Holiday Festivities

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas and New Year's last year. It was pretty cold during the break so we did our best to get outside when we could. This snowy and cold winter has definitely confirmed to us that we enjoy living in the South and have no intentions of moving back to a cold state. I'd take a hot and humid summer over a freezing and snowy winter any day.

Ashton helping wrap my stocking gifts that she came up with

Santa came to our house one night.

The preschool program day. Tanner did great standing in front until he saw us in the audience. I ended up sitting with him in front.

Ashton loved the program and did great!

Ashton knew a little bit more about Santa this year but was still pretty oblivious to it all. She knew he came in the middle of the night but that was all. I even wrapped the Santa gift in different wrapping paper but I don't think she would have realized. If you ask her now, she has no clue what Santa brought her versus what she got from family. I'm glad she's not overly into it as it helps her appreciate who got her gifts instead. Her favorite gift is the little kid sewing machine and sewing kit that my parents sent.

Singing Christmas songs together

Tanner loved Christmas morning and was much more into playing with each present than opening them. This appalled Ashton as she was determined to open every present before playing with them. Tanner has really enjoyed the magnatiles that the kids got together and Ashton's scooter.

We went to church Christmas Eve and then laid low that day. We did our traditional movie night with the mattress in the living room. The kids actually laid down/rested for most of the movie. Last year, Ashton was still all over the place during the movie so it was nice to enjoy it this year.

In preparation for Christmas Day dinner at our house, I planned to make a blueberry cheesecake on Christmas Eve. I started it in the afternoon and did a water bath for the first time. I also used a different recipe than my normal "go-to" one. Well, the water bath failed miserably and water got into the pan (despite the multiple layers of foil to keep it out), which made the crust soggy. The rest of the cheesecake was perfect. I was out of cream cheese and it was Sunday night. I knew I wouldn't have enough time on Christmas Day to get it baked and cooled in time for dinner as the stores that were open on Christmas Day didn't open until late morning. I found a few friends who had extra cream cheese and we piled into the van around 8pm to go get them. I set out to make another cream cheese that night but this time, I used my trusty recipe. This recipe requires about 3+ hours of baking. The cheesecake finished right before midnight and the last step of the recipe is to turn up the oven to 500 degrees and bake it for 5-8 minutes just to brown it a little. So I did that like I always do. Well, five minutes in and something on the bottom of the oven started to burn and fill the house with smoke. Smoke alarms starting going off and woke up Joseph and Ashton (Ashton was sleeping in our room already for some random reason). It took us 15 minutes to get the smoke out and the alarms to stop going off. Miraculously, Tanner slept through the whole thing despite the smoke alarm in his room going off too. It was a yummy cheesecake on Christmas day.

The finished cheesecake

Christmas morning was filled with presents and eating crepes. We had a few families over for dinner that night, which was fun. The kids played well and we enjoyed some adult conversation at the dinner table.

Always a satisfaction when your rolls do just what you want them to.

The week between Christmas and New Years was more laid back. I took my gestational diabetes test and passed! Although, I am still anemic so they increased my iron intake for the third time this pregnancy. Ugh... I also was able to go with the church youth to San Antonio for a day. We planned this trip to go to the temple there because the Houston temple is closed for several months due to flooding. It was a long day of lots of driving but well worth it in the end.

The pizza slices where we had lunch with the youth.

For New Year's, we got together with a few families and did a countdown to 7pm. The kids had a blast playing PieFace and some other games. The entire family was asleep well before midnight and I woke up to the fireworks in our neighborhood to remind me that it was the new year.

We're getting back into the swing of things now. BYU-Idaho started this week as well as the kids going back to preschool. Just 6-8 more weeks until our life turns upside down again with baby girl's arrival. I asked the doctor if he would intervene in any way after 39 weeks as Joseph's mom is coming at that point. He laughed and said I won't be making it to 39 weeks given my first two deliveries. We'll see about that.

Pre-Christmas Festivities in December

We had a lot of fun with family visits, #LightTheWorld, and other Christmas activities this month.

Joseph's parents came to visit a few days before and after a cruise they went on. We went to Home Depot to their builder's workshop.

Put some hooks in the entry way closet and Tanner had to help.

Always decorating the Christmas tree.

My parents arrived about 12 hours after Joseph dropped off his parents at the airport. We spent a few days in town and then all went to my sister's RV/campground about two hours away for a few more days. Ashton enjoyed a sleepover at my parent's hotel and then again at my sister's RV. With my parents, we visited the beach, collected seashells, ate yummy food, went to the sea center in town, and played at the park a lot. At my sister's place, we found a few fun parks, rode our bikes around, and enjoyed playing games with family. We celebrated Christmas between us and had a delicious Christmas dinner as well. Joseph stayed back to work so it was just me and the kiddos.

Took a trip to the children's museum with my parents.

Walking Molly around the RV park.

It snowed in southeast Texas! The last time it snowed here was 2004 so I keep reminding Ashton that this may be the only snow she sees until she moves away. I woke up around 11pm and asked Joseph if it was snowing yet. If it was, I planned to wake Ashton up to experience it as I thought the snow would melt by morning. It wasn't snowing yet so we all went to bed. It was quite surprising to wake up the next morning to about two inches of snow in our backyard. I woke up Ashton around 7am and covered her eyes until she was by the backdoor. Her face was very confused when she saw it as she had little idea what it could be. We spent most of the morning playing outside, coming in to warm up, and then heading back out. We had a snowball fight, slid down the snowy slide, and tried to build a snowman. It is a day I won't forget as I saw snow through a child's eye. Tanner liked it until his hands became too cold. The one downfall of the snow is that it seems to have killed our carrot crop. Good thing carrots are cheap. However, Joseph and I agree; we still don't miss snow. We are very happy with an extra hot summer where we can swim at the beach rather than being stuck in white snow for months on end in the winter.

I love their reaction. They just weren't quite sure what to do.

Playing after lunch time with the little snow that was left. Tanner was over bundling up and preferred to just go out in his diaper.

Each town in our area does a "Christmas in the Park" night and we made it to our town's and one other. Because of the cold temperatures, it wasn't as busy as it normally is, which was great. It meant our kids got more one on one time with Santa. We roasted S'mores and played at the park in about 35 degree weather.

Riding the little train they had.

 Tanner had his post-op appointment in Houston a week before Christmas. It went alright; the doctor is nervous about one aspect so we will see him again in the summer and determine if another surgery is needed. Good thing we will have a baby next year so we'll meet our deductible no matter what! After the appointment, we rode the Hermann Park mini-train, had a picnic lunch, and played at the big park there.

Typical response from the kids: Tanner is saying, "Cheese" and Ashton is giving me the scowl.

We had our neighbor over for dinner one night and she goes all out for our kids! We don't even need to buy them presents after what she purchased for them. Ashton got eight Disney Princess dolls and Tanner got a few fun toys that he loves. We are very fortunate to have a good neighbor and love her interaction with our kids.

We had a few church Christmas parties. At the Spanish one, they always do fun games and a pinata. The kids loved it as always.

A common sight lately. Tanner is thoroughly enjoying coloring with his sister these days.

Christmas Letter 2017

This past year has been another fun-filled year for our family. Here are some highlights for each of us:

Joseph:
Joseph is coming up on his five-year mark with Dow Chemical and now works as a process control engineer for a plant. His fantasy football team is doing very well this year and he hopes to win the league. He continues to serve as the Young Men's President in the Spanish congregation in town.

Casie:
Casie continues to teach for BYU-Idaho in the child development department. Aside from teaching, Casie stays home with Ashton and Tanner. Some hobbies include playing volleyball with the church league, sewing clothes and things for the kids, planning events for her calling as Young Woman's President, and trying new recipes.

Ashton:
Ashton turned four in September and continues to learn and grow quickly. Her current favorites include Disney princesses, dress-up, writing letters to people, and riding her two-wheeler. Her reading skills are picking up and she looks forward to being able to read books by herself. Ashton attends a local preschool and thoroughly enjoys playing with her friends there. She is our social butterfly and knows all the neighborhood dogs and kids by name. She aspires to be a space astronaut and pet trainer (preferably to train pets to go to outer space).

Tanner:
Tanner is approaching 2 next month and is all boy! This kid is constantly moving, climbing, running, etc. Nothing slows him down. He loves riding his tricycle outside and is about ready to move to a balance bike. His verbal skills are starting to pick up and he has about 20-30 words he uses intermittently. Over the last few weeks, he's worked hard to put a few words together. Often, it is, "River, out" or "Molly, NO!" He loves doing anything that annoys his big sister. Tanner also enjoys food, building towers, reading football books, playing at the park, and making his family laugh.

Baby #3:
We are welcoming our third child into our family in March. It's a little girl and Ashton is over the moon about that. We're getting ready (as much as we can) to be outnumbered as parents. It will be fun to get all of Ashton's baby clothes out and see them on another girl. We're praying she delays her arrival until her due date so Joseph can finish his chemical plant's turnaround (where he works 12 hour shifts, 6-7 days a week for about 4-6 weeks). We'll see how well she does at listening considering both her siblings arrived 2-3 weeks early.

October and November

Here's a photo recap of October and November for our family.

This kid falls asleep almost anywhere.

Lots of sweet potato fries to freeze!

We finished out Ashton's first soccer season. We'll see if she does it again.

Dinner during a Laurel/Priest mutual activity. These two kids loved eating the fancy meal together.

We visited College Station one weekend to meet up with Joe's brother and his family from Utah. We still miss them living in Texas but survive with yearly visits. Cousins played well, which is always nice! Can't wait until next time!

Four cousins together!

Tanner had his surgery at the end of October at a children's hospital in Houston. It went well aside from the fact that the surgery wasn't until noon. This meant no food from midnight on! The surgery lasted about 1.5 hours and went according to plan. Tanner woke up pretty groggy and irritable but once he could eat, he felt much better. He received a caudal block on top of general anesthesia, which made him walk pretty wobbly again. He loved the nurses and all the doctors. Birth defect was repaired and we're hoping no more surgeries for this kid. He has two good size scars but that's the only effect of the surgery.

Dressed up for the mutual Halloween Dance. I made all of the costumes this year (aside from Joseph's white shirt).

Trick or treating was a hit with the kids. They still have candy leftover since my rule is one piece a day.

With my sister so close, we've been enjoying spending the weekends with her. We met up at the Space Center and had a great time there.

Made fake snow since Ashton begs for snow. We spent 10 minutes playing with it and about 30 minutes cleaning it all up from Tanner throwing it.

Thanksgiving program at preschool.

Riding a pony at the Festival of Lights festival in town. It was the one ride they picked out.

Exhausted after the Festival of Lights parade later that night.

Turkey for Thanksgiving. Our deal with our neighbors is that if I make the turkey, they'll make everything else. I love that agreement!

Spent the day at the zoo with my sister too.

Was so excited to make the Christmas train gingerbread thing. I despise them as I end up doing most of the work.

We hit 25 weeks! Baby girl is doing well and Tanner now says Baby. We're just hoping Tanner doesn't sit on the baby.