Happy Birthday, Jaxon!

Today this precious blessing from God turns 7!

I know -- I can't believe it either, but he is AND he'll tell you pretty emphatically he is 7!

I love his caring heart and sweet smile.  I love that he likes to draw and color.  I love that he is enjoying reading.  I love that he loves Legos and is good at putting them together.  I love that he loves music.  I love that he has started following along in his Bible at worship service.  I love that he likes to play games.  I love that he pays attention to detail.  I love that he loves his family.  I love how he takes care of his little cousins.  I love what a great helper he his.  And then there's those hugs -- I love his hugs!  

I know, I know.  That word "love" is greatly overused in our society -- and you may think I overused it here, but I don't.  I love it all about this little boy!

Birthday Party

Yesterday, we celebrated with a small little party.  He decided he wanted to take a few friends bowling, so that's what we did.  The birthday boy was the only one who got a strike!  Woo-hoo!

He also decided (a little too late) that he wanted a Ninjago themed party.  So, what do you do when he decides to have a friend party with less then a week to get it all together AND you live in a town that has absolutely NO Ninjago party products?  Well, you come up with your own stuff. :-)

And the birthday boy wanted brownies...

Happy Birthday, Jaxon!

Christmas 2012

Roberts Family Christmas

This Christmas has been very eventful for us.  We have been able to spend some time with family which is always a blessing.  

First, we got to spend some time with my family in Abilene on Christmas Eve.  I tried to get a picture of all the grandkids but Keaton didn't want to cooperate.

We have a tradition that we go around the room and each pick a Christmas song to sing before we can open presents.  We've done this for YEARS!  So, here we go with Granny, Mom and Dad...

Then Keaton decided he wasn't going to be so shy.  He got up and started dancing while we sang.

After we opened presents, Aunt Tami and the kids had some fun with sugar cookies and icing!

We didn't get to spend as much time with my family as usual, but it was still a great time!

West Family Christmas

This year for Christmas, the West family ventured to Ruidoso, N.M.  The first night we were there, it snowed.  I don't know how much, but enough that we were stuck in the cabin for about two days.  We had a very steep, icy driveway that we couldn't get up.  

This is our van with lots of snow on it!

So, we spent New Year's Eve in the cabin playing lots and lots of games.  But we also had a little fun making "2013" glasses and our own party hats to ring in the new year.

The next day, we got all our snow gear on and went out to play!  

After walking around a bit, we thought it would be fun to build a snowman.  I don't know if you can tell from this picture but April is trying to get the kids to help her build a snowman.

And they were helping...until Eric decided it would be more fun to start a snowball fight!

Then, we found some saucers and decided to try those out.  I think Jason decided he should try it out first.

Then these two got in on the fun!

Somehow Eric ended up going down once and stayed to "catch" everyone so they wouldn't run into the rocks and trees.

He even had to catch Jason after he accidentally went down the hill while I was trying to take a picture of my three boys.  I really wish I had gotten a picture of his face when he started sliding but I got this one when he got to the end instead.

Then they decided it would be fun to race!

Wednesday, we decided to venture out to the snow tubing place.  It was cold but so fun!

All five kids ready to go!

And we were too!

It's hard to get good pictures at this place if you are also tubing (which I was).  I caught this one of Jaden coming down the hill.

And this one of Eric with all four boys.

This picture requires some explanation.  We had all decided to go up and hook together and all come down the hill together.  So we had 7 of us ready to go.  The guy at the top of the hill told us we had to go tallest to shortest.  So it was Eric, Jason, me, Carter, Jaden, Andrew and Jaxon was at the back.  He let us go and the run was fast and furious...but when we got to the bottom, we were missing the last two of our party.  All Jaden had were Andrew's boots.  When we took off, Andrew and Jaxon didn't.  It was really funny!

On Thursday, we decided to venture up to Ski Apache and let the kids try skiing.  It was COLD!  The temperature on the car read 13 degrees when we got to the ski lodge.  Oh. My. Goodness!  But we dressed warmly and they were ready!

You might notice that I do not have skis on.  I was the resident photographer.  :-)

Here is the whole skiing crew.

The kids took lessons and did great!  

Here is Jason with Jaden and Jaxon on the ski lift about to try the bunny slope after the boys had lessons.

And here they come...

Jaden liked it.

Jaxon loved it!

And Dad is just happy they might go with him again!

It snowed on us all day long and was really, really cold!

The whole trip was an adventure and we had a great time!

While You Were Out!

This year for Christmas, Jason and I decided to redo a room in our house for the boys.  And it was a surprise for them.  This past weekend they went to Abilene to stay with my parents and grandmother and we had a little fun!  And a LOT of work!

Here is the before pictures:

This was a guest room / play room already.  But, that bed was just in our way!  And hardly anyone ever sleeps in it...so, we decided to get rid of it and make this room more fun!

We started working on everything as soon as the boys were in school Friday morning.  They weren't going to be coming back to the house after school, so we got a head start.  And it's a good thing we did because we decided to go ahead and scrape the popcorn ceiling.  (We want to eventually do this in the whole house, but it's one of those things you take one room at a time with several months in between :-).  Anyway, this is probably what made everything take longer, but it's done and we're glad.

Then, Saturday morning we got busy painting...and painted ALL DAY LONG!  Whoever had the bright idea to paint two colors -- oh my!  Because it took longer to get all the details in the corners and such is why I'm guessing this took all day.  We won't mention whose idea that was...not important.  :-)

Jason got a little creative, too, and painted a message to the boys before we covered this wall.

I'll spare you more of the same pictures and just get right to the finished room!  Ta-da!

When the boys got home, the first thing they said when they walked in the door was "it smells like paint!"  Yeah, it did!  We had a red bow on the door to this room with it closed and they wanted to run right in there.  I said, "Hey, it's a present...you can't open it until Christmas!"  They said, "I don't think so."  Well, I didn't think so either because Jason and I were just as excited to show it to them as they were to see it!  They had no idea and were so surprised!

They were so excited, they were climbing the walls!  :-)

Woo-hoo!  Operation "While You Were Out" was a success and a huge hit!  For a while we kept hearing "I love it!" and "This is awesome!"  Made every sore muscle worth it!