Welcome, visitors

Ever since moving into our new home, we have had welcomed visitors. Ladybugs. They stay in our window sill and just move around. I'm not sure how they are surviving, but they do. How do they eat etc? We've just enjoyed watching them. Welcome, ladybugs.

The first Christmas

During the Christmas season, we had a chance to go to a stake center in Arlington and see over 5,000 nativities from people all over the Dallas area. It was so impressive. The kids absolutely loved it. Afterwards, we went into the gym and got to dress up and pose for a picture of the very first Christmas. It was so fun. Sierra is an angel and is holding Jesus' hand. Jocelyn, Megan and Jess are the wiseman and Austin is a shepherd. Mom and dad are representing Mary and Joseph. We got to listen to a kids choir sing in the chapel. It was a real special night, topped off with ice cream at Sonic. What could be better than that?

A visit from grandma and grandpa Wallace

We were so lucky to spend some time with grandpa and grandma Wallace last week. During their visit, our children requested from their grandpa to share stories from his childhood. They were so awesome. Grandpa Wallace is a great storyteller. We were able to learn a lot about his childhood and family. Being the youngest of 11, he had a lot of fun stories for us. We really cherish the time he took to delight us with his stories. We hope that he writes them down, so we can get a copy. Thanks, grandpa.

Taco Soup

1 lb. hamburger (I use chicken instead)
1 onion (I use onion salt)
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 c. tomato sauce
1 can whole kernel corn (do not drain)
1 can kidney beans (do not drain)
1 can black beans (do not drain)
1 can red beans (do not drain)

Mix an heat all ingreadients. (I put it in the crock pot on high for 4-5 hours)

Top with Frito chips, sour cream and shredded cheese.

Doubling works out well.

Napping Buddies

The cat won't get close to Sierra unless she is asleep. I had to capture the moment.

New Addition

We received a new addition Christmas night. Our neighbor needed us to take her, we were more than willing to take her. She is 5, potty trained, nuetered and nails clipped. She is a great cat. We named her Hershey. She isn't used to having so many kids, so we usually find her under the couch or under our bed. Sierra would love for Hershey to be her friend and not run from her every time she sees her, maybe in due time.

Wacky Wed. Recipe

Broccoli Soup--

1/3 cup of onions (I use onion powder)
3 Cups cut frozen broccoli

Cook together until tender. When tender, drain off any excess water. (You can cook this in the microwave while preparing the sauce)

Sauce:
1/2 stick butter (I use butter not margarine)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
pepper if desired

In deep sauce pan, melt butter and add flour and salt until all is covered in the butter.

Add to sauce:
1 can chicken broth a little at a time, stirring constantly.
2 cups of milk, adding slowly while stirring.
1/4 cup Velvetta cheese

Add broccoli and onions to the sauce. Cook over low to med heat; stirring often until it thickens and the cheese melts.

Doubling the recipe makes for a wonderful meal for your family. We love this soup and it is quick and easy and nice, especially on cold days like today.

The kids prayed for freezing rain today so that their schools would be cancelled or delayed. The prayer was answered, but not until they were in school. We had rain all day and it turned everything, to ice. Luckily, the roads stayed wet, but were not icy. The top two pictures and the left one is of the trampoline. It was so cool. The kids loved playing on the trampoline. The last picture is of my car window blade on the back. I did get to put my car in the garage for the night to warm up! I'm grateful for our garage.

Sierra's 2nd birthday

Sierra's birthday was unusal. Aaron, Jessica, Austin and I were all sick with the stomach flu on her birthday and she has had a cough and runny nose. So, we pretty much didn't do anything. Megan made Sierra a cake, which only Sierra, Megan and Jocelyn ate. Then, Megan wrapped her presents and we all layed around while she unwrapped them. She got a Dora and Boots backpack, toy phone and toy camera. She unwrapped them first and was finished. So, we helped her with the other presents. She got a bath tub fishing pole, money and some clothes. Yea. Thanks for all the cards and phone calls and presents. She felt loved, despite all the sickness. We hope she has a better birthday next time. Happy Birthday, sweetheart.

More Six Flags

Megan's getting an early start on her driving! Hope she does as well on the road! She didn't even scare Jocelyn.

Sierra and daddy ride the big truck.

Here are more pictures to add to our Six Flag adventure. We all had a great time.

Six Flags

Austin was so excited to see Green Lantern and Batman at Six Flags. He couldn't wait to get a picture.

Sierra thought Sylvester was great, but wouldn't go any closer for a picture.

One of the cool things about living so close to Ft. Worth/Dallas area is Six Flags. We got season passes to Six Flags and we went twice in 2008 and can't wait to go back in 2009. Here are some pictures of characters. Can you believe how nice it is at Six Flags on the 30th of Dec? Crazy!

No Christmas pictures yet.

We took pictures on Aaron's camera Christmas morning and I don't know how to download those, so I'll have to wait for Aaron to return from Seattle this week to download. In the meantime, I'll continue putting pictures and then add those later. Sorry folks.

More snow pictures

Our front tree, getting snowed on.

Our poor cars getting snowed on, we didn't have the garage cleaned out enough to put the cars in.

Aaron had the day off and we worked inside all day, it was so fun to look outside all day and see snow keep coming down. We love having the snow fall. The kids were so excited.

It snowed!

The kids were so excited that we actually got snow in Texas! They couldn't wait to play in it. It only lasted overnight, but it was enough for them! YEA for snow! We miss not having snow here.

Megan's 15 birthday party

Jessica Evan gave Megan this balloon and basket. The kids loved it.

All the gang. Brittany Graham, Rachel Elsik, Jasmyn Johnson, Jeri, Stephanie Webber, Jessica Evans, Kristin Blankenship, Jessica Wallace and Megan

Jessica Wallace, Kristen Blankenship, Rachel Elsik, Jeri Berquest, Brittany Graham

Opening presents with Sierra's help.

Megan had a girls' night out with pizza, movies, games and a sleepover. They had a great time. I love these kinds of parties, no work for me! The girls are old enough to entertain themselves, all I had to do was buy pizza. Yum. Happy Birthday, Megan.

Putting up the tree

We had fun putting up the tree in Dec. Even Sierra joined in putting on the ornaments.

New Doll

Our friend, Lori Ficklin, sent Sierra a doll to help her with her sleeping. Sierra named the baby, Abby. She loves Abby.

Chug, chug, chug

How fun to see how much they can chug down Martinelli's Apple Cider as it burns down your throat.

Our first Thanksgiving in Texas

Jessica did such an awesome job with the table. It was fun to have Shiree and Andrew up for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful feast. Aaron got first dibbs on the turkey since he sliced it up. Shiree and I had a wonderful idea to make homemade rolls, we did a great job and they were yummy, but lots of work.

Furniture is always great.

It's so wonderful to have furniture again. We got our stuff a couple of days after closing, we planned it that way! Good thing, we were tired of sitting on camping chairs and sleeping on the floor. Atleast I was! The kids had a great time with all this new adventure. We are grateful for our stuff.