Class of 2014

I'll be honest...I don't like it one bit!!  Bryce got his class ring right before the holidays and it was pretty much a slap in the face to this mama!!  I just can't believe it.  I cannot believe that Bryce has one more year of high school!  How does that happen??  He's having a great junior year and I have enjoyed every bit of it.

It's not often that any of the boys will ask me to take their pics but Bryce could not wait for me to snap some pics of his ring.  I was more than happy to oblige.  I guess it's almost time to think about senior pics...Lord, help me!  Next fall, I will have one starting his senior year and two starting kindergarten!!!!



Oh how I love this boy.  He has grown up to be a funny, compassionate, amazing young man (with a touch of sarcasm that warms my heart :)  He is about 5'10" now and we think he'll squeak out a couple more inches before he's done.  He is loyal to his convictions and will tell his mama he loves her, even if he's with his friends.  He is responsible and considerate and watching him with his sisters could make anyone fall in love with him!  He's a blessing and I thank God for him every day.












As much as I wish I could freeze time, I am also so excited to see what Bryce does with his life.  I know God has big plans for him!!

Ethan the Elf 2012

I wanted to dedicate a post to our Christmas guest.  His name is Ethan and the girls could not get enough of him!  He even followed us to Houston and stowed away in my computer bag to get home!  He got into alot of trouble, but was a quiet house guest :)  My only complaint about him is that I'm pretty sure he is the reason I didn't get to sleep past 6:30 the entire month of December!!  Every morning, the girls would stumble out of their room and ask where Ethan was :)  Wesleigh is still asking about him and talking about how much she misses him.



Here are a couple of pics I couldn't fit in the collage:
fishing for goldfish:
 

I just love this of Wesleigh :)  Ethan ended up in the stroller by accident...he forgot to move during the night!  It ended up being one of the best ones though!  The girls are so scared of touching him that they just rolled him around in the stroller all day!!

Being held up for a cookie by the lego men:

 And my favorite of the year...painting the girls' noses like Rudolph!

Gracie thought it was great and laughed hysterically. Wesleigh, on the other hand, was not so amused! She was not very happy with Ethan!

She finally gave me half a smile :)

Christmas Day

Geez-um!  It has taken me forever to get through all my photos from Christmas!  I am really ready to move on, but I'm determined to get everything posted so I have it for later :)

My parents, brother and his family, Richard's dad and sister came over to spend Christmas afternoon together.  Between myself and my brother, we have 9 children!!!!  I love it.  There were more presents and lots of craziness.  I actually made it into some pics this year because my dad picked up my camera and went to town.  Unfortunately, he's the one who was left out this year :)

Lots of pics here, but that shouldn't really surprise you at this point :)

Richard emerged from the bedroom for most of the day.  Thankfully, he was feeling a little better.


Richard's sister, Amanda


Yep...that boy's got some swag!!!




I love this shot.  I hate that there is a reflection on Rylan's eye :(


The other set of "virtual twins" in the family.  Ever and Adalie are 13 weeks apart :)






I'm opening an Asian Cabbage Patch doll the girls got.  It is so cute!  I need to take a pic of it!


Miss Adalie








These 3 are hysterical together!










I love these two of Ever.  He was my little buddy and loves the camera!




Richard and his dad.  (Richard's looking a little rough here!!)


I love that my boys are old enough to help with and love these babies.  There were multiple times when I handed a baby off to one of them.  They are so sweet with them and will be great dads one day :)


Maw Maw trying to play a card game with these three.  Rylan wasn't very impressed with my girls' lack of card playing skill :)


Ok...only one more post to go!  I am putting a post together showing our Elf, Ethan's antics this year.  Then I can move past Christmas pictures and possibly move on to getting this very dry tree out of this house!!

Christmas Morning

I love this shot. It was 6:45 in the morning, and as you can see, they were a little excited :)



How sweet is this of Wesleigh, hugging her new Mulan dress.


Cade has a style all his own.  This was his favorite gift!  Size 11 1/2 btw!!!!!


Bryce's favorite gift: a leather jacket.  It was 75 degrees, but I don't think he took it off all day!


Santa painted this mirror pink to go in the girls' room.  I'm pretty sure they will spend many hours in front of this mirror!!!  I love the way it reflected the tree in these pics :)






Braden got a video camera to video his hunts and also got my old iphone 4, which he desperately wanted :)


My favorite gift to give:  Grace and Wesleigh each got a photo book of their own.  I included the photos I have of them in China through their anniversary home.  The books are 240 pages each and are gorgeous!!  I made them through Blurb and would highly recommend them.  I also made a family book that I gave to grandparents and myself.


The front of Gracie's book:
the back:

The front of Wesleigh's book: The back:

The front of the family book: the back:

Bryce got some Raybans.


They loved their Mulan dresses.  I was pretty excited about them too!!




Of course, we would find Gracie in the box...with only her underwear on!


Wesleigh had to join in :)