Another Party....

On Thursday we celebrated Carter's birthday with our family. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then came home and opened presents and had cake. On Saturday he had a friend party at Austin's Park and Pizza. They played laser tag, arcade games, and rode go-carts.

Taylor did the rock climbing wall and made it all the way to the top!

Can you tell who the sweet tooth in our family is?

Halli & Katrina (Dave's sister)

Dave's sister and her family moved back to Killeen Texas (about an hour from us) in August! We love having them close!

Happy Birthday Carter!

Ten years ago today we were blessed with this little bundle of joy...

Taylor & Carter

One Year Old

Two Years Old

Carter & Grandpa in his truck. Carter loves cars, truck, motorcycles, you name it and he can usually tell you the make and model of most vehicles driving down the road. In his spare time, he likes to draw maps and will spend hours looking at maps on Google if we let him.

Lauren (1 year old), Grandpa McDougall, & Carter (3 years old)

Dave & Carter....Carter loves to ride four wheelers.

Carter (4 years old) actually liked this nasty (but healthy) green drink that Dave & I drink for breakfast!

Carter with his cousins, Matthew and Nathan

Carter, Halli, & Lauren

ARRRRR...

5 years old

Carter (6 years old) & Grandma Matheny

Carter loves to be silly and make other people laugh.

7 years old

Lauren (6 years, Taylor 10 years, Carter 8 years old)

9 years old

We hope his birthday is AWESOME! We love you bud!

The joys of learning to play a new instrument!

Taylor is in band this year and learning to play the oboe. Today was her first day to practice at home. This is what Maggie thought of the whole thing... (Keep in mind that Maggie does not bark or howl much at all. She is usually quiet.)

Don't you wish you could listen to this every morning? I'm sure you are extremely jealous! LOL

And the Festivities Go On...

On Tuesday, we celebrated Taylor's birthday with our family...

She blew out all but one candle...should we be worried? :)

Friday night she had a slumber party. She invited 4 girls over...we set up a tent in the back yard and they slept out there. They were up until 3:00 a.m. giggling, screaming, jumping on the trampoline, etc. when finally (after we had been out 3 times and nicely asked them to calm down and go to sleep) Dave firmly said, "knock it off or you're coming in!" They went to sleep, but not for long, as they were up at 7:00 a.m. They had a blast but Dave & I are exhausted!

Perfect Pretzels

Lauren's Reading Group is reading a book called Perfect Pretzels. She wanted to make pretzels for her class using the recipe and directions out of her book. So, with very little help from mom she measured, mixed, kneaded, and rolled pretzels for her class. They actually turned out really good and were very easy. Think she'll be teacher's pet?

Perfect Pretzels

Ingredients:
one package yeast
1 1/2 cups very warm water
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg, beaten
salt

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix yeast and water together and set aside. In a larger bowl, mix flour, salt, and sugar together. Add yeast to flour mixture and stir until blended. Put dough on floured surface and knead until smooth.

Break dough into twelve small pieces. Roll into ropes and twist into pretzel shapes. Use cooking spray or oil to grease the baking sheet. Beat the egg with a fork in a small bowl. Brush pretzels with beaten egg. Sprinkle pretzels with salt.

Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes 1 dozen pretzels.

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Today Taylor is 12 years old! I can't believe it...how the time flies. I hope her day is as special as she is! Here are some things you may not know about Taylor and a trip down memory lane....

~Two weeks old on her blessing day~

~One Year Old!~

Taylor's always had a bit of a goofy side, like her dad!

Taylor has always been a "Daddy's Girl".

~Two Years Old~

~Four Years Old~

Taylor is gentle and kind.

~Lauren & Taylor~

Taylor has always had the greatest laugh.

Riding four wheelers with Grandpa McDougall.

Taylor loves her Uncle Chad (my brother).

We love Disney!

Taylor LOVES dogs...she wants to be an ER vet when she grows up.

Taylor's never been afraid to touch bugs, lizards, frogs, you name it...if you look closely you'll see her holding a frog in this picture.

Taylor would love to have a horse she could call her own! She's a natural!

We love you Taylor!