Its A New Year, 2014

Posted on June 20, 2014 by sarah

Our family had a great time in January. We kicked off the new year with a lunch at our friends, Melissa & Matt’s house and then had dinner with family at Uncle Ben and Aunt Nancy’s house. It was a full day but so wonderful to see and celebrate with both friends and family at the start of the year.

Much of the month was spent getting back into the swing of things after the holidays and doing our best to stay healthy. Hank had a blast playing with his cousins and he really enjoyed visiting the Mayborn Museum with his cousins, Micah and Johanna (and thier mom, Christiane). It was great watching the kids explore all the cool rooms at the museum. Then, Hank had a little road trip with Christiane, Micah and Johanna to visit GG and Grandad. GG and Grandad took Hank to Great Wolf Lodge with his cousins Ainsely, Dalton and thier parents, Uncle Geoff and Aunt Traci. There, Hank discovered the joy of water parks over an icy January weekend (the water park is inside the hotel). While Hank was visiting with GG and Grandad, Tyler and Sarah enjoyed some much-needed down time and got to catch a stunningly gorgeous show from the classical Chinese dance company, Shen Yun.

Hank had a blast on several indoor playdates (due to the ice and cold this month), going to Sam’s with Grandpa (one of his favorite activies with Grandpa is going to Sam’s or Costco with him) and he also enjoyed going to his Bible study class, BSF. Hank visited The Thinkery (our local and newly rebuilt children’s museum), which he loved, and he had fun at his science class at the nature center this month. One exciting thing for Hank, was his return to violin. He didn’t actually beging playing again in January, but he did meet with his teacher to select his new violin. He is SO excited about playing violin again.

At the end of the month, our friend, Carolyn, invited Hank and Sarah to help her prepare dishes for a Chinese New Year celebration at her house. Hank really enjoyed helping with the preparations, especially when it involved working in the kitchen. He helped Carolyn prepare the batter for the shrimp fritters (which she fried) and he helped prepare Chinese tea leaf eggs with Mom, diligently peeling each egg. We were surprised to learn he really enjoyed the flavor combination on the eggs (which had a stong anise flavor – he doesn’t like licorice). Hank was energized by all the guests and got to stay up well past his bedtime. It was a great celebration.

Such a fun month! Here are some photos in no particular order. Enjoy!

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December & Christmas 2013

Posted on June 16, 2014 by sarah

December was a blast. Full of fun activities, lots of family and tons of love – we had a great time.

At the beginning of the month, Hank went to a movie in the theatre for the second time in his life. We went with his pal, Ethan and they really enjoyed watching Turbo (about a racing snail) and we were proud of Hank for trying something new. He had fun playing with lots of friends this month, enjoyed his science class at the Austin Nature and Science Center (it was on paleontology this time) and sang in two different Christmas programs. He sang at church and he sang with his preschool class. Both performances were adorable. Hank had the best time decorating for Christmas (in fact, he insisted we begin in November he was so excited about Christmas) and thoroughly enjoyed our Advent calendar this year. Each day he excitedly checked a bag for the day’s activity or surprise and loved counting down to Christmas that way.

Sadly, Hank’s Great Grandma Fawn died in December. Happily, she’s now with Jesus and in perfect peace. Tyler took a quick trip to New Mexico for her funeral and we met back up in Arlington at GG and Grandad’s house a few days later. There we celebrated Christmas with GG and Grandad and also with Aunt Traci, Uncle Geoff, Ainsley and Dalton. While we were in the metroplex, we got to spend time with Hank’s cousins, Micah and Johanna (and their parents, Christiane and Monty) and we got to see Uncle Geoff’s parents and met his brother and sister-in-law and their two children. Hank had a blast playing with so many “cousins” at Uncle Geoff and Aunt Traci’s house.

We returned from our trip to visit Tyler’s side of the family in time to put out cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeer. Hank was thrilled to see the cookies and carrots were gone the next morning and so many surprises in thier place. We had a nice, relaxing time together as a family exchanging gifts and spending time together. The next day, we went over to Grandpa and Grandma’s house to celebrate with Sarah’s side of the family. Hank always loves being around his cousins and that was no exception. Everyone had a blast and it was great to see so much family in one place. Aunt Laura, Uncle Jon, Alyssa, Megan and Christopher, Uncle Josh, Aunt Dayna, Tori, Michael and David, Uncle Ben, Aunt Nancy, James and Paul, Uncle Amos, Aunt Shannon, Kai, Connor and Mia, Aunt Donna, Olivia, Uncle Dick and Becky and of course, Grandpa and Grandma. It was definitely a house-full and we all had a wonderful time!

Here are some photos from December and our various Christmas celebrations in no particular order. Enjoy!

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November 2013

Posted on April 1, 2014 by sarah

We had such a blast in November! We didn’t take many photos because we were too busy having fun (and being busy) but we took a few (which you’ll see below). We kicked off the month celebrating Connor’s 6th birthday. We’re so glad he and his family were visiting us during his birthday! Aunt Shannon decorated part of the house while the kids were asleep and Connor woke up to awesome birthday decorations and got to wear a fun hat all day. Hank loved getting birthday donuts with Connor (and Kai, Mia, Aunt Shannon and Uncle Amos) and we had a great time celebrating with him. Its hard to believe he’s already 6 years old! We’re so glad Amos, Shannon and thier family came to stay with us. Hank had fun having other children at home to play with and we enjoyed special time together with everyone. We had fun baking apple pie together. The kids really enjoyed using the apple peeler/corer and stirring the apples with the spices. We all enjoyed eating the pie – delicious!

Tyler kicked off the month with his Dad on thier annual opening weekend of Deer Season hunting trip. He missed the birthday fun with Connor, but he shot a large buck (I think it was 10 or 12 point) that trip which was both exciting for him and wonderful for our freezer (and our bellies). He had a great time with his dad too!

We went to the cabin with GG and Grandad in November. Usually we go in late summer/early fall, but the cabin was being rennovated so it wasn’t available then. We had a great time there in November and will share photos from that trip in another entry.

We returned from the cabin shortly before Thanksgiving. Hank enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast at his school with his classmates. It included such traditional American foods as turkey hotdogs and macaroni and cheese. 🙂 Still, he had a great time with his classmates. He’s really been enjoying preschool and continues to enjoy Kung Fu.

Since Sarah’s side of the family tends to celebrate together on the day after a big holiday (with the exception of Easter), we had no real plans the day of Thanksgiving. As it turned out, neither did Uncle Ben, Aunt Nancy, James and Paul so they came over and we had a great time hanging out together. We love spending time with them and we all had a wonderful time. James informed us that the food we ate that night was probably traditional because he thought the pilgrims probably ate venison and squash (we had venison sausage wraps and spaghetti squash for dinner that night). That was an interesting thought. We enjoyed what has now become tradition, turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc. with all the cousins and other Aunts and Uncles at Grandpa and Grandma’s house the day after Thanksgiving.

Aunt Laura, Uncle Jon, Alyssa, Megan and Christopher came to town for Thanksgiving and we celebrated Christopher’s 9th birthday while they were here with a special gathering at Uncle Ben and Aunt Nancy’s house. We had a great time seeing so much family this month and Hank, as always had a blast with his cousins. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives!

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5th Birthday and Halloween

Posted on April 1, 2014 by sarah

Hank celebrated his 5th birthday in October (2013). For this birthday celebration, he wanted to have a “Dance party with ice cream cake”. So, we took Hank to Dairy Queen to pick out his birthday cake. He chose a delicious ice cream cake (vanilla and chocolate ice cream, separated by a kind of brownie cookie – it was awesome) and told the woman taking our order that he would like a “singing crocodile” on his cake. He was thrilled when he saw the cake and everyone enjoyed eating it. For the dance party, we turned our movie room into a dancing space, turned the lights low, turned a little strobe on, plugged Hank’s iPod into the surround sound and let the kids get crazy. The children had a fabulous time dancing, jumping, running around, bumping into each other, showing off thier dance moves, spinning and generally wearing themselves out. The adults had a blast too (mostly enjoying the show).

After his guests went home, Hank had another special treat. His cousin, Ainsley got to have a sleep over at our house with Hank for his birthday. They quickly dropped off to sleep (thanks to the dance party) and had an absolute blast playing together the next day. GG, Grandad, Ainsley, James, Paul, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Ben joined us for lunch the next day and Hank had a great time playing with his cousins. It was a great weekend full of birthday and family fun!

For Halloween this year, Hank chose to be a “black ghost”. He asked us to cut holes in a black sheet for his costume (which we did). It was a challenge to keep the sheet aligned properly so he could see out the eye-holes until we tried putting a mask over the sheet. This helped in both keeping the costume in place and making it slightly more spooky (which Hank was going for this year). We attached lights to his costume for trick-or-treating. Hank went to his very first Halloween party at a friend’s house this year. His pal, JenJen hosted a Halloween party and after dinner, the kids went trick-or-treating together in her neighborhood. Hank had a great time and got lots of comments about how spooky and scary his costume was, which made him happy. Nothing like achieving one’s goals, right?

Here are some photos in no particular order from both parties.

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October 2013

Posted on February 20, 2014 by sarah

October was another full and fun month for our family. Hank continues to enjoy preschool. Even though he’s only been going a few weeks, we let him skip school one Thursday to attend special educational day at Sea World. Tyler was able to take off work for the day and we had a wonderful morning exploring the animals together. Hank’s friend, Ethan and his parents (our friends, Hopie and Rabbit) met us there and we also met up with Hank’s cousins, James and Paul and his Uncle Ben and Aunt Nancy there. A great time was had by all!

Something really BIG happened in October. Hank met with his allergist and this time around when he did his allergen testing (which we do at least once a year), for the first time ever, Hank did not present an allergy for cats! This is big news!! According to the test results and the allergist, Hank is no longer allergic to cats! We have begun letting him play in homes with cats as a pet again and he’s even allowed to pet them! Its funny though because he didn’t grow up playing with cats (due to the fact that they were an asthma trigger for so long) and he is having to learn all their cues (body positioning, noises, etc.) now. So he’s learning what it means when a cat arches thier back or puts thier ears back flat. Its a good thing for any person to know. He hasn’t been cleared for sleep-overs in cat houses yet, but we’re hoping that will come at our next follow up with the allergist. This is a fabulous development for sure!

Hank kicked off the month with a visit to GG and Grandad while Mommy took a trip with her best friend from college and Daddy went hunting with Patrick (Hank’s godfather). Hank and Mommy met Grandad at the homestead in Waco where we enjoyed a treat before Grandad took Hank to his house and Mommy went home to pack for her trip. After 3 separate (and wonderful) trips, we all met up with GG and Grandad at the end of the weekend and had a great time together at the Fort Worth Museum before heading home to greet our guests. Hank’s cousins, Kai, Connor and Mia and his Uncle Amos and Aunt Shannon came to stay with us in October and Hank had an absolute blast having other children to play with at almost any given moment. We loved getting to spend special time with them and Sarah really enjoyed catching up with her little brother. With all the fun with friends, family, park fun, school fun, various trips, a golf tournament for Tyler, check ups with various doctors, guests and birthday parties, the month simply flew by. We didn’t take many photos but below are a few we did manage to take this month.

Hank’s birthday, October 25th, fell on a Friday this year. At breakfast, Hank was surprised to have birthday donuts and his favorite breakfast tacos, potato and egg. He loved blowing out the candles on the donut and it was a sweet moment together as our little family before beginning a busy Friday. Hank loved getting to share his birthday donuts with his cousins later in the day. Who can resist a Round Rock Donut with chocolate icing and sprinkles? That Friday also happened to be the day out of the month that we meet with our Turkish friends. We had a pot-luck picnic at a park and everyone shared beautiful birthday wishes for Hank. Our friend, Kuaybe, even made him a very special cake. He was quite pleased and everyone helped him feel very special on his birthday.

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September 2013

Posted on January 29, 2014 by sarah

September ushered in a new activity at our house, preschool. Hank is now going to preschool at an actual school (not the homeschool preschool co-op we did last year) two days a week and is really enjoying it. He said he likes PE and playground time the best but he said he also enjoys music class and chapel. His teacher, Ms Tami, is working with him on his handwriting. Hank prefers to write in all capital letters so he’s working on his lower-case letters presently. He’s made several new friends and looks forward to school days.

Another new activity this month is a class Hank likes to call “Science School” at the Austin Nature & Science Center. It meets once a month and we get to explore different things each class. This month was bats. Hank had a blast learning about bats, playing echolocation games and trying on various bat ears and eyes. He’s really looking forward to the next class.

While we had a full and fun month, we didn’t really take many photos in September. We enjoyed visiting the library and going to Kung Fu classes as well as continuing swim lessons (Hank is working on his side-breathing this month). Hank and Daddy had fun at Home Depot making a project together. We found out Hank is a big fan of Dixie-land jazz when we caught a pickup band at a local coffee shop. He couldn’t sit still and captivated many of the audience members (who could have easily been his grandparents) with his energetic dancing. The weather was lovely this month so we spent a lot of time outside playing with friends at various local parks. We had tea with our Turkish friends, brunch with Hank’s godmother and lots of fun with cousins and friends.

Hank saw his allergist this month and tested negative for a cat allergy! This is a VERY big deal as previously in his life, he was highly allergic to cats and cats triggered asthma attacks. We are so pleased that his respiratory system has matured (no asthma attacks in a long, long time) and that this allergy has seemed to disappear. We still have regular testing with the allergist as things change thoughout children’s lives. We’ll see her again next February.

At the end of the month, we celebrated the September birthdays, Uncle Ben, Aunt Laura and Hank’s cousin, Alyssa. Since Laura and her family (which includes Alyssa) were in town visiting, we hosted a September birthdays party at our house. Sarah made a cake for each person, carrot cake for Ben, brownies with cream cheese icing for Laura and lemon cake for Alyssa. It was a nice gathering and everyone had a great time. The very next day, we all spent time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house welcoming Grampie (Hank’s great grandfather) who was visiting from Washington. It was so great to see him and wonderful spending time with our family. A great way to close out the month!

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August 2013

Posted on January 5, 2014 by sarah

What a great month! We had all sorts of adventures in August. Hank continues to enjoy Kung Fu and he earned a new belt this month, which was very exciting for him. This month, Grandmaster Li came to visit from China and to judge a tournament. Hank did not participate in the tournament, but he got to meet Grandmaster Li and he had his first full conversation in Chinese, which pleased both Hank and Grandmaster Li. Grandmaster Li wrote Hank’s name on his gi in Chinese and then signed his sleeve so now Hank wears art when he gets dressed for Kung Fu. It was a special event.

We went to lots of museums this month including the Austin Children’s Museum, the Blanton Museum of Art, the Memorial Museum, the Texas Military Forces Museum and the Harry Ransom Center. We are so blessed to live near so many cool places. We met friends to play at a trampoline park and a gymnastics studio as well as going to storytime at the library, our church and the art museum. Uncle Ben and Aunt Nancy bought a house in a neighboring neighborhood and we had fun spending time with them in thier new house this month.

The big news of this month was Hank getting ready for preschool. He had fun picking out his school supplies and while he was a little nervous at Meet the Teacher day, he is also very excited about school.

We were blessed to get to see both of Hank’s godparents in the same day (although not at the same time) this month. We met Alexis for brunch and Patrick for dinner on the same day and Hank thought that was so cool. He got to have some special time with Patrick this month while Dad and Mom went to a Bruno Mars concert (incidentally, Hank likes the Bruno Mars songs he’s been allowed to listen to so far). They had a great “guys night” together which is always special. We had a few celebrations this month. A housewarming for our friend, Nick – Hank especially liked the stairs in Nick’s house and had a good time doing animal impersonations on them, much to the delight of the adult guests. And a birthday party for Hank’s cousin, James. James celebrated his 6th birthday! Hank also celebrated his good friend JenJen returning from her trip to Korea and her 5th birthday. We had a lovely visit from Tyler’s cousin, Suzanne along with Aunt Traci, Uncle Geoff, Ainsley and Dalton. Tyler and Hank had a “guys weekend” with Grandad and GG to close out the summer. Hank had fun hanging out with GG while Tyler and Grandad went hunting one of the days and everyone had a wonderful weekend. August was fun and a lovely send-off to summer.

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July 2013

Posted on January 5, 2014 by sarah

July was awesome! Sure, it was hot – it always is in Texas, but it was so full of adventure and fun, we can’t complain. Hank took a swim class in July and officially got over his aversion to being in water where he can’t touch the bottom. He quickly picked up new skills and asked to go swimming (not just to the pool) almost every day after his first week of class. We didn’t make it to very many baseball games this month, but we did have a wonderful time playing outdoors in the mornings.

We spent the 4th of July with Hank’s godfather, Patrick as his family’s ranch in Comanche. We all love it out there. Its very relaxing at Patrick’s family home and all of his family is just wonderful. We were glad to get to spend time with his brother, Geoff, before he headed out to Austrailia for work. Hank thinks Mr. TJ, Patrick’s dad, is really funny and he loves Miss Kerry, Patrick’s mom – who saved the very best bits of canteloupe and watermelon just for him. Fortunately, they all love Hank too. We had a wonderful time celebrating our nation’s independence, eating good food and watching beautiful fireworks.

We went on hikes with cousins, visited the Capital of Texas Zoo (which is a really cool rescue zoo) with Grandma, went to both art and library storytimes with friends and just generally had a blast. Tyler was still rather slammed at work this month, but he still got to enjoy some family adventures and swimming with Hank. Aunt Laura, Uncle Jon and cousins, Alyssa, Meagan and Christopher visited our area this month. We loved getting to see them and spend some time together. Tyler and Sarah celebrated birthdays the same week and Grandma made each of them delicious cakes (Texas Sheet for Tyler and Italian Cream for Sarah)

Hank spent an entire week at GG and Grandad’s house with his cousin, Ainsely in the middle of the month. We called it “Camp GG & Grandad” he called it “FUN!!” The timing really worked out well as Tyler had lots of meetings that week and Sarah served as the vocal coach for a fine arts camp at our church during the day all week. It wasn’t all work for Mom and Dad while Hank was away at Camp GG & Grandad, we managed to catch a film and a U2 cover-band and even sleep in one of those days. A real treat for parents of a young child.

After his visit to GG and Grandad’s Hank got to participate in a tennis camp at our local rec center. He had a blast and we were pleasantly surprised to learn one of his pals from Bible study was in the same camp. They had a great time and learned a lot. We met Aunt Traci, Ainsely and Dalton at the Heritage Homestead this month and enjoyed a hayride. Typically when we visit the homestead, its in the middle of the week but evidentally on weekends they offer hayrides in a horse-drawn carriage. While it was rather warm that day, we all had a wonderful time together at the homestead and Hank happily shared some of his hats with his cousins. Dalton particularly liked the hat he got to wear and didn’t want to take it off even when he was hot. It was very cute. Hank continued with his Kung Fu this month, earning a new belt. He decided he wanted to take a break from playing violin so he’s having a hiatus from lessons and practice right now. Hank had a blast this month visiting museums, going bowling and playing at parks with friends and swimming with cousins. It was a full, busy and fun month!

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June 2013

Posted on January 5, 2014 by sarah

We kicked off our June with a wonderful trip to New Mexico to celebrate Grandma Fawn’s birthday. The rest of the month was both fun and challenging. After returning from a wonderful birthday celebration, we went to a beautiful celebration of life (funeral) for a good friend (who was also the president of the company where Tyler works) who died in a sudden, tragic car accident the day we left town to celebrate with Grandma. It was an especially challenging month for Tyler at work in addition to mourning the loss of a phenominal human and a good friend.

We spent a lot of time with family and enjoyed being out in nature as much as we could this month. Hank continued in his violin lessons and earned a stripe in Kung Fu, which he was very proud of. He also had a great time taking photos at various outings and we enjoyed singing with friends in a Music Together class in June. We also had a crazy week of vacation Bible school at church. The preschool had thier VBS in the mornings and then in the evenings, both Tyler and Sarah had roles in the elementary VBS. Tyler made a fabulous slideshow at the end of the week showcasing all the crazy fun from both sessions. We went to some baseball games together, had some great picnics and enjoyed some fun parks. Hank and Sarah had a great time going to the art storytimes at both the library and the Blanton Museum of Art and we had fun with friends and cousins. We didn’t take many photos (other than the ones from Fawn’s party) but here are some from the month all the same.

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Great Grandma Fawn Turns 94!

Posted on September 7, 2013 by sarah

At the beginning of June, we took a quick trip to New Mexico to celebrate Hank’s Great Grandma Fawn’s 94th birthday. It was a wonderful trip and we were so blessed to spend time with so much family. Great Grandma Fawn is Grandad’s (Tyler’s dad) mother. She is a lively woman with lots of amazing stories. While her short-term memory isn’t the best, she remembers much of her life in vivid detail and we love hearing about it. We especially love hearing about how she and Great Grandad met and how God blessed them with 62 1/2 years together before Great Grandad went to be with Jesus. Great Grandma Fawn is so special and we’re glad we got to spend more time and celebrate her life with her.

We also had a blast hanging out with Tyler’s cousins, seeing Aunt Traci, Uncle Geoff, Ainsley and Dalton and of course GG and Grandad. Hank met Grandad’s brother, C.E. for the first time and thought C.E. was Grandad’s dad for a few minutes. Great Grandad died several years ago so Sarah and Hank didn’t get to meet him. We did visit his grave though and that was special. Hank had fun playing at the park with Ainsley and Dalton. We enjoyed exploring the town and spending time with family.

Hank was so pleased to get to fly again. He loves to travel, especially by airplane. On our way back to the airport, we stopped at the City of Rocks. It was incredible and now we know that next time we come, we should plan to camp there or at the very least, plan to spend some time really hiking around. So much to see and everything was really cool. Here are some photos from the trip in no particular order.

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