Bell Boys All Over Texas!

We started Christmas Break by going our separate ways... there were Bell Boys all over Texas last weekend!! Ryan and Dylan made the longest voyage to west Texas to hunt in Camp Wood.

Corbin, Dylan, and Ryan made a stop at Rudy's [with Daddy and Mr. Bryan] for dinner on the way to the deer camp!
Ryan with his hunting guide, Grandpa!
Ryan shot a deer on his second hunt. He saw a lot of animals on his first hunt, but on his way to the stand, he had accidentally dipped the scope of his gun in mud. That wouldn't have allowed for a good shot, so he just hunted that round and saved his shot for the evening hunt! Here is the hunter with his white tail.

And here is the newly initiated hunter, his cheeks painted with the blood of his first kill!


Here are a few pictures of the hunters exploring the deer camp between their morning and afternoon hunts...


We have heard many hunting tales from their trip... tales of good food; Ryan walking into a cactus on a hike through the woods, leaving him with a boot full of cactus thorns; campfires; Ryan falling into a sticker bush, leaving hundreds of stickers in his back; many animal sightings; "stand" hunting; "safari" hunting; Ryan running into a post leaving a cut on his forehead; and I am sure there are many things that they didn't tell us too! After all of those stories, we were most thankful that Ryan returned to us in one piece :) He said the pain was only temporary, but he will remember his first hunting experience forever!!

Wilson traveled to north Texas with Nana to visit our cousins in Frisco and Prosper. He had so much fun with the crew!! Here he is at Aunt Jenn and Uncle Troy's with is Christmas Tree pancake...

...and here they all are at Uncle Cliff and Aunt Meredith's with their Christmas cookies!

A detour through Galveston on the way home means a ride on the ferry before arriving safely at home!

I stayed right here with Mom in southeast Texas! I was the ONLY CHILD in the house from Friday night through Monday afternoon :) I sure accomplished a lot in that time! I became 100% potty trained, helped Mommy do a little Christmas shopping, put out our new Bulldog Christmas signs, and soaked up 100% of Mommy's attention!! Here is a picture of me before church...don't I look handsome?!

And here I am with my new Christmas bulldog (I dressed myself)!!

We sure had a fun weekend, but we are so happy that we are all back home together!! We are getting ready to have a very Merry Christmas in Nederland!!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Ryan and I kicked off the Christmas season with a field trip to watch Whimsical Christmas! The performance was great, but I think that I enjoyed the bus ride as much as I liked the performance!!
Nothing says "It's Christmas-time" like Wilson in his Mickey Santa hat!

Another sign of Christmas... Pajama Day at Little Wooden Shoes!!

After the annual pajama picture, Granna planned a super fun Polar Express day for Wilson and his Pre-K friends!! They enjoyed hot chocolate for morning snack, cuddling with pillow pets to watch the Polar Express movie, and cookie decorating for afternoon snack!!

More Christmas fun at Nederland's lighted Christmas parade! Watch out for flying beads, footballs, and lots-n-lots of candy!!
Peyton had the best seat in the house...thanks, Aunt Allie!


Thursday was Christmas hat day at Langham, so we all joined in the fun and put on our favorite Christmas hats!

Ryan the Aggie Santa!

Wilson Claus!

Peyton the Christmas Elf

Thursday was also Kindergarten Polar Express Day! A day complete with pajamas, the movie, hot chocolate, and Santa hat cookies!

On Friday we made it official... we kicked off Christmas break with fun parties at school!! Santa Claus visited Little Wooden Shoes! He read "The Night Before Christmas" and visited with each child at the school...looks like the boys had a fun time with Santa!! Peyton even gave Santa a high five and told him that he wants football players for Christmas!

Santa Claus made a stop to read to the Kindergarteners at Langham too! He filled his bag with "The Night Before Christmas" books and gave one to each of us! Here I am getting my gift from Santa!

And here I am with my teacher, Mrs. Reynolds! She is so proud of our class. She told the parents at the party that we just might be the smartest Kindergarten bunch that she has ever taught!

Here is Ryan with his 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Smith!

Daddy came to pick Ryan and I up before the parties were over so that we could begin our travels for our first ever hunting trip! We are hoping to post pictures of our hunting success when we return home on Monday! -Dylan

Super Cold Days, Silly Days, Soccer Days!

On super cold days, we spend a little more time indoors... and entertain ourselves in a variety of ways. Sometimes we play video games, other times we play soccer or tackle football in the living room, and sometimes we are just SILLY!
Last weekend we took a trip to The Woodlands for a 3 v. 3 soccer tournament. We started our weekend off in a wonderful way by visiting Nanny Lawren and her sweet family for dinner and a long overdue visit! Here I am with Ryan and Kynndal.

The mommies and the kiddos

Thank you for the gift, Nanny Lawren!! I LOVE my cool new art clipboard!!

The tournament was great, the boys played GREAT, it was great FUN! Here are the boys after their 4th victory... on their way to the Championship game!

Here I am being a little silly between games!

To make a trip to the Championship game even more fun, the boys were able to play the other half of "our team" in the big game!! The other group of Nederland boys were in a separate bracket, and after 4 wins, they met up with us for the best game of the day! Here is a picture of the teams before the Championship Game!! Such an exciting moment!!

Time ran out and the score was 2-1 for the boys in blue. It was a great game that could have gone either way... good job boys!

What a TEAM!!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!

Happy Birthday to the best Daddy EVER! We love you more than words can say!!

Giving Thanks and Counting Our Blessings...

Thanksgiving, November 24, 2011.
We have a lot to be thankful for... at Thanksgiving and always! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with our cousins in Frisco and Prosper. Uncle Cliff, Aunt Meredith, and Carter hosted Thanksigiving dinner at their new house in Prosper. We stuffed our tummies with good food and then had fun jumping on Carter's new trampoline and playing ball in the back yard despite the cool weather.

The Aggies did not win the Thanksgiving Day showdown, but we are all AGGIE PROUD!!



On our way to have lunch with Papa and Granny, we passed the Aggie Barn in Reagan, Texas. It was a cold and wet day, so we weren't able to run and explore around the barn, but here are a few pictures from our short stop!






We enjoyed our lunch visit with Papa and Granny and then made our way back home. We loved our holiday travels, but we were so happy to be home! We had a day to play before returning to school for three weeks... and then Christmas BREAK!