A Few Photos from December...

Happy New Year!

2008 was such a wonderful year for us! Audrey grew and changed so much... Jeremy stayed busy with work and finished the year off working a successful shuttle flight... I kept busy at home with Audrey and doing part-time work for our church... And we are so thankful for another year of health and so many blessings.

2009 has been awesome so far! Life looks pretty much the same for us as last year, although Audrey is changing and doing new things every day. She'll repeat just about anything we say (which we learned the hard way) and her absolute favorite thing to do is color. She calls it "bullowing." It's the first word she says when she wakes up! We also enrolled her in a "Mommy and Me" gymnastics class. We've only been to one class so far but she's already learned how to swing on the trapeze bar and jump on the big trampoline. We'll definitely post about that soon. :)

Here are a few photos from last month...

Welcome home STS-126!

Inspecting each ornament...

Part of our daily routine...

SNOW...IN HOUSTON.

Pre-Christmas fun at our uncle's cabin in Gatlinburg. We had a blast!

Sweet Owen with all the loot!

Not so sweet Audrey standing on the loot.

So proud of herself...

Poor Aspen...

Determination!

Poor Aspen, again.

Going on a hike in the Smoky Mountains. It was ridiculously cold!

It was so cold that Audrey got a little delirious...

Amazing view!

And then... we saw a bear!
He made some growly noises at us so we got outta there fast.

Owen and his spy gear. :)

Owen, Audrey and Autumn in matching jammies...

...which quickly turned into monkey business.

Bullowing.

Blurry, but you get the idea. :)

As Audrey's hair is getting longer (and more out of control),
we've had to experiment with different hairstyles.
After chasing her down for half an hour I finally got her hair
into pigtails. SO cute!

Watching a movie with Grammy.

And Poor Aspen, again.

Consider this your 2008 Christmas card! :)

We love you, friends! Stay tuned for more Owen fun in 2009!

November Highlights

Figured I'd better squeeze this one in since it's almost 2009!

November was a fun-filled month, starting with a trip home to TN for Audrey and I. My Uncle Fred and Aunt Karen were in town from CA and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them! I realized as I sat down to do this post that I don't have a single picture documenting that they were even there...oops.

We LOVED being home and as you'll see in the pictures below, we came at the perfect time to see fall colors. Our hearts ache to be home this time of year!

Your reward for reading all of the way to the bottom is some footage of Audrey going down the slide at the famous pumpkin patch on Signal Mountain. So what if the sign said "for kids age 3+"?! :)

Jeremy survived STS-126 splendidly, I on the other hand barely made it without him. :) We did get to eat Thanksgiving dinner together as a family though, so it was all good in the end!

Before we get to the pictures- a quick update on little miss Audrey! There isn't much that she's not saying these days...her latest favorites are "oh nooo," and "pretty." We went through a short phase where I could leave her unattended, but that is now over as she is climbing on everything. She also loves completely destroying her room (or any room, for that matter) as quickly as possible. Her current record for having every toy, book, diaper, etc. in the floor is about 15 seconds. I must mention, however, that she honestly gets cuter and funnier by the second!

The colors in Chattanooga were amazing!

Audrey had a blast at Coolidge park, as always.

The slide... (video at the end of this post!)

This slide isn't for sissies (or babies, but that didn't stop us).

Bubbles! She can't get enough of 'em.

Audrey lovvvvvvvvves Elmo, and can sing his song surprisingly well!

Checking out the "Black Friday" ads. She was looking for
Mickey Mouses and Elmos. She actually found several!

Misfit Thanksgiving 2008.
A few of us (3 couples, 5 kids) without family in Houston got together
and threw down enough food for 25 people. Thanks Reeders and Patmans!

Busted!

A preview of Christmas fun to come...

We'll leave you with a couple of short clips of Audrey and the slide. :)
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

October Highlights

Is it really mid-November?! Where has 2008 gone?

We were hoping that October would be a slower month than it's predecessor, but after Jeremy's triathlon, our garage sale, the NKOTB concert (you didn't mis-read that), airshow weekend, birthday parties, Halloween, and Jeremy working a gazillion hours preparing for STS-126, October was just as crazy. But no natural disasters, so no complaints!

We blinked and Audrey transformed from a baby into a little girl. She has such a sweet, independent and fun-loving personality! Her favorite things these days are swinging, jumping on the couch, going to the library, saying at least 3 new words a day, and keeping mommy on her toes.

November should be fairly calm as Jeremy will be working STS-126 until Thanksgiving. If you happen to get the NASA channel, tune in during the late evenings and you just might see him working in Mission Control!

Enjoy the pics from October!

Mischief.


Jeremy and the boys after Try-Andy's-Tri.


Notice a theme here? And yes, she knows how to use the remote (scary).



My dear friend Kimberly who accompanied me to the NKOTB concert.


The concert was SO much fun!
Did I mention that our pastor was the one who bought me the tickets?!




She LOVES to swing!


Wings Over Houston Airshow- a.k.a. Wings Over the Owen House!




Audrey's first Prince and Princess party!



When she has disappeared and all is quiet, this is usually how I find her.


Stinkerbelle.




Grumpy Stinkerbelle and friends.
Only half of the kids from our small group are represented here! We're a fertile bunch. :)

Check back soon for November pics...
Lots of love to all!