Hunting Trip

I think that everyone knows, I am not a hunter, I didnt plan on any of my boys being hunters but things dont always go as planned.

This picture alone scares me.

Jake was able to fly to Austin and spend a week with us the day after Christmas. He was very excited to be a part of the hunting trip. This is a very large pig that Uncle Chris shot.

These are just stories that are told to me when they get home. Jackson was not so happy with this one: Just Tom and Jackson were hunting and Jackson had a shot on a big turkey with his new gun. He took the shot but the gun did not fire. He told his Dad to try and Tom did and shot the turkey. Jackson was a little upset that he was not the one to get it. We think that Jackson did not pull the trigger back far enough.

I guess hunting is a learning process.

Here is another story from this turkey. Jackson was really proud of this turkey and wanted to bring the huge tail feathers home. They brought them into the kitchen table and within seconds ants were everywhere. Larson was getting bit. Turkey feathers are not meant to be in the house. So they have stayed out in the garage where now I can smell this funky smell from them. I think that the pictures should serve as good memories and the feathers need to be tossed. I still dont have the OK from Jackson on that one yet.

Jackson loves going on these trips and tells me he has so much fun. I always answer back with: You really had fun sitting quietly in a cold blind for many hours??? He responds back yes, so I guess this is a guy thing that I just dont understand.

I'm not so pleased to announce but we have meat from this pig in our freezer right now. Somehow the fact that I have all kinds of meats from Sams just doesnt seem to bother me as much.

The campfires at night is one of Jackson's favorite things.

I'm happy that the boys get this time together with each other.

Christmas Eve/Day 2010

Milk and cookies for Santa, some carrots for the reindeer,

Uncle Chris making a gingerbread train with the kids,

big dinner, singing songs, reading stories, reflecting on the birth of Jesus Christ,

Pretty much sums up our Christmas Eve.

All kids were excited and very easy to get to bed. They had the reasoning of, the sooner you go to bed the sooner it would be Christmas morning.

Santa found his way to our house.

Santa is having to become more creative as the kids get older, it is harder to fill such large stockings. The gifts keep getting much smaller and way more expensive.

Roberts tradition:

We dont care what time you get up but your not allowed to leave the staircase until we tell you.

We have 3 additional guest in our Christmas morning picture:

The Grinch, our cat Jaden, and our step dog, Zoey.

Logan did a nice job opening his presents. Play dough and moon sand were probably his favorites. Thats easy on the wallet.

Jackson had a very nice Christmas. He by far had the largest wrapped gifts. He got a football dummy to actually play with but it looks very cool in his room. He also got a large football mural for his wall. Leggos high on the list and we all love the snuggies!

Jordan had a very nice Christmas too but not sure why there are not pictures of her with her gifts. I guess I just missed that one. She got True Religion jeans and a Juicy purse. She got lots of other cute clothes, music, make up- all girl stuff. She was real happy and has looked so cute going to school each day.

Larson stole the show this year when that Santa brought him an I-touch. I dont think that Santa was aware of how fast technology moves as his is now way better than his older brothers and sisters! There is some jealousy when I-touches are talked about at our house and we have a 2 year old that just goes around and screams I-touch very loudly until one of them caves and gives him a turn.

How young is too young to own an I-Touch???

Love, love, love these pictures of Larson. He really was so surprised and so very happy and so thankful. He was so patient waiting to have one of his own.

Some more fun for Larson! Creationary from Pat Pat and Papa.

Uncle Chris is in the house and so is Jackson's brand new gun. (well, actually it left the house Christmas night as I will not let it be in our house.) Jackson is so excited about his new sport of hunting. This was quite a gift for him. I'm told that he will be able to pass it down to little brothers. I guess this means they will all be hunters.

One more gift to open from Uncle Chris and Grampy. A big TV for the kids in the game room!

This really surprised them all. I was very impressed with Toms skills of running cables and getting it mounted up on the wall. The kids are having a blast with all of their gaming stations hooked up to it. Jordan and I have watched more than one chick flick on it. Very Fun!

We ended the night with Christmas dinner. We had all of our favorites. Chris was able to bring his friend Stephanie and Ben, one of Toms coworkers joined us.

This Christmas was much quieter than last year but it was very nice.

Very thankful for the time the kids had off of school even if it was a crazy week preparing for Christmas.

Christmas Week

We didnt do as much baking this year but it seemed like the kids always had something sweet in their mouths.

Jordan as "Miss Cookin Clause"
We always make the traditional cutout sugar cookies.
Jackson is the official ball maker.

Larson wants to help with every aspect of the cookie making.

Larson is the last one standing right there helping with the final icing.

When its 85 out and you have a heated pool you can go swimming the week of Christmas.

This isnt the normal thing that we do in the winter around here so it was extra fun to spend some time swimming.

I could not have been happier. I love warm weather and the sun on my face. I love to see the kids having a great time.

The bigger kids were ready to leave after an hour and a half but Logan was just having too much fun and really did not want to leave.

Gemma was able to come visit us from San Antonio. We love having her with us.

Larson with the camera on the way home from the pool. He even got me driving the car.

We enjoyed dinner at Benihanna one night. The kids had been there when they were little but this was the first time that they would really enjoy it. A great experience for them. They are not the most adventurous group when it comes to eating but they really did try and passed the test to go back. Jackson loved the show. Logan liked it all but the fire. He about put his body through the wall when that happened. We could not stop him from eating. He gained a few additional lbs. that night.

I have always been the Mom that loves when the kids are out of school. I dont know if I disliked school so much as a kid or if I have some psychological problem when it comes to school. I dont think that I do but I just love for me and the kids when we dont have a school schedule.

I was still very busy helping Santa get ready for Christmas but was able to enjoy the week with my family.

Christmas Surprise From Aunt Char

Aunt Char surprised us with a quick weekend to celebrate Christmas since she would be out of the country.
We packed allot of fun and love into those few short days.
Aunt Char is the best and we love her.

A Beehive Christmas

Here are our sweet Beehive girls and their 2 very sweet leaders!
A fun Christmas party making popcorn balls and having a white elephant gift exchange.

A great group of girls and I'm becoming more and more attached to them.

Jordan is so happy being around them.

Glad they could come spend the night at our house.