Snowboarding and more..

Happy New Year! Mike is in Colorado snowboarding with the students for their yearly ski trip. I think it took like 18 hours to get there. I'm glad I was not on that bus trip. I flew to Georgia to see my parents with the girls while he is gone. I cannot give any tips to my friends who have two little ones and are flying alone. I just keep thinking the whole time "I will not see any of these people ever again." I can say do not ever change planes and always get a direct flight. It is also so much easier when the baby is little and will sleep the whole time. I carried Ellie's car seat on this time with the help of our nice airtran guy. However, it is so much work to get it fastened in and get her into it while I am trying to hold Anna. I eventually have to ask a young girl behind me to hold Anna. It is so strange to me that no one offers to help. Also, once I got to Atlanta I had the car seat in the single stroller and Anna in the baby bjorn. Ellie walking next to me. It took us forever to get to baggage claim cause Ellie wanted to stop and touch every item. We then get on the train and Ellie is trying to hold onto the pole so she doesn't fall down. However, she doesn't really get it and eventually I just sit down with her on the floor so we don't all fall down. It is totally insane not to mention our $19 kohl's dvd player doens't work anymore and I had to carry Mike's work laptop on and I was so nervous about Ellie touching it etc... I will be using a wal-mart gift card to buy a better dvd player and a new movie for the way home. Anyways, we survived and it is so worth it once we get here!
I celebrated my 30th birthday yesterday. There's nothing like your 30th birthday on December 30th! Mike and I went to the Mavericks vs. Cavs game this week for his present and it was so fun. We got to see LeBron James etc.. it was a really good game and we are glad we got to go. My dad cooked us a yummy supper and got us a great cake. Today, is my mom's birthday. I recommend trying to avoid December birthday's if you can! Tonight, dad and I took Ellie to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. She loved it and I thought it was very cute as well. She loves being at Nana and Papa's!
Mike is in Crested Butte, CO. It is supposed to be freezing there so we had to pack lots of extra clothes etc.. He is really excited about the trip and getting to snowboard in Colorado again. It is much better skiing than on the east coast. I have so many fun Christmas pictures to post, but I don't have my cord. I will have to do it when I get home. I hope you all have a great New Year. I think my resolution is to run a half-marathon this year. However, I can't believe I just posted that cause I know that Mike will hold me to it! Anyone want to join us?!

Merry Christmas from Ellie

A great day...

Today was a perfect day. Mike said it was our best day since we've lived in Dallas! There have been many great days since we've been here, but we haven't left the city to venture out. It was 75 degrees here so I woke up and thought "what could we do outside"? I heard that the Fort Worth Zoo was lots of fun. Ellie has watched "Barney at the Zoo" a few times and it was filmed at the FW Zoo so we knew she would be up for it. It was a great zoo and we were out for almost 5 hours with no melt-downs etc... Both girls were in a great mood and loved being outside in the nice weather. Ellie loved the elephants, tigers, and the baby jaguar (Go Diego Go)! Anna got a great ride all day in the baby bjorn with Mike. We drove around Fort Worth for ahwile and saw TCU, downtown, etc.. It is a unique city and we are so glad that we went. Well, the day got better when I got home and got to open 10 Christmas Cards. We got so many cards from our blogging friends and they all look great! There was a trend of a letter came with those who have no kids or only one child. It seemed like those families with multiple kids just sent the picture like us. We are so thankful for our friends. We were telling some new friends we've made here how we have so many good friends they are just spread out all across the United States. It seems like in Texas that most people have the majority of their friends in Texas. Anyways, I hope you all have a great weekend full of Christmas cheer. We miss you all!

Dave Barnes Christmas Extravaganza

I love it.

Our Student Ministry Staff

Recently our student ministry staff did a Christmas photo shoot for our leaders as a gift. Some lucky people walked away with some sweet pictures framed of us in some fun Christmas outfits.

I feel bad for Kelly Pickler...

I love Jeff Foxworthy...

Crazy Mom Moment....

I've been meaning to blog this story for a few days now so get ready for a big laugh. Well, a couple of weeks ago when we went to AR for my grandma's funeral I had a ton to do they day we left. Mike had to work all day and our plan was to leave around 5:00 P.M.. I wanted the house clean before we left cause I hate coming home to a messy house. I had to do a couple loads of laundry, pack, bank, gas, and you know watch both girls all day. I normally make a list cause if I don't I will forget something. I finally got it all done with the car loaded when Mike got home. At this point I was really excited to just ride in a car for 5 hours and not do anything. We are on our way and I had made Anna 2 bottles for the trip. However, I realize I had forgotten the can of formula (I know the most essential item). We get into Oklahoma and pull over at a supercenter. Mike goes into get the formula and I decide to fill the car up with gas at Wal-Mart's gas station cause it is always cheap. It is really cold this night and Ellie is wanting to watch a dvd. I pay at the pump and push "No" on the receipt so I don't have to get out of the car again. I'm in the backseat fixing the dvd and helping Anna out. I get back in the front seat and drive to go pick up Mike. I hear a loud noise, but I'm not sure what it was so I keep on driving. I get about 200 yards from the gas station and a lady is honking at me. She rolls down her window and says the "gas pump is attached to your car". I think oh my goodness I hope the car is not damaged? I get out of the car and the pump along with about 8 feet of tubing is still attached to my gas tank. However, nothing is wrong with my car. I run the pump and tubing back to the wal-mart gas attendant and she says "it happens all the time". There is some sort of break away thing so that when crazy ladies run off with the gas pump attached to their car it just breaks away. Praise God our car is o.k.. I go pick up Mike and tell him the story. He asks me do you think as a stay at home mom you start to lose brain cells? I totally think you do cause there are many things that I forget on a stressful day! It was a good reminder to slow down and take a break sometimes!

MUST WATCH...

Stay with it until the end...Holly wants all of you to know that most youtube videos are posted by me. Trust me though, this will have you laughing at the end.

We are back to normal...

Our lives have been crazy since Thanksgiving and I am so glad that it seems like we are back on a routine today. I know all my friends who have children understand how travel and lack of a schedule leads to many melt-downs! We were away before Thanksgiving to visit my grandparents in Arkansas and then we went to KS for Thanksgiving. We came home and the week after Thanksgiving my mom came here to help us paint the family room and kitchen. It looks so much better and I really like it. Well, while my mom was here Anna was really sick and ended up in the ER one night cause we thought she had RSV. She ended up having bronchitis or something you know they can do nothing about. Ellie had a cough and fever. Well, one day she woke up from her nap with a swollen eye and gunk coming out of it. I take her to the dr. and she had pink eye. While my mom was here on December 1st we found out my grandmother was taken to the hospice hospital and was not doing well. My dad got a flight to Dallas that night and the next day my mom and him drive to Arkansas. My grandmother ends up passing away two days later on December 3rd. Also, while my mom was here I got the flu and felt awful. I had a fever etc... and of course it lasted until we were in Arkansas for the funeral. I then get pink eye while we were in Arkansas and have to go to the doctor. We are finally all better and feel great! My grandmother's funeral was such a celebration of her life and how she's in heaven with Jesus! She looked beautiful and I believe it was exactly what she would have wanted. There were over 200 people there to honor her and it was very special. I am so glad that she got to meet Anna before she passed just 3 weeks later.
We are now home and have a week full of Christmas parties. However, we don't have to cook dinner another night this week so that is always nice. I hope you are all enjoying the season. We are trying to refocus on Christ this week as life has been so busy. I asked Ellie last night in the "Do you know what Christmas is about" She quickly responds REINDEER. However, she's pretty cute trying to sing Silent Night. I don't think I've mentioned that when you ask Ellie what she wants for Christmas she says a "race car". She wants nothing to do with a baby doll or anything like it! She does have a race car set that grandma got her that she will be very excited to open on Christmas morning... Have a great week!