Easter in the Country

The kids had a great time at Andrea's parents' place out in the country. Her brothers were there too. One came from Washington with his family and the other came with his super fun playing skills! And, as if that weren't enough, her sister and her husband were there too! Good times!

Grandma with the kids. They love her!

Marshmallows for smores. Man I'm feeling hungry (for some reason??)!

Petting the bunnies. They make fine pets and yummy stew! ;-)

Adam with plenty of room on his lap. Funny how kids don't realize

how big they are and how much they weigh.

What a group! Love how Mackay's holding Eme. That's looks comfortable!

Ready, set...

Ah, the joy of the catch!

New Year's Fun

We went to the San Antonio zoo with some friends to bring in the near year. After enjoying the animals, we went to the River Walk and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. Good times...

A White Christmas

We had a great time visiting my family up in Dallas for Christmas. It's nice to be within driving distance (it definitely saves on the travel budget!). The kids are to the age now where they really appreciate getting to see and play with their cousins. And between my two sisters, there are plenty of cousins to play with! (Ok, maybe not that many, but six is a lot to me.)

And did I mention that it even snowed? Who says it doesn't get cold in Texas. What the schnikes?!



Our semi-serious time was when we dressed up and enacted Christ's birth.

Our cute little shepherds.


Our silly time was when Andrea and my mom and my sisters did a skit to "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" with my dad singing alternate lyrics with reference to JuicePlus and the like (for those of you who know my mom, she's a big fan of JuicePlus).



We don't have Wii at home, but Mackay loves playing it at his cousins' house. Here's a fun little video of the kids steering their cars, with a bit of commentary by Beckett.

Independence Fun

We celebrated Independence Day with more family than I can ever remember! Andrea's parents and sister and her husband came down. So too did my sister and her family (check our her post on the fun). We had a full day of fun on the 4th. We started out by going to Hamilton Pool, a natural swimming hole about 30 minutes southwest of Austin. After that we came home and let the kids (and some of us "adults") play in the water slide. You should have seen the bruise Mackay gave himself on his hip from the way he flopped down on the ground. We opted not to go see the city fireworks this year because of the kids bedtimes, instead doing our own "show" on our culdesac. All in all, it was a great weekend. Yet another advantage to living here--being close to family.

Our cute little guy.

Beckett and I had fun floating around the "pool."

Mackay and Hannah loved playing with Julie and Jimmy.

A cute little girl.

Mommy and daughter.

Mackay going in for the kill!

Mackay and Hannah are the best of friends.

A full house!

It's getting harder to get everyone to look at the camera!

Amy's family stayed an extra day. The kids always love playing together.

Easter at the Ranch

We had a great time celebrating Easter at Andrea's parents' place. Her older brother, Cory, and his family were even able to visit. For more, see Andrea's blog.

Coloring eggs is fun!

Cleaning up spilled egg dye from the Czech Republic (where they don't sell the standard washable dye like they do here in the US)--not so fun!

Finding eggs filled with candy and other goodies--fun!

Playing with a cool "lightsaber" that lights up--priceless!

So handsome!

Surprise, Rochelle's pregnant too!

More Chirsmas Fun on the Ranch

We had a great time visiting Andrea's family over Christmas. It was the fist time that we've had Andrea's sister, Julie, and her new husband there for a Christmas. We're hoping they'll decide to come give Texas a go. It's really not so bad. And at least by living in Texas we know that we can always secede from the Union if things get too out of control with the rest of y'all! :)

These were our costumes so we could role-play the story of Jesus' birth.

Peter Pan & Captain Hook

Andrea did a sweet job making Mackay and Beckett's Halloween costumes. Beckett wavered between wanting to be Peter Pan like Mackay or being Captain Hook. With a little prodding from Andrea, I think he finally settled on being the crazy pirate.

You will note that this is the best they looked the rest of the night. Beckett wanted his hat off and neither one kept his shoe covering on. If you look closely, you will see that Andrea painted in chest hair for Beckett and gave him a "Dad" tattoo. It was pretty sweet! For more details, check out Andrea's new blog!

Celebrating Freedom with Family

My sister, Amy, and her family came down from Dallas over the 4th of July holiday. We did our best to show them the many virtues of Austin in hopes that they'll some day move here! We enjoyed time canoeing on Town Lake, playing in the water at Barton Springs, climbing Mount Bonnell to get a great view of the city, and even catching a glimpse of the city's fireworks. It's great to be able to see family more often...one of the many virtues of living here!

Fun Easter at the Ranch

We had a great Easter with Andrea's family at "The Property." Andrea's older brother and his family, and one of her younger sister's (except Melissa who is on a mission), and her younger brother were there. To top it all off, her grandparents from Utah also flew out (unfortunately her grandfather is sick with cancer so it made the visit extra special). It was a great time! I always love getting to talk to Andrea's grandfather--he's super smart and a spiritual giant who always seems to inspire me to increased faith. He told us some great spiritual stories about his parents and his time working in the LA temple.

The only downside to the weekend was Mackay and Beckett's health. Both were sick (Beckett was whiny and wanted to be held the WHOLE time!)...and one of their cousins even threw up a few times while we were there! The real treat, however, was beginning to show its ugly head when Mackay complained about a sore "knee" on Easter before we left for home. Stay tuned for more on that...

Look at the focus on Mackay's face!

Andrea with her Walker grandparents.

A Cold TX Christmas

We visited my two sisters--Carin and Amy--in North Texas for Christmas this year and believe it or not it was actually really cold (30s and 40s). Ok, so we already have thin Texas blood unable to stand anything below 60 degrees, but we're not used to dressing in layers anymore! Despite the cold, we had a good time visiting with everyone. My parents came too, as did my grandma from Florida--it's rare to get her on a plane by herself, so it was great to see her.

One of the nice things about living in Texas is that we've been able to save on air flights when we want to visit family, which means that we're able to see everyone more often. Of course we still miss our many great friends back in sunny Virginia (ok, so it's not so sunny this time of year), but at least we have all of these great technologies that make it much easier to communicate and keep in touch.

Mackay had an especially good time with his cousin Hannah (Amy's daughter who is closest to his age and also enjoys playing "kitchen"). He fondly calls her his "buddy," a title he uses with only the most select of his friends and family--Beckett also enjoys the title.

Mackay and his buddy Hannah....

The whole clan...my sisters and their families...my parents...my grandma (on my dad's side)...and Amy's in-laws...and of course Andrea and me...and the boys.

A Grande Family Thanksgiving

Now that we are living in the same state with my sisters and Andrea's parents, we decided to do a big Thanksgiving get together at Andrea's parents house (aka "The Property). My parents came to visit as well, so it was quite the shindig. Andrea's brother came down from college to visit. And if that wasn't enough, Amy's in-laws just moved into our great state and they came down with their youngest daughter to join in the festivities. Like I said, it was muy grande!

Unfortunately, a cold front came through right in time for Thanksgiving, so we weren't able to enjoy the warm weather like we usually do this far south, but it was fun nonetheless. We made campfires, roasted marsh mellows, road on the four-wheelers, pulled excess fish from the pond, played in the sandbox, road bikes, etc. It was great to see everyone and fun for the kids to get together. We definitely enjoy living closer to family. It saves us a lot on what we would pay for airfare!

No more city slickers in this household...Beckett's on the tractor and Mackay is picking up dead fish!