Rose Parade

When I was growing up the Rose Parade was a big part of our New Year's. We would cruise Colorado Blvd New Year's Eve and see all the crazy drunk people. We spent the night on the Blvd a few times with a friend's church group. And some years would get up at 4:00 a.m. with my grandpa Card and dad and go and get the chosen spot for watching the floats go by. These are great memories and I want my kids to have similiar experiences. It is much different being there than watching it on tv. This year I decided to take the girls and go. Taylor and Ken had already headed back to Houston so Taylor could celebrate with his favorite part of New Year's-fireworks.

My dad and I decided we would take the girls and their cousin Cori and leave very early. It's about a hour drive into Pasadena from their house. We expected it to be very cold (S. California cold) so everyone was bundled and ready to go. We found great parking, and a spot to sit. Then it was just the waiting. The floats were spectacular, so beautiful. It's amazing to see what can be done with all the natural decorations. The one that was special for us was the Boy Scouts 100th anniversary. The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts carried all the award winning banners. At the end was the tribute to the Boy Scouts. It made me proud to be a part of a great organization.

On the way to the parade. Trying to get a bit more sleep

Lexi and Cori used the waiting time to do some reading.

We brought breakfast to enjoy curbside

The day turned out beautiful and warm so we quickly shed the jackets and sweatshirts and basked in the California sun.

Eagle Scouts carrying a representation of every merit badge that Boy Scouts offers. These were also made of natural materials. There were over 300 Eagle Scouts that participated in the parade.

The actual float for the Boy Scouts included a working zip line.

A side view of the Boy Scout float showing some of the activites that the Boys and Girls participate in. There are female Venturing crews.

New cousin-Benjamin

Benjamin Silver was born Nov 24th and we were so excited to finally get to see him. He is a super baby. There was no lack of holders amongst the cousins, aunties and grandmas. It's always a reminder of the blessings of our Heavenly Father when you can hold such a sweet baby. Welcome to the family Benjamin

December celebrations

December is such a crazy wonderful month full of celebrations and great times together as family. Here is a brief overview of what we did.

Lexi participated in a children's choir at church. Our church and the Catholic church across the street combine to perform a Christmas concert. There are beautiful musical numbers and a wonderful spirit to herald in the Christmas season. This is Lexi with two great friends, Morgan and Olivia


Paige at her Christmas concert. Paige's special part was playing the chimes in one of the numbers.


Taylor celebrated his 18th birthday.

Taylor at his orchestra concert. This is the same tree as the one in Paige's picture. The high school has a performing arts center which is used by the high school and junior high fine arts programs.

Lexi at her choir concert at the elementary school. They also performed at a assisted living home in the area and the local mall.

Both Paige and Lexi participated in a sing a long at a local nursing home with Girl Scouts from many troops. I think the girls enjoyed it as much as the patients.

Road trip to California. This is at a rest stop. We usually take food for lunch in the car and stop to eat along the way. When the kids were younger they needed the chance to run around. Now we just enjoy being able to get out and take a break for a bit.

Christmas Eve. One of our traditions is to read the Christmas story from the Bible, sing carols and have the kids portray the story of Christ's birth. We had a full cast this year. The rule is you have to participate until you graduate from high school. We were blessed with a real baby Jesus this year also.

Christmas morning-the kids were excited about their Santa loot.

New Year's Eve-Paige and Lexi ringing in 2010

Ready to move onto 2010 and see what the New Year brings.

Happy belated birthday Taylor

This post is a week late due to technical difficulties, but I wanted to recognize that Taylor is now 18. It's amazing to look at the pictures and see how quickly time flies and how much he has grown. It was a wonderful Christmas 18 years ago to have a new baby boy to bring into our family. Taylor is a awesome young man and we look forward to what he will do in the next 18 years. Taylor has brought tears and laughter into our home and has been a great blessing in our lives.

Our brand new sweet baby boy



4 mos old-1st Easter

2nd Easter 1992-16 mos.

1994

1996

1997

Baptism day 1999

Space Derby Champ-2000

the fisherman-2001

2002

learning to waterski at Lake Powell 2003

With our dog Montana 2004

The pyromaniac & his goods 2008

The 18 yr. old 2009

Oh the weather outside is frightful-snow in Houston

For the 1st week of Dec. the weathermen kept saying we would have snow by the end of the week. Houston can get pretty chilly, but snow is very rare. Thursday was very beautiful, blue sky, about 60 degrees. It didn't seem possible to have snow the next day. The school district was on alert for "deteriorating" weather. At 5:30 am we were given notice that the school day would go on as regularly scheduled. As I took the elementary school kids there were occasional flurries. A bit exciting, but not that big of a deal. The temperatures continued to drop and things began to change. By 10:00 a.m. there were big fluffy snowflakes and it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon. The school district decided that school would be dismissed at 1/2 day. Ken and I enjoyed watching the scenery being changed to white and decided to get Lexi out early so they all could enjoy this special day. By the time everyone was home the snow was letting up and already starting to melt. The kids enjoyed a snowball fight, building the best ice/snow man they could and just getting cold and wet. For a small moment in time it seemed like Houston would actually have winter. Just as quickly it was gone. By evening the lawns were back to green and only the most solidly packed snowmen survived. That night it was below freezing which took care of whatever plants hadn't been covered. Our "white" Christmas was short lived but very much enjoyed.

Our front lawn and plants with the snow.


Some of our Christmas lights with the snow atop.

Lexi taking aim with a snowball after leaving school

Lexi with her snowman

Lexi and Paige with a snowman they built with Boyers in their backyard. There was lots more snow to work with there.

Video showing where we started and how the snow progressed within a couple of hours.

Reagan in the snow

When it was snowing we took Reagan out to see this new phenomenon. she was a bit timid in the snow at first and then thought it was great running all over the backyard. The funniest part was when she was trying to catch the snowflakes. The video is of her going after the snowflakes. Excuse the potty break at the beginning. And sorry I can't get it flipped right side up. I'm still trying to figure out how to add the bells and whistles.

Bayou Wildlife refuge

For Girl Scouts we are working on the animals and insects patch and to fulfill a requirement for the patch we headed to the Bayou Wildlife refuge in Alvin, TX. It was somewhat confusing because you pass all these homes and business and all of a sudden here's the sign for the refuge. I'm sure with all the growth in the past few years, city is getting closer and closer to country. We had perfect weather, not too hot and a big overcast. The girls loved the animals and I was pleasantly surprised at the variety of animals. They were very used to humans and the girls loved being able to feed them. I would recommend this outing, but line up a bunch of friends to get the group discount.

This deer was very interested in Lexi's patches and was trying to nibble at them. You can see there is no fear though, of either one.




This camel came right over to Lexi and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then of course it wanted food.


Lexi and the kissing camel

Lexi hanging in the petting zoo with the goats.

There were even pony rides. Of course its a trainer led ride, a bit tame for Lexi's taste.