playing in the leaves

Over the Christmas break, we went to my in-laws in East Texas. They have tons of trees so naturally, we buried our kids in them...

Christmas snap shots

Here are some snap shots of Christmas Eve and morning. My dad got a new puppy which my daughters have adored. They are with the puppy every second when we go over there. C-boy got his first bike and is already riding like a champ. T-boy got some new Lightning McQueen stuff and he is thrilled. We had a blessed Christmas this year.

Suprise visit

We had a surprise visit this morning. Wife's brother Justin was visiting us from the Seminary. He is studying to become a Priest and we are very proud of him and we pray for him. His/our friend, Brett, was also visiting and he just graduated from UNT yesterday. The picture I took of him did not turn out. He is also going to go to the Seminary to become a Priest. They are both in our prayers and Praise God for their answer to the call.

The boys are warming by the fire and, like their mother, they were walking around flashing their chests...crap, I think my wife reads this blog...

The older kids did get to enjoy a bowling birthday party with some of their friends. This was their first time at the lanes and thank God there is bumper bowling. It was funny to watch them wind up to roll the ball less than 1 mile per hour...the game took a really long time :).

Christmas picture

We tried to take our Christmas pictures the other day and it was an exercise in patience. Nicole took the shots while I sat on the couch coaching my kids to be still. Resistance is futile. These are some of the shots. Peace.

Poop Crumbs...

One of the funniest things happened the other day...I was performing my morning ritual on my throne and, as most men do, I left a few...let's just say "signiture marks" at the bottom. Again, as most men do, I left them where they lay and did not even comprehend cleaning. My oldest son, C-boy (age 4), comes in shortly after and asks me a truly pondering question. "Daddy, why are there poop crumbs in there?" I am still laughing...

getting ready for Christmas

Over this Thanksgiving break we decided to put up the Christmas decorations. We also took some time to enjoy some hot cocoa and watch "The Polar Express." This time of year is one of my favorite times. My kids are getting older now and it's so exciting to see their enthusiasm about Christmas. My wife and I make it a point to stress the real reason for Christmas...Christ's birth. Our goal this year is to get the shopping done early so we can really focus on the Advent season and prepare ourselves and our kids to receive the Lord. We had decided in the past to give our kids only 3 presents as this is how many Jesus received. This does 2 things...One, it teaches them to go without and be thankful for what they are given and Two, it saves a crap load of money.

UNT's latest recruit

Here is T-boy getting ready for Mean Green Football!

Camping 11-2007

Here are some pics of the family on our first camping trip last weekend. We had perfect weather and the kids did pretty good. I have a lot to learn on how to cook with a Dutch Oven, but I look forward to many more trials.