Couples' Retreat 08 & Thanksgiving

We've been busy, busy lately, but not a whole lot to post. Cary and I went to Couple's Retreat a few weekends ago. It was so nice to get away, even if we did take Carter with us. Oddly enough, I don't have a single picture of Cary and I together from the weekend. One of us was behind the camera the whole time, I suppose.

Me and my sweet friend Stephenie who is joining the Mommy club in January!:


Scott & Kels:


My cute Dad & Mom:


The group from this year's retreat:


Later that week, Carson started running a fever that he kept for 5 days. Poor kid. I'm so sick of the sickies and we're early in the season. One plus, I suppose, is that I've only had one sick kid at a time. I feel bad for them though.

Wednesday, I decorated for Christmas. Early, I know, but I've been listening to Christmas music for a few weeks already, and I didn't want to spend Cary's day off decorating. So I let the boys help me hang ornaments on the tree. It was pretty funny. Caden took every ornament he touched apart, so I kept handing him the same ornament after a while. Carson did great hanging the ornaments... on two branches. I should have taken a picture. Most of the tree was bare, but one branch in the front and one branch in the back had at least 10 ornaments each. He was so proud of himself. Needless to say, I rearranged the ornaments during naptime.

Carter has become very smiley lately. I love this stage when they become so interactive and just a look from us can light up their world.



This year, we spent Thanksgiving at my aunt's house with family and friends that live in the area. It was a nice and relaxed day with great food. Here's a shot of Carter from his first Thanksgiving...little Turkey. :)


I believe we're in the beginning of the teething stage...check out this drool. About 4 pictures later, the top half of his shirt was wet.


Carson wanted to hold Carter this morning, and Caden (Mr. Me Too) wanted to hold him as well, but was content for a moment when I helped him sit next to Carson. It seemed like such a great picture moment, but I've noticed recently that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a good picture of all three boys. Out of 20 pictures, this was the best...


Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are so thankful to have each of you in our lives!!

Cheers & Jeers

Jeers to mice in my house. ick ick eww shiver... can you envision my totally creeped out dance???

Cheers to mice poison and exterminators who take care of it all. Yay for dirty jobs.

Our Trip to Houston: A play by play

We went to Houston for Cary's sister Emily's wedding. It was a busy trip, and the boys were at their limits many times, but it was fun as well, and many memories were made. So much happened, that I'm going to make this a mostly picture post so that I don't miss too much.

We got in on Wednesday night pretty late. Thursday, we hung out while Cary worked during the day and then went to dinner with Shawn's family (Em's new hubby) and cruised a really neat shopping area around there. Carson and Caden got to meet the other kids that were in the wedding and had a great time playing with them.

Friday morning, Carter and I went to get my nails done with the other ladies in the wedding, and then to the Bridesmaid's brunch at Jasper's. It was SOOO good. Cary hung out with the Carson and Caden. Cary was such an awesome dad, he always is, but especially on this trip he really had the boys all on his own a lot, which with little sleep for the boys, and no schedule, was a real task. I'm so thankful for you, babe! I don't know what I would have done without you!!

Friday afternoon we got the boys all ready in their halloween costumes and trick-or-treated around the neighborhood before heading to Emily & Shawn's rehearsal/welcome dinner.


Carson trying to be a tough cowboy:






This is a great picture of the boys' personalities. Carson is a thinker, and Caden is busy:




This was Caden's first real year trick-or-treating. He was quite content with his very first piece of candy. He didn't care so much about getting more as long as he had one. Carson was hilarious, and thought that he should get a handful, or 2 or 3, at each house.


Checking out the loot:


Our little pumpkin:


Saturday was the wedding, which was beautiful!! I can't wait to see the pictures, and hopefully I'll post a few on here when we get them... For the boys, however it was a very difficult day. They didn't have a nap, and the wedding was during dinner, so there were frequent meltdowns. Thus is life... It was so nice to see family that we hadn't seen in a while. Some pics from the day...




A happy moment with Aunt Pat, Cary's aunt:


Kisses for Auntie Stephanie (Cary's sister):


Sweet Kynadee, the boys' cousin, and her daddy Mason:


Cary's Aunt Linda, and his cousin Graham:


I don't have any pictures of the bride and groom or Cary's folks or the wedding party, but hopefully I'll get some soon.

Post wedding, the boys crashed almost immediately:




Sunday, we grabbed lunch and went to a park so the boys could work off some energy. Mason, Danielle and Kynadee joined us, as well as our friends, Jamie & Billy, and Cary's mom and sister, Stephanie.

A sleepy smile:








(Mom, doesn't this remind you of the picture that was on our bathroom wall in the house in Pueblo???)


Sweet girl:




Billy & Jamie:


Sunday night, we went to our dear friends, Lindsay & BJ's house for dinner. It was such a fun time, and it was great to meet their twins, Preslyn & Ella. It had been much too long (and two kids for each of us) since that last time we were able to spend time together.

Carson, Hayden & Caden playing in their playroom...I SOOOO need one of these!


Sweet Ella:


Sweet Preslyn with Lindsay. Right after this, Preslyn dove off the couch (slowly) to cruise with Ella. They are such sweet babies!


Monday, we got to meet our friends David & Staci and their kiddos in College Station for dinner. It was an adventure, and people looked at us like we were crazy with our 4 adults and 6 kids, but it was lots of fun!


Tuesday, I woke up with a stomach bug. Yay me! Poor Cary got to corral the boys and pack up mostly on his own until I was able to get out of bed around 3...that was a miracle in itself! For a while, we thought I would be staying an extra day. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better and so far no one else has gotten it. Seriously, I have never been more thankful for Cary than I was this past week. He had to take on so much of the responsibility that we usually share.

To our family and friends: it was so nice to get to spend time with those of you that we could! It has been too long. We love you all!!