Bring on Christmas!

We used our Wednesday before Thanksgiving to decorate. We turned up the Christmas music and went to town. I purchased the kids some trees on clearance last year so they could have their very own in their room, which they had a blast decorating. After decking out the house, that evening we watched one of our Christmas favorites, Elf.

a haPPy THANKSgiving

We are blessed in so many ways, including the fact that we get to spend Thanksgiving with both sides of our family. It makes for a busy day but we wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, we get double the feast.

Grandma with most of her grandchildren


Grandma and Great-grandaughters; the boys were busy playing outside!

Uncle Patrick's melted hat

Can you say spoiled?

Show Time

With the Christmas season upon us, this means we get to add some dance gigs to our calendar. The first performance of the season was at Silver Dollar City, followed by the parade in the park. I can't upload video right now so I only have a few pictures. I really enjoy watching the girls perform; they have some really cute Christmas dances this year.

Ready to perform....

Silver Dollar City

We were blessed with a gorgeous November day to enjoy Silver Dollar City. Since, the Fire in the Hole shut-down right before we were to ride it last year, we headed straight for this ride. We also rode the Powder Keg, a very fast roller coaster. The kids are definitely getting a little braver, even if it scares them half to death.

Visiting SDC is definitely a nice way to kick-off the holiday season and is quickly becoming a new favorite tradition. It definitely put me in the mood for all things Christmas.

The Cousins

Flores Family

Castle Rock

We stayed overnight at Castle Rock Water Park Resort in Branson and the kids had an absolute blast. I didn't get any pictures with the cousins but that was a definite added bonus to their fun.

Barnyard Boogie

For months, the kids have been practicing for their Barnyard Boogie program at school. Poor Jax missed out on the performance because he came down with strep the day before. I couldn't help but smile as we watched Delaney and Baylor and all their toothless, grinning friends sing their hearts out. Afterwards, they all enjoyed the much anticipated purple cow.

Delaney recieved the "most confident" award at her end of the season cheer party. All I can say is she gets it all from her dad.

Welcome to the Club

This day has been a long time coming and I am so thrilled that my lifetime BFF, Julie will soon have a wonderful blessing of her own to love. Today, Carole and I hosted a shower for Julie to celebrate the upcoming birth of baby Knox, and welcome Julie to the mommy club!




Grace and Delaney, most likely the next generation of trouble were super big helpers today and couldn't get over all of the cute baby stuff. They have eagerly volunteered their baby sitting services.

We rolled right into wrestling this week with the boys competing in their first tournament of the season. For the first time, they are wrestling in different weight brackets, which kept us hopping from mat to mat. We are proud of both boys for putting forth their best effort.

Jax had a great day and picked up second place, in a weight class of 22 wrestlers.

While it was a bit unsettling to watch his brother continue on to the finals, Baylor was Jax's biggest fan cheering him on. However, when I asked to take their pictures at the end of the tournament, he refused and requested a picture with just him and his dad, without Jaxon. I guess this was his prize.

Heartbreaking End

To say the boys enjoyed the football season might be an understatement. Baylor found his groove and became the team's starting center. What's so cool about playing center? You get to hike the ball! It was really great to see how much confidence he gained through the season. After a strong start, we had a mid-season slump, losing three games, and then turned it on in the end. During play-offs, we brought our A game and it was so much fun to watch this group of boys play. We played a really tough team in our second playoff game. We were so close to victory and then in the last 26 seconds, they ran for an 85 yard touch down. Several of the boys on the team shed some tears and to our surprise Jax was one of them. In fact, he couldn't stop crying after the game. We thought he was upset for losing and we tried to explain that he did his best, when he said, "He didn't care that they lost. He just didn't want football to end! "

I have to attribute the boys attitude towards football, to the coaches. They were committed to teaching every boy the fundamentals while still having a lot of fun. They were constantly giving every boy just the encouragement they needed. I think it's safe to say we will be back on the field next fall.

Tonight, each boy and girl involved in Skiatook Football picked up a medal.

More Halloween

I've been a little lazy in posting our Halloween pictures but better late than never. Once again, we had a fabulous Halloween. For the first time, we missed The Good Guy Carnival at our church but we just couldn't fit it all in on Halloween night. Saturday evening, we hit a local church carnival and a couple of trunk-r-treats. The great thing about a small town is you are always sure to run into lots friends. On Halloween, we enjoyed our annual chili feast with some friends and then hit my old neighborhood, where the kids always pick up a little extra loot, and headed to our favorite neighborhood with the haunted garage.

How gross is this?