The Holidays With Our Family

We had a great holiday season this year. It was nice to celebrate it with our "complete" family. Stephen, of course, began talking about Santa back in October and the excitement he had on Christmas morning when he saw that Santa left him exactly what he asked for, was priceless. It will be fun to see Sabrina's excitement in a few years, too. Brodie was our most enthusiastic and grateful child this year. He waited patiently for his turn and then tore into his present. He carried his ball in his mouth all day! We look forward to many more Christmases together! Enjoy!

Stephen meets Sabrina

Stephen couldn't wait to meet his baby sister. Unfortunately, he was not able to meet her in the hospital so he had to wait until we brought her home a couple of days later. He can't get enough of her--he kisses her all the time:0) He's turning out to be a great big brother:0)

Sabrina Renee

Sabrina arrived as scheduled on December 8th. We were all very excited to meet her and have her join our family. Here are a few pictures during her first couple of days of life:0)

Stephen's 4th Birthday

I can't believe Stephen is 4! We had a birthday party at the house for him with all of his cousins and a few friends.

Big 4-year-old!

Transformers bounce house:) This was a surprise for him:)

Transformers pinata:)

Can't forget the birthday cake. He chose the one with music notes--probably because there wasn't one with Transformers on it.

Bakugans:) Another one of his favorites:)

Starfish

"Look Mom! I'm a starfish!"

Texas

We went to Texas to visit our family. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa's new place in Fort Worth and we were excited that JoDee, Taylor, and Shelby came to spend a couple of days with us too. Take a look:)

Stephen at the cattle drive:)

Bull ridin'. Yee-haaaaa!

Stephen with his Grandma JoDee:)

The Pearsons and Armstrongs:)

Stephen with his great-grandpa Joe and great-grandma Frankye:)

Big Boy Bed

We finally got Stephen his "big boy bed." He loves it! Here are a few shots of him trying it out for the first time:)

He looks so little!

Pillows work just fine!

And the next morning:)

What Could It Be? A T-REX?

Stephen is really into dinosaurs right now. He likes to play "dinosaur" and pretend he is a dinosaur egg hatching. Take a look--this may be the funniest one yet:)

4th of July

We had some friends and family over for a 4th of July BBQ. It was fun and the firecrackers were awesome!

Yeah for poppers!

More poppers! Notice our crazy dog, Brodie. Yes, he was catching and eating the poppers. He also had a taste of a sparkler:)

What chocolate cake? (Elan)

Jordan with a sparkler.

Chloe, Jayden, and Jack with sparklers.

Stephen watching the fireworks with Grandma Renee:)

More fireworks!

Don the pyro-maniac:)

Enjoying the fireworks:)

Jordan and Stephen:)

Elan and Stephen:)

Me, Mom, and Chris:)

Family portrait:)

Stephen and Alayna

Stephen and Alayna are so cute with each other.

Here is a look at the two of them together:)

Cheeeeese!

Crossing the street on the way to Coffee Bean:)


Stephen stopped to pick Alayna a flower. She took it and threw it on the ground:)

He didn't seem to mind--he loves her anyway:)

Our families at The Grove:)--the Pearsons and van de Vens

Playing chase:)

The tackle!