Time Flies...Whether You're Having Fun or Not

Wow.  It's hard to believe that we are already in June.  I knew I hadn't posted in a while, but didn't realize how long it had been until now.  This year has been very busy so far and it looks like it will continue over the next month or so.  At some point, we'll need to take a moment to breath, but that's not on the agenda for now.

The kids just wrapped up the school year.  Both Alyson and Caleb got perfect attendance as well as received high grades.  Aly stayed on the A/B honor roll all year and finished the year with an A average in every single subject.  Caleb really improved his reading all year and we find ourselves amazed every day with what he is reading.  We are so proud of both them.

We wrapped up T-Ball season a few weeks ago.  Our team finished 13-1-1 and won the league championship.  It was very exciting for both Caleb and I.  Our little team was really fun to watch.  The most exciting part came at closing ceremonies where Caleb was named to one of the Hays All Star Teams.  So for now, T-Ball continues for us.  We just finished our first tournament where we didn't fair to well.  But being the first time that our kids had played together, we were pleased with the effort we received. 

Aly continues to work on her gymnastics.  We're not in season yet, but with the school year ending, she's going to find herself working in the gym more often.  This is really when she makes the most improvement and picks up new skills so we're excited to see how she does this summer.

As far as Kristy and I, well we're just trying to keep up.  Some days we're better at keeping than others, but we manage.  For now we just know this:  T-Ball and Gymnastics.  But, we're having fun doing it!  And that is the most important thing.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Caleb Looking Mean

Caleb Holding His First Place Trophy and Wearing His All Star Hat

Kids Already Enjoying the Pool

Happy New Year!

First of all, I have to apologize. I actually typed an entry a few weeks ago and as I always do, I left it for me to come back and edit later. Only problem is...I failed to save the original post. So here I am again.

Happy New Year to our friends and family. 2011 proved to be an eventful year and ended on a high note for us. This year for Christmas Adam and his family were able to come up to Austin and spend the week with my parents and us. It was nice to be able to spend time with them and get caught up.

Christmas was a great time for us. Although stressful (end of year work items, crowds everywhere, parties to plan), I always look forward to this time of year, because at some point you get to take a moment to catch your breath and reflect on the previous year. The kids enjoy this time of year because Santa comes to visit and I don't think he disappointed.

The kiddos are doing great in school. Aly, once again earned all A's on her report and Caleb continues to get good marks (no letter grades for Kindergarden). Aly is moving up a level in gymnastics an Caleb will start t-ball soon. We're so proud of them and excited for their achievements.

Kristy and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on December 29, 2011. Seems like just yesterday we were saying I do at La Mansion. And as any couple that's getting old we got each other the best gifts ever....a new stove/oven and microwave (picture below)

So, unfortunately I didn't take a ton of pictures during Christmas. So you'll have to deal with random pictures that I took. There is a picture of an oil gas facility I visited recently...the very next day the site exploded. Good thing I didn't have to delay my visit by one day!!!

Hope everything is great for each and everyone of you!

Big Bend

2011 allowed us to once again take the Bi-Annual Big Bend Family Trip. As Kristy and I were driving we realized that our son has had the opportunity to go on this trip 4 times...he's only 6. His first trip happened when he was only 4 weeks old!! He's already a veteran at climbing "mountains". I have a feeling in two years it's going to be a big fight to try and keep him and Aly off of Casa Grande. What that means is I have two years to get back in shape and be ready to climb that beast with them.

Normally we only go to West Texas the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. However, this year we decided to take the entire week to see the other sites in the ares...Fort Davis, McDonald Observatory, and the Marfa lights. As things turned out we ended up being on this extended trip with the King family. This worked out perfect as our kids adore the King kids and it's great to see that interaction. I think the highlight of this leg of the trip was......the LASER used at the observatory to show the constellations. I know there are probably 5 of us trying to figure out where to get one of those things. If you have the opportunity to visit this area I highly recommend it. Between the history and clear skies that reveal stars you never knew existed, this is simply an amazing area.

On Wednesday we took our time getting down to Big Bend and enjoyed some geocaching (if you want an addicting habit, email me and I'll explain this game to you). Caleb actually located his own cache from beginning to end which was very excited. It's fun to watch him and Aly search high and low for these little treasures.

We finally made it down to Big Bend and as we were unpacking I noticed our camera was missing. I figured it would turn up...but it never did. Towards the end of our stay it dawned on me that I had left it on the back of the truck at one of our stops inside the park and didn't remember putting it back in the truck. Camera lost...or was it. Stopped at the Ranger Station in Panther Junction and the Rangers had the camera! Upon further inspection, it would appear that it had been run over. So I don't have a ton of pictures from our trip for this reason.

As always, Big Bend was amazing. Kristy and I opted to stay on easier hikes and allow the kids to be able to explore. Keeping Caleb on an existing trail was a chore as he always wanted to take the path less traveled. The trip overall was another great experience and I'm glad we keep up with tradition and are able to show our kids these types of awesome places.

Catching Up

Catching up....or starting back up again. When I set up this blog, I fully intended to keep it updated, but that became a chore that required my laptop or some computer. Over the past few months I've been trying to think of way to share our experiences, especially the kiddos experiences with our family and friends. I thought about Facebook, but if you know me you know I don't have an account and don't plan on changing that. Then there was Twitter...but I'm not important enough to let everyone know where I'm eating or what I'm doing, plus it wouldn't accomplish the goal of keeping the family up to date.

Finally today it clicked in my head: I have a blog! Not only that, but I have the ability to update it with my iPad or iPhone, so there's no more excuses for not keeping it up to date. Most pictures are taken on my phone...and I always have my iPad or iPhone on me at all times (not sure if that's good or bad, but I like it).

So here I am...more importantly, here the family is back again. I shortened the URL as I couldn't remember the other one. So be sure to bookmark this, subscribe, check back frequently and I promise to do a better job to keep this updated.

Until then, here a few recent photos of the kids. Caleb and Aly both went to their first college football game (see pictures below) and Caleb just wrapped up football season. Also, Aly did her best at competition this year and we are so proud of them both. Oh yeah....and then there was halloween.

That's all for now!

A New Post

Ok, so it's true I haven't posted in awhile. There's been quite a bit going on in our lives. Between work, school (the kids and I), events, etc., we've hardly had time to breathe the last couple of months. But here we are, in a new year that will bring new challenges; challenges we are ready to take head on. I will try to do better on keeping this up to date.

I've spent some time over the last few months putting together a music video of Aly learning to ride a bike. I thought a long time ago I was done with this, but I have never been happy with the end product. Finally, I have a video that is worthy of being posted. While I think it can still be improved on; Aly learning how to ride the bike is the thing I am most proud of. The video is simply a by product. Hope you enjoy. (By the way, Caleb makes a couple of cameo appearances.)

More From Dolly

Here are some more pictures from Dolly. The condo pictures are the condo that Adam and Jennifer have been renting for the summer....

Hurricane Dolly

As some of you know, Adam and Jennifer have been weathering Hurricane Dolly. Jennifer packed the kids up and headed to Laredo. Adam had to stay behind. Their house made it through with very minimal damage. There is some flooding taking place in both Laredo and Harlingen. I just recieved these pictures and wanted to share them with all of you and let you know they are doing ok.