January Birthdays

 Sup? Yeah I'm cool....I love these random pics of P.  Cracks me up.  He's so not the 'thug' he semi looks like here.  ha ha.  Yep, even in the south we have to wear jackets occasionally.

 Again..my kids and pictures..always posing.  For Halles birthday we spent a fun family day just out and about.  We went to the zoo, out to eat at a not so great yummy-but really cool decor restaurant, and then out for dessert.  Just gotta say how happy we were to find a Dylan's here.  One of our fav's we miss in NYC. 

 Being the amazing parents we are we let our kids each pick a bag of sugar filled, melt in your mouth, bounce off the wall, cavity doomed teeth rockin candy. So delicious.

 A few days later Halle had a bunch of her little friends over for a Strawberry Shortcake party.  12 little girls was a little crazy but they all got along perfectly and Halle was on cloud 9.  Strawberry cream filled cupcakes and punch.  I had stressed about planning all sorts of activities and we didn't do any of them really.  It was such a beautiful day that they all wanted to giggle and play outside.  So easy! 
                                  
                              What girl party doesn't include bubbles?  :)

Halle picked out the colors and helped decorate her cake.  Still can't believe my baby is 4! 

 What do you give daddy on his birthday? Tickle torture of course.  Hey, he generally starts it-I just help the kids finish it. 

 Andy isn't really a cake person so his traditional birthday treat is a yummy PB Ice Cream Pie.  MMmmm!

 Daddy of course had to work on his birthday so the kids stayed up a little late this night and we surprised him with his pie.  AND tiny party hats AND balloons AND the kids picked up all their toys!!

 All these pictures are just one of the reasons I LOVE my family.  We are truly nutso but really, we are cool.
What is Payton doing? 

 Well, there it is.  They get it from dad.  We have this strange thing in our family.  We are always taking pictures of ourselves.  True, call it vanity if you must but we prefer to call it Art.  We call this Scared.

                                                               Dead

Nutty

You talkin to me?

                                          Surprise! 

 I really don't understand why more people don't come over.......

Little fall fun

 After I loaded these I realized that these pictures are actually from November... ha ha.  Oh well.  I still want to add them even if they are out of order. Kiddo's had a very exciting milestone this November.  Tada! They mastered the Handle Bars!! You don't have to send a card with money, well, unless you want to (Mom), but they were overjoyed to finally accomplish this task.  Payton had slowly worked up his courage to even try doing it without my help.  He would for a long time and when he wanted to reach he'd just drop down and try again with a smile on his face.  Halle my dang little fearless girl would just follow him.  We would cheer and chant his name over and over.  He finally got over his fear of letting go and went one bar.  He was so shocked that he did it and jumped up and down in excitement.  He realized he wasn't going to evaporate if he let go and the next time he got up and went across all 10 bars! :) 

 I still can't get over how funny it was to see him hang there over and over and then just go across them all.  He was so happy and proud. 

 Halle still scares me to death cause she can barely reach and has to swing down just to hang on the bar.  She can go across 4 bars all by herself! :)  She will tell you she is sooo strong.

 I love these pictures because every kid should get to jump in a pile of leaves at least some point in their life.  I convinced the kids to help me rake and then rewarded then with a big ol pile to jump in. ha ha.  I don't think Grandpa was too overjoyed but he didn't get too mad either. :)  They spent over an hour jumping and rebuilding their pile.  So fun.

Yep, the New Year Came

Christmas time was just holly jolly around here.  We were so happy to have mom come visit.  The kids get so excited they can hardly contain their little bodies from complete hyper sugar combustion.  Mom got to stay the week but for us it's never long enough.  I finally managed to convince her that we do have stores out here and that she could buy presents, yes, even a few days before Christmas and not have to mail a ton of stuff.  Besides, the kids had been naughty and I loved having no presents under the tree yet.  Made the coal threats, ahem, jokes more fun.  We had fun staying up late and shopping around like frantic elves ya know. 

Christmas Eve we all headed up to Andy's parents.  Kiddos love getting together with their cousins.  Complete fun-ditty chaos.  They all have great imaginations and I need to start writing down all the crazy games and sayings they come up with.  Halle told me that she had learned to do the 'dirty diaper'.  FYI-that means she can hang upside down on the swinging handle bars by her legs.  ??? WTH :) 

Awe, don't they look so sweet and innocent? 

                                     
 This pic reminds me of when I was a kid.  Ya know-parents are all inside chatting away and we could do all sorts of unlawful things such as breaking the 'one person recommend at a time' rule on the trampoline.  I can't mention to my kids the things that we did (like jump off the house onto the tramp) or I would lose all mean mommy authority ya know.  Still don't believe in those net things though-I know MY kids would for sure get hurt with one of those. :) I love it though-how fun to be a kid and just play, play, play. 

 Gold Family tradition is to have a yummy fancy turkey dinner with all the fixings.  The kids think it's fun getting to drink from Fancy Nancy type glasses and eat on Grandma's china.  We then read the Nativity from the Bible and the kids go Hollywood and act it out.  Payton of course is a very Wiseman.  Can't remember what Halle was but she generally will cry if she can't be the Angel so that would be my guess.  :)

 We then have our talent showcase where it has been known to take hours-hey, we are a very talented family!  Bell choirs, stories, poems, songs, piano solos and dancing.  It's so much fun and I love the traditions we are starting for the kids.  Our kids sang C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S this year and Andy, the boys, and I did a piano and song arrangement. 
Every other year we stay with all the cousins at Grandmas but we headed home this time to spend our first Christmas in our new house.  We quickly learned we have to work on our own little family traditions.  Halle sneeked down early and started opening every ones stalkings and then woke up Payton to tell him what he got.  All while daddy was getting the camera to go wake up the kids.  Luckily we were all awake to open the presents under the tree and it was so fun seeing the kids faces when they opened their gifts.

 Payton got a BB gun to go hunting with dad, a guitar and a microphone stand.  Figure if he's gonna be a rock star he better start practicing his moves now.  :)

 Halle got Rapunzel and Flynn barbies and a dolly stroller.  And of course-Fancy Nancy books. 

 As always when mom comes to visit-it either rains or someone gets sick.  Seriously, no kidding!  Payton was the one to get sick this time.  I was so glad he was able to have a nice Christmas day because that night he got sick with a high fever and literally spent the next 5 days in bed.  I felt bad he didn't get to do much during his school break except lay around.  The rest of us enjoyed doing puzzles and playing the kinect-yes I am the world record holder in the long jump, that's right! Shocking I know.  Actually I hold ALL the records but confidence can get slightly elevated when you play against a 4 year old and your mom. :) Bring it down Kris....

 My sweet beautiful girl.  I just love her!!

 Love, love, love this handsome boy.  He makes me so happy. :)

                                                       Cutie Pies!

 New Years Eve we headed back up to the lake with the fam.  I do miss the snow during the holidays but I love that the kids were able to run around crazy with glow sticks, roast hot dogs and marshmallows and do fireworks all in a long sleeve shirt. 

                                    Awe....

 The fun thing about holidays at the lake is that though you cannot do fireworks on the property-you CAN do them on the lake..I think some of the neighbors have a silent firework rivalry but we don't mind cause we get to sit out and enjoy the show.  I seriously can't believe how much some people would spend on a backyard fireworks but either way, we love it.  Kids had a blast and we love having a good time with family.  Bring on 2011.

Squirrel Crazy

If you know my honey, you know how much he loves to get out huntin' and fishin'.  During duck season the kids and I went a few times.  For the record....I actually really enjoy doing the hobbies my husband loves, I just hate, I mean, don't love that most of them include getting up before the crack of dawn.  That being said, we usually have a great time and the kids get so excited to go.  This time we took Payton and our awesome friend Ken.  Payton jumped right out out bed while I...moved a little slower.
We sat patiently, covered in camo, waiting for the ducks to fly in.  Instead we heard coughing and some dude tripping over branches.  Long story short the "dude" shot the first duck and therefore scared the rest away, leaving us sitting all prettied up with nothing to do.  Well, we had to shoot something so we went after a few pesky squirrels.  Don't feel bad-they are a pain in the butt and far too plenty here. 

I'm not going to honestly admit how many shots I fired before finally getting my squirrel.  Andy and Ken shot once each...hmm. Anyhow, Payton thought it was awesome and it was so fun to see him be serious about being quiet and still.  He's definitely much better at it than I am. 

Hey, what can I say.  Don't Mess With Texas. :)

Merry Christmas???

Since I am such and amazing blogger recently, I decided to catch up the family journal.  Yep, Merry Christmas!  (Hey-according to the last date it was Dec. 5th)  :) 
Thank goodness for a few pictures to remind me that we really had a nice Christmas.  The middle of December we had our first annual Gold Christmas gathering with some friends from our ward.  I just have to add quickly that I LOVE our ward.  I wish I had a house big enough to fit everyone in it.  Andy and I decided that we are going to have to have some sort of party rotation so we can somehow get everyone over here because we seriously want to be friends with everyone in the ward.  Anyhow-that said, we had a little gathering for FHE and it turned out great.  I grew up having homemade donuts for Christmas Eve.  (My Aunt Mary makes the BEST donuts!!)  Well, since I've moved away and can't always be home for Christmas I decided I would start that as one of our family traditions because it just doesn't seem like Christmas without them-or homemade chili for that matter...
We read from Luke and the kids dressed up and told the Nativity Story.  We sand a few carols and then had homemade donuts and hot chocolate.  YUMMY!!

We were so lucky to have so many Angels.  Halle insisted that she be a Snow White Princess Angel....Hence the scowl on her face prior.  :)  I love how E. is giving her a "chill out" look.

We had the 3 Wise Men from "a fire" (Texas slang Afar)

Everyone loves the baby Jesus in the pink flower blanket. :)

I wish I'd taken more pictures but oh well.  Thanks to those who made it a fun night.

Later in the month we invited some of our neighbors to join us for the Stake Nativity Exhibit.  This is really a beautiful event.  They have hundreds of nativities from all over displayed among about 30 fresh cut Christmas trees.  There is wonderful musical numbers and a nativity dress up area that the kids always love.  Here are this years pictures.

If only I could always remember this picture when they are arguing...

 

We also ran into some dear friends who were visiting.  I love how every kid is looking in a different direction. ha!

Cutie Pies!

We then kicked into football mode as we headed to the State Championships.  Andy's school made it, which is apparently a big deal since Texas really takes their football seriously.  I can't remember if this was their first time or 2nd time in forever but either way, it was very exciting.  Especially since they held the tournament at Dallas Cowboy Stadium.  I still can't get over that-probably cause I come from a little bitty town that didn't even have a stoplight.  Anyhow, the kids and I joined Andy's parents and had a great time.  So sad that Andy had to work cause he would have loved the enormous televisions inside.  I was so glad they had them too cause some idiot was standing in front of us the entire game!

Kids and Grandma-50 yard line!

It was really cold outside-yes, even for Texas.  I was so happy to be in a nice warm stadium with soft comfy chairs.  This place really is amazing.  There are at 'least' 8 giant TVs to watch the game and then 3 circular ones that go around the entire stadium with adds and other such stuff.  And the $9 ticket was a much better price than the several hundred for the Super Bowl later on..Of course unlike the Super Bowl, our team lost, but it was still a blast. 

I just have to say how funny it was that for the first part of the game-my kids kept cheering for BYU!! ha ha

Weekend Fun

 It is still taking time for me to get used to this warm weather during the winter.  We've had a few cold days here and there but for the most part it's pretty nice.  Payton was out of school on Andy's day off so we headed up to the Grandpa and Grandmas for a day.  Andy and the kids slept out on the trampoline.  No, I'm not a spoiled brat-I can sleep outside but they let the dog sleep with them so I passed. :) Hey I'm allergic!

Paytons face is funny.  Must have caught him the one time he wasn't smiling.  He had such a great time sleeping under the stars.  He wasn't too happy with Boo, who chose him to cuddle with.   

 

 Next morning-what else..Fishing!! There's just so many things to do at Grandmas, but Payton is really starting to like fishing more and more. 

 Halle LOVES fishing.  She generally goes with Daddy and Grandpa a few times a month.  She even gets up at 5AM to go! This girl is fearless.  Baits and takes off her own fish. 

 Cute pic with Grandma Gold. :)

 Since we didn't have a lot of time, we headed down to the marina to let the kids fish.  Payton caught two perch all by himself.  He was so proud!

 Halle caught a little catfish, again, all by herself. :)

These kids are good little troopers.  We have so much fun.  Love these kiddos!!

Little Dancer

 We officially have a little dancer in our house.  This was Halle's first day of dance class. She was so excited to say the least.  We had fun picking out a leotard and new ballet and tap shoes.  Since it was her first day I also let her wear some makeup and she could not stop smiling. 

I forgot to actually take my camera to dance class. Oops. :)  Thankgoodness for tile floors at our house cause this little girl is tapping all over the place.  Currently tap is her favorite, however, she is slowly liking ballet more and more.  She tries to do turns but goes so fast that she generally hits the ground on her belly.  :)  I pulled out my old dance shoes and am therefore amazing (in her eyes anyway).  We've had fun dancing around the house and learning all the correct positions.  Can't believe how fast this cutie is growing up. 

Pumpkin Waffles with Orange Walnut Butter

Since I've been a complete slacker lately and have momentarily gotten a new surge of slight energy, I have decided to not only cook yet blog...tada!
A friend of mine had this recipe and I must say it was quite yummy.

1 c. plus 2 T. all purpose flour
2 T brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

2 eggs, 1 c. milk, 1/2 c. canned pumpkin, 2 T butter, melted
Orange walnut butter--  1/2 c. butter, softened
                                      1/4 c. chopped walnuts
                                      1 T grated orange peel
                                      Maple syrup
In a lg. bowl, combine the first six ingredients.  in another bowl, combine the eggs, milk, pumpkin and butter: stir into dry ingredients just until combined.  bake in a preheated waffle iron according to general directions until golden brown.  Meanwhile, for orange walnut butter, in a small bowl, combine butter, walnuts and orange peel until blended.  Serve waffles with butter mix and maple syrup.  Yield: 4 servings

Invisible Mother...

Today was a long, exhausting day.  I came across this story a sweet cousin sent me a long time ago.

Invisible Mother.....


It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen ag ain. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully
wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .
I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it t o me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work
they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by
the roof, No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.
No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there..'
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
Great Job, MOM!

This week I feel more like I'm building mud pies in the dirt instead of cathedrals, but it still made my 'blue' day a little brighter. :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa!! 101

Today is my sweet Grandpa's 101st birthday.   When I stop and think about it, I can't believe we are truly celebrating him turning 101.  It's amazing! He's amazing.
Grandpa makes me so happy!! We had such a wonderful time getting to visit with him all summer.  He's led a very inspiring life and I enjoy talking with him about the 'old days'.  While he can't remember many things from his childhood, or latter days, his life is a great example to me.  Like all of us, he has faced a lot of trials through out his life.  When I asked him how he felt or dealt with it he said, "Oh I can't remember.  I had faith and just did what had to be done."  His house had burnt down and he'd lost his farm and he can't remember! Made me realize how much we all worry about little things in life.  Yes, I say little.  It happened 50 + years ago and to me that seems like a big trial, but he can barely remember it and he's still very sharp.  We are always told that trials are here for our learning and experience and they will be 'but a small moment'.  He is a true example of that.  No matter how tough things may seem, they will be ok and we will go on.  I think his faith and positive attitude is what has kept him alive for so long.  Well, he'll also tell you steak, mush and Dr. Pepper. :) 
  I spent a LOT of time in his home growing up and I have many precious memories of him.  Again, he can't remember all of them, but 'I' can.  Getting to go for truck rides, hunting, going after wood, playing in the snow, raking a million leaves and then jumping in them, watching MASH, building fires, shoveling coal, playing blocks, sleeping outside.  My list could go on but I'm tearing up so I gotta stop.  :) 
I wish that everyone could know him!  But for the most part I am thankful that my kids can know him, and love him and get to spend time with him the way I did.  I don't know how many more birthdays he will celebrate, but for now- today is one fantastic day!