Home for the Holidays

We spent the holidays with our little family at home in Texas. It is always special to be together. We all love this time of year. Eliza loves the decorations and the anticipation of Santa Claus. Ben and David love the food... cookies, Chex Mix, soda, trifle, ham, orange rolls, cheesy potatoes, etc. We all enjoy sitting by the fire watching Christmas movies. I love the Christmas cards in the mail. And Josh just likes that we are all home and paying attention to him.

It truly is "the most wonderful time of the year!"

Small miracles

Christmas itself is a beautiful miracle. The meaning, the transformation of the individual spirit, and the wide-eyed wonder of little ones. This year we got an added bonus... Snow. Dallas experienced it's first official white Christmas in over 80 years. It started to snow Christmas Eve and lasted all the way through Christmas day. Now that is a miracle... at least a small one that we got to enjoy.

First Haircut

Why is it so hard for a mother to cut those first locks?

Now that I am cutting three heads of boys hair I told Dave he owes me $25.00. Five for each head and a ten dollar tip. I am expecting my money any day!

Joshua's birthday

Cake! Ice cream! and Presents!

Josh had a fun 1st birthday. He was lucky enough to have Grammie here to help celebrate. We sure enjoy our little Josh. He loves to laugh... and eat!

If only...

If only it were this easy to wash the kids, the car, and the house! I might even have time to do MY hair!!

Fall Fun and Festivities part 2

Here are a few pictures of us all at the Texas State Fair and Halloween. To be honest, I am grateful all these "fun fall activities" are over!!! I think I will sleep until Thanksgiving!

(Benjamin and his little friend Ethan were Bateman and Robin. These costumes originated from the early years of David and Matthew Stowell! Eliza was "Fancy Nancy" for her school costume, but chose to wear Belle the night of Halloween. Josh was just himself...cute!)

Our Little Cowboy.

Here is Ben's big event at the Texas State Fair. He won a trophy for "wrestling" that cow down the fastest! He really does make one handsome cowboy...Yeehaw!

Fall Fun and Festivities

Fall is such a fun time of year. We miss the brilliant color changes of thewest but we will take what we can get here in

Texas.This year we have had a lot of rain, but it has still been enjoyable. Eliza hadtwo days off of school recently so we took advantage of them.

One of our favorite

places is the Dallas Arboretum and their traditional Autumn Festival. It is a

pumpkin paradise. The kids

(especially little Josh)

enjoyed climbing all over the masses of pumpkins. Eliza's favorite part was getting her face

painted, and Ben

liked eating McDonald's Happy

Meals on the picnic tables. Mom was just happy to have a day outside with all three kids.

Our next favorite Fall tradition is the Texas State Fair. Dave took the day off so we could all go. We rode the "green line" train to the fair park and spend the day enjoying the sites, tastes, and rides of the fair. Ben

won a little trophy in the "Pee Wee Stampede Rodeo" for cattle roping. (It was really just a barrel of hay with horns on it that he had to tip over). Eliza enjoyed picking out a treasure at one of the booths. Josh loved feeding the animals (goats, lamas, long-horn cattle, you name it!) in the petting zoo. We all ate a yummy corny dog and some Borden's chocolate milk. Unfortunately towards the end it started to rain, and Josh got into a nasty pile of fire ants, but all-in-all it was a good day!

Remembering the 80's

Dave and I were recently invited to a "Totally Awesome 80's" party by some friends in our ward.

It was lots of fun. Everyone was asked to dress up so Dave and I did our best. (Eliza even got in on the fun even though she had to stay home with the babysitter.) The best part was seeing everyone's take on the 80's. We had everyone represented from the "Material Girls" to the "Breakfast Club" to the "punk rock crew". The music was totally rad! It was a night of lots of laughs and good reminiscing.

On the Move!

Benjamin and Eliza enjoy riding their bikes and both are getting the hang of it. Joshua is cruising around with his little walker though he still prefers to use all fours. It is faster when trying to keep up with the big kids!

MILESTONES!

Eliza started kindergarten this year. She was excited and a little nervous. She likes her teacher and is meeting lots of new friends in her class. Wearing uniforms makes all the kids look so nice each morning.
Two days later Eliza celebrated her 6th birthday. Mom, Ben, and Josh took chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles to her class. She got to wear a special birthday vest and her class made her birthday cards.
Along with Ben, Eliza got a new bike for her birthday. She was most excited about the Barbie helmet and knee pads. She also really enjoyed her new princess Polly Pocket from Grammie and Poppa!

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Our little guy is three years old!! Benjamin keeps our family smiling. He is a bundle of boy, but oh! so sweet and cute. He loves trains, and really wanted a Thomas bike this year for his birthday. He was excited to get a lot more than just that! Thank you family!

Teeth!! or should I say Tooth!

Joshua is getting his first teeth. The two bottom ones.
I, unfortunately, had to have one of mine taken out!
(Don't worry I plan to put one back in!)
Keep Smiling!

April Showers!

This is a little out of order, but I found these pictures and it brought a smile. Texas rainstorms are wonderful. When it rains it is a total downpour in a little bit of time, so there is always a lot of water afterwards to splash and have fun in. This was one of those times that I allowed childhood and fun to override reason! It was a good day!!!

The Dog Days of Summer

We have had a really fun summer so far. Texas weather is always hot and humid but that hasn't stopped us from having a good time.
In May my parents took a two day road trip to come out and visit us. Texas is along way from Montana, but they made it and brought Sam (the dog) with them. We enjoyed swimming, playing trains, reading stories, and of course eating out!!! My mom (who must always stay busy, even on vacation) set up her sewing machine and made Eliza beautiful skirts and dresses. We ended their visit with a fashion show complete with ABBA music.
The best part of summer in Texas is the swimming. We enjoyed countless hours in the water. Ben and Eliza took swimming lessons early in the summer. They both love playing in the pool especially when Mom and Dad join them. Josh was our littlest fish. He was constantly crawling into the water (regardless of the depth)!
In July we took our own road trip to Utah to see family. Dave's parents were leaving on a mission to Itabuna, Brazil, so we spent the first week in Salt Lake with most of the Stowell family. (We missed Uncle Rich and Uncle Clint who were both fulfilling obligations to the United States military.) We had so much fun playing with cousin Ruby, sleeping outside on the deck (the beauties of a Utah summer night), swimming, and spending lots of time with family. Unfortunately, Eliza broke her arm jumping off the trampoline the last night we were in Salt Lake, but hey! wants a little visit to the ER?
The next week we spent in South Ogden with the Shupe's and Stock's. Once again our favorite part was playing with cousins. Benjamin was absolutely in love with the trains at Union Station. Eliza got her fill of Barbies, Hannah Montana, and Tinker Bell thanks to Gabby and Livvy. I enjoyed some much needed girl time with high school and college friends. And we all were thrilled to go out boating at Pine View Reservoir with Uncle Braden. We were sad to say goodbye, but as always we eventually had to come home.
The rest of the summer has been full of birthdays (Benjamin turned 3 and Eliza is turning 6). We have visited the zoo and got in as much swimming as possible. Eliza starts school on Monday. We are so excited for her to take this big step!!!
Thank you to all those who spent time with us this summer. We love our friends and family!