Merry Christmas from TX (Christmas EVE)

Well, our first Christmas in TX went pretty good. We started the night before Christmas Eve by having our friends (Stephen & Nikki Adams') from Modesto come and stay the night. We woke up on Christmas Eve and ate Bfast and played while I started the rolls. Then we had some lunch. I think I was on my feet at least 75% of that day...my legs are paying for it now! Wellll.....during all of that it started SNOWING. We didn't think it would stick,so we enjoyed it while it came down. Around 2pm the Adams' took off for San Antonio to visit family and we got the house ready for the big Christmas Eve dinner we hosted. As the day went on it started snowing EVEN more. We were so excited to be getting a white Chiristmas. We know it's not REAL SNOW (a foot or more for those in Tahoe, ID, and UT) but we were sooo excited to watch it blow off of the roof tops and cover our grass more and more. As people were arriving for dinner we realized we had to scrap the walkway....too much ice. We had a great night....9 adults and 11 kids, and the house stayed pretty clean. Luckily we didn't have any furniture in our big front room so we set up two long tables and chairs out there. We had awesome food....Prime rib and twice baked potatoes for the adults and hotdogs and mac and cheese for the kids. THen for dessert we had apple crisp and a banana pudding dessert. I was excited since i got to try a new cake recipe. Choc. Mousse Raspberry Cake. Sooo good! It was still snowing and pretty icy outside when everyone left around 10:30pm, so they had to be careful getting to their cars and getting home. Luckily they were all safe! That night we had the girls open 1 present each from Gama & Papa Evans. The got a jewelry treasure box which they LOVED! Then off to bed.

Cousin Time

This past Saturday, Lynette, Ella & Brett came to our house to hang out. Lynette brought the kits to make a sleigh, and I made them candy cane reindeer. They loved both. Here's some pics.

Family Photoshoot

December....here we go. (long post with pictures)

Well, we got our family pics done on Monday this week. My friend Suzanna from our ward took them. She's awesome!! I will post more later when we get them.
Maddie has lost her 6th tooth. She's very proud that she has PULLED out the past 2 all by herself. The #5 tooth...I heard it ripping out...yuck! She loves school and can't wait for holiday break. She is so awesome at Math and Spelling. Her hard words for her test today are...beautiful and different and either. WOW. She's amazing. She also loves to play the piano. I can write out the letters of the notes and then she knows exactly what to play. In about 5 minutes she can play the song perfectly. Again....she's amazing. Oh, she also loves to read! She has already finished a few chapter books and she's very proud of that.
Kylie, well....hmmmm, let me see. She my little sneak. Yesterday she found, snuck, and ate candy and shared it. Ahhhhh. I found the wrappers all over. And...its was messy Chocolate. ugh! Earlier she decided to get the pancake syrup and pour it out in cups and on the floor and rug. She went in out room (she's not allowed) and stole the stuffed animals that I took from her since she was in trouble. Then to top off yesterday she had to go pee (while in trouble) so I let her hurry and go. About 2 mins later I heard a strange sound...water pouring into something....it wasn't her peeing and it wasn't her playing in the sink. I come around the corner as she runs out. Get this....she was playing in the PEE water with a small bowl and pouring it back in th toilet. YUCK! By that time I had had it with her. When our girls are constantly bad and not getting it we take away....DINNER. ok, so some of you might hink it is extreme, but for them it works. After we all finished eating, I gave in and let her eat. We were having Taco Soup, I figured she wouldn't eat it anyways....WRONG. She was so hungry she ate 2 cups of EVERYTHING. Beans, corn, meat, tomatoes and all. WOW. Other than that she can be so helpful and happy. Thank goodness we don't have too many days like yesterday!
Larry, well, he's awesome...of course. He puts up with all of the craziness and doesn't complain. He is still working at Progressive being an auto claims adjuster. He drives about 30 mins to work everyday, it's about 13 miles away. He loves his computer games and we watch our TV shows together everynight. He was so sweet the other night....I had been rolling ribbon to consolidate my space and i had been doing that for about 3 hours off and on....it takes forever and I had a ton to do. So....sweet Larry, he walked in the door and I told him what I was doing and he said "give me some so I can help." What guy would come in after spending all day at work to come and roll ribbon for another hour with me. What a great help!!! I love him so much.
Me, well....I have good and bad days. I hope to tally more good than bad each week. Sometimes I can. I am 25 weeks preggo now and I have hit the hips hurting, uncomfortable belly stretching and walking slower stage. My belly is OUT THERE! I watch our friends little girl who is almost three. She gives Kylie company thoughout the day, but being preggo and THOSE two girls, it can be exhausting...which can quickly make to be a BAD day. My patience is slim most days too. I need to work on that. In Primary I teach Valiant 10. WOW, 9 of them can be a real handful, but thankfully last week they were GREAT! I love it when even though the week before was horrible they still manage to remember the lesson! YAY! They will grow up to become awesome people! My free time....HA..What is that??? I still have my Mad About Baby, but I am holding off until I make enough $ so I can be a true business in TX. I guess for what I made in CA I never had to get the whole license thing...what a waste. Anyways, it's a lot of fun, I am under paid for my time (as I am constantly being reminded), but I enjoy making things for others. I have a craft show that I was invited to attend, it's tomorrow. I am super excited. I will post pictures of that later. I have been making some great friends here which is nice. Now I just have MORE good friends. No one can ever replace old ones!!! I miss my friends and family back in CA so much! Thanksgiving was really weird without them and I can imagine that Christmas will be too. :( .
Well, i guess this post is long enough for today. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

24 weeks

Ok, so here's a belly pic.

I am a lot bigger than I was with the girls....ahhh....how much bigger and I going to get???

It's a baby in there?

Sarah Grace Evans @ 20 weeks...EDD 3-19-10

Remembering ALL !

Maddie's first day of 1st Grade

Another one out...

Yay, so Maddie has had her other top front tooth majorly loose for the past week. We kept trying to convince her to to pull this one out on her own...no luck there. MY GOAL was to have it out by the time she starts school this next Mon. Today we were coming home from Target and I got her some new gum, so I let her have a piece. Good thing I did because her tooth got stuck in it and it came out before we even got home. Soooo funny, she wasn't really scared, more excited. I pulled over before we got to our street so she could get a tissue for the blood, but since the tooth was super loose for a while there wasn't much blood. It ended up that after her tooth came out there was a tiny blood clot that was where her tooth was. It was actually inside the tooth and that's why the tooth looked dark. YUCK, I know...TMI! Sorry. Anywho, here is a pic from when we got home. Oh, I guess the tooth fairy needs to visit tonight. ....... Let me check my purse.....
I think she looks much cuter with both gone!

C is for....COOKIE

Yes, it rained again yesderday....and do any of you remember what I do when it rains????

Make yummy cookies. It seemed like a great day to make the standard Chocolate Chip Cookies. A lot of people compliment the look of my cookies...and the taste of course. How? they ask. I say..."Tollhouse & Crisco." I use the TollHouse Choc. Chip Cookie recipe, but instead of Butter I use Crisco...NOT BUTTER CRISCO! If you like flat crispy cookies, then go ahead and use butter. I like the fluffier cookie, hence crisco. Obviously bake them in the center of the oven and do not over cook them..about 10-12 mins. Take them out just when they start to get a bit of color and them let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 mins then remove. And Voila...enjoy! What ever you do.....do NOT eat the cookie dough. I know that may be hard for most of you....but it tastes soooo better cooked! I NEVER eat the dough!

Scenery from Dallas to Mansfield

So this was our drive on the 4th of July. It was so beautiful and green. There were trees and small rolling hills everywhere. Oh, and a few totally exhausted girls.

4th of July...yes, out of order

For the 4th we went to Lynette's house. We walked blocks and blocks and blocks...jk...to the parade. Super fun..and HOT! The girls finally realized that they had to cheer to get candy thrown at them. Luckily, Aunt Lynette came to the rescue and gave each of the kids a bucket to collect all of the goodies. Maddie even got a toy football thrown at her head.....soooo funny! After the parade we came back to our house to unpack....ugh. Still unpacking. Later that night we got pizza and parked in a Hospital parking lot a few miles away to watch the fireworks. After coming back home...unpacked more, then went to Fabian's to spend the night!!! Long day!

Madeline's first front tooth...GONE!

July 19, 2009

Taaa Dahhhh

Yeah, we finally have internet and TV after only 2 LOOOOONG weeks. I got so sick of watching princess movies and Polly World. UGH!!! When ever I needed to check email or facebook we would have dinner or stop by at our friends. We even tried to tap into local wireless.....no luck. oh well. I am thrilled to be back in touch with the world. I am sitting in our new office. the window look sout to our front yard. It seems it's in the back of the house since you have to take a few turns in the hallway to get to it, but it does look out the front. It's also by the girls bathroom (YAY, they have their OWN bathroom now!!!) that way I can help Kylie when she comes running needing to go. Yes, I know....she's 3 1/2 and just now potty training. Better late than never, right? Maddie was 2 1/2 and great. Kylie....well, I was in and out of the house so much and spending at least 2 days a week in Maddies classroom, then we were moving. I didn't want to have to stop to have her go to the bathroom everytime. TMI, sorry.
So we are almost settled. I still need to get a picture of us standing front of the house. We never got a "SOLD" sign, oh, at least we now know it's ours. THe first thing I set up was the kitchen, man that took FOREVER! Larry put the beds together. We barely put most of the office together this past week. Our "blue room" is the catch all. The backyard is large, and will get larger when we re-do the fence and the fence line. We have lots of weeds ad have only found 3 ant hills. We bought our first YARD stuff Monday.....holy cow....we can shop and spend money really really well. Monday night we went to visit Michael and Jeannie Stone and their adorable kiddos. Yummy dinner!!! We are also lucky to have Fabian and his family so close to hang out with and my sister Lynette just a 45 mins away. We haven't ventured out too much, only when we need to buy something. Soon, I will brave the heat and take the girls to a nearby park...maybe!
Well, sorry for the rambling! I guess there's been too much going on to keep things straight these days! We miss everyone in CA, but we are looking forward to meeting new people here.
catch ya later!

Ok...here's our house

Sorry if this is a bit dark. Keep in mind that it is BEAUTIFUL in person.

Stats: Built in 2002, 2,340 sq ft, 0.283 acres lot, 4 Bed/ 2 Bath

FINAL CLOSING PRICE $159,900.

We are super excited. Mansfield is just south of Arlington and about 15 miles from Larry's work.

VIDEO OF HOUSE : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmyHmeujg9c