Sundae Sunday!

We enjoyed dinner and sundaes with our friends, Matt & Wendy last night. They were in town from Colorado for the weekend and it was great that they were able to spend a couple of hours with us between family visits.







Fun times!

Yeehaw!!! It's Rodeo time, folks!

We enjoyed the day at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo today with the kids and our sis-in-law, Kathryn. One of Brad's business clients had given him box seat tickets, so we were spoiled with a front row view for the kids' very first rodeo! It was great fun!

We left early so we would have plenty of time to walk around and see all the animals before the rodeo. They enjoyed it all, but I think the biggest hit was all the tractors! I think Tanner sat on almost every one of them... it was this little boy's dream-come-true!
He was BEAMING!!!

Sister's turn!


He ran around from one machine to the next, finger pointing at each one, yelling, "Yook, yook! Yook at dat one!" It was too precious!



Look at the concentration on his face! He must really think he's about to drive off in that thing!


He really could have done this all day long!


After seeing lots of horses, cows, pigs, bunnies, chickens, sheep, and plenty of tractors, we made our way over to the colliseum where we enjoyed our giant corn dogs before the rodeo started:
The corn dog was just about as big as him.... and he ate ALL of it! We were shocked! I guess all that tractor driving had worked up a big appetite!
Aunt Kathryn helped with mustard dipping so we wouldn't make too much of a mess!
Tanner gettin' some love from Aunt Kat


Oh boy! It's time for the rodeo!
We had fun waving at all the horses during the Grand Entrance!
We got to give high-fives to our Fort Worth police officers as they passed by...
We even high-fived the clowns!

Tori enjoyed her first taste of cotton candy...
I think it was a HIT!
We all got sticky fingers!

Tori enjoyed the bulls and clowns at the end...
Such a cutie!

Friday Fun at the Zoo

We enjoyed a trip to the zoo with friends on Friday. It was an absolutely perfect, beautiful day... so nice to be outside enjoying the fresh air and sunshine!


Getting a picture of six adorable kiddos isn't easy, you know... here's Take 1:

Nobody seems to know where the camera is (except baby Collin!). And, Take 2:

How cute is this?!?!!
Miles holding Tanner & Tori's hands as they explore the zoo together

Check out these crazy, pink birds Mom!

Tanner just about jumped in with them!

All the excitement wore baby Collin out.... look at this precious, sleeping angel boy! *Sigh*
Tori was completely infatuated with baby Collin... when asked what her favorite part of the zoo was, her reply to me was, "Baby Collin!" She loved giving him kisses, touching his nose, playing with his hands and just gazing at his cuteness. When her Daddy got home from work that evening, she told him, "Daddy, I want a baby!" Uh oh, somebody's got the big sister bug!

Time for a snack!

Here's our attempt at five kids with the kangaroo statue... again, not so successful, but funny! Take 1:

Take 2:

Tori was liking the kangaroo and started hamming it up for us, so she got her own photo with him!

Cheeeeeeeeese!


What a great day! We'll be seeing a lot more of the zoo this spring and summer - we got a membership while we were there, so hopefully we'll be best friends with the gorillas and elephants by the end of the year!

Family Ski Trip : Crested Butte 2010

Crested Butte is unbelievably beautiful in Winter! The panoramic views were incredible everywhere we looked... I think it's safe to say, I was not ready to come home! We had a BALL! Here's the proof:

This picture almost looks fake, like a little snow village!

The kids had a great time navigating through all the snow!



I got to hit the slopes with my hubby a couple of times during the trip, thanks to David and Sally watching the little ones back at the condo for us! They are too sweet... thanks, guys!

Meet Brad, snowboarding extraordinaire (who knew?)... see next pic:

Mr. Ball went all X-Games on me... he was tearing up the slopes and having a great time and, as you can see, ventured out to try some crazy jumps! I love that he still has some kid in him... we have fun together!



Frank and Sally on the bunny slope lift, during one of her ski lessons

Brad and Hilaire snowboarding

Tanner really bonded with Uncle David! He loved to climb up on him and look through the pictures on his camera.

Here he is trying to walk in Uncle David's shoes!

On the last day, I took the kids down to the base to watch the skiers and see Daddy and Grampa. Here they are waving at Daddy as he gets strapped up to get on the ski lift (you can see Brad through the balcony rails down on the snow).




Farewell, Colorado! Can't wait to be back next year!

New Year's with Nana & Papa!

We had an absolutely fabulous week away in Colorado over New Year's! We left town early December 30th with Brad's Dad and headed to Denver to spend a few days with "Nana & Papa," followed by 5 days in Crested Butte with Brad's Aunt, Uncle and Cousin from Shreveport.

Here are some of my favorite pics from our time in Denver:

Tanner & Tori enjoyed Papa's sleigh rides around the yard (and I think Papa enjoyed it too)!

I love how Tori is grinning up at my Dad in this one.... so sweet!

Tori loved helping Nana clean the table... she felt so big!

Time for Christmas gifts... Tanner got a "big rig"; a red one, just like the one Papa drives!

He was thrilled and wanted it opened right away! He calls it his "wi-wig".... too cute!

Tori and Nana at "Parade of Lights"

Tori with Aunt Mary, Uncle Aaron and Papa at Parade of Lights

Tanner all bundled up, sitting by one of the tractors... he was disappointed that he couldn't get on it and sit in the real seat! Poor bubba.

Too bad we couldn't get them to look at the camera for this shot, it would have been a cute pic! They were too interested in everything else around.




We had such a great two-and-a-half days hanging out with Nana and Papa and I'm pretty sure they enjoyed having their grand twins around too! ;)

Up next, our trip to Crested Butte! Stay tuned...

Galleria Girl Day!

I forgot how much I LOVE the Galleria! On Monday morning, Tori and I dropped Tanner off at his Aunt and Uncle's house to have "boy day" with his cousin Hunter while the girls (Tori, Kaleigh and I) trekked out to Dallas for a fun girl day! It was Kaleigh's very first trip to the Galleria, so I could hardly wait to get there and show her around. I especially couldn't wait for her to see the GIGANTIC, three-story Christmas tree in the middle of the ice skating rink!

After a quick stop for cookies and hot cocoa, we went all the way to the top floor to see the Christmas tree and observe the ice skaters below. I wanted her to get a sense of how tall the tree was. We were on the fourth floor and the tree was still taller!

(Disclaimer: Photo quality will not be as good as usual... I just took my little snapshot camera so I wouldn't have to keep up with my huge Canon. Would hate to break that on the ice!)

Here's Kaleigh with the tree:

Tori with the tree:

Next, we headed downstairs to the ice skating area. Here are the girls in front of the tree on the (almost) bottom floor (the ice skating rink is actually the bottom level):

My little ice princess:

Kaleigh caught on quickly and was a pro in no time!

Mommy and Tori enjoying the ice:

How sweet is this?!!

This is FUN!

The beautiful Christmas tree... look how many ornaments are on it! That must take weeks to decorate!

Lunchtime at Genghis Grill... Tori felt like BIG STUFF getting to hang out with Kaleigh all day! Just look at that GRIN!


We've already decided we need to go again when we have more time to skate. We were having so much fun but we all got hungry and lunchtime got in the way. Next time, we'll skate till we drop! And I could definitely shop till I drop out there.... great stores!

I had such a fun day with my two favorite girls!!!

In Loving Memory...

Today marks the one year anniversary of my Maw Maw's homecoming. We sure do miss her down here but rejoice in knowing where she is! I can only imagine what she's been up to over the past year; likely catching up with loved ones, enjoying her new and perfected body, and adoring Jesus, of course! I also love knowing that she is finally reunited with Paw Paw, her four grandchildren and two daughters.... so neat to dream about what's going on in heaven today!

She was such a wonderful woman... I can't wait to see her again!!!!!!!!!!

(Maw Maw and Tori at our big First Birthday Bash... she was so proud of her great-grandbabies!)

In Loving Memory
Josephine Earle Connell
December 15, 1919 - December 29, 2008