We're Back!!

We finally have our computer back after our hard drive crashed.  Thankfully we backed everything up and we didn't lose any pictures.  This is just a bunch of random pictures taken since Christmas.  View Album for more pictures.

Indiana Christmas

It's just not Christmas unless it's freezing cold and the snow is falling.  We left our 70 degree weather behind and drove 21 hours northeast to Indiana.  As much as I love our warm weather, it wouldn't be the same if we didn't spend Christmas in Indiana with all of our family.  We decided to drive our two kids and two dogs through the night until we arrived in Sikeston, Missouri.  The drive was mostly quiet with the kids sleeping, but unfortunately we were also feeling a little drowsy.  The Lord, so graciously, sent a crazy woman driver/road rager (who was playing a game on her iphone and not staying in her lane) next to us.  It's a long story, but Don made her mad and she tried to run us off the road (I'm only telling this story now that we are all home and alive).  That kept us wide awake for the next few hours because I was convinced she was going to do something really stupid. (Once she saw that we were driving a minivan she backed off!!)  We arrived at our hotel after 15 hours of driving and headed straight for the swimming pool.  We let the kids swim for a while and then we went to lunch at Lambert's - Home of the Throwed Rolls.  It was a unique restaurant, and if you wanted a roll you just raised your hand and they threw it to you from where ever they were standing.  After dinner we went back for more swimming then headed to bed early.  The next morning we had 7 more hours to drive before arriving in Chesterton.

We spent almost two weeks in Indiana.  There was never a dull moment in the day...we're up early and we stay up too late.  I was lucky enough to get strep throat two days before Christmas.  It was a blessing though because there were so many people around, I didn't have to worry about taking care of the kids.  Our three Christmases were awesome.  Our kids were spoiled with clothes, toys, and books.  Santa looked pretty bad this year!  We shared lots of memories with our families and we are so grateful for the time we are able to spend with them each Christmas.

Our drive back to San Antonio was less than perfect.  We decided after an exhausting two weeks we would do the short drive first.  We were in no rush to leave so we left right after lunch, and we stopped again in Sikeston, Missouri.  We spent our New Year's Eve at Lambert's for dinner and in the hotel swimming pool.  We left early the next morning, and we had no idea what we were in for.  Donnie is NOT a good traveler - at least not yet.  Cadynce couldn't make up her mind.  One minute she wanted to be in Indiana and then she wanted to be in Texas.  Cadynce took a couple of really good naps while Donnie was miserable when we wasn't asleep, and he only slept 2 hours...total.  We got home late, and no one was happier than Donnie to be home.  Cadynce requested to go straight to bed, and Donnie ran around the house as if he had been trapped in a car seat for an entire day.  Even though it was a little rough, it was a lot of fun driving together as a family.  View Album for more pictures.

San Antonio Christmas

When Don got home from his trip on Sunday night, we let Cadynce and Donnie open their gifts from us.  We had them open their smaller gifts first.  Cadynce got a pair of winter boots and Donnie got a pair of shoes.  Donnie wanted to put them on immediately!!  Cadynce was more interested in opening the next present.  Cadynce got a My Little Pony and Donnie got an Elmo doll.  The last gift we had them open went with their big gift.  Cadynce got some pots and pans and Donnie got a few trains.  We told them to go upstairs for their last surprise.  We got the whole thing on video, and Cadynce's reaction was priceless.  After she saw her new wooden kitchen set she started screaming and saying "thank you Daddy, thank you Mommy."  She was pretty excited.  Donnie loves his train table and loves to go around and around saying "choo choo."  It was such a fun evening.  View Album for more pictures.

Donnie 18 Months Old

Donnie just turned 18 months old, and we have finally stopped the coughing.  He's pretty much been an emotional wreck for the past two months.  Between coughing, teething, and "Mommy only", it can only be up from here...right?  That's what I'm going with!  Really, he is the sweetest boy.  If sister is crying, he always tries to make her feel better with a hug.  He brings her shoes to her, and he squeals with excitement when we pick her up from school.  He is so full of love, so I will enjoy this "Mommy only" phase while it lasts.

We had a weekend full of excitement.  We said good-bye to our fish Bubbles who had a short life, we had breakfast with Santa (both kids cried and didn't want to sit on his lap), and we traded our car in for a mini-van.  There is no reason yet for the mini-van...I know what you're thinking!!  View Album for more pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for, and it's amazing how a conversation with a little 3 year old girl made me realize HOW much we have to be thankful for.  We've been talking about what we "need" to live, for the last month.  Most of my answers are "no we do not need that to live."  We've talked a lot about being thankful this last month as we were preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We were especially thankful to have family here with us to celebrate.  Grandpa and Mimi have come out for Thanksgiving for the past three years now.  We did something new this year.  We decided to sign up for "Operation Thanksgiving," which is a program at the Air Force base here that allows the public to open up their home to the men and women who are going through basic training.  That was a really great experience for us, and the guys were so thankful for their time away.  We picked up Shane and Austin Thanksgiving morning at the Air Force base and brought them to our house.  The first thing we did was give them our cell phones so they could call their families.  They took turns emailing and then just relaxed on the couch while watching football.  We had a great lunch and got to know the guys pretty well.  My favorite moment was walking into the living room to see one of the guys taking a nap on the couch.  This kid felt comfortable enough in a strangers house to fall asleep...that made my day!  The day went by very fast and soon it was time to take the guys back to base.  We grabbed a fast food dinner on the way, and before we knew it we were hugging them goodbye and thanking them for joining us and making our experience so great.  As always, Cadynce and Donnie had so much fun with Grandpa and Mimi.

This was also the weekend of our 6th anniversary.  We decided to "not" dress up and go bowling.  After bowling we went to BJ's to hang out and have dessert.

We got our tree up on Sunday and Cadynce helped me put the ornaments on the tree.  She wanted to know where each ornament came from...I was in heaven!   View Album for more pictures.

Christmas at Sea World

Sea World is all ready for Christmas.  We went this weekend to check out all the decorations, and to see the Sesame Street Show.  We got there early, so the kids played for a long time on the new playground.  They had a lot of fun.  The Sesame Street show was great and the kids loved it.  They have never been into Sesame Street, but seeing them up on stage singing and dancing to Christmas songs was awesome.  The only character Donnie knows is Elmo, and we he came out on stage he started saying "Mo Mo."  View Album for more pictures.

School Performance

Cadynce had her Thanksgiving performance at school on Friday.  She did such a great job.  She sang, signed, and danced.  Their costumes were everything they had made at school while learning about Native Americans.  Each kid was asked to make up their own Native American name that describes what they like.  Cadynce chose the name "Chasin' Daddy" because that's her favorite thing to do.  During their performance the kids could get up and tell everyone their name and their Native American name if they wanted.  When Ms. Liz asked who wanted to go, Cadynce shot her hand up high in the air.  When it was her turn she got up there and did it.  It was too stinkin' cute to see her in front of a lot of people talking in a microphone.  We were so proud of her.  View Album for more pictures.

1/2 Marathon Weekend

This weekend Jeff and Julie came to visit.  Don and Jeff ran the half marathon together again this year.  The guys did great finishing the race in 1 hour 40 minutes and 27 seconds.  We had fun watching the guys at the race.  We saw them at mile 3 and mile 8.  After seeing them at mile 8 the kids took a bathroom break and got a little time to run around and get out of the stroller.  We headed to the finish line to meet up with the guys.

Cadynce and Donnie had so much fun playing with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Julie.  They got to watch Cadynce at gymnastics.  Cadynce would be in the middle of doing something and then yell over to us, "Aunt Julie, am I doing good?"  She loved having an audience.  We had such a fun weekend.  View Album for more pictures.

Cadynce & Donnie at the Zoo

I took Cadynce and Donnie to the zoo this week.  This was the first time they had been together since Donnie started walking.  They had so much fun looking at the animals together.  We spent most of our time watching the hippos.  Donnie was running from tank to tank yelling "fish" while Cadynce was watching after the eggs that were about to hatch (they weren't real).  They had so much fun exploring the zoo together, and I can't wait to take them back.  View Album fore more pictures.

Air Show

We went to the air show here in San Antonio yesterday.  All Cadynce talked about was touching an air plane, and she wanted to touch it while it was in the air.  Donnie got pretty excited when he saw them flying so low as we were parking.  We walked around and looked at the air planes they had displayed, and we got to walk through a C-5.  Both ends of the plane were open so we just walked from one end to the other.  Cadynce wasn't too impressed because I don't think she knew it was an air plane...at least not one she'd ever seen before.  We were able to get food and watch the Thunderbirds with the help of Don's work.  We were totally hooked up with great seats, great parking, and free food.  During the Thunderbirds show they had music playing so the kids were mostly dancing and playing with a balloon they found.  Cadynce really had fun wearing her ear plugs, and Donnie would run to me any time it got too loud so I could cover his ears.  We had a great time at the Air Show.  View Album for more pictures.