Our White Christmas

What a Christmas!!

Christmas 2006 was at Grandma and Papa's house in the mountains in Colorado. Days before we arrived they had just experienced a monster snow storm that covered the ground in wonderful powdery snow. The boys were so excited that they didn't waste a second after getting out of the car to go and jump into it.

Please watch the video clip. We took so many pictures that it's impossible to pick our favorites to post. The last pictures were taken at Denver Zoo Lights. The zoo was so beautifully lit up. At first we didn't see many animals but towards the end we saw all kinds of them. Dominic's favorite was the rain forest area. There we saw a cobra eating it's dinner (a rat) and the boys had a front row view of the whole thing. Yuck.

We had to leave a little early because the second monster storm was fast approaching. We were sad to leave Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Dawn and all the wonderful snow. Next time we wont wait so long to go back. We LOVED the mountains.

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Staples for Dominic

Well it happened again. Not quite as tragic as the first time, but still bad for Little D. After mopping Friday night Dominic ran through the kitchen and instead of breaking his leg, this time he gashed his head. If anyone has every experienced a head injury, or seen one personally you know it's ugly.

Daddy found him sitting on the floor holding his head. We think he just hit it on the ground but it's hard to tell. It was a big cut and hard to imagine it happened from the floor and not a corner of a table or something. He wasn't knocked unconscience or anything. No dizziness.

Shall we visit with Santa?

Waiting in line to see Santa

In the past, as most of you know, The Santa Experience has not been a good one. Many tears and much screaming. This year the boys asked to go so we quick changed our shirts, combed our hair, and took off to the mall. The line was sort of long but they were patient and they behaved pretty well actually. They even practiced their smiles for the camera. As you can see we've turned a major corner because they were great and I think actually enjoyed themselves. I tried to capture the moment by filming some of the conversation they had with the man in red.

Click video below to see the boys talk to Santa. Dominic dominates the conversation talking about the "snake jungle" he wants. The clip is short but sweet.

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Christmas cookies

Making Christmas cookies was so much fun. Mom cheated in every way possible to make things easy and the boys DIDN'T EVEN KNOW!!!

Mothers of the world, hear me now... you must do this with your children. They were so happy. Started calling me "mother" with a british accent and used manners. There must be a happy kid drug hidden in these pre-made cookie batters because it was awesome. Batter in a tube, frosting in a cup. Too easy.

It's a christmas miracle.

Thanksgiving 2006

Grandma and Grandpa from California came out again this year for Turkey Day. The weather was gorgeous. Around mid 70s. This was the biggest Thanksgiving at our house since we moved to Texas because Uncle James was here too along with Grandma Jean. We also invited some friends of ours who recently moved here from out of state.

Grandpa made a rope swing in the back yard. First he looped the rope over a branch and pulled the boys up and down on it. Then he tied some knots in it and tied it higher in the tree so the boys could practice climbing the rope. Last he added a wood plank on the bottom to act as a swing. The boys had tons of fun with grandpa while they were here. He showed them how to climb on the roof of their little house in the backyard also.

Check out more fun with the rope by clicking on the link below. No music just the occassional "whoooa" or "aaaaah" from mom.

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Camping at Lake Tawakoni

Every year the boys look forward to our camping trip. Last weekend we took the family to Lake Tawakoni about 1 1/2 hours from Lewisville. As usual we arrive after it's dark and have an impossible time setting up the tent and have no idea what our campsite and the surrounding area looks like. But as usual everything was fine when we woke up at 6 am (!!!) to a lovely little patch of dirt which we call home for the next 36 hours.

We realized that we were minutes away from a huge flea market so we took the boys there for a while to do some walking around. Most of the time was spent back at the lake chasing after the kids on the bear hunts and adventures. Ask Dominic his favorite part about camping and he will probably say "donuts!", ask Ethan and he will probably say "peeing in the grass". They also enjoyed pretending to camp while they camped. ??

The kids loved to walk through the trees and brush. They often pretended they were lost, "Where are we?!" "I think we took a wrong turn!!". So dramatic. Sometimes they would even find clues.


Too see more camping pics click on the link below and turn up your speakers!


Camping 11/3 - 11/5

Halloween Party at the Massengales!

We all got our costumes on for our friends anual Halloween Party. Brad had to alter his a little bit from last years. Ethan is terrrified of all the spooky Halloween type stuff so Brad decided to leave off the prosthetics and lust do eyes, teeth, and make up. He still looked creepy and Ethan was a lot more comfortable around daddy.

Ethan decided to be James, not Thomas. Maybe it's because Uncle James is here? I don't know? Or could it be James' shiny red coat? Dominic's favorite color is green so naturally he decided on the Green Ranger. I wasn't sure what I wanted but I did know that I wanted to dress up a little more than usual. It was fun. They boys thought mom looked silly and the wig actually fit my big head.

I brought the usual "Catie Dip" to the party along with these cool spider cupcakes. (Spent way too much time on them.) When I took a picture of one of them the eyes turned out orange. CreeEEeepy!

Pumpkin Patch 2006

It's that time of year to head to The Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. The boys love it there beause there is so much fun stuff to do (bounce houses, hayrides, hay maze, etc.) we love it because everything's free! This year we went with our friends and everyone had a great time. They added a train ride that the boys were thrilled about. This year the weather was perfect. A little chilly. Last year we went and it felt like August. We are so happy that it's finally Fall!

Lubbock, Texas

A six hour drive from Lewisville... throw in a few major meltdowns and about 17,000 "Are we there yets" and that was pretty much how the ride went. First of all let me say the roads of Lubbock and the surrounding area make it impossible to navigate if you are unfamiliar with the city. Reading a map is a joke since the entire city is surounded by a big Loop. (I hate you Loop 289.) But needless to say we got there. It at best drizzled the entire time. Which we really didn't care because we are still fresh out of summer.

The highlight of the trip was hands down, visiting all the animals at Brad's cousin Everett's farm. The whole reason for our trip to Lubbock was for Nanny's 96th birthday party. But the whole time we were at the party the boys were outside visiting the animals. There was a rooster that the boys loved to chase. Two black horses, one a clydesdale (didn't know how big those really are). Brad took the boys up to the horses while they ate. You can see the clydesdale is the one in the back. The other horse followed us around wherever he was able. He was curious about the boys. The boys were a little intimated by his size though. There were also several donkies. One being a baby. The parents of "baby donkey" constantly stayed between us and the baby so the boys could never get very close. He looked so sweet and furry. The boys had so much fun playing around with the animals.

Click on this link for more pics of the boys at the farm. Make sure you have your volume on.

Lubbock, TX

Uncle James arrives

Uncle James came for a long weekend this past week. It was more or less a "business" trip because he was so busy looking into houses/jobs/churches. But we did manage a little bit of visiting too. The boys had a lot of fun following Uncle James around the house and showing him their toys.

During his visit Uncle James got to go to Dominic's T-Ball game against The Rockies. Unfortunately, Dominic got nailed in the face with the ball after scoring. In the picture you can see his bloody nose.

Summer is winding down! Hallelujah!!

I think everyone in Texas is singing the same song. Thank you JESUS that it's October! This is the best time of year. It's not exactly cool yet, but you can "smell" the coolness coming. Not really. But if you could smell "cool" then maybe you could smell it coming.

Dominic started kindergaten last month. He had a rough start but he has made a lot of progress getting used to new school rules, teachers, and classmates. His first report card was something that he deserved to be proud of. It reflected the true genius in him that mom and dad knew was there all along.

Ethan is now in Pre-K. He impresses mom and dad every day with what he has learned. Sign language, spanish, phonics. His favorite part of school is on Friday's when his class does show and tell.





Fall also means Fall Ball. T-ball that is. The boys are signed up for their first season of ball. Dominic is on the Astros and Ethan is on the Rangers. How they ended up on the Texas teams is beyond us. Of course all the other families think it's wonderful.