Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Wishing everyone a Christmas of peace & joy and a New Year of health & happiness!

Santa!!

Dear Santa,
Thank you for coming to our house tonight. We really liked seeing you and getting to talk to you. When we saw you the other day, you were in a hurry (we know it's a busy time and that's okay). It was nice to get to really find out more about you. Like about your bells and the reindeer. They are cool.
Did you know we heard your sleigh leaving when you left? We couldn't see it because it was too foggy, but we could hear it!
We will do our best to be good. Have a good week getting ready for Christmas.
Love, Kai and Teagan

Christmas Tree & Martial Arts

No, it's not "Christmas Tree & Martial Arts" at the same time, though that could be interesting! :o)
Ryan & Ransom helped us put up and decorate our tree this past week end. AND Ransom earned his yellow belt (he says it's a gold belt - sounds better) in his martial arts class at school. Grandma, Ryan and I went to his belt ceremony. Ransom's teacher from last year, Ms. Thompson, also came - soooo nice of her!! He's pretty proud of the "Chuck Norris" signature on his certificate, too. Check it out!

New Camera

We bought a new camera to replace the one(s) that was(were) stolen and I just found out it's pretty cool. The old camera took videos but not with sound - this one has sound so I thought I'd share the only video I've taken so far. It's Tracy & Preston's dog, Scrups, playing on the beach. I think he's trying to herd the waves! :o) I took it when we were in Virginia Beach over Thanksgiving.
If I can get this to post I'll be taking and posting more of them in the future!

Snow in Houston!!

I know snow is no big deal for most of you but here in Houston it's VERY big. It closes schools, distracts people from their day to day humdrum activities, and most of all makes a not so pretty city look pretty, even if it's for just a short time.
Yes, it snowed today!! The boys were let out of school early and I spent my lunch hour taking pictures and making a snow ball or two. And yes, more than one person said it looked "pretty"! It's gone now, I'm sad to say, and tonight it's suppose to get down to 22oF - brrrrr!

Thanksgiving Week - 2009

We went to Virginia Beach to visit Tracy & Preston this past week. The first couple of days we were there it rained - not hard just a constant drizzle. We woke up early the day before Thanksgiving so we could go see the sunrise on the beach - needless to say, we didn't see it but it was still fun, although pretty chilly & wet.
Thanksgiving was beautiful. Preston's parents came and shared dinner with us. That evening we went to the boardwalk on the beach and saw the Christmas lights. After that we went back to the house and sat on the back patio around a fire and played a game. We had a really good time.
Then on Friday, Dan wanted to "see a big ship", so we went to Norfolk (and surrounding areas). We saw where Preston goes to school & the Naval Shipyard but all from a distance - top secret don't you know :o). Then we took a ferry to Norfolk and went through a museum with an exhibit about Pirates which also included walking on "a big ship". What started as a sunny day turned to rain but we still had a good time.
The big news is that Tracy found a new wubby for Dot. It's the exact same stuffed toy that Dot's wubby started out as. I've included a comparison photo. And I've included a picture of Emmy and her new trick. Twice, we've left them at home without putting them in their kennels and both times Emmy has dragged the bottled water from the kitchen into the family room - who knows why - guess she just needed something to do!

Virginia Beach Trip

Halloween & Doug

We had a very fun & busy weekend. First, on Thursday, our nephew Doug came into town - he was in a friends wedding over the weekend. Then on Friday there was a Trunk-or-Treat at our church. Caitlin came and brought her Mom, Grandma, Uncle Kyle & Aunt Danielle. I also took pictures of a few people from church that I thought did a great job with costumes. We won 3rd place in the Decorated Trunk Contest - we brought the girls with us and had them dressed up. On Saturday, Ryan & Ransom had a Halloween party to go to. They ended up trick-or-treating and Ransom won the prize for the heaviest bag of candy - 9.6 lbs!! He won a new toothbrush and toothpaste! Ryan's weighed 7.2 lbs. - not too shabby! Then on Sunday we had family dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's. The boys played football in the field and we ate yummy Mexican food! It was GREAT to see Doug and spend time with him. The weekend was just a lot of fun!!

Halloween Celebrations & Dougie!!

New Tree

So, for anyone that doesn't know - our house was broken into and they took our cameras - as well as some other stuff - but without a camera my blogging is a little limited. I took these pictures with my cheap cell phone so the quality is what it is but I felt like I needed to take pictures...this is Dad & Dan planting our replacement tree. Our big beautiful oak had to come down and it did a little at a time. We finally had the last of it hauled off 2 weeks ago so with the help of 2 young, strong, and service oriented missionaries, we were able to get our totally overgrown flower bed cleared out and readied for a brand new oak tree. Here it is! And many thanks to all who helped - we couldn't have done it without you!!!

2005 to 2009

I have wanted to do something like this for a while - I wanted to have every year but 2007 & 2008 are buried somewhere on a disk. So some day I'll have them together. For now it's just 05' & 09' - it amazes me how much the boys have grown in 4 years!

Through the Years

Ms. Linda & the boys at the PA Camp

August Happenings...

August was an eventful month...here's just a few of the things that happened:
The boys and Ms. Linda flew to PA to spend 5 days with Grandma & Grandpa - Ms. Linda has promised me pictures so I'll share as soon as I get them.
On a sad note, Elder Pitts was transferred - he was the elder that taught and baptized Ransom then taught both Ransom and Ryan the new member discussions - we were sad to see him go after being here for so long - but wish him the best as he finishes his mission.
The boys started school - missed the photo opportunity there :(
And last night there was a Court of Honor held for the boys and their troop. We were extra proud of our 2 boys as they were 2 of only 3 boys from our huge troop to participate and finish the mile swim - just so cool!!
And while we were at the Court of Honor we took the opportunity to take a picture with the boys standing by Marc's Eagle Scout Project - just seemed fitting - thanks for being such a great example Marc!!

August 2009

Cabin - Summer 2009

Dan and I had a really nice time at the cabin this year. It was great to see so many people that we haven't seen in a very long time. And, of course, it was wonderful to see Tracy and Preston - so glad they were able to be there!
We had a gathering with friends and family who came from NY, the Prettymans drove up from Virginia, and Tracy & Preston drove from Connecticut. It was so nice to see everyone and spend time visiting.
The weather was beautiful - couldn't have asked for better. It's just a wonderful place to get away...

PA Camp 2009

Celebrating 75 Years!

Dan's dad turned 75 on the 19th of this month. We had a celebration at our house on Sunday. Kathy gave him 75 pens, 75 army men, 75 blueberries, 75 brazil nuts, 75....hmmm there were more things in the basket but you get the idea. It was really cute - Kathy's so creative!! So glad we were able to celebrate with the family.
Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Happy 75th Grandad!

Tracy's 25th Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our beautiful daughter!
"A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future." ~Author Unknown
We love you, Tracy Lin!!

July 2009

July was a busy month starting with the 4th. The boys had a "blast" shooting off fireworks - Dan being one of the boys.
We celebrated Caitlin's 3rd birthday - she sure is getting big!
There was an episode with Ransom putting his lips in a juice bottle then sucking the air out of the bottle. He did this while watching TV so who knows for how long. See pictures labeled "Bottle Lips" - crazy boy!
Jenni & Brian went caching this weekend in Wyoming and called to ask for our help. They needed a picture of themselves while standing in front of a web cam. I couldn't figure out how to get the computer to save a still shot so I used my camera.
Then there is the annual picture the boys let me take of them in their Sunday clothes. We usually do it on the Sunday closest to my birthday - this is the 5th year I've taken one.
Then there are a couple of our dogs (sorry to you non-dog lovers). Emmy's picture is with a toy that I love to see her pick up - she looks like the sunshine dog. Dot's is with her "wubby". It started out as a stuffed animal that has slowly disintegrated. The head and body are 2 separate parts and the nose is falling off so I put it on Dot's head like a mask. I think it's cute!

July Happenings...

Father's Day

We met the Barber side of the family (well, some of them) for breakfast to celebrate Father's Day. The boys (both old and young) really seem to like this - what male doesn't like a buffet?
And Tracy sent the "girls" new dresses to wear for Father's Day. They both act like they're being punished!!
Happy Father's Day to all the fathers we know and love!!

Happy Father's Day - 2009

Ransom & Ryan at Scout Camp

The boys went to scout camp last week. They left on Saturday, June 13th and came back on Saturday, June 20th. They had a great time. They worked on several merit badges: fishing, shot gun, archery, nature...I don't remember them all.
We're excited and very proud of them both for swimming the mile!! What a great accomplishment!! There were only 3 boys in Troop 19 that tried it and Ransom and Ryan were 2 of them!!
Note: in the pictures it states Ryan's "infamous swim trunks" - well he is now a certified Boy Scout Life Guard - he decided on Tuesday that it was too much of a pain to have to change into his swim trunks after lunch each day so he just left them on for the rest of camp! I'm trying to decide whether I should just throw them out or maybe burn them!!! Our washing machine bit the dust a day before they left for camp and we don't get the new one until today. Needless to say, their clothes are "airing out" on the front porch until the new washer is installed!!

Scout Camp 2009

Photography Merit Badge

Ryan and Ransom went to a Merit Badge Clinic a couple of Saturdays ago for Boy Scouts. They both earned Veterinarian Medicine, Fingerprinting and the Photography Merit Badges. I know I'm bad about having a lot of pictures but seriously, they both did a really nice job with the camera so it was hard to choose which ones to use from the over 200 pictures they took. The first 10 or 12 were taken at the church where the clinic was held. The rest were mostly taken in our yard. I'm sure they could tell you which ones belong to who but I don't know so I'm just calling them "Pictures by RJS" since they both have the same initials. Enjoy!!

Pictures by RJS

Happy 75th Birthday!!

Today was my father's 75th birthday - who would have ever guessed he would still be with us!!
We invited a few of his friends to join us and they came. Sam even gave him a hug! You could tell Dad was touched they were there.
After we ate, we went out into the yard where a gift from the family (thank you Jon and Joel!!) was presented to him. He was quite surprised with the new mower!! After a few instructions, given by Amy and Joel, he was off on a test drive.
After that, we gave him a photo album of pictures and thoughts gathered from Dad's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and Mom, of course. (Thank you Amy for all of your help!!)
I think it was a pretty good day for Dad - well, as long as you don't count when he hopped on the new mower to put it away and found out it would only go in circles!! Good thing they bought the warranty!!

Grandpa's 75th Birthday Party