaway bike that was used by spies parachuting into enemy territory.

Audrey liked crawling through the air vents to spy.

TRIP TO THE TEMPLE

My parents were nice enough to watch all the kids while Stephen, Rachel, Jared and I went to the San Antonio temple.  Unfortunately we got rear ended on our way.  Luckily we were all okay and even though we missed our Endowment session we were able to do some beautiful temple sealings.

THE JUMPY PLACE

The girls going down a slide at the Jumping Place.  

Nathan jumping in the Shark's mouth.

Audrey enjoyed going down a slide for the first time.

THE WURSTFEST

We decided to attend the a German Sausage festival since we thought would be a good cultural experience for the kids.  It ended up being a giant beer fest with lots of really loud polka music.

It wasn't a complete waste since the kids were able to enjoy some traditional German food and some rides.

MADDY'S BIRTHDAY

Maddy got to celebrate her birthday on vacation.  She got a set of American girl books and a doll from us and Grandma gave her a beautiful coloring book and some gel pens.

SAN ANTONIO BOTANICAL GARDENS

My angel husband.

True love.

With the kiddos.

Audrey loved exploring all the beautiful flowers.

The kids playing on a giant chess board.

Audrey makes a very cute little pawn.

Audrey enjoying a rest in a giant purple chair.

Big enough for Grandma and the grandkids.

The gardens left us all feeling renewed and refreshed. 

JAPANESE TEA GARDENS

Near the botanical gardens are some gorgeous Japanese tea gardens.

IHOP

We have a tradition in our family of letting the birthday boy/girl choose the place for us to eat.  With all the amazing eating options around, Maddy chose IHOP. 

DRIVE HOME

On the last day Jared and the kids showed his parents around San Antonio while I drove back with Audrey so I could make all the preparations for the baptism and Maddy's party afterward.  Here is Audrey all set to go with all her snacks and toys.

While I was baking Maddy's cake, Audrey "helped" by tearing all the kitchen drawers apart.

 The kids got to explore the Natural Bridge caverns with their Collett grandparents.

Audrey's First Birthday

AUDREY'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

We took a trip with my parents and the kids' cousins to the Mayborn Museum to celebrate Audrey's birthday.

You can tell she had a great time.

Probably her favorite part was drumming.

We had a party for her in the evening.  She had lots of helpers opening her presents.

She enjoyed patting and tucking her new baby doll into her cradle.

Audrey was excited for her birthday cake.

She managed to sneak a few licks of the cream cheese frosting, which she loved.

Eating her cake.


AUDREY AT ONE:

FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Taking a bath, playing in her toy kitchen, getting rides on her toy car, and pulling things out of drawers, cupboards, and boxes.

WORDS:  She can sign MILK, ALL DONE, BOOK, and MORE.  She will repeat words that we say at times, but her consistent words are Momma, Dadda, bye-bye, ball, book, and Hi Dad. When she wants a drink, she puts her hand up to her mouth and flicks her tongue in and out rapidly making a "lub-l-lub-l-lub" sound.

She has stranger anxiety and loves to cling to her mommy.  She still wakes up at around 1 am every night to nurse.  Audrey has a sweet smile and is quick to laugh at her older siblings.  We love her and we feel very blessed to have her sweet spirit in our family.

October 2015 Update

October seems to have the best weather for Waco.  Now that it has cooled down we are enjoying a lot more outside activities.

WACO ZOO

GYMNASTICS

The kids started up gymnastics again this month.  They are making a lot of progress and showing me up with their muscle strength and flexibility.

WORLD HUNGER RELIEF FIELD TRIP

The kids had a co-op field trip to the World Hunger Relief farm.

They got to meet lots of animals and learned how to milk a goat.

The also learned about gardening and other farming techniques used in 3rd world countries such as composting toilets, water catch systems, etc.

MOVING

Our landlord decided he wanted to sell the house, so we had to quickly find a new place to live.  Good bye small, old dumpy rental.

It turned out to be a blessing because we were able to find this nice house to rent that isn't much more than our old rental.  This house is much newer and larger.  We love our new house.  It is amazing how much difference a larger space with better lighting can make in your overall mood.  I told Jared that I like Texas more already.  It even has a room I can use for homeschool!  

Audrey loves helping to unpack boxes.  As soon as we put something in a box, she "helped" by pulling it out again for us.

Before moving I had the kids clean up all their LEGOs.  It was so amazing to see everything so organized, I had to take a picture.

BEN CARSON FOR PRESIDENT

We were excited to meet Ben Carson when he came to Barnes and Noble to do a book signing.

In front of his tour bus.

HALLOWEEN FUN

The kids loved their new Halloween pajamas from Grandma.

THE PUMPKIN PATCH

At the pumpkin patch.

Audrey loved the little pumpkins.

COSTUMES
The kids only get new costumes every other year, so this year was their year to buy their own costumes, use an old costume, or to get creative.

 Abby used $2 that she earned to buy a hula skirt from Hobby Lobby with a coupon.  She made a matching hula skirt and lei for her doll.

Maddy spent $1 and bought some fairy wings from the dollar store.  She, of course, wanted her doll to match her as well, so I helped her make a pair of fairy wings for her doll to wear.

Nathan spent nothing and wore his skeleton PJs from Grandma.   I was proud of all the kids learning to be resourceful and thrifty.

Audrey was our little duck in a costume that Abby, Maddy, and Nathan all wore.

The kids had a fun trunk or treat at the church.  It was rainy so they did it indoors by going to all the classrooms.  Once they got their candy, they had fun by playing with glow sticks in a mostly dark room.  

Jared won the Best Daddy award by carving Harry Potter on a pumpkin for this kids.  (He would like to add that he was very rushed and this is not his best work, but it made the kids happy.)

Here are the kids all ready to go trick or treating with their cousins.

Texas trick or treating is a little scary just because there are no street lights or sidewalks.  We had fun despite losing my sister for 10 minutes.  

AUDREY BEAR

Audrey is standing and starting to walk.  On the 24th she walked 8 steps for the first time.

So

Audrey lounging in the cart at Walmart.

Audrey in a dress that Abby wore to her Uncle Craig's wedding.  Audrey looks a lot like Abby did as a baby.

Abby in her BYU Cougars shirt.  I have a hard time taking pictures of her since she likes to cling to me.  

Rides with her big sister.

Audrey figured out that the drawer makes a nice step stool when she cooks.

Audrey is a little water baby.  She loves the bath and tries to jump out of my arms into the water whenever I fill up the tub.