Cookie Thief

Just a word of caution to those of you who decide to come visit.  Our home has a cookie thief.  I don't recommend falling asleep with a cookie in your hand- you may wake up to find that has gone mysteriously missing.

Thief #1

Thief # 2

Can you sense the mischief   

Colorado Trip

 We have been to Colorado three times already this year.  Usually we don't go this often, but we have had quite a few occasions to go.  The first trip was for my dad's 70th birthday, the second was for a family reunion, and the third was for my long time friend, Kelly's wedding.

I had to take a picture of the beautiful mountains.  The week before our trip the wildfires were burning up so these clouds over the mountains were a welcome sight.

Me and the beautiful bride herself!  The wedding was beautiful and didn't skimp on fun either!  I think the only bits of wedding drama was with the weather (it rained) and the bridesmaids dresses.  

Kelly was trying to be extra considerate and find an affordable option for bridesmaid dresses.  (I completely feel for her here.  Finding dresses for the bridesmaids was the BIGGEST headache from my wedding.)  So, that being said...  I love you Kelly and this now makes for a really good story.  

If you look at the photo posted below you will see that my dress is a different color than the others.  Sing it with me... "One of these things is not like the others..."  If you look a little closer you will also see that it is a slightly different style as well.  We all ordered the same dress in the same color from the same website.  (Which we discovered was someplace in China that doesn't have a customer support phone number)  Luckily, Kelly was an incredibly laid back bride and was able to laugh about it.  

My favorite part about the dress is the the tag says it is made from 50% polyester and 50% wire.  Really?  50% wire?  Must be a China thing.  All in all, we ladies all ended up looking very well endowed through the evening.  Props to my friend Lauren (the gal on the right.)  She is sewn into her dress.  

After the wedding festivities had tapered off we headed up towards Estes for the day.  We couldn't keep our little fish out of the river!  The river was SO cold, but that didn't seem to phase Austin.  He sure loves doing all things outdoors with his grandpa!  

        And his mom when no one else is available...      

Little Fishies and the Dad Shark

All the boys ready to start swimming.  

Here is Ty guy trying to keep up with his brother.  

 And last but not least: The Attack of the Dad Shark.  This elusive shark finds its way to our boys every time we go to the pool.  Instead of eating Tyler and Austin- he just tickles them.  Still, it's pretty scary.

The Georgia Barons come to Texas!

We had a great visit with the 'other' Barons.  They bring so much fun to our house!  The boys especially adore their Aunts and Grandparents.  On this trip we went to the zoo, made sugar cookies, enjoyed a glow party, had the girls babysit for us, and went on a date to Brio.  (a new favorite italian restaurant.)

We're grateful they come and visit.  We really do love it!

Can you find Rebecca?  

Family Pictures

Our very talented friend has been snapping family photos for us.   It is no easy feat photographing a 1 and 3 year old!  Thanks Cindy!

The Nature State

We have made two trips to Arkansas this year.  It's relatively close and the closest "real" mountains around.  

 On our first trip we traveled to Eureka Springs.  It is such a fun little mountain/ boating town.  We had gone about 3 years before and decided it was time again.

We took our 2nd trip 6 weeks later.  We couldn't seem to stay away.  This time we decided to head to Hot Springs.  We met up with our dear friends the Spanns (who lived above us in Utah and now live in Nashville).  Lucky for us, Hot Springs was half way between our houses.  

Austin and Mason are only a few weeks apart and became fast friends.  This first picture was taken while they were being introduced.  They were little buddies the whole trip.

We're already planning on making this a tradition!

 We had a wonderful time exploring Hot Springs.  True to it's name it has a whole row of bath houses that have hot pools inside.  They claim to be America's 1st resort town.  It was neat to check out some of the bathhouses that dated back to the early 1900s.  Next time we go we'll have to go inside.

 There was also an incredible toy store that we visited downtown.  There was a sweet old man there, probably in his mid 80's, who knew about every toy in his store.  He let our 4 crazy kids play with his wooden train track for what seemed like almost an hour.  He also told us that the wooden train has been the single most popular toy for the last 50 years.  (don't quote me on the facts here- my memory isn't as good as his)

 Same time, Same place, Same crowd,  Next year!  

Ringing in the New Year!

This is the obligitory mantle photo.  Mostly it just reminds me what I can do in years to come.  

We rang in the new year with some friends of ours.  We thought we would 'fake' midnight at about 9, but the kids went strong until 12.   That could have something to do with the awesome activities we had planned.  

Here are Austin and his friend Carter playing the Kinect.  

Glow in the dark parties are Austin's favorite!  

 Who am I fooling... they are Andrew's favorite, too.  

 We thought the kids might conk out if we turned on a movie for them, but... 

 it only worked on Tyler who wasn't even watching the movie.