We Love Grandma Beverly!

On our way out of town we had to make one last stop...a visit with grandma Beverly! The kids love going to house and seeing all of her amazing decorations and beautiful things. I remember going as a little girl and thinking that grandma's house was so fancy. Miaja always loves to go into grandma's bathroom. She'll come out saying, "It's so amazing in there!" She does pretty good for being in her 80's and living on her own. One of the women I admire most in this world is grandma. She has blessed many lives with countless acts of service and she has done it without the support of a spouse. we hope that she know how much we love her! Merry Christmas grandma!

Coombs family Christmas

This year we had the first Coombs family white elephant gift exchange! It was a lot of fun and we ended-up with one of my favorite Christmas decorations...a "Let It Snow" sign (thanks Amanda)! It just great to see the kids have such a wonderful time with so many cousins! Grandma and grandpa coombs also had a special little cake and candles to celebrate Chase's birthday! Thanks grandma and grandpa!!!

Christmas traditions

A long standing tradition in my family is the white elephant gift exchange and cousin gift exchange night. Part of grandma and grandpa's Christmas is they give each grandchild (who lives close enough) a little money then we all go to the store together and have a certain amount of time to choose a gift to give to a cousin. The kids LOVE this and although it's crazy at the store all the kids love getting to go to the store withtheir cousins! The white elephant for the "grow-ups" is hilariuos and there are a wide range of gifts. Everyting from a LARGE carpet picture (framed) to various "costumes" (I won't go into detail)! It's a blast and only seems to get better with years!

Oh Christmas Tree!

We got to decorate two trees this year...our own but first we got to help grandma and grandpa Vorkink decorate their tree. Grandma and grandpa were good sports to let the kids decorate the way kids do best...bottom quarter heavy in the middle! Maija, Chase and Ayden loved decorting with grandma and grandpa. They make everything magical!

A favorite when we visit Utah is the sleepovers with "Aunt Lola". The kids pretty much adore "Lola" and she's pretty great to them. We had fun searching Salt Lake City for gluten-free food for Jay's birthday. Thanks Lola for always making time this crazy bunch! We love you.

I just wanted to post some favorite pictures from our trip to Utah! We had such a blast! The kids were fantastic in the car and just being near family was "just what the doctor ordered"!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas! I figured I should atleast post a Christmas note since we will be a little behind on our "New Year/Valentine's" card. Oh well, what can ya do?!?! We had a wonderful Christmas. Jaron was able to be home both Christmas Eve night and Christmas day! It was really fun to see the kids excitement on Christmas Eve. They were so excited to put out the cookies and reindeer food! I felt especially blessed this Christmas. Once again, Merry Christmas! Hopeful I get our card out soon.

Sleep-over + Fort= LOTS OF FUN!!!

So I just have to show you what I found while I was typing the ealier post. I could hear Miaja and Chase giggling so I went in to check on them. Daddy had built them a fort ealier today and they begged me to let them sleep in it. The pictures don't so it justice but when I went in they were having the time of their lives pretending they were in the "Fairy Forest" (Miaja's idea I'm sure!) i love these guys!

What a night!! The kids and I decided that for family home evening we were going to make goodie plates for our neighbors so we started early this morning making treats...cookies, brownies, caramels(not an easy thing for me and an especially large challenge with my greatest cooking helper...AYDEN)! We bundled up for the 70 degree weather and started our trip around the neighborhood. Well...one house led to another and another and there are so any cute kids and great friends that the extra plates I'd made for friends at our church will have to be replaced. It was so great to see the excitement in the kids faces as they got to surprise friends with a little treat. With all the busyness of the holidays I felt so grateful to really feel the spirit in Christmas and to see it in our kids faces. We wish daddy could have been there but we saved him a plate of goodies!
Merry Christmas!!!

So we finally got to go camping here in Texas and we had such a great time. It was a little chilly last night but nothing that mounds of sleeping bags couldn't handle. I was really sad...I went to take a picture of the kids playing while Jer and I "set-up camp" when I realized that I'd left the picture card in our computer!!! We still had such a great time and the kids were in heaven collecting beautiful rocks, leaves and sticks! Maybe Texas has a little outdoor enjoyment to offer!!!!

Miaja's "BIG" Week!

Miaja came home from school yesterday, sat down next to me on the couch and said, "Mom, I've had a really big week!" I thought that was pretty cute, and she actually has had a fun (BIG) week! Miaja's kindergarten class performed in a Veterans Day celebration which was really neat. Since we have been "full-blown" military I have definitely grown in my appreciation for those who serve in the armed forces and their families. Especially those men and women who leave their families for months, even years, at a time. It takes real team work for a family to do that successfully and a respect the dedication and devotion I see in so many who serve. Miaja also had a bike rodeo, (I forgot my camera), and had a blast! True Miaja form, she did all the obstacles without a moments hesitation and completely focused. She's got some real drive in her that I admire. The best part for her was that she and her three little friends all happened to have the same princess bike just like a little girl!) This week, Ott Elementary is celebrating books and to top the week of the kids got to dress-up as their favorite book character. I knew before she said a word who she would want to be...FANCY NANCY! Boy, was she fancy this morning! It's great to see her get so involved and really have fun at the same time. She's really becoming quite the big girl!

We had such a great Halloween this year! It seemed to be extra long with a trunk-or-treat at church the Saturday before, school parties and then the grand finale...trick-or-treating! The greatest part about trick-or-treating here in San Antonio (at least in our neighborhood) it is definitely a family affair. We're talking music, everyone in their front yards sitting on lawn chairs and visiting. It was great! The kids had a blast playing in the front yard with some of their neighborhood friends. I just kept a look-out for our little FIVE-LEGGED friend..the creepy geko! Hope you all had a Happy Halloween as well!

Just few more pictures from our visit with grandma & grandpa Coombs!