Family Pictures!

We had family pictures taken awhile back and I never posted them so you could see!

We had a friend of mine from work take them one afternoon. And I have to tell you, Jaxen was in a MOOD. And not a good one. Try as I might - I could not get him to lay down and take a nap that day. So he was fussy and tired, to say the least.

 

I told our photographer all I needed was a few good ones. I was not looking for a whole portfolio of pics…just some nice ones of us that did not include mine or Nik's arm stretched out taking the pic! 

So this is what we got that day!

I think they are adorable...I just love them!

Christmasy-Stuff

Every year we host the youth Christmas Party at our house. It is such a fun time!

Nik divides them into teams and sends them out on a video scavenger hunt. The stuff these teens come up with…amazes me! They are so creative and funny!

A group picture

All the goodies afterward

Spicy crackers, reindeer pretzels, buckeyes, sausage balls,

frosted and unfrosted sugar cookies, meatballs, 

christmas bark and chocolate peppermint cookies

Today, I delivered all the ‘leftovers’ (I made tons) to our church staff, my work-church and a couple of other people in the community! The goodies were yummy!

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Last night we went with our neighbors to Austin for the Zilker Parks Light Show-Thing. I’m not sure the exact name of it. It does not matter. What matters is how much fun we had! And how cool the lights were!

They had different themed lighted scenes throughout the park. They also had food vendors and bands and Santa and Santa’s Workshop. It was really cool. This was our absolute favorite tree -

Jaxen did not want to ride in his stroller. His wanted Kris to hold him the whole time!

It’s hard to see in detail, but you can kind of see one of the scenes below.

They had a lot of tunnels lit up through the park. They were really neat, except that it made me dizzy to look up at them!

A family picture! 

Quention and Kris!

We had such a fun night, walking around and looking at lights!

Mothers Day Out Christmas Party

Thursday Jaxen had a Christmas party at his Mothers Day Out (MDO). The parents were invited if they wanted to come...of course I did!

I dressed Jaxen in his Christmas shirt that morning, wrapped his gift and off he went. Such a big boy!

They were having a 'book exchange' for Christmas. This is Jaxen when he got his gift. He was really excited but it was kind of hard to caputre it all on the camera...

 

Unwrapping it (he was trying to hand me the paper he pulled off)...

He finally got it unwrapped and saw it was a book!

 

 

And then he sat down for a little reading...

 

Until he saw everyone else heading over for cookies. Then he was all "forget this book...give me the sugar!" And procedded to eat 2 cookies!

I know I have stated this before...but I am so thankful for this MDO. Jaxen is learning a lot. And he really enjoys going. His teachers are the best. They are so sweet and patient and kind.

Ms. Andrea and Ms. Linda gave Jaxen a gift yesterday after the party and he also brought home an ornament that he made. Treasures!

Jaxen brings home some sort of painting at least once a week. I love them. Sometimes they have one paint streak on them and then other times...its full of color! Like the one below. I want to frame this and pull it out every Christmas! I love it!

A Random Post

Today you get a random post. It has been awhile since I have done one of these!

1. It has been cold here lately. And I love it! The cold weather is such a refreshing break from the sweltering heat that Central Texas normally has!  And everyone here is complaining. Not me, though! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!! So does Jaxen....can't you tell?!

I made him wear this hat the other day. Because he is just too cute in it....and because he is almost to the age where I can't distract him and make him forget that their is this weird object on his head - ha! 

Pictures before Mothers Day Out on Tuesday:

2. Christmas Parties galore. We had/have 7 parties in 8 days! And at least one more next week. I thought I would take pictures and document them all for you...but that did not happen! Just take my word - they were fun and we looked cute! Ha!

3. Today Jaxen is 18 months and he shares a 1/2 Birthday with Scotty! Happy Birthday Scotty....I won't share how old you are on here :)

4. Wrapping / Christmas Cards - that is the theme for the next couple of days. I finally started wrapping a few presents last night (I just had to start somewhere and get a handle on it). I won't know if I am done shopping or not until I (first) find everything I have purchased and (second) wrap it all up. I think I am almost done...probably just about 2-4 more gifts (I'm guessing) that need to be purchased. I hope to deliver gifts and hand out Christmas cards (to those who live here) the first of next week.

5. And Baking. I have much to bake for the weekend...and I hope to bake a bit extra and deliver some Christmas goodies to others. I have already made “Reindeer Pretzels” and “Christmas Bark”.

6. Church Update - This Sunday is our pastor's last Sunday here. Nik will be preaching the following Sunday, December 22, and he is the pastor in charge of our Christmas Eve Services. After that...we are not exactly sure what will happen. A few meetings will take place in the next week or so to try to work out some of the details during this interim period. Please continue to be in prayer for our church, our board and for Nik during this transition time.

7. We took family pictures a long time ago. You will see them one day on this blog.


And I guess I will end on the number 7. Sounds good to me.

Merry Christmas Everybody!!!!!

 I'm trying to teach Jaxen how to say it.

Not. Happening.

A Break

This weekend Nik and I took a break from life.

Or I guess I should say, a break from Jaxen! Ha. 

Friday afternoon we dropped him off at our favorite babysitters and hit the road to San Antonio. CHILDLESS. Can you even imagine how weird that was? A road trip, an overnight stay without our 18 month old! 

One word. EASY. And fabulous. Two words, I guess. 

Easy because we did not have to stop for a diaper change, and only stop at a clean facility that has changing tables (or change a dirty diaper in the front seat of our car), we did not have to eat at places that had kid friendly food, or a play area, or carry all that luggage that you have to tote around everywhere, or worry about fussy behavior in a hotel, or wake up and have to watch cartoons....I think you get the idea! 

And it was fabulous because I got to spend 26 uninterrupted hours with my husband. That is the first time we have done that since Jaxen was born. It was really nice to have conversations that did not get interrupted. To be able to focus on each other and not have anyone come in between that time who needed our attention more. 

The reason this all happened is because the annual pastors Christmas party was held on Friday night in San Antonio. We normally attend, and then drive home afterwards. But this year, Nik had some points for a free hotel stay and so we took advantage of it! 

We had a wonderful time at the party. We saw many friends from around south Texas and enjoyed the company of the Beaumont staff (where we did our summer mission trip) during dinner. 

We stayed out late, went to bed late and slept in. In fact, we didn't even get out of bed this morning until we had to, due to check out time. 

It was so relaxing. But I did miss Jaxen. So often I found myself saying to Nik.... "If we had Jaxen... I wish Jaxen could see...." 

But he was in good hands....

I did not take many pictures while we were gone because I didn't take my camera, and niks storage on his phone is full. But I did capture these....

I made hot cocoa before we left. It was super cold and nothing says winter road trip like hot cocoa with a ton of marshmallows on top!!!

This is a photo of Nik and I before we went to our party. It's yellow.  Weird lighting. I kept telling Nik that I looked so tan every time I looked in a mirror in the room. And I'm not tan at all. More of a pasty white. Most people think I'm sick because that is how much I am lacking color! That was a trail that probably no one cared to read. Oh well. Here is the yellow pic. 

And that sums up our break! Time for bed. Taking a break is tiring :)

Fun at the Park!

While we were away - Jaxen, Kay, Anna and I went to this great park. And there were too many cute photos to share with you in the last post. So here they are!

Be prepared…it is a whole lot of cuteness in one place!

This boy just melts. my. heart.

 

We're Back!

Okay. We are back! I know it has been awhile since I have updated the blog....

Jaxen (along with Nik and I) spent his second Thanksgiving at his Mamaw Kay and Papaw Russell’s. We not only saw them but also Nik's brother and wife and some extended family! I was really bad (again) at taking pictures of Jaxen with the family…but I did manage to get these few...

I don't know that he actually even ate Thanksgiving food :) He was not eating like his normal self and napped all through lunch (which I was kind of thankful for, so I could eat my yummy food! That's probably wrong, I know). He was up the night before coughing and just did not get much sleep. The picture below is not from Thanksgiving day…but you get the idea...

Overall, we had a great time! It was so relaxing and fun just to hang out. Nik and I did get a chance to do some “Black Friday” shopping, on Thursday, where we scored some pretty good stuff! And we had a date night with Chris and Kylee on Friday. Date nights are always appreciated! And I think Jaxen had so much fun hanging out with his family way past his bedtime, eating m&m’s! I am always so glad when he gets the opportunity to bond with any of his family that he does not get a chance to see real often.

 
And he got to play in some leaves. The good, big kind of leaves...He loved throwing them in the air!

While he played, the boys had to work! Nik and his brother were kind enough to help their dad pull up lots of shrubs and load them on the trailer. Have to work off that yummy Thanksgiving food somehow…!

We even celebrated Christmas and exchanged gifts while there.  Jaxen received some great gifts and loved them! He got some toys, movies and clothes.

Thanksgiving 2013 was filled with lots of good family time, great food and we even got some rest in there! I am so thankful for our families. They are absolutely wonderful!