Christmas 2013

Christmas Eve we went over to the Herreras to spend time together and let cousins exchange gifts from a name exchange we had done.  Asher got David underwear as a gag gift, which he opened before his real present.  I'm not sure if Matt's humor was appreciated.

Afterward, back at our house, the kids opened their Christmas Eve pajama presents.  

Christmas morning we opened presents.  Of note, Kylee gave Brayden 14 packs of chewing gum which she connected in a chain, and ended up lasting Brayden a week at best.  Then we prepared and ate what has become the requisit Christmas crepe breakfast.  

Grandma Mindy had come for Julia's baptism and stayed for Christmas.  Nathan made it a little bit later in time to spend Christmas with our family, but it was a short visit as we headed out on our drive to El Paso the very next day, unfortunately on his birthday.

Asher 3 months

November 23 - December 22

At three months Asher is hitting at the toys on his bouncer.  He is sucking on his index finger and thumb.  He scoots on his back or lifts his bum up when getting his diaper changed. When falling asleep and waking up, he lifts up his legs together and kicks them down.

Julia's Baptism

Initially Julia's baptism was going to be on Dec 14th, but Grandma Mindy had travel plans to come the next weekend for the Christmas vacation so we decided to push it back to the 21st.  Because it was not on the scheduled ward baptism day she was the only person being baptized and we were able to do the whole program.  The baptism was in the afternoon to accommodate family flying in.  Grandma Mindy, Mamaquel, and Grandpa all stayed at our house.  It was an especially busy schedule for Mamaquel and Grandpa with Julia being one of four grandkid baptisms in four months.

Julia's foot came up during the baptism so she had to be baptized a second time.

After the baptism Matt picked up Bush's chicken for us all to eat back at the house.  On Sunday after church Gabby took pictures of Julia in her baptism dress.

Julia's Birthday

Julia celebrated her 8th birthday with a cinnamon roll breakfast and a family dinner at Red Robin.  

We celebrated with the cousins on Sunday.  Matt made her an ear cake with an earring because she had just gotten her ears pierced.

Mall piano, ear bling, and longhorn headwear

The kids had another opportunity to play Christmas songs at the mall.  They did a great job with memorizing and playing their songs.  They especially liked the bag of candy they got when they were done.  

Julia's 8th birthday was a few days before the recital and she decided that she wanted to get her ears pierced for her birthday.  After their performance we went and got them pierced at Claire's.  She did great and was very excited about it.  

Brayden likes everything Longhorns.  They went looking around while Julia got her ears pierced and he found this Longhorn cap that he decided to buy.  

December Activities

The kids had fun decorating the Christmas tree for the first time in our new house.  

This school year Brayden has been apart of the Cardio Coyotes club at school.  They do Pogo sticks, jumping rope, and rope skipping.  He had a performance at the Helotes Winter Festival where he was a Penguin that did the rope skipping.  

Blake had a Kindergarten Christmas performance.  Each class sung a song. 

Asher was the baby Jesus for the ward Christmas party, though he was quite a bit fussier than the part called for.  Gabi was Mary and Joseph was Chandler Walker, one of the young men from the ward.

Brayden's Birthday

Brayden celebrated his 11th birthday with a cinnamon roll breakfast and dinner as a family at Subway.  Brayden has been on a Subway kick lately and it is his first choice if given a choice. 

We celebrated later with the cousins after they got back from Utah.  To be ready with the cake on time Matt made a minecraft cake a day early. Unfortunately some of the higher parts fell down.  

Dinosaur Tracks

The day after Thanksgiving the Cub Scouts went on a hike at Government Canyon.  It is a 12,085-acre state natural area which is actually adjacent to our neighborhood, though it is about a ten minute drive to get to the entrance to the park.  I took Brayden and Blake on the more than five-mile hike to an area with several sets of dinosaur tracks frozen in rock, estimated to be 110 million years old.  We also saw a historic house built out just about in the middle of nowhere.  It was a fairly chilly day, but good for hiking.  I was especially impressed that Blake made the long hike without complaining.   

Thanksgiving 2013

We stayed in San Antonio and had a quiet Thanksgiving with our family in 2013.  The Herrera's were initially going to be with us, but decided close to Thanksgiving to make a trip to Utah instead.  Since we had a 3 month-old baby we got a Rudy's turkey and did a pretty simple meal.  

That afternoon we went to the O.P. Schnabel park and the kids rode bikes and a scooter with Matt and Asher was in the stroller.  

Asher 2 months

October 23-November 22

Asher calms down when he is put on the diaper changer.  I guess he likes to get his diaper changed. He will lay quietly and look up at the fan even if it is not moving.  He likes to listen to the vacuum cleaner.  He enjoys baths now.  He likes to find his fist and suck on it, which he now prefers to his pacifier.  He is talking and smiling.  He is super smiley in the mornings.

October 28- paying attention to the toybar
Nov. 4 - more excited about toys
10 weeks - while changing his diaper he is pushing himself back with his legs
11 weeks - putting his head up (doing crunches) when he is in his carseat
November 14 - puts weight on his legs

 

Trustworthiness Award

Brayden and Julia both received the Trustworthiness Award at the Kuentz Elementary morning assembly.  The award recipients don't know before hand, but they tell parents so we can be there.  This assembly was a special occasion with Mr. Charles L. Kuentz, the school's namesake, in attendance.  Brayden and Julia were surprised and excited for the recognition.  

There were  several other kids from church who also received the award: Bryce and Alyssa Oliveros, Krista Hughes, as well as Julia's friend from across the street, Adia.

Piano Recital

Matt did not get to go to the fall piano recital because he was at a conference in New Orleans.  We were late because they had closed all but two lanes of the freeway for construction.  Luckily Seena had to wait  for some other students that were late because of sports so we didn't miss much.  It was Julia's first piano recital and the kids did great in playing their pieces.  Seena always puts on great recitals complete with refreshments afterwards.