Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving was pretty easy this year.  The week before Thanksgiving all three boys had the flu.  It was pretty mild and essentially was a week at home.   Everyone was still recovering when Thanksgiving week rolled around.

Uncle A and Miss Carolyn came in the week of Thanskgiving.  We had a dinner of Roswell tamales and Carne Posada on Tuesday.  On Wednesday Uncle A and Carolyn came over for bagels, then everyone came over that night for some white bean chili.  We had a lot of fun just hanging out.

On Thursday we went to Arkansas for our Thanksgiving meal.  It was a delicious meal and a very low key day.  The boys spent most of the day playing soccer outside with their cousins.  Party Paul finally warmed up to everyone and had a lot of fun playing at Mimi and Kimbo's.  We returned home on Friday afternoon and spent the rest of the weekend doing Christmas things.  It was a really low key, easy, nice Thanksgiving. 

10th Anniversary

 by Clint

2014 marked our 10 year anniversary. As we started planning what we would do, we quickly realized that the trip to Mexico that we had planned 10 years ago was out of the question. We decided to keep it close and look for something fun within an hour from the house. Melanie had heard about Aaron's Gate from friends in Bartlesville, so we looked into it. Aaron's Gate is owned by the Arcadia Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in Edmond. There are three cabins secluded in the woods between Edmond and Guthrie, so we decided to go for it. We booked two nights starting on the first day of the OSU Christmas break. On our actual anniversary, Melanie made an excellent meal of lamb, potatoes, tabouli, and she bought a replica of our wedding cake. I gave Melanie a necklace and she gave me a jacket with elbow patches.  Our boys were sick with flu A that night so we were not able to go to dinner, but they did hit the sack around 7:00 so we had plenty of time to enjoy our dinner and evening at home.

Our Aaron's Gate trip was made possible by both sets of grandparents. Convincing anyone to watch 3 boys between the ages of 6 and 2 for more than a couple hours is a tall order. Mimi agreed to watch them the first night, and Grammy and Grandpa agreed to watch them the second night. From what we heard, both nights were awesome with a lot of good times. Melanie spent about 1 week preparing everything for these two nights (kids clothes, food, logistics, etc.). By the time Mimi arrived, we were ready to hit the road.  Mimi took the boys to dinner and got Beau and Paul to their Christmas performance at school on time the next morning.  That was a feat Melanie wasn't sure she was even up to.

 
After checking in at the bed-and-breakfast in Edmond, we went to the Boulevard Steakhouse and enjoyed a great meal of steak, salmon, and cheesecake. The cabin was only about 15 minutes from Edmond. We reserved the English Cottage, and we soon found out that it had all the luxuries that the internet promised. I quickly fired up the hot tub, sauna, and fireplace. The rest is history...

After sleeping in, we decided to go for a hike around Arcadia Lake. The trail was surprisingly nice, and we were the only ones at the lake. It was very relaxing, and the cool fog made for great hiking weather. After a lunch of Red Rock sandwiches and wine, we went to Starbucks and enjoyed just hanging out. Then we went to Cafe 501 for an early dinner, and back to the hot tub and sauna...

These 10 years have been the best of my life. Melanie has blessed my life in ways that I never expected. Our marriage has brought me more joy than I thought possible. Every day is better than the last.

OSU Football 2014

OSU football had its highs and lows this year.  Clint and I were able to go to the Texas Tech game and sit in his parents club seats.  It was fun to go to a game together.  One beautiful Saturday we decided to take the boys to campus just to walk around, with no plans to go to the game.  We started our morning at Dough Pokes for donuts.  Then we headed to campus.  It was so beautiful and so much fun football energy on campus Clint started to really want to go to the game.  I told him he could go if he took Beau and Sawyer with him and was able to get tickets for the amount of cash we had in our wallets.  We had $30.  To get 3 tickets for just $30 seemed impossible.  The first person we approached about their tickets laughed at us when we offered $30.  The second person we approached laughed and said they had 3 tickets they were trying to give away for free!  They had won the tickets and felt wrong about taking money for them.  Then I heard the sweetest voice.  It was Sawyer and he looked at me with those puppy dog eyes and said he just prayed to God that we could get tickets and go to the game and God instantly answered his prayers.  So sweet.  Paul and I headed home and picked up our other 3 boys later that afternoon.  A fun time was had by all.

Clint also road tripped down to Fort Worth for the OSU vs TCU game with Will and Jason.  I am not sure what happened on his road trip because I never heard many details, but I know they had fun.

Beau at 4

by Clint

Beau keeps all of us laughing all the time. He is a very joyful creature. At 4, he continues to be my (Dad) puppy. He's usually jumping or dancing around finding ways to be happy or make someone else feel better. He makes me carry him around the house upside down. He loves his brothers. He really likes riding his bike and scooter, and he keeps us laughing with phrases like "Oh sure," "I wanna play memory," "No way Jose," "Do that again," "Come on Dougie," "I wanna watch toonies." Beau really likes playing with his brothers, and it's nice that he gets to spend most days playing with Paul at home. It's so fun to listen to Beau and Sawyer play in the morning together, building forts, playing with cars, and laughing. Beau fills our house so much fun, love, joy, warmth, and playfulness. If I have a tough day at work, all I have to do is wrestle with Beau, and he has me laughing. Most of his challenging moments happen when he is hurt or doesn't feel good. During those moments, he is very vocal. He still has Beauments, but we are working through those. Beau has a beautiful heart and he is such a joy for those who know him.

Beau's 4th Birthday

We let Beau open up his presents the evening before his actual birthday (otherwise birthday boys get over stimulated and end up in tears.)

 As we were getting ready to send out the invitations for Beau's birthday, we checked the 10-day forecast and it showed snow!  The weather for Beau's actual birthday though was suppose to be gorgeous.  We made a last minute decision to just have cupcakes on his birthday with friends at the park (Beau was extremely un-opinionated about the whole affair.  The only request he made was to have a hayride with a hot-tub behind the tractor.  Brilliant idea, but not happening this year.)  It was such a beautiful day that everyone showed up!  My mom and dad even came with Shepherd and Summit (having Summit here made his day!)  It was the perfect birthday party for a little boy turning four and required minimal effort by this mama!

 

When I asked Beau what he wanted to eat for his birthday, he said spaghetti and donuts.  This man is easy to please!

Baby Showers

 I had the opportunity to travel to Kansas City and meet up with Ashley and Kaitlin to attend one of Ashley's baby showers.  I was really excited to finally meet Ashley's Kansas City friends.  We then spent the rest of the weekend catching up and getting ready for her little boy.  It was a lot of fun.  Kaitlin is due with a little girl the week before our baby will get here! 

The next weekend I met up with Ashley and some college girl friends to throw a shower for Ashley in Tulsa.  It was another great opportunity to visit with old friends and I felt spoilt by some extra girl time.

While I was in Kansas City I got to have a quick visit with Lane.  It is always so good to catch up!

October Update

 Here are some random pictures from October.

Sawyer had field day at school. 

We drove out to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins.  I love that we literally get to drive out into a field and just get pumpkins.  We have so much fun doing this.

Grammy always has fun things planned for the boys.