Christmas 2014

We had a wonderful little Christmas in Lake Jackson this year. It is always hard to be away from our families during the holidays but it is also nice to have our own family traditions.

We started some traditions over the past few years of being together but this was the first year we actually could do them all. With the Alabama/Mississippi/Florida trip in December, it set a lot of planning back so I barely got up Christmas decor. To make up for it, we're leaving it up for several more weeks. Actually, that's just my excuse to not have to take down the Christmas lights.

Christmas Eve, we did a simple dinner with bread and salad. We did this to remember the simplicity that surrounded the birth of Jesus Christ. It was nice not to worry about making a larger, more time-consuming meal. We also opened new Christmas pajamas. It was a fun night with Ashton as she loved unwrapping presents.

Christmas morning started with Ashton waking up at 7am. We're always hopeful she'll sleep in one of these days. Well, Christmas Day was not that day. Oh well. Maybe next year. Ashton enjoyed opening presents but got pretty bored towards the end. She just wanted to play with her toys instead of open more of them. Here are some things she got:

One of her stocking gifts was full-strength apple juice. Typically, we dilute her juice with a LOT of water. She loved her juice!

My anniversary/Christmas/we've waited long enough gift! Joseph surprised me big time with it.

Her main focus was getting every piece of wrapping paper off.

Very excited to have her own baby doll. She puts it in her small stroller and pushes it around.

Her fancy New Balance running shoes from my brother.

I finally finished this pillow lounger. Ashton wasn't too impressed but I love it.

A talking picnic basket. She liked it until we got sick of pushing the buttons for it.

She also got the start of her college savings account. We're pretty boring parents as we thought that was an awesome gift. Overall, she loved her presents.

After presents and yummy cinnamon rolls, we went to the neighborhood park to burn off some energy. That evening, we had some friends over for dinner and playtime with Ashton and her (boy)friend, Will.

Vacation 2014: Hattiesburg

Friday was probably the most exciting day of the vacation for me. Not only did Joseph take Ashton for three hours so it was a mini-vacation for me, I also got to celebrate my graduation.

It was fun walking around campus finally and seeing where I actually "went" to school. I also got to meet my professors face to face, which was a lot of fun. They have heard so much my family so it was fun for all of us to meet. The speaker at the graduation focused on teaching and raising our children to be good citizens. It was nice to me because he spoke about how we can view children as tantrum throwing, terrible, vomit inducing, drooling, crying messes (which Ashton was being due to teeth and a week away from her home). Or we can view them as opportunities to change the world. By teaching Ashton and raising her to be a good, strong, motivated woman, I can help her change the world. It was a much needed talk for me as I was exhausted.

I will say, I was surprised by the size. USM is about half the size of BYU. BYU never seemed that big to me. But now I realize how big it was. At my undergraduate graduation, there were just over 700 students walking from just the school of business. I was number 698 if I remember correctly. At this graduation, there were maybe 300 students represented about five different colleges. For the sake of not listening to 700 names, it was nice.

Now I'm officially done with school. It has finally sunk in. I have applied to teach online at BYU-Idaho so we'll see what happens. The classes I am eligible to teach are all currently taking applicants for an "interest pool." So basically, they only call me if they need someone for a specific semester. It would be nice to have that job so I can keep up my resume for when I enter the workforce full-time again.

Walking across

Joe must have been proud to have her sleeping.

That night, she spilled all my M&Ms out on the hotel floor. You can tell it was a stressful week when I buy M&Ms

Had to buy a t-shirt with my new school

Vacation 2014: Mobile

After the zoo on Thursday, we drove to Mobile. We spent the night there and went to the Bellingrath Home and Garden Christmas lights show. It was pretty cool. Initially, we planned to do more in Mobile but due to Ashton's temperament, we made some changes. It was still cool to see the lights. Ashton also started getting her molars in Mobile so that was even more fun.

Vacation 2014: Pensacola

Monday afternoon, we left for Pensacola. Our hotel was right on the beach and we enjoyed being able to walk down there every day. We just hung out at the hotel, went swimming, and relaxed for the night. Ashton loved the luggage cart the most!

On Tuesday, we ventured down to historic Pensacola and to a children's museum. Ashton liked that a lot but she didn't really like much else that day. We tried to walk through a few museums downtown but Ashton didn't think that was cool. We headed back to the hotel, got some dinner, and played in the room.

Wednesday was spent at the naval aviation museum and a cool kids park. We quickly learned that we can no longer go to museums on vacations. Ashton didn't really care about anything and we weren't willing to deal with an active, loud toddler in a quiet museum.

Thursday morning, we went to the Gulf Breeze Zoo. It is a much smaller zoo than we're used to but it allowed us to get really close to the animals.

She loved riding this. She would play on it all night in the hotel room.

Swimming at the outdoor pool in 60 degree weather. It was much colder than we anticipated.

Teaching her how to hold a gun since we live in Texas.

The Naval Aviation Museum. It was on a military base, which was cool to drive around.

Perdido Kid's Park. It is a completely accessible playground, which is really neat to me.

Walking out on the boardwalk in Pensacola

Feeding the goats at the zoo. She had no fear about this.

Vacation 2014: Alabama

When I found out my graduation was in December, we decided to make the trek out to Mississippi for it. While we were at it, we thought we'd stop in Alabama to see Joseph's grandparents. He hasn't seen them since he was about 15. He even has an 11 year old cousin that he'd never met. That astounded me! The whole trip sounded like a great plan before Ashton decided to hate the car. But we made it!

We left Friday morning around 8am and got into Joseph's grandma's house at 7pm. Between the massive amount of toys and activities I made for Ashton and the DVD player we borrowed, we made it with only a few meltdowns. Our first stop was after an hour and a half into the trip and I thought, "This will take forever." But after that, she seemed to do a little bit better.

We drove into town at night so we didn't really know what we were passing by as we drove around. Saturday morning, we took Ashton to a park and got to see some more of the town. Brewton is an old town and has really cool plantation-looking homes. I would love to tour some of them just for the history behind them.

Saturday, Joseph's uncles came for lunch and brought their dog. Ashton loved playing with the dog. We went to a few more parks, went on walks, enjoyed some college football, and explored the big house.

Sunday, Joseph's aunt, uncle, and cousins came for lunch. After that visit, we drove to see his other grandmother in Castleberry. Ashton and I met Grandma Wilcox and also Joseph's uncles and cousins. One of the cousins has a little girl who is a few months younger than Ashton so it was fun to see them together.

Here are the pictures of this segment of our vacation.

Playing in the loft at Great-Grandma Tew's house

Reading books with great-aunt Eva

At a local park

Great-Grandma Wilcox

Thanksgiving 2014

This year for Thanksgiving, we had Joseph's brothers come visit. Our house was pretty full with four little kids and six adults. We got to meet our niece for the first time, which was fun. Ashton is no longer the youngest girl in the family. Everyone arrived Wednesday so we could get an early start to cooking on Thursday. I cooked a turkey for the first time and was pretty happy with the results. We played at the park in the morning and ate lots of food that day.

I was really excited about the braided bread that I made.

Friday, we followed tradition by going to the beach. We love that we live so close even when it's cold out. The boys had fun playing in the waves despite the cold water. All the cousins enjoyed some quality sand castle time. It was fun to go together. I forgot how much Ashton loves the beach and wish I would have taken her more often during the summer.

Saturday we went swimming at the rec center in town and played outside a bunch. With three of the four kids on nap schedules, it was hectic trying to find a time where everyone could go together. But we made it work. Ashton learned some new tricks from her cousin, Oliver. She now stands by the front door when she wants to go outside. And she goes right to her highchair when she's hungry. It's helpful.

All in all, we had a great Thanksgiving with family.

Be Careful What You Pray For

Last night, Joseph and I discussed our upcoming road trip. I was very overwhelmed and stressed as I pondered how we would survive a nine hour road trip with Ashton. Just to give you an idea of how much she hates the car, she cries on the way to Wal-mart. That ride takes about 8 minutes. So we're in trouble! After Joseph went to bed, I laid awake thinking about the whole situation. There was no way I was cancelling the trip as we had many plans to see family plus walk at my graduation. So I turned to the scriptures, talks from General Conference and a lot of prayer. My main prayer was to have the patience and strength to survive the day of driving.

Well, be careful what you pray for. I think God had a good laugh about my prayer and then gave me "today." I offered to babysit for a family in the ward as the mom had a doctor appointment in Houston. They live across the street. We went over there around lunch time and we were doing great. It was three girls, including Ashton, all under four. But we were smooth sailing. Naps went well. Life was good. Then 3pm rolled around and school got out for the older girls in the family. Normally, the girls just walk home since we live about two blocks from the school. However, this school is very strict about walking home when it's raining. Because there had been maybe three sprinkles of rain fall, the school decided that kids could not walk home. The school called me a little after three asking if I could come and get them. I explained that I did not have a vehicle big enough to fit all the kids. I asked if they could walk home and I would meet them at the corner. The school said, "Okay, I'll see if there are other kids walking and have them walk with them." Great, wonderful. So I stayed home with the kids and played some more. About 25 minutes later, the girls still aren't home so I get a little nervous and call the school again. "Oh, we thought you were coming to get them. They're still here!" was their response. I felt terrible as I know how scary it can feel being stuck at school and not knowing who is coming.

So picture this: Me walking down the street, holding Ashton, and encouraging a two and three year old to walk. I stop at my house thinking I would grab our stroller for one kid and our push car for the two-year-old. Well the oldest child wants to ride Ashton's tricycle. So now imagine this: Me pushing a stroller and a push car side by side and encouraging a three year old to ride a very small tricycle down the street. We were quite the scene. One lady stopped and asked if I needed help. I thought back to the story at conference where the lady gets on the bus with seven kids and the driver asks, "Are these all your's or are you going on a picnic?" No, the kids were not all mine and we were on no picnic! After a few meltdowns, we made it to the school, got the girls, and made the trek back.

When I got home, I felt like I had lost the fight. I felt very discouraged. And then I thought back to my prayers and how Heavenly Father had given me the patience and strength to get through the dilemma. I didn't lose my cool and I didn't toss in the towel. I feel it was God's way of letting me know that He still listens to my prayers, maybe a little too carefully. I feel better prepared to handle a road trip but we'll see what happens.