Time of celebration

I can't believe it is Christmas eve. I love this time of year. It has come to mean a lot more in the last few years. To be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I just hope that I am teaching my kids that that is what is important. One year ago we got the best Christmas present of all, to bring little Eva into our family, and now we have the two most beautiful kids in the world. This will be our first Christmas with just our little family, and it is a great experience. We have been so blessed to be where we are. I hope everyone else enjoys their Christmas as much as we do. Merry Christmas!

Christmas time

Wow, it has been a while. I can't believe that it is almost Christmas. Things are going very well here in Texas. We even got some snow. Not that it stuck around, but it is good to know that the Lord knows we are here. We have a lot coming up as well. Not only is it Christmas, but Eva will be 1 yr old on Christmas Eve! I can't believe she has been here that long. She is a riot.This is Eva with her cousin Brandons clothes on. Elisa wanted to make sure they would fit him.

She is walking, strike that running all over the place, and she does this bobble head thing while she does it. She loves to clap and talk and turn off the T.V. when it is on. That is probably a good thing.
Hyrum is doing great. He loves playing with his friends, and he is doing really great at Tae Kwon Do. He is going to test for his yellow stripe on Saturday. He is really excited. His new thing is doing headstands. He can go into the splits while on his head. It is pretty crazy. He is such a strong little boy. We are really surprised at how much we are liking Houston. Elisa was working part time for a while at a cool seasonal store, but now she is home again, and I am glad. We had a good Thanksgiving as well, although it was wierd only having three people at the dinner table (Hyrum was asleep). I knew I shouldn't have bought a 20 pound turkey. I think we still have some left over, maybe we will use that for Christmas. I am doing well at work. I am almost fully qualified at what I do, so another month or so and I should have it down. I am also working towards getting ready to take the service wide exam for First Class in May. Other than that things are pretty normal around here. We hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas, and a happy new Year.

Veterans Day

Happy Veterans day to all who have served! Especially you dad.

It makes me so proud to wear the uniform of the U.S. Military. Elisa and the kids and I were able to go down to a veterans day parade in which I got to take part. I wasn't in the parade, but I got to help behind the scenes, and to share this day with all those who have sacrificed overseas, as well as honor those who are serving today! We live in such an amazing country and I couldn't imagine not having the freedoms we have. I felt honored to stand there and pay tribute to the awesome men who have served this nation and given so much so that we could have what we have. To members of all branches of the service; Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and of course my Coast Guard brothers and sisters, I say THANK YOU!!!

We got to go out on Halloween with our neighbors across the street and their kids. Hyrum and Eva both loved it. As you can probably tell...

"Dont even think about taking my candy!"

"Did I get a lot of candy? you bet I did."

Eva's happy she got to go trick or treating, but

She is even happier mom and dad let her have that rice krispy treat.

Well, he did wear the mask for a few minutes.

Hyrum Smith, Tae Kwon Do MASTER!!!

Dinner can get a little messy.....

or a lot messy!!!!!

Our first Texan Halloween party--adults only.

Five years, YEAH BABY!