San Antonio Weekend

We decided to take a weekend trip to San Antonio to see the new Jimmy Johns and have some family time.  Of course we stopped at Buc-ees, the kids favorite.

We stayed at the JW Mariott which was beautiful, I paid the extra fee for the elf tuck in.  These were our elves that came to tuck in our kids and give them a stuffed animal, they loved it.  That night was painful with Brady, he didnt go to sleep until almost 1am and then he woke up at 4 or 5 and just cried so Al took him to the lobby while we slept, worst ever.

The following morning we had an amazing breakfast buffet and they had the cutest Mr & Mrs Claus. I was bummed I didn't have my nice camera.

Alex lost his very first tooth at Jimmy Johns that morning, he was so excited!!

We took the boys to the River Walk which we should have done at night but it was still really pretty with all the Christmas decorations.

Al's very favorite thing to see in Texas, THE ALAMO, haha.  We have this very same picture from 2007 but it was just AL and I, how quickly time passes.  What a great life we have with 3 little blessings from heaven.  

We discovered the man made beach later that day and stayed until sunset.

Brady had the time of his life throwing sand around.

We roasted smores, watched the christmas lights and then ended in the hot tub.  I wish we would have spent the entire day at the water park it was so perfect.  That night it dropped from 85 to 25, Texas is crazy!!

On our way home we stopped by and visited with Al's old neighbors.  Their only son that was our age passed away in high school so I think it was an extra special visit.  

That night we had to be the tooth fairy and hide the elf on the shelf so thanks to pinterest we got creative, haha.  The Tooth Fairy tied up the elf on the shelf because she didn't want him to steal the money, so good.  Who thinks of this stuff?

Jimmy Johns

Our first Jimmy Johns is open for business!!  We drove down to San Antonio a few weeks later to check it out and eat some sandwiches.

We got there before it opened to let the kids explore and make their own sandwich.

So fun to see everything come together and also where most of our money goes!  I wish we lived closer so we could be more involved, but then we would probably see Al even less so maybe not, ha.

December 2017

Al had school the weekend of the annual Cragun ugly sweater party so I talked Jessica into being my date and wearing the same sweater as me, haha.

I took Alex to the Nutcracker in Dallas.  We bought some M&Ms and Topo Chico for the first half, he got a little restless after intermission, but it was fun.  I think I'll probably Cole too next year.

The moments and things you want to remember forever, thank goodness for iPhones.

We put our other tree upstairs this year and let the boys decorate it with all the non neutral ornaments, haha.  Mostly my childhood ones and any I've bought them over the years.  There were sections with a lot of ornaments, but thats what made it so great.  They loved doing it especially creative Alex.

I wanted to do some fun Christmas activities and heard about this drive thru light place in Grand Prairie.  It was 1 hour away but in the middle of it they had rides, more lights, food, and a little Christmas market, so fun.  

Alex makes me laugh in this picture because he looooves wearing sweats and has since he was 2 or 3.

Horrible family picture, but here we all are, my favorite kind of days when we are all together.

Christmas Parties 2017

Cole had his Christmas program at school which was hysterical.  He made funny faces the entire time, his shirt was untucked and his hair was a mess which was not how he looked when I sent him!!

We celebrated afterwards at Braums with a Limeaid and ice cream.

Probably one of the funniest days ever......Al and I had been calling Target and Wal Marts every night and morning for a Hatchimal, the toy of the year.   We had read all the forums, got text updates about shipments, and Al had even waited in line a couple times for some, but no luck.  Well one day I forgot my id at Target and realized it at lunch that same day so I ran back to Target, parked in handicap, left my kids in the car, saw a friend from church in line and started telling her about the Hatcnhimal hype while they looked for my id.  When I took my id I looked at the return pile and their was a Hatcnhimal sitting on top so I immediately asked can I buy that?  The girl said sure and since I made a big deal she went and asked someone if it was ok, haha.  Anyway I got one and I was sooooo excited, I tried calling Al a couple times, and then sent him this picture, a Hatcnhimal high for sure.  Then a friend had bought a bunch that fall so she sold me on her extra ones so both kids would be happy on Christmas, yay.

Cole's Christmas party

Lunch dates at the mall

Please don't grow up, sweet sweet boys.

Alex's school Christmas party

Alex with his sweet teacher Ms Stevenson, she's so great.

Brady's 1st Fiesta

It's not ideal to have 2 kids birthdays close together, something I wanted to avoid, haha.  We ended up throwing Brady's 1st Birthday party in December since his was when we went on the cruise.  I went with a Mexican theme this time and we had a FIESTA.

My friend Teris, daughter Kendall made these amazing cookies, so so cute.

His awesome birthday cake

Lots of food, colorful drinks, diet coke and cute balloons, BAM!

His Birthday banner from newborn -12 months

My sweet birthday boy

Cole and Alex in their Fiesta t shirts

Hats and mustaches for our guests

An attempt at a family picture.

Brady loved his cake!! At one point I forgot he was eating it and I was afraid he would get sick from all the sugar, haha.

My Korean friend Jen (her husband Sonny is in Al's MBA class) did the traditional 1st birthday game for Brady. She helped me pick some items to put in a line and then we let Brady crawl to them to see what one he picked.  The 2 were rice which means long life and the toothbrush for Dentist!!  Afterwards we broke the piñata and then had a Fiesta Mannequin challenge while all the kids were upstairs playing, hilarious.

 

We opened the presents after his nap.  I think Cole and Alex enjoyed it more, but we got a ton of fun new toys that he'll love to play with.