It's Official



It's Official!  After 10 days of hardly any sleep, painting, cleaning, packing up, and lots and lots of work our house went on the market today!  I am super excited!  House on lots of land, here we come!



Good Ole Rocky Top!

For Spring Break we went back to TN to visit!  There are alot of things about TN that we have missed since moving to TX almost 3 years ago.   This is our old house and we just had to go see it.



Our Yard there, with all the trees and land, was definately one of the things we have missed the most.  In Frisco you don't really have yards.  You have very small, I don't even know what you would call it but isn't not much of a yard. When we moved into our house in TX the kids would say "Mom how are you going to make the yard bigger?" 3 years later they still miss their really big yard.



While we were in TN we went hiking several times.  There are so many beautiful places to hike to.  This hike is to one of our favorites, Grotto Falls. 

Waterfalls.  Lots and Lots of Waterfalls in the Smokey Mountains to hike to.



Brayden and I crossing a stream in the mountains.  Our family loves water and their are alot of streams, rivers, and lakes in TN.  Something we did frequently when we lived their. 



We also went on our favorite drive in the mountains while we were there.  To Cades Cove.  In Cades Cove their are always lots of animals to see.  Black Bear, lots and lots of deer, wild turkeys, and even wild horses.  But this was a new one for us, even though we have driven through here 100's of times, a coyote.  Yes, a coyote walked right past our car.  Totally awesome when you are safely in your car, but would not be so cool if we had of been hiking or riding our bikes.

Like I said there are always lots of deer to be seen.  In this one spot there were 26 just hanging out.  So, we got out of our car and got as close as we could without scaring them off and made pictures.  It was sooooo awesome.  We even saw Elliot, the 1 antler deer from Open Season.

The Great Smokie Mountains.  We spent ALOT of time in the mountains when we lived in TN so we had to spend as much time as possible in the mountains while we were there.

This is the Little River that runs through the Smokie Mountains.  We spent alot of time here year round.  In the summer we would tube down it and in the winter we would throw rocks and just hang out watching the river.

Bryan and the boys seeing if they can actually catch a fish with Bryce's makeshift fishing pole.

Ms Savanah posing by the water seriously thinking about wadding in the cold water.

Brayden checking it out.  Yep, it's pretty cold!

Sierra Girl finding rocks to skip.

We also visited our favorite aquarium, The Aquarium of the Smokies!

The kids touching the sting rays.  They have several places, in the aquarium, where the kids can touch different kinds of sting rays.  It is so awesome!

Bryan and the kids in the shark tunnel. 

Savanah & Sierra in a fish tank.  "Get me out!"

Bryce and Brayden in the fish tank. "I don't know how much longer I can hold my breath!"

And you know our family, we HAVE to have a funny picture for everything we do.  So, we found this machine where the kids could put their money in and either get out a mustache or crazy teeth.  The kids just HAD to do it and Bryan and I couldn't resist, we thought it was to stinkin funny.  What was really funny is Bryce put his money in and got a black mustache, then Savanah put her money in and got a red mustache.  How quinckeydink is that?  Then Brayden and Sierra got silly teeth.

Bryan and I couldn't miss out on the fun!

We had a blast in TN!  We stayed with our adopted TN family, Marie and Jim, I should have gotten a picture of them.  They live on 30 acres right outside the Smokies.  It is so beautiful there.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get my family out of TN.  We just LOVE being outdoors exploring and we haven't really found that here in TX where we live.  The day after we got home was a beautiful day so we tried to get the kids to go outside and play.  But they hate our yard and their friends, who have little yards too, only want to play their game systems.  We decided we were just not made for Subdivision Life.  We needed land and trees and water.  SO, we decide to put our house on the market and find just that, here in TX.  SO, we are looking @ 2 different houses.  1 right by the Lake on 1 acre and 1 about 5 minutes from the Lake on 2 acres with a barn and a place for animals.  Decisions, decisions.  But one thing we know is that we are out of Frisco Texas and need some space to roam and be free!  We will keep you updated.  My house will go on the market on Friday and since the market has really picked up here the last 3 weeks we are praying that it sells fast.  (My friends sold in 3 weeks, so I am praying mine will also!)  Land, trees and water here we come!  Thank you TN for inspiring us and reminding us of what we really love! 

No longer Private!

After much consideration I decided that my blog will no longer be private that way more of my family and friends can keep in touch with our family and what we are up to.
We had an awesome spring break so I will update soon!

Birthdays!

The First of the year is ALWAYS a busy time for our family.  We have 3 birthdays right together.  And Brayden's always starts it off.  Brayden turned 8 on January 29th and was very blessed to be baptised on his birthday.  He was so excited and could not wait to be baptised.  We had so many of our family and friends that came to celebrate this special day in Brayden's life.  (We also had lots of wonderful family and friends that were here in spirit but lived too far away to come.)



Our ward does this thing they call "Eight is Great" before all the kids get baptised.  I thought this theme was very fitting!  Brayden treasured his baptism, his scriptures, his journal, and his CTR towel on his special day.



Later that afternoon several of his friends came over for a football party.  Brayden usually LOVES the gifts he gets from everyone but this year the toys didn't mean as much to him, which was very surprising to me.  I am truly amazed at this little boy.  I have never seen a kid so excited about his baptism and the spiritual aspects of it and not care about the toys.  He truly treasures his membership in the church and his scriptures, that was all he cared about that day.  I pray we all can be like this!

Savanah girl turned 7 on February 9th.  She wanted a FANCY NANCY birthday party.  Was it ever fitting for Miss Diva herself.  She had alot of fun.  The girls all dressed FANCY and as soon as they arrived Savanah took them to her room and put makeup on them.  Then we made all the girls pictures and they made fancy picture frames for them. 

Savanah, Sierra and all her friends all dressed up for the party!

They then had fruit cabobs, princess cake, and "tea" (apple juice).  Afterwards Savanah opened up all her FANCY sparkly gifts.  She isn't a little girl anymore.  She got a sparkly sequin purse, sparkly sequin clothes, jacket and clothes, jewelry kit, necklaces, fancy nancy doll, tye dye t-shirt kit, a diary, sequin scarfs, and a sequin hat.  The girl was in hog heaven with all the bling.  She is such a teeny bopper in a 7 yr. old body.  Boy am I in trouble when she really is a teenager. 

Bryce turned 10 on February 7th.  (I can't believe he is 10.  Where did the time go?)  Bryce LOVES Lego's.  So he decided he wanted to go to the Lego store this year for his birthday.  Some of his family and friends gave him money so he really had a good time and spent every dime at the lego store.

Bryce, Brayden and his buddies all excited to go into the Lego store.

And you can't have a lego party without a Lego cake!  We also served lego pizza and lego pretzels.  (I made square pizza with pepperoni to make it look like a lego and found square pretzels)  These were a big hit with the kids.
After 3 birthdays in 11 days mommy was pretty birthdayed out.  Thank goodness, for mommy, we have 6 months before another one, but not so fun for sweet Sierra to have to wait so long.   

Texas Black Ice!

(Brayden's baptism!)

This week the kids went to school on Monday and then during the night the Famous Texas Black Ice hit.  What was different about this winter storm is that it hasn't gotten above 19 in 3 days, with a windchill that has stayed about 0 or -4.  With it that cold and all the ice schools and business' have shut down.  So, we have hunkered down and spent the week inside.  Normally we would all be going crazy by now, but amazingly enough we have had a really good time.  We have played games, made crafts, played WII, watched some movies and made Valentines.  I made sure that we did activities together and we have had alot of fun together. 
Bryan and I have been going through this amazing program called Landmark.  It has changed my life!  Seriously!  It helps you let go of things that cause you stress and hold you back in life.  Ever since we took the seminar in Houston 6 weeks ago I have been a new person.  I can't believe how different I feel (so calm and free).  The kids don't drive me crazy, like they usually do, and I just don't get stressed out about everything anymore.  On a week like this I would usually be going nuts, which would make them all crazy too.  Even my mom and Bryan have noticed a difference in me.  It has been transforming! 
Thank you Landmark!  I am so thankful for being about to participate in this seminar which in turns helps me to be a happier and calmer mommy and wife.  This week was definately a good test after taking Landmark.

Brayden's baptism!

It was almost 8 years ago that I was blessed with THE cutest little redheaded boy I had ever seen. I still remember the day you were born and the nurse announced that I had a little boy with tons of red hair. I hardly slept for days because I couldn't take my eyes off you. I don't know if you know it, but ever since I was a little girl I wanted a redheaded boy. You were and will always be an amazing blessing in my life.
I love this little redheaded boy that is full of life. He has many names. Big Red, Red, Torch, Sunshine and his new football nickname BA.


Brayden LOVES life. He is full of energy. He loves to make people laugh. He loves hugs and kisses. He loves to drive his sisters crazy at times (you can see the mischievous grin all over his face). He loves football, really loves it. He started tackle football this year and loved it. It was very hard for me to watch him, at first. My sweet little boy getting beat up, but he loved just about every minute of it. He doesn't like getting tackled but he loves to tackle others and has gotten really good at it. He can even make some of the older neighborhood boys cry when he tackles them. (And he is very skinny, might I point out!)


He loves to smile, which lights up the room. Which is where he got his nickname of Sunshine, from his Grami. Girls of all ages love him, how could you help it when you see that little man smile.


Brayden turns 8 on Saturday, January 29th and is VERY excited to get baptised ON his birthday. I am so proud of him and his desire to follow Christ. I can't believe my little man is turning 8!



Brayden, I love you and I am so proud of you. You are and will always be My Sunshine. Thank you for all your love, your smiles and your hugs and kisses. Thank you for always reminding us to pray and read our scriptures. Thank you for setting a good examples for your little sisters and your friends by getting baptised, but not only getting baptised but by being so excited about it and knowing that you are doing the right thing. I love you, my little redheaded man!

Sad ending!

A very sad ending for the WHO DATS!

For those of you that know our family we are HUGE WHO DAT fans. Yes ALL 6 of us love the SAINTS! We even have a Saints Football Room in our house. Really. It is pretty amazing for those of you who haven't seen it. So as we sat in our Saints room on saturday watching the game against the Seahawks it turned out to be very sad and disappointing. But we have had alot of fun cheering them on this year.

Bryan has a really good friend that is an NFL photographer and has let Bryan come with him to the Superdome for 2 of the games this year. WAY FUN! Bryan got to go down ON the field and BE a photographer. This picture of Drew Brees is with my camera right on the field. What an amazing experience for Bryan who has watched the Saints and cheered them on his WHOLE life even when it was a big joke to be a Saints fan.


This picture Bryan took was from one of the games he got to go to. Look closely in the smoke and you will see Jonathan Vilma. Way cool! Good shot Bryan.


Another exciting experience for our family was that we all got to go to the Cowboy/Saints game on Thanksgiving Day. That was way cool!
Bryan and Brayden cheering when we pulled off the win right at the end.


2 of the BIGGEST Saints fans there are. They both wear Saints stuff year round. If the shirt or hat doesn't say Saints they don't want to wear it.

Bryce and I enjoyed the game. It was very exciting and even tense at times, but I am so glad we got to go to the game and experience it together as a family!

Cheerleader Sierra loves to go around singing the WHO DAT song. Yes we even have a Who Dat song and all know it by heart.

When deciding to go to the game I knew we HAD to take Brayden. But since the tickets were so expensive Bryan wanted it to be just he and I. But I knew that Brayden would be DEVISTATED if he wasn't there and we went. And if Brayden got to go everyone else would want to go. SO Saints, you were worth ALL the money it cost to see you play.



Savanah cheering on our team at the awesome Cowboy stadium.

Outside the staduim.



Freezing our booties off tailgating outside Cowboy Stadium.

Saints we will miss cheering you on until next Season Starts! BUT next year will be OUR YEAR!