Weekend Away...

Last month we took a little labor day weekend getaway to visit our good friends the Anderson's in Austin and Weston's sister (and fam) in College Station. After a lame summer filled with the end stages of pregnancy, having the new little one c-section and complications wazoo...

we thoroughly enjoyed our time away. 

Swimming at Barton Springs with the Anderson's. 

Oliver had his first little dip. 

It was so hot...I felt bad for the little man. 

If anyone knows Weston....they know that when he gets hot, he gets grumpy. After the springs we went to eat at the Hula Hut...a restaurant right on Lake Austin. Still a little grumpy we ordered and when the waitress brought Weston his beverage in this larger than life glass.....

all grumpiness dispelled and he was oh SO happy. It's the simple things. :) 

 The Hula Hut

Picking out our future boat parking space at the dock on Lake Austin. 

 In Austin, under the congress street bridge lives the largest bat colony in the US. At peak season, which is the end of August, there are anywhere from 750,000 - 1 million bats which live underneath. We have been waiting to take the boys since last summer and smokes was it worth the wait! It was one of the coolest things we have seen in a very long time. It was amazingly magical. Check out the video below. :)

Watching the bats fly underneath. 

Here is the video- If you are receiving this via email you need to go to our blog to watch it. This video is a little small so if you watch it on YouTube you will be able to see the clouds of bats better. :) 

NEXT STOP was the BIG TOP candy shop. Yes, it too was magical. Any candy you could ever think of plus 100 times more. In addition to a full service ice cream and soda parlor, fine chocolates and old fashioned shaved ice. We spent a ridiculous $28 on candy but it was worth it.

I was so bummed. I had been looking forward to getting my delicately shaved ice but when we got there they were out. We thought of you Ronna and then we came back the next morning to get our fix! :)

Next stop was onto Larry & Misty's house in College Station. Weston had been there helping them unpack their truck but it was me and the boys first time. We had a fun Whataburger picnic under a shady tree at the George Bush Museum and had fun walking around seeing the sights.

Cute cousins. 

Mayson loves little Oliver and snuggled him every chance she could. 

It was so great spending time with friends and family. 

Just read this Winnie the Pooh book the other day with my boys:

"Some days can be kind of bland,

For reasons we don’t understand.
And so we droop and slump along,
Not knowing how to fix what’s wrong.
No activity’s appealing,
While we have that ho-hum feeling.
Then friends arrive and ring the bell,
And just like magic—all is well!
Oh, how wonderful life can be
When instead of 'I', there is a 'we'.”

I love it and it is so very true. Life is much better when shared. (:

Oliver's Blessing

On September 11th we had the opportunity to bless Oliver! I finished his blessing outfit just in time and  thought it turned out precious. I have made all my boys blessing outfits from the same basic pattern but each one is a little different. I make them each out of white linen. For O's I added a collar and pockets. I also had it monogrammed on the front. Weston gave a really thoughtful blessing and we were happy to be able to share that special day with close friends and family. Weston's dad was here from Utah and his sister Misty and family drove down from college station as well. 

Priesthood in the circle: 

Weston Hall, Lynn Hall, Larry Kalke, Kevin Fronk, Jereck Boss, 

Scott Challburg, Rico Maranto, Elder Hunt & Elder Axtel. 

 Oliver was a perfect gentleman during the blessing. 

He is such a sweet boy and we are so grateful to have him in our family. :)

Afterward, the cousins ran around crazy, eating like hungry monkeys and

 gave our play structure a serious run for its money. :) 

Money well spent for sure. 

Happy Day!

June 2nd was a really exciting day! Our friend Mike got baptized! He had been seriously investigating the church for about 8 months when he committed to baptism. Mike and Amy have been married for about 4 years and Amy has been a member for most of her life. She is the sweetest. When we first moved to KW, I was Amy's visiting teacher and shortly after that she met Mike. From the first time I met him, I could just feel that he was a really great guy and he is! It has been such an awesome experience watching them grow together as a family unit and see him embrace the gospel the way he has. We are grateful they are in our lives and that we got to be part of their special day! 

(Yes, I am 8.5 months pregnant in this picture, black is a wonderful thing!)

Weston baptized him and a week later gave him the priesthood. They went to the temple this past Saturday to do baptisms for the dead and plan to get sealed as a family in a year. :D

The Keifer's with Elder Byers & Elder Judkins

Warren's 6th Despicable Birthday

This year Warren's birthday came on Wednesday. It was tuff waiting until Saturday for his party but we still celebrated at home. We decorated the house.

 He was honored at school with an "official" birthday hat. We sang to him and opened presents from mom, dad & Ben. 

He wanted a Despicable Me party (themed after the movie) this year so I took his Kindergarten class these Gru cupcakes. Later he chose to go out to Cici's Pizza for dinner and he got to play lots of games this time. :) 

The next day Aunt Julie came over to wish him a Happy Birthday. He had to show her his new club house, therefore the present opening had to take place there too. 

 Friday, I started making the fixins for his Despicable Me cake which included these minions. It was my first time making marshmallow fondant but it was suprisingly easy to sculpt with.  Later that night we caught Benjamin feasting on the minions in the kitchen. 

I thought I had put them out of sight and then the next morning he greeted us in bed like this....we found the entire tub of minions in his bedroom and two more missing. 

 Here it is...my first fancy birthday cake. ;) I won't say how long it took me to make it but at least I had fun doing it. I thought it turned out pretty cool. Warren loved it!  The moon, stars & Gru's silhouette was made out of the same fondant as the minions. The rest is just regular icing. We served the cake with girl scout cookies. If you haven't seen the movie...the orphans sell girl scout cookies and that is how Gru gets the idea of using them for his scheme. :)

 We played "freeze ray" tag. If you were frozen a friend could unfreeze you by crawling 

between your legs. 

 We had a "squid launching" competition which the kids thoroughly enjoyed...

Party bags were girl scout cookie themed and filled with despicably appropriate door prizes: squirt guns, pop fireworks, star bubbles, crazy straws, etc. 

Singing to the birthday boy! 

I made the boys Gru scarfs and the girls tutu's & crowns 

(the orphans do a ballet performance in the movie).  

Last but not least.... PRESENTS! He had a great day! When I asked him what his favorite part was (besides presents) he gave me the biggest hug and said, "all of it!" 

Happy Birthday Warren! We love you! 

Here's the live video singing Happy Birthday.  

Arizona sunshine...

 This year for Girls Weekend we visited Katie in Phoenix! As always we had such a great time. Despite the two pregnant ladies (Me & Ronna) fighting off morning sickness, lack of sleep and swelling of the feet! Katie's parents live just around the corner from her and were so kind to let us crash at their place. :)

We had such a wonderful day going to the Mesa Temple together! Katie had been bragging up the food so afterwards we ate in the temple cafeteria, which was a first for the rest of us. It was really good! I loved being in the temple with these ladies and am so grateful for them all. :)   

Later, after some serious shopping, Katie took us to this awesome wig shop! I had never tried on a wig before in my LIFE... but we had so much fun experimenting with different styles. :) The lighting wasn't the best but I think you get the idea. :) 

Cheri found her fav pretty quickly.

We had a fantastic time snacking & gallery hopping in old town Scottsdale. Later, we stopped in for a late night treat at the famous Sugar Bowl ice cream shop. The Sugar Bowl is where Family Circus (the comic strip) originated and was written.

Katie was a great host. Among the temple, wigs, art & ice cream: we saw an awesome yodeler perform, ate at lots of yummy restaurants, went purse shopping, saw the Adjustment Bureau, spent many late nights talk talk talking and received a first class painting lesson from Katie. :)

Matthew Rojas, Esquire...dad and husband extraordinaire! It's always great to see how our kids have grown and catch up with the guys. All of Katie's family lives nearby so we got to spend some time with everyone. This picture is dedicated to all of our great hardworking husbands who take over our motherly duties each year and support us while we become women of the wind for a few days! We are grateful for  them! Until next year....Houston 2012. :) 

Thanksgiving Fun

Thanksgiving was a very busy day this year! We had two dinner invitations and a play date all in one day so I made sure to make lots of Pie. I started the day before and finished up Thanksgiving morning. Here you see two apple crumble, two lemon chiffon and two pumpkin chiffon. The pumpkin is served with homemade whipped cream and toffee brittle on top. Oh and did I mention in is made with eggnog too?  It was a new recipe I tried this year and it was very delicious! Yum! 

Warren our native Thanksgiving indian. 

Earlier in the day we stopped by Uncle Steve & Aunt Julie's house to say hello and prime our feast appetite on. Cousins Robert & Kristen had their first baby, McKenna, just a few weeks before. We got to hold & snuggle her which is always a bonus! 

After we visited Payette's we joined some good friends the Boss' for Thanksgiving Diner. Lara is known for her cooking and she did not let us down! The food was yummy and we all ate way too much. I couldn't even eat my pie! Can you believe I didn't take any pictures? I know. I forgot my camera and my phone so I have no record of the fancy table or the amazing food but it was impressive! ;D We hung out for a while, played games and watched football. 

 Later, the missionaries came over for pie and our friends the Keifer's also came over for pie and to make gingerbread houses! We made a huge mess but had lots of fun! They are too fun!

Warren & Mom's creation. When I see this picture I just laugh because I was completely exhausted. LOL It's amazing what you can do when you have fun people around to keep you going! :D 

Amy & Wyatt's and as you can see Wyatt ate more than he built! lol 

It was a fun day for us. Even though we don't get to be with all our loved ones every holiday, you were all in our thoughts and know that we are very grateful to have you in our lives!