December 2013

Jared is part of the Dallas Millenial Choirs and their concert was in the Meyerson Symphony Hall.  It was so beautiful!  His voice is one of those things about him that makes me fall in love all over again! 

 The Packards sing!  These are the cousins that are also in the choir - it was fun to see them!

 This is our third year going to the Highland Village fire station to see Fireman Santa.  They outdo themselves every year.  

 I was able to go to Paul's class party this year where they made reindeer cupcakes.

 Love this boy!

 One of his Christmas presents was going to Legoland with his best friend!

 He is a very serious racer - and spent most of his time at the racetrack.

 They have these awesome lego jeeps that he got to drive - and he was a maniac!

Christmas 2013

Our friends the Rabner's invited us over on Christmas Eve for dinner and fun.  We played this super fun game where you had to rip newspaper strips down the middle all the way to the end.  If you you didn't get to the bottom you lost.  It was a race - and it was quite intense!

 After the silliness, we acted out the nativity story - Paul wanted to be the start.

Joseph and Mary weren't acutally allowed to touch the baby according the the baby's owner - little Miss Lily. 

 When we got home, we put out reindeer food just to make sure they stopped by.

 Had our traditional fire, and made a bed by the tree.

 I realized much, much later that I had gotten some great pictures of him opening things - but not actually of the gifts.  This year he got a Wii gaming system, several games, a new baseball mitt,  the movie Turbo, a plethora of Hot Wheels cars, and a whole bin of tracks.  Also - I realized ON Christmas Eve around 10 pm that I had pink and birthday wrapping paper.  Hence the Christmas bags and printer paper wrapping.

 In the afternoon, we snuggled up on the bed by the fire and watched Turbo. 

November 2013

 Paul got to go on a field trip to see The Cat in the Hat and I was able to go with him.  It was a fun day!

 Paul and his best buddy - who luckily for us lives right across the street.

 They make tie dyed shirts at the beginning of the year so first grade can wear them on special days.  This is Paul's class.

He looked particularly handsome in his air force jacket and plaid shirt this day. 

 His school had their BIG carnival in November as well.  It was awesome!  He rode the airplanes at least 5 times.

 Once was enough on the pirate ship - he had a look of terror for most of the ride, but said it was fun.  

Paul loves animals - we stayed at the petting zoo for a LONG time. 

 He got lots of prizes!

 Last week, my family came down for a long - TOO SHORT - weekend.They had given us a Home Depot gift card for both our birthdays to install baseboards, then flew down to make sure it actually happened.

 My dad's knee's will never recover.  He spent all day Friday and Saturday working with different levels of help.

 We were lucky enough to have Matt and his girlfriend Reiko come from Houston Friday night, so my mom made a full on delicious Thanksgiving dinner.  INCLUDING 5 kinds of pie.  We love Chicken Express rolls! 

 Saturday morning we had delicious homemade Zucchini bread from Reiko and a yummy frittata from my mom, and sang to Jared and Liz who both have birthday's coming up.  Liz will turn 16 December 5 - WOOHOO! 

 Golding Family Picture 2013

 There's a lot of love here man....

 And a whole lot of crazy

Thanks mom and dad for spoiling us!

October 2013

Paul had Columbus Day off from school, and it was rainy all day.

So we had a teddy bear picnic inside with the door open so we could pretend we were outside.

 We went to the pumpkin patch with our friends and their sweet baby boy.

 This boy is GROWING!

 Our friends the Phillips invited us over to decorate pumpkins, this is the boy's masterpiece.

 Grandpa and Grandma Miller surprised Jared and Paul by coming for a visit.  Paul asked grandpa to read this book about airplanes about 10 times.  Luckily, grandpa was able to add his own knowledge for a fresh story each time.

 Saturday was our ward Chili Cook-off, so these three chefs spent time perfecting our entry.

 Paul loves to hold babies, for anyone willing to let a six year old hold their sweet babies.

 Sunday was puzzle and battleship with grandma, 

 while the men did the manly bonding.

Monday was trip to Cabela's, 

 and the Founder's Plaza by DFW.

 You can watch the planes fly in and hear the air traffic controller communicate with the pilots.  Besides the part where Paul rolled into an ant hill and had to take his pants off for a few minutes to be sure he wouldn't get stung, it was a great day!

 Monday night we had our unofficial trunk or treat, and Batman made an appearance - for the third year in a row!

And this is what fall is all about.