Cary, Cara, Jordan & Jaron Pierce

More Summer Fun

2012-01-31T11:50:00.001-08:00

Here are some fun pics from the rest of our summer. We loved taking the boys to the zoo.

Elijah spilled juice on his shirt and the bees would not leave him alone!

Here is Jaron with a couple of sharks at the Children's Aquarium in Dallas.

Elijah "painting" at Mimi's house.

Cary was so sweet to throw me a birthday party this year at the end of August! It was at Cafe Nicola and it was wonderful. He brought this cake from Panini Bakery, the bakery that made the cakes for our wedding! It was SO good.

All our sweet friends at my party. :)

My Mom, Cary and I

Mom and me

With Tiffany and Jenni

Cary and I with Amy and Mark

Brody and Julie

Sarah and Tim

Cary and I with Lori and Creede

Cary, thank you so much for this fun birthday! You always make me feel so special!

JP in Aspen!

2012-01-29T11:49:00.001-08:00

In September, Jackopierce played an amazing show at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, Colorado. We rounded out our summer by taking the 2 little guys with us to spend a long weekend there. My Mom came too, and it was an amazing time! I really did not want to leave. Here are Jaron and Elijah sitting outside with the beautiful flowers at the Muns family house in Snowmass.

How cute is Jaron!?! He has really learned to pose for pictures! Here he is with the statues that he used to call "kangaroos."

The boys spent a lot of time coloring with their new coloring books!

Here we are at one of our favorite spots, The Stew Pot.

The weather was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! On the deck of the house...

Elijah with Daddy :)

Elijah feeding the deer some water.

Here is my Mom with Elijah at the Snowmass Rec Center Park.

My FAVORITE place- Woody Creek Tavern. I can't go to Aspen/Snowmass without going there.

Our sweet boys at bathtime!

Here is Jaron in Aspen climbing a big rock wall.

Cary and Jaron outside the Wheeler the day of the big show!

Mommy and Lishy!

Playing in Aspen

Fun on the deck again...

Here are Cary and I with all our friends at the top of Aspen mountain at the JP Founders' Lunch. SO beautiful up there!

Cary and I, Jack and Krista-- right before the show at the Wheeler.

My newest friend from a fun weekend- Chelsea!

Cary and Jack with their manager, David.

Cary and I on the Wheeler stage after the show!

AND....back to the house for a lot of monkey business with the boys.

At the playground again...

Sharing some McDonalds nuggets on the way home...

Sweet little Lishy bear!

This trip was so quick, but it was wonderful. Great memories here!

Cruise!

2012-01-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right! We took a cruise in August with our 3 boys and a BUNCH of other family! My Mom, cousins, and my aunt and uncle convinced us to come on it and we are SO glad we did! Jordan said this week that it was his highlight of 2011. Here we are in New Orleans about to embark on our ship.

Elijah's bud, Hudson (my cousin Jenna's little boy) was there too.

We had a lot of really nice dinners!

Jaron actually told me last week that this was one of the highlights of his 2011...jumping off the top bunk of his bed in the tiny room we stayed in on this ship. We have a bunch of videos of all 3 boys spending a lot of time jumping, wrestling and playing on this bed.

Here are Tanner, Jordan and Jaron playing legos.

Decorating their own cupcakes!

And of course, playing in our room with underwear on their heads...

Cary and I enjoying one of many nice dinners.

My sweet Jaron giving me hugs...

Our first excursion was to a little town in Mexico where it was pouring down rain...

Our second excursion was to Honduras, and this was the BEAUTIFUL beach we got to visit.

Elijah taking a nap...

The boys loved playing in the sand.

The Pierce 5 overlooking the beach in Honduras

Our 3rd stop was to Belize, and Jenna and I took Jaron, Elijah and Hudson to this spot. There was a playground, great food, and hundreds of shells that the boys spent a couple of hours collecting.

Also Jaron spent a lot of time "fighting" this "bad guy tree" with a stick. :)

With our sweet Jaron after a long day in Belize. By the way, the rest of the group went either scuba diving or zip-lining. Fun!

After zip-lining, Cary and Jordan found these CUTE soccer outfits for Jaron and Elijah. They LOVE wearing them!

This also was a highlight of Jaron and Elijah's trip- the "wakey wakey man." Every day at breakfast (which was early for these 2) this guy from Jamaica would be saying "wakey wakey!" in a Jamaican accent for everyone coming into the dining room. The boys had fun seeing him every morning and showing him their "wakey wakey" jump.

Here we are outside the ship.

Building sandcastles in Cancun, Mexico.

The boys stocked up on these little "luchador" figurines to put on the sandcastles they built.

Here are my Mom and I at dinner one night. Thank you SO much, Mom, for inviting us to come on this trip! It was awesome!

Jordan and Tanner

Jordan and Cary

Again, on that super-fun bunkbed. Jaron also has "piratey," a little stuffed animal guy that Jordan got for him on the ship with all the tickets he won at the arcade. So sweet!

Jaron and Elijah (and piratey) on the ship for the last night of the cruise.

Eating at the Japanese restaurant.

This trip was fantastic. Super fun and most of all, great to be with our big, wonderful family. That was the biggest highlight of all!

Trip to the NORTHEAST!

2012-01-19T11:51:00.000-08:00

Well, there is a LOT of catching up to do here. If you are still keeping up with this blog, then THANK YOU for not giving up on me! There have been some computer/iPhoto issues, so here goes a BIG catch up!

This summer, we went to Newport, RI and Amherst, MA. Newport is an old stomping ground of Cary's-- he used to spend summers there so it was really fun to get him to show us around. The beach was BEAUTIFUL! Here are some pictures of our family enjoying it!

Cary and I took a risk and brought these boys to visit 1 of Newport's famous mansions called "The Breakers." It was a cottage of the Vanderbilt family, and it was really interesting to go through the tour. Elijah was asleep for most of it, and Jaron and Jordan did well listening to the info on the headphones. I must say that somewhere along the way, several pictures of this portion of the trip got lost in my computer, so I wish I could show you more, but here we are with the pictures we have left!

After Newport, we drove to Amherst, MA to visit Cary's sister Lissa, our brother-in-law, John, and our niece Marisol! Cary's parents (Baw Paw and Grammy) were also there! We stayed in a bed and breakfast, which was quite a new experience for the boys, but it had a nice big lawn right outside our door, and they made different kinds of muffins every day for breakfast! It was awesome. We had such a great time here!

We took this picture at Marisol's school.

One of our favorite parts of this trip was when we went to a farm to pick strawberries. They had all sorts of fruit popsicles made with homemade yogurt, and here are the boys eating the popsicles!

It was so cute to watch these boys pick strawberries! Jaron was a good helper for Elijah. :)

Here are Marisol and Jaron eating the strawberries they picked!

Me and Cary in strawberry fields forever...:)

With Baw Paw, their gardener grandpa

Dressed up nice for a day at the Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) Museum

We went to a random spot where the kids could "dig" for "gold." They really liked this!

At a farmer's market with Grammy and Baw Paw. This was also a neighborhood where the boys visited a candy shop called "Captain Candy," suggested by Lissa. It was fun!

Cary's Mom, Sandra, had a great idea for a family picture...tye-dyed t-shirts! Elijah's was a little too big, but he sure looked cute! We had a GREAT time just hanging out at Marisol, Lissa and John's house just cooking dinner and playing in their backyard. Here are some pictures of the Pierce family all together!

Lissa and Jaron

Back in our B&B reading books before bed. Lissa gave us the cutest book called "Knuffle Bunny." It has become one of the boys' favorites!

This was an AMAZING family trip. Really unique and fun- thanks to all the Pierces for making our time so special! And thanks to Cary for having the idea to take us to places that we've never been before. We love it!

Summer Begins

2011-07-02T12:45:00.001-07:00

Here is a cute photo of Jaron with his little toy dog, "Charlie." In case you can't tell, Charlie is wearing half of an Easter egg on his head (secured by a rubber band) as a helmet. Jaron came up with this idea so that Charlie could wear a helmet just like Jaron does when he rides his bike!

Before it got too hot outside, Cary and I took the little boys to the Dallas zoo. Here is Jaron with a giraffe.

Here is Elijah riding an elephant statue.

We got to see a gorilla trying to take a nap.

Of course we played at the kids' playground.

And took pony rides!

Elijah really liked this baby lamb statue.

Yes, we actually did see some real sheep and goats!

The highlight was when Jaron and Cary got to take a camel ride!!

Of course they rode the merry-go-round too.

Here are Jaron and his stuffed panda bear, "Cutie Bear," both wearing batman masks. One day I came upstairs to get Jaron after his quiet time, and he and Cutie Bear were standing at the door just like this, waiting for me!

I don't often get to post a lot about trips we take without the kids, but here are some photos of a GREAT trip Cary and I took to Sonoma this June. This was our 4th trip to Healdsberg, and it was beautiful as usual! The trip was for a Jackopierce destination show on a beautiful vineyard. It was such a wonderful time!

Jack and Cary

Krista and Cara

Cara with friends Krista and Leith

Cary with Aaron and Jack

I thought these 2 postcards were beautiful. They are advertising the 2 Jackopierce destination shows coming up...one in Aspen (September 2011) and one in Asheville, North Carolina (October 2012). We would love for you to join us!

Cary and Jack playing outside at the Arista Winery.

Cary and I after the show at Hanna Winery.

My Dad and I took Jaron and Elijah to Legoland in Grapevine, TX last weekend. It was so much fun! The boys loved it.

Grandaddy with the boys in front of a Lego cement mixer truck.

They had tons of legos to build with.

Jaron rode some rides.

Here is the AAC made of legos.

Also the Ballpark made of legos.

Of course we went to get ice cream with Grandaddy afterwards!

Jaron's 4th Birthday!

2011-05-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

This sweet boy turned FOUR!!!! Can you believe it? I am so proud of him and how sweet and precious he is. We had planned his birthday party at the park on May 20th, but rain was looming the entire day. At the last minute, we switched the venue to the Frontiers of Flight Museum, and as soon as we did, the rain poured down outside! The party turned out GREAT!

As you can see, it was a Toy Story theme birthday party. It sort of fit with the Museum...air, flight, space, Buzz Lightyear....you get it. I decorated the tables with some of our Toy Story stuffed "guys," plus some photos of Jaron and Elijah dressed up as Woody and Buzz for Halloween, and some pictures of us with the Toy Story characters at Disneyworld. Turned out cute!

Here is Jaron with my Mom. Of course she made 2 amazing cakes, again!!

There were even alien cupcakes!!

We had the kids decorate their own party favor bags with markers and stickers. They got to fill the bags with candy from the pinata later during the party.

Here is the pinata!

Jaron with big brother Jordan.

I thought the kids looked so cute in these alien hats!

Here are some of the kids decorating their bags.

Jaron's buddies in the little movie theater they have at the museum.

Jaron with his friend Lucas

Cary and I with my Mom, my Aunt Joa and Uncle John

Here we are with my Dad (Grandaddy).

Elijah with his cousin and buddy, Hudson (my cousin's baby).

Elijah and Grammy talking about "Buzz."

Here is Hudson in the bounce house!

This is another really fun part of the museum...we got to use their bounce house! Elijah loved it!

The pinata was a little dicey, but it was super fun. Each kid got 3 hits at Buzz's space shuttle.

It was Jordan who, on the last turn, finally busted the thing open!

Candy! And excitement!

Elijah, Grandaddy, and Buzz...thanks to Dad for taking care of Elijah for a big part of the party!

Jaron blowing out his candles!

Mimi helped :)

The cake was awesome! Thanks Mom!

My cousins Jenna, Casey, Whitney and baby Hudson

Cary and I with Cary's parents, Dick and Sandra (aka Baw Paw and Grammy)!

To infinity! And beyond!!

On the way home, after the party. Incidentally, it was pouring down rain on the way home...took us at least half an hour....But Jaron fell asleep holding the Buzz Lightyear candle and his new toy Evil Emperor Zurg (which he calls the "evil embazor").

Elijah and Jordan

All 3 boys celebrating Jaron's 4th Birthday together! I love it! We came home and had tortellini, cake, and presents!

Jaron got a trumpet from Grandaddy and Gigi. He had specifically asked for this, so it was cute that he was ready to play it!

A Rex toy!

Jordan gave Jaron some cool Toy Story sunglasses and some army men!

Elijah gave Jaron some "Bob" books.

Here are some of Jaron's "guys" that he got from us. He got a set of good guys and a set of bad guys.

Elijah liked playing with them too!

For the next week, Jaron and Jordan spent most of their time playing with this Lego sticker book. It had stickers of everything from Batman to Harry Potter to Sponge Bob. He loved working on it with Jordan.

The next day (Saturday) was Jaron's actual birthday, and we went to Jordan's track meet. He did a great job at the high jump, the 50, the 100 and the relay!

Fortunately, Jaron's buddy Marshall was there, and they played all over those bleachers.

Jaron's favorite present was probably this cool Buzz laptop. Thanks Kim and Jim!

Here are a few pictures from the little party we had in Jaron's preschool class. Jaron and I had made some cakeballs the day before, so we brought them to share with his preschool buddies.

It was a GREAT birthday and a great year!! Jaron, I am so proud of you! You are growing up to be such a big boy and we all love you so very much!

Easter and Springtime

2011-05-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

Here are our 3 boys getting ready for Easter...with Parker the bunny!

This is Elijah's sweet little friend Mimi. He loves her!

Sweet big boy and little boy

Hiding in Dadda's guitar case

Jaron and his friends at his preschool "Pajama Day."

It was also the day that Cary played some music for Elijah's "March Madness Breakfast" at his school.

Jaron's best buddy Ava came to visit!

Here are some pictures from Jaron's Preschool Olympics Day. Their class was (obviously) the Yellow Team!

Here is Jaron doing the egg relay. Look how intense he is!

And the water balloon toss!

All his preschool buddies!

Before Easter we went to a MOPS Easter Egg Hunt (MOPS is a group I'm in called Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers). Here are the boys!

Since the egg hunt was for preschoolers, Jordan was Jaron's "helper."

Elijah enjoyed picking flowers!

Then he decided to start hunting eggs!

Daddy helped. :)

Cary and I got to go to NYC to visit Kim and Jim! Jim starred in "Million Dollar Quartet." It was SO great! Thank you Jim and Kim for a super fun weekend!

Jaron's preschool class had an Easter party. I made these cute little "Easter basket" cupcakes. Jaron helped me and I thought they turned out so cute!

Here they are listening to their sweet teacher tell them the story of the Resurrection. It was fun this year to really try to find ways to teach even our little boys about the reason we celebrate Easter!

Then, of course, they dipped Easter eggs!

We spent Easter evening at Mimi's house! Here the little boys are looking after "their garden" in Mimi's backyard. Jaron, especially, is very proud of his gardening efforts back there. He loves to come each week to see what has grown up!

Here's Elijah playing peekaboo with Tanner!

All 3 boys got cute little Easter baskets!

Here is Elijah with his best buddy and cousin, Hudson. Next year both of them will be old enough to really hunt Easter eggs!

Of course, Jordan found most of the eggs!

Jaron's class did the sweetest thing- A Mother's Day Tea Party. It was adorable. The kids had the room set up with a place setting for each mommy. We had bonnets for our heads, flowers in flower pots, pictures made by our kids, a plate made for each of us by our child, and each child brought us a plate of fruit and cookies with Iced Tea. They were so proud of themselves for doing something nice for mommy! Thank you, Jaron, for being so sweet!

Then the kids sang a song for us, and they had a card with their response to the question, "What does your Mommy do?" Jaron's said, "She kisses me!"

Then they made bead bracelets for us!

The teachers often post the kids' responses to questions they ask them during class. Here are a few of the ones they did that week. So cute!

Here are Jaron and his friend Jett on "Cowboy Day" at school.

And here are Jaron and Alex!

And here is Elijah's sweet little class! Elijah wanted to wear a hat on Cowboy day too!

I know...there was a lot going on at the Preschool this month! Here are some pictures from Splash Day...the kids played in the water and on a slip-n-slide.

Jaron and his sweet friend Marshall

The whole class! I will really miss this sweet First Year of Preschool. The teachers, the children, the activities...everything was absolutely adorable.

Here's a sweet picture of Elijah with Baw Paw, Cary's Dad.

And my sweet Jaron with a BIG helmet on. Stay tuned....I'll be posting pictures of his 4th Birthday Party very soon!

Disneyworld

2011-04-02T19:11:00.001-07:00

I am so excited to show you this post! This trip was awesome! We went to Disneyworld over Spring Break this year, taking all 3 boys for a 4-day, jam-packed, exhausting, but completely memory-making trip. This might have been the most epic trip the Pierce family has taken yet! Thank you Mimi for a wonderful time! The first picture below is reminiscent of my trips to Disneyworld as a child...I was not as impressed by the rides and games, but I kept walking around saying, "look at all the pretty flowers!" Let the memories begin!

We stayed in the Saratoga Springs Treehouse Villas. It was a real "treehouse" condo, above ground and everything.

Waiting for the bus to Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The "Tree of Life" at Animal Kingdom

Meeting Eeyore!

And Tigger! The little boys just LOVED meeting these characters. I would say it was the highlight of their trip. We met 22 characters, and every time we'd give a hug, get their autograph in Jaron's autograph book, and get a picture. This was the first set of pictures in which Jaron actually smiled and posed.

Here is a picture of my cousin Jenna, her baby Hudson, Elijah and I riding on a dinosaur ride. It was so much fun to have a lot of family with us on this trip!

Here are Cary and Jaron playing a water-shooting game.

Jaron won a shark for a prize!

My aunt Joa, baby Hudson, and my Mom

Here is Jaron playing at a "dinosaur playground." We were really grateful for the playgrounds at each park, because after a lot of stroller-riding, these boys needed to climb and run around!

Ok this was the coolest thing- we went on a "safari" in this huge hummer-type vehicle and saw all these animals up close! It was a very bumpy ride, but Jordan and Jaron loved it and Elijah was asleep the whole time on my lap. A couple of times he literally almost fell right off because it was so bumpy!

The little boys fell asleep but we still took a picture with Goofy!

This was the sweetest moment ever! While the boys were napping, we got in line to meet Mickey Mouse. They woke up just in time to meet him, and when they did, Elijah gave him the biggest hug, and he wouldn't let go. We finally got them to take a picture!

It was the sweetest moment ever- Elijah didn't want to let go of Mickey, and Mickey didn't want to let go of sweet little Elijah! He stayed there for several minutes, after the autograph, after the pictures, and as 50ish people waited in line to see him. It was really sweet to see him take the time to hug a little guy who really wanted to see him. The whole rest of the trip, anytime we'd see a Mickey Mouse ANYTHING, Elijah would point and repeat the word, "mouse! mouse!"

The little boys with Brer Rabbit

The big boys with Brer Rabbit

Here we are with Thumper and Miss Bunny

Here is Jordan with the "Tree of Life" in the background.

That night we went to Epcot center and made a round there before eating dinner at a yummy Hacienda Mexican food restaurant. It was great! Epcot had all these topiary characters made of flowers, leaves and plants.

Jordan and his big muscles!

Again, look at all the pretty flowers!

Sweet big boys

Sweet little guy

Jaron has big muscles too.

Mom and I at Epcot

In the "Italy" section of Epcot, Jordan and Cary got to be part of a little Italian show. It was really funny!

While we waited for our dinner table, Elijah played peek-a-boo with his new best friend, my cousin Tanner.

Peek-a-boo! (Or as Elijah says, "Ba-boo!")

Playing with baby Hudson's toes!

Here is Jaron cuddling with his 2 new toys, a shark, and "Stitch," which Jaron called, "Sprite-bear," in reference to the first time he got to drink Sprite.

Happy with Bubba

Day 2: The Magic Kingdom!

Elijah with Donald Duck...again, he loved hugging these characters!

This trip was the 1st time that Jaron actually smiled and posed for almost every picture I took.

Donald signing Jaron's autograph book. We got 22 signatures...did I mention that already? I know, how cool are we?! :)

Waiting for Woody!

Mimi and Elijah

Our best buddy! Woody!

Just as we were wondering what to do next, a parade came by!

Then we ate lunch and the boys got these cool "Buzz Lightyear" toys on their drinks.

Here are my Uncle John, Aunt Joa, cousin Jenna and her husband Casey, their baby Hudson, cousin Whitney, and cousin Tanner...we had so much fun with them on this trip!

Jaron and Cary at the "Small World" Ride. One of my favorites!

Cary and Jordan

Jordan on Thunder Mountain Railroad

The Buzz Lightyear Ride! When I told Jaron we were going to this one, he said, "A Buzz Lightyear Ride?! No way! Awesome!!"

Shooting the Evil Emperor Zurg, or as Jaron calls him, the "Evil Embazor"

Buzz

The "Evil Embazor"

Me with an Alien hat

Our picture with Buzz!!

Tired boy...Incidentally, his really cute little outfit there with the Mickey Mouse embroidery was purchased at the beginning of the day at the Magic Kingdom because Elijah threw up on his other clothes on the way to the park that morning. He was totally fine after that! I guess no more eating oatmeal while in a taxi...

Jordan in a Goofy hat

Elijah in a Mickey hat!

My big boy at the Magic Kingdom

A new Pluto toy, ready to swim with Jaron at the hotel that night!

It was really cool- they showed Beauty in the Beast at the outdoor poolside movie theater that night.

Day 3: Universal Studios

This was really cute- it was a Dr. Seussical Kids' Park

The Seussical Merry-go-round

The One-Fish-Two-Fish Ride! Jordan, Jaron and I rode this...you might be able to see Jaron's little blue hat in between Jordan and I...

A Seuss Playground

Trying to win more prizes!

Our boys with their prizes! (Actually Jordan won them all and gave them to the little guys.)

Jordan at the Harry Potter world

The little boys at the Curious George Playground

We really love Curious George!

This was a really cool play area where you could put all these plastic balls in a hose that carried them up to a crate up at the top of the room...when the crate got full it would pour out all the balls all over the floor...the kids loved this.

Jaron waiting for the balls to drop!

Mimi being silly!

Jordan and...somebody scary...

We got to take their picture with Scooby Doo and Shaggy...here is Shaggy telling Jaron to do the thumbs-up sign for the picture.

Cheese!

Shrek! Can you believe these little guys weren't scared of any of these characters?!

Princess Fiona and Donkey were there too!

The boys with Curious George

Hanging out with Bullwinkle

Jaron and Elijah with Dora and Diego...it was cute because Jaron would always take Elijah by the shoulder and lead him to the characters. He wanted them to go together! It was so cute!

Look at the 3rd guy from the left!

A dip in the pool after a long day!

Jordan and his new Gryffindor pillow from the Harry Potter world

Day 4: Hollywood Studios- This was our Character Breakfast. It was awesome! Here we are eating breakfast with Handy Manny!

Leo from Little Einsteins

Sweet boy with his breakfast- check out the Mickey Mouse waffle! Love it!

June from Little Einsteins

Special Agent Oso

Handy Manny talking to Joa and Hudson

Mimi, Joa and the boys with Goofy and Pluto

Again, this guy LOVED Disneyworld!

This is the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground...everything was larger-than life.

It's hard to see in this picture, but Jaron got a temporary tattoo of "Stitch," (or "Sprite-Bear").

And of course, Elijah got a "mouse."

We ate lunch in this cute little diner where you sit in a car and watch a movie- like an old drive-in movie theater.

Elijah with his buddy, Tanner

Standing by a Miss Piggy fountain

Meeting Lightning McQueen!

And Mater! Here Jaron is holding his hands over his ears because there were a lot of car noises going on.

Joa, Hudson, and Mater

Elijah with Lightning McQueen....he wasn't quite as cuddly as Mickey or Donald.

Mimi and Elijah on a New York movie set!

Watching a 3-D movie

The last ride we did was a Toy Story ride. These boys love Disney!

In conclusion, (if you are still reading this far), this trip was unbelievably awesome. Thank you to my Mom SO much for so many great memories. I'd go back next week if we could. :)

Happy New Year AND Valentine's Day!

2011-03-13T00:31:00.000-08:00

Cary and I spent our 5 YEAR Anniversary at the Dallas Stars' game on New Year's Eve!

Thanks to our friends, Brody and Julie Hildebrand, it was a really fun and special night. Thanks for the tickets!!

Our friends Jon and Sue Abel came too.

Thanks to my Mom (Mimi), the boys got to celebrate NYE too at our house.

She brought a helium balloon tank, and when we got home our ceiling was covered with balloons! Most of them were Buzz and Woody balloons.

The first week in January, Cary and I spent a night at the Mansion for our anniversary!

Jaron went with Mimi to Chuck E Cheese.

Here is a picture he drew of a spider. I thought it was pretty good for a 3-year-old!

Here's my little Elijah sitting in a little chair at our friend Alex's house.

Jaron decided to borrow Alex's Elmo costume for the duration of our playdate there.

Then....it snowed. And snowed and snowed....No school for several days!

Jaron and I actually made snow ice cream. It was good. I'm serious. It was a fun little project for us!

Here is Jordan reading a book to the little boys on one of the snow days.

Even though it was snowing, we could still make it to Northpark mall. Elijah wanted the Build-a-Bear store to open!

Finally it did! And Mimi got Jaron and Elijah Build-a-Bears. Actually, Jaron's was a Build-an-Abominable-Snowman ("Mr. Bumble").

Elijah got an Owl, one of his favorite animals. He likes to make the sound "whoo! whoo!"

Here are Elijah and Mr. Bumble looking out the window at Cary, Jaron and Jordan making a snowman.

Snowday! Time to break out some costumes....

Snowday! Time to break out about 150 plastic balls to roll all over our house!

Here is Elijah with Batman, or "Matmaaaaa!" as he calls him.

Here is Jordan giving Jaron a Spiderman Valentine for Valentine's Day.

I made heart-shaped waffles...not too yummy, but very cute! I think we prefer my misshapen pancakes. :)

Jaron and Elijah giving Valentines to Daddy.

Jordan's Valentine's Day stash... I love Valentine's Day!

Here's Jaron with an Alvin and the Chipmunks coloring book and a Wheezy stuffed penguin.

Elijah got some things too!

Here are some cute pictures from Jaron's Valentine's Day party at preschool. I was in charge of the craft this time...I'm not too crafty, but it turned out pretty cute. The kids made little Valentine's boxes and decorated them with stickers.

Check this out..top one on the right side...this was hanging up outside the preschool classroom. So sweet!

His brothers decorated him. A little Valentine baby!

This year we went to a Cirque del Soleil show and took Jordan and Jaron. They really liked it!

Here is Elijah playing with his little kitchen we got him for Christmas. We actually gave it to him during one of the snowdays and it was great!

Elijah loves books!

Here are Jaron and Elijah wearing their t-shirts that Cary's Dad got them when he was in Turkey in November. They are from Istanbul. Thanks Baw-Paw!

It started warming up, and we went to the Arboretum.

Elijah and his muffin.

Yay! We can go outside again! Let's paint!

And play in the sandbox with our friends!

Thanks for checking out our blog! Stay tuned...Disneyworld is coming up on my next post!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-01-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, I don't post often but when I do, it is a big one. So, here goes Christmas! It all started the weekend after Thanksgiving when we got out all the Christmas stuff and began to decorate the tree...

Lately one of our favorite things to do is to go to Eatzi's for dinner. The salads are great, and the mac & cheese is the best ever! The boys love to run around outside after we are finished eating. Here they are running after each other. Yes, Elijah runs.

My boys at the park Thanksgiving weekend...

We were SO excited to get to see Ava, Micah, Kyla, Alan, my aunt Laurie (Jo Jo) and my uncle Greg (Poppa) during Thanksgiving weekend as well. We had a great time at their house riding the golf cart, jumping on the trampoline, eating a great dinner, and watching the sunset.

Decorating the tree!

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is going to see the "Trains" at Northpark (benefitting the Ronald McDonald House). This was Jaron's 2nd year in a row to wear his train conductor costume to the "Trains."

After the trains, we walked around the mall until we found a little "Scrooge" puppet show. Scrooge decided to pick on Cary, asking him about his job, etc. That was funny, but it was even funnier to see Jordan and Jaron laughing at Scrooge's jokes. Especially Jaron, because he was laughing very boisterously, even though he clearly didn't understand any of the jokes.

A couple of weeks before Christmas I took the little boys to the Dallas Museum of Art for their "2nd Tuesday" thing...the museum is free that day and they have all kinds of fun crafts, storytimes, exhibits, for kids to see and do. It is fantastic. Here are the hats we made that were supposed to be inspired by Dr. Seuss.

This was a huge highlight of our Christmas this year. "Cookies and Castles" is an event sponsored by the Dallas Tri-Delta alumnae, and it benefits the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. We got to decorate gingerbread houses with icing and EVERY kind of candy that you can imagine. They actually had a station of never-ending candy. You could simply walk up and get whatever you wanted to decorate your gingerbread house and gingerbread men. Of course it was fun to sample the candy as well. The first picture is of a giant teddy bear Christmas tree that I thought was impressive. Then you see pictures of the boys decorating their houses. Mimi (my Mom), Creede, Lori, and Creede Hudson came with us!

(I just want to note that Jordan, despite the face in this picture, really enjoyed this event. He is trying to play it cool. :) I think he took home about 7 pounds of candy.)

Elijah got one piece of candy, a gummy orange.

Here is our "Little People" Nativity Scene that we put up every year to talk about the First Christmas.

We found this guy while out looking at Christmas lights!

Here are a few pictures of Jaron's preschool Christmas celebration. His teacher told the Christmas story, and when she asked the kids what the wise men brought baby Jesus, Jaron piped up and said, "gold frankincense and myrrh!"

Playing in Mommy and Daddy's room

Of course we did have our annual picture with Santa. All 3 of the boys actually smiled! (I believe this was thanks to Jordan, who set the pace for the whole thing.)

Reading Christmas books from the library...

Here are a couple of pictures from Elijah's class Christmas party! A snowman cookie! Mmmm..!!

Cary even came to play music for all these little babies! What a sweet Daddy!

A couple of days before Christmas, we spent the day at the Fair Park Museums, including the Children's Aquarium and the Museum of Nature and Science. Here is a picture of the boys holding some kind of crab or something (I was really paying attention as you can see!) This aquarium was really cool...I recommend it for sure!

These pictures are from the Museum of Nature and Science.

Digging for dinosaur bones in the huge sandbox..

Cary, Jordan and Jaron found this on their way to lunch.

Sweet brothers!

Here we are on Christmas Eve!

Elijah could not hang for very long in the church ceremony, so he climbed around on the stairs in the hall.

We spent Christmas Eve at Mimi's house having dinner and opening presents. It was a great night!

Here is a picture of Jaron with one of his favorite toys from this Christmas: a Woody doll from Mimi. On the way home from her house that night he said that his Woody toy was what he has "always wanted." My Mom loved that! :)

Here are the pictures of Christmas morning! Take a close look at Jordan's and Jaron's needlepoint stockings. My Mom and I finished them this year, after working on them for 2 years! My first time to needlepoint ever!

Hmm...Santa ate the cookies but left some candy!

Elijah was not sure what to think about all this...

Here is a picture of Jaron with the big gift this year...a drum kit for all 3 boys!! Yes, we are insane! The kids love it!

Thanks to Kim, the boys have matching Christmas pajamas this year. So cute!!

We picked up Jordan around 11, and headed out to my grandparents' house where Jordan got to open a bunch of his gifts.

My Mom gave him this awesome remote control car that goes 30 mph.

Here are Jaron and Ava getting ready for Christmas lunch.

Mammas and Poppop gave Jaron this little miniature sandbox with little knights, horses and a castle. It was really cute to watch Jaron and my cousin Tanner play with this fun toy together...for like 30 minutes.

Elijah was not feeling very well on Christmas day :( but he did at least take a long nap that day, and he enjoyed taking ornaments off the Christmas tree. :)

Jaron and Ava sneaking around in the courtyard...

Here is Cary with Micah, Ava's sister. She is adorable!

Jordan opening his stocking

Cool soccer shirt

We celebrated with the McNeese family on the day after Christmas. This year, we all went bowling after having a wonderful lunch at Greg and Suzie's house. Here is Elijah with Grandaddy.

My cousin Natalie with June

I tried to take a picture of the 2 babies together, especially since they were both wearing Christmas sweaters with doggies on them.

Jaron bowling for the first time! Each time he just kicked the bowling ball and it rolled slowly down the aisle (with bumpers).

We spent the next day at my Dad's house. It was a very relaxing day. Here is Cary reading to Hannah.

Jaron got the game "Guess Who" to replace the old version that he tore apart as a 2-year-old. Incidentally, he also memorized the names of all 20+ characters in the old game we had. He has a great memory. Speaking of memory, he also received the game "Memory" from my Dad and Holly that day along with "Guess Who."

Here's Haley with the cozy boots we gave her.

We ended the week celebrating Christmas with Cary's parents who came from Austin to be with us at our house. We had a great time, and they gave the boys a really fun tent with about 100+ of those balls (like they used to have at McDonald's). We still have not put this away, and it is tons of fun! Here is a picture of Jaron with a shirt that BawPaw got him on his trip to Turkey.

Jaron and BawPaw watching "Toy Story" together

That's Jordan in my hat. :)

Here is a picture of Jordan snuggling with Jaron, who did not feel very well a couple of days after Christmas.

I don't know when this picture was taken but I thought it was so cute I had to include it!

Here are the boys in some cute outfits they got from Mimi for Christmas!

Christmas all finished!

Thanksgiving, ETC.

2010-12-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

In early November we spent a weekend in Austin with the Pierce family. Lissa (Cary's sister) and Marisol (our niece) came down from Massachusetts, and Cary's parents live in Austin, so it was a great time!

We did an early Christmas gift exchange...so much fun!

This was our "Christmas tree" we built from Jaron's "connectagons."

Elijah (13 months) has really started getting into "reading" books. He loves them and calls them "boo! boo!"

Here is a picture of Grammy (Cary's mom) doing a lion "ROAR!" for Jaron. He covered his ears and said, "That's scary Grammy!" She replied, "Of course it is!"

I had a chance to feel like Martha Stewart for like 2 seconds on this trip. The kids decorated maple leaf and pumpkin shaped cookies with different colored icings and sprinkles!

The kids also enjoyed making paper animal puppets with this kit that Jaron got for his birthday.

This is Jaron's lion, "Bobby."

Cary and Elijah enjoyed the project too!

Once again, Elijah LOVED playing with his ball.

He also had lots of fun putting all the animals in and out of Noah's Ark.

Our little puppet show!

I had to include a couple of more pictures of Elijah at the Arboretum in November.

Jaron and his preschool friends enjoyed some very special live music at their Fall Party!

Like father like son!

Check out the guy in the middle!

Elijah absolutely loves it when Jaron's class has a party.

Cary even got them in a conga line!

Okay, these pictures are from when Jaron and his 3-year-old friends had their choir concert. If I can ever figure out how to upload a little movie to this blog, then I will post this concert. It was adorable. The kids stood on risers and sang "My God is So Big" and "Deep and Wide." They sang the second song several times, faster and faster each time. Right before their last round of "fast" singing, Jaron yelled out, all by himself, loud and clear, "I wanna sing it VERY VERY FASTER!!" It was awesome. We were very proud of him. :)

Here is Elijah when he got caught taking 2 cookies out of my purse (don't ask me why they were in there).

Here are the preschool kids at their Thanksgiving party! They are wearing turkey leg hats!

And turkey masks!

This was one of the cutest kid snacks I have ever seen. The pilgrim hat is a chocolate covered marshmallow on top of a chocolate covered cookie. The "corn" snack is cereal and raisins stuck together like a rice krispie treat and wrapped inside a fruit roll-up!

Elijah liked them too!

This is the party favor...cute!

For the first time in months, the little boys could play in the sandbox. Not too hot or too cold!

Here are some photos from Elijah's first haircut!

Right before Thanksgiving, Jaron helped me make a chocolate pecan pie. He also made his own little "candy pie," a little pie made out of the leftover crust from the big pie, plus some flour, sugar and cream. The recipe from this pie has been passed down through several generations. I used to make it with my Grandmom, Kathryn McNeese. Seriously, this pie is so good!!

Here are our pictures from Thanksgiving Day at my Grandparents' house in Tyler. We had a great time playing with the boys' cousins, Owen and June, plus the rest of the McNeese family.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. We are so grateful for all our blessings!

Halloween!

2010-11-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

The moment that stores began to carry Halloween stuff this year, it was ON. We did everything Halloween this year, and had fun doing it. Here's Jaron in a witch hat we found in a store.

He also got his face painted like a tiger at the Arboretum! ROAR!!!

Here are Jordan and Jaron making a sour green apple drink my Mom gave to Jordan. It was really good, and Jaron couldn't get enough "soda J," which is what he called it for some reason.

Here are the boys carving a pumpkin with Cary. Actually, Cary did the whole thing. The boys just kept touching the pumpkin seeds and pulp and saying "Ewww!!"

Ewww!!!

Elijah tried to help with his spoon too.

Here they are with the pumpkin inspired by Jaron. :)

My big boys and their pumpkins!!

Here are a few more pictures of Elijah and Jaron at a pumpkin patch.

And of course, Jaron's preschool class had a Fall Party. Here are some pictures of Jaron and his friends at the Fall Party.

Cary and Elijah enjoyed the party too!

Jaron has this adorable friend, Alex, whose mom, Sarah, is amazingly creative. They invited us to Alex's 1st Annual Paint-A-Pumpkin Party this year, and it was tons of fun. Check out how cute the invitation is...Sarah designed it! Look closely...it is even personalized for Jaron!

Here are Jaron and Alex painting their pumpkins.

Even Jordan painted a pumpkin and had fun doing it!

The boys playing football...

Here are Elijah and his friend, Mimi, playing with Elijah's favorite thing...balls!

Okay, now here are the photos I know you have been waiting for...photos of the boys in their Halloween costumes! The first photos below are from "Trunk or Treat," this super-fun event at our church that happened 1 week before Halloween. The street in front of the church is blocked off and people decorate their cars, open their trunks, and hand out candy. It is a great "round one" for Halloween. (As if we hadn't had enough Halloween events so far!) Here you see our Magician, Woody, and Buzz Lightyear!

Look at these little guys!!

Elijah is wearing a jetpack!!

The Magician and Woody walking to "Trunk or Treat"

Elijah and his friend Ellie

BUZZ

Jaron and Alex

Jaron and Tony the Tiger

Oops, you got this one twice...

Jaron and his friend Hawkins

Having so much fun with Daddy!

Okay, it took several tries to get this one right, but isn't this photo AWESOME!!? To infinity and beyond!!!

Slight meltdown on the way home from Trunk or Treat

Here are our pictures from Halloween night! My Mom decided to dress up as Jessie from Toy Story to coordinate with the boys. :)

I can't get enough pictures of this little cutie!

We went trick-or-treating with our friend Creede Hudson. They had a fun party on their block with a dinner, bounce house, and some really sweet neighbors with good candy! Here they are trick-or-treating!

Here is Creede handing out candy with his Batman pumpkin.

It was a GREAT Halloween!!!!

Elijah Turns One!

2010-11-05T13:18:00.001-07:00

Wow, it has been an awesome FIRST YEAR!! Elijah is my little sweetheart. He is walking now, and he can say several words (Mama, Dada, Bubba, ball, bye bye, more, juice, shoes--the last 2 sound the same). He loves balls, and he is learning to throw and catch from his big brother Jordan. He also loves to wear hats, as you can see from the picture below (it's a birthday cake hat). He has the sweetest, friendliest disposition. He also loves to cuddle. Happy Birthday Elijah!!

At his Mother's Day Out class, they made this cute poster for his birthday.

On his actual birthday, we went to Taco Diner of course (my choice). Then Jaron and I walked over to Sprinkles Cupcakes and brought back a little pumpkin cupcake for Elijah. Several people in the restaurant were gazing at our little cutie!

I really think he knew he was supposed to blow out the candle.

He needed a little help from Bubba.

Yummy!!

He did get to open some presents!

Again with help from his brothers...

We got him a cute little toy that pops balls out of the top and then they roll down the ramp. He loves balls!!

His favorite song is "The Wheels on the Bus," and conveniently, Mammas and Poppop gave him a little toy bus for his birthday! Here he is with the toy, and he is doing the hand motions for "The Wheels on the Bus."

Cary got Elijah this cute Winnie the Pooh outfit!

For his birthday party, my Mom (Mimi) made this awesome "Ball" cake!

Celebrating with Grandaddy

Jaron and cousin Owen making a paper chain at the party

He is a big boy and can drink from a sippy cup!

Here is Elijah with one of my very best friends, Tiff!

Elijah and Mimi!! Thansk for the cake, Mimi!! (I think he is saying "BALL!")

It was so cool that 2 of my best friends could join us for Elijah's party. Ashley (who happened to be in town!) and Tiffany both joined us! Ashley was my Tri Delt big sis and Tiff was my Tri Delt little sis, and so they are really like family! It meant so much to me that they came.

Here's Dada holding Elijah as he tries to blow out his candle.

Mmmm...pumpkin cake again for my little pumpkin!!

Here is what the big boys did. They rode on my Mom's surrey bike. Look at their faces!!

Elijah with my sister Haley!

My baby and me....

Jordan's 10TH Birthday!!

2010-11-01T08:25:00.001-07:00

Sweet Jordan turned 10 on October 4th. He is such a blessing. He had a great birthday party, and there are pictures below. More importantly, we had a special ceremony on September 19th to celebrate his baptism!! I am proud of him for so many reasons, but mostly for his choice to put his faith in Christ. Wow, what a great day!!

Jordan and his friend Jake swimming!

Since it was a pool party, my Mom made a swimming pool cake for him. Awesome!

Jordan with my Mom (Mimi)

Jordan with his friends at the party

Of course, Jordan's little brother and sister were really excited about the cake!

This is a picture of Jaron and Ansley during the baptism ceremony. Jordan's Mom gave them popsicles so they'd stay calm during the ceremony. Great idea! They loved it!

Here they are enjoying birthday cake.

Elijah wanted cake too, but it wasn't his birthday yet...coming soon!!

End of Summer, Hello Fall!

2010-10-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our boys at the end of the summer and the beginning of fall.

This one below was more like the middle of summer, but it was such a cute one from my friend Sarah that I had to include it...This is Jaron with one of his best friends, Alex. As you can see, they are like 2 peas in a pod.

The little boys with Dada!

Here are a couple of Elijah at the Flight Museum playground.

A typical afternoon in the playroom...

This is Jaron on his first day of preschool!!! What a big boy he is! He LOVES it.

Jaron's sweet teachers

Elijah and his cute little toothy smile. :)

Our boys

I included this one because it is so typical of a random day at our house...Jaron playing guitar in his underwear and Elijah playing with an oatmeal box.

Here is Jaron with his toy "shaving kit" that Mimi gave him.

Jaron with his face painted at the Octoberfest.

We went to the Octoberfest with another best buddy, Creede Hudson.

Jaron's first time to ride a pony...

Jaron and Creede Hudson with Uncle Creede

The little boys with Dada!

The sweet Williams family

Jaron, Elijah and I went to a fun little pumpkin patch with our MOPS group. Here are some pictures from that.

Jaron is here in the blue "car" with his friend Alex.

He also had lots of fun with his new friend Sadie!

This is at church one evening after dinner.

My big boys...

My little boy!

Shopping with Daddy at Whole Foods. The boys like the airplane carts.

Cute picture with Mimi after swimming lessons! I tried to capture the one time they were wearing coordinating shirts.

Martha's Vineyard!

2010-10-11T12:10:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I am FINALLY posting the pictures of our great trip to Martha's Vineyard! I've had some technical difficulties with Blogger so sorry!! Also, please take a look at my blog in a few days because I promise I have a couple of great posts coming up....Elijah's First Birthday and Halloween!!

Here is Jordan in Martha's Vineyard the night of the JP show. He was such a great helper!

Cary and Jack also did a show overlooking the water during an awesome clambake. It was a gorgeous day and a fun way to spend the afternoon!

This is Jack and his sweet girlfriend Krista.

Jack and Cary's Mom, Sandra

Here's the JP poster outside the Whaling Church where they performed. It's next to a poster for Ben Taylor (James Taylor's son) who performed there the next night.

It's hard to capture how cool this venue was, but it was so up-close and intimate. Everyone there was obviously a huge fan, because they stood up and applauded after almost every song, not to mention it was 450 plus people that came from hundreds of miles away (a plane ride and a ferry ride for most) to get there.

Jordan and Marisol (our niece) at the show.

After the show at the Harborview Hotel.

This is a picture of Jaron and Elijah during bathtime right before the show. We had a babysitter come stay with them in the room because it was gonna be past their bedtime. The sitter was AWESOME, and they were so happy with her. This is a picture of the two of them in the bathtub right before I left to go out. Incidentally, they also had just had a major meltdown!! So I guess the bath calmed them down and they were happy!

Here are several attempts at a family picture on the Vineyard. Along with the 5 Pierces, my Mom came, and so did my sister Kim and her husband Jim!

John and Joa Muns (my aunt and uncle) came too!

Here is my aunt Joa trying to bribe Jaron with candy so he would smile for the pictures.

Jaron and Daddy swimming!

Kim with Elijah

Jim with Jaron

Jim with Elijah!

Cary's parents, sister, our brother-in-law, and niece came too, and here we are spending time with them at the beach!

Elijah enjoyed his first trip to the beach!

Lissa, Marisol, and Elijah!

Jaron spent a lot of time trying to collect seashells. Also, he tried to catch a seagull after one swooped down and snatched up his peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

Jordan on the beach

Jaron and Marisol playing in the water!

Building sandcastles

Elijah liked the sand toys too!

Mimi with Jaron after a fun seaside dinner at the fish market in Menemsha. This is one of Cary's Dad's favorite places to eat, and it's awesome.

Elijah in his little beach hat

Isn't this the best picture ever!? He looks like a little naked cherub floating in the sky!

Jaron and Cary walking around in Edgartown

Both little boys fell asleep in the stroller as we took walks in Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs.

Jaron on the beach with a smile :) Didn't need candy for that one.

It was the most beautiful view outside our hotel with this lighthouse.

Marisol and Elijah at the playground where Sandra and Dick (Cary's parents) stayed. We had several GREAT evenings there playing on the playground and eating dinner.

Marisol gave Elijah this little boat.

Eating at Seafood Shanty

Just hanging out at the Harborview Hotel

Here is Jaron with his crab cookie that Grammy (Cary's Mom) gave him.

Camp Latterman

2010-07-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

Our family went to Interlochen, Michigan for the 4th of July this year! Our friends the Lattermans invited us and it was SO wonderful. Their place is beautiful and there is so much to do! We loved it! They have 3 boys too, so it was perfect. Thanks to Gregg, Sue, Connor, Jack and Markus!

We got to Michigan just in time for dinner, and we got to eat s'mores for dessert. Here is Jaron with his. By the way, you can't really see it very well in this picture but we all arrived wearing "Camp Latterman" t-shirts that Cary had made for us. Even Elijah had one!

The "big boys" on the 4th of July.

With all their friends!

Elijah enjoying the tennis court..

I could not choose which picture to post so I did both.

We stayed in an adorable cottage with tons of toys for the kids. Here is our little band.

Elijah liked to play too!

Look at this little guy...he POSES FOR PICTURES. It is great!! Every time there is a smile!

Here is Jaron playing with the bowling pin animals.

Is that the same smile or what!?

Okay, so I just am so in love with this baby (and his Daddy, of course!), but Elijah really is starting to have his own cute little personality, and it really showed during this trip. He is a doll! Also, he said his first word, "ball!" while we were there! YAY Elijah!

Jaron napped every day after reading a bunch of the books that were there in the cottage.

Here's Jordan about to waterski!

These boys played almost every sport there is...

This is a picture of the back of the Latterman cottage and the dock. Elijah and I are watching the boat.

We did a lot of swimming in the pool and the lake!

Gregg with Markus and Jaron playing Jenga.

Jaron and his buddy Markus!

Watching fireworks!

They were LOUD!

My sweet baby!

He is pulling up on everything!

Fun with toys

Jordan and Jaron eating "superman" ice cream.

This is Jordan's "squirrel trap"

They even had costumes to dress up in. Here is Jaron wearing a pirate costume.

AAARRRRRRRR!!!!

Ok, I thought this was pretty cute. I got a flag cookie cutter to make on the chicken pot pie I made for dinner one night.

Cary and Jaron kayaking

Sweet bubbas

All the big boys

Jordan skateboarding

Look at these 3 handsome guys!

To the Lattermans: We had SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME! Really this was one of our best 4th of Julys ever. Thank you!!!