We're back!

Well, Praise the Lord, we made it home safe and sound Thursday night....to a three hour blackout of Del Rio! Not quite the homecoming we planned but God was gracious and just as we were wondering how we were going to unpack the truck and all the bags in complete darkness, Jenny showed up and took care of the boys while we worked with our flashlights! We were so grateful when the lights came back on! :)

We had a great drive out and back...only one two hour layover in Arizona when we picked up a screw in our tire. But we found it in a Walmart parking lot so we got it fixed right away and the Lord really took care of us. And Kaden learned to ride a bike in Walmart while we were waiting! The boys did awesome on the drive. I was so impressed with them...I get more ancey in the car then they do!

We loved the time with family and friends and as always the time just flew by. Sadly, this is the only picture we got of the ocean this time, and Matt is the only one who saw it. He snapped this picture while he was on his hike. Next time, I hope we make it to the beach. Seems kinds of sad to be that close to the ocean and not get to see it...then again we're moving to the ocean this fall so I'm sure I'll get my fill of beach!
The next couple of blogs are all the pictures from our vacation. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner prep!

I'm not exactly sure what Caleb is doing in this picture but I thought it was funny...it's like he's sneaking around the wall.
Kaden was tired before Turkey! He was quite entertained by the Macey's Day parade.

Mommy and Caleb

We didn't eat Thanksgiving dinner until later in the day, so this is the boys and their pre-thanksgiving lunch.

Opening early birthday presents from Aunt Linda and Uncle Eric! Caleb was a good helper!




Thie is Matt's sister Linda and Elmo...no relation. Elmo was Caleb's gift from Aunt Linda. It's bigger then he is!

Matt's Grandma Dorise and Linda

Matt and Linda getting a chance to catch up

Watching football on Thanksgiving

And the women chatted in the kitchen

And the kids played in the bedroom

Just visiting. We had a great Thanksgiving and were so grateful to spend time with family we don't normally get to be with. Thank you Jesus for precious family time! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too.

Time with Family

Story time with Papa Van...and Kaden got to meet the author of the book on Thanksgiving! She's a family friend.

Singing time with Papa Van! Caleb and Kaden loved dancing to the music!

The cousins at a tree lighting ceremony at the local shopping center. And yes, I do overdress my boys! But in my defense it was cold that night!

Caleb with his favorite cousin Kate. From the moment he saw her he wouldn't let go of her and even started calling her "mom"! She was great with him and I got lots of free time when she was around!

All the cousins saying goodbye one more time.

Kaden and Oma at Red Robin. Oma is GREAT at keeping the boys entertaine while we're out at restaurants!

Howdy!Out to lunch with Matt's grandparents!

Watch out here we come!

Great-grandpa Heller pushing Caleb on the swings at the park near their home.

I love this pictures. The boys had a great time with great-grandpa.

Great-grandma Heller...and yes, doesn't Caleb look happy!

One last picture...and for some reason Kaden felt it was necessary to hold wrapping paper up...whatever at least he was cooperating!

Time with Friends

Precious baby Gracyn!

It's always so much fun to get to spend time with some special friends when we visit California, and this time we got to see two we don't usually get to see. Matt got to go hiking with his friend Paul (he was in our wedding) and his girlfriend Catherine. They had an awesome time...despite locking their keys in the car! And I got to hang out with Brooke and Hope! It was so much fun to see each other as mommies!...hard to visit with three little ones running around...and falling out of their chairs in the middle of the resteraunt and spilling milk EVERYWHERE! (That would be Kaden) but still so much fun and a really neat blessing.

We also got to spend some an evening with Jedrix and Lisa and their new baby Gracyn. So precious! And we got to hear her first laugh! Made me want another one!

Fireman Birthday!

Kaden and Daddy in the bouncey castle

Fireman (girl) cousins

Present time!


A cash register just what I always wanted!

Hmmmm....what should I wish for




Fireman Cake!

Papa Van and Grandma Shawn threw Kaden a Fireman birthday party complete with bouncy castle and firehats for everyone! He had a great birthday and even got to share it with his cousin Brandon...who being 12 opted out of the fireman theme and just celebrated with cheese cake and presents! The best part was getting to spend the day with his cousins Brandon, Kate, and Amy, they made it so much fun. They bounced and played all day...and it looked like so much fun that I even bounced!

Disneyland

This is Kaden freaking out cause the sun was shining in his eyes! :) A great start to the day!

Oma, Kaden, and Pluto..are first Disney sighting of the day

On the horsies...the one other ride Caleb wasn't terrified on

Waiting for Eyeore




Not sure about this big Pooh

"I liked him better from far away!"




He woulen't even look at Tigger without screaming!

Caleb was scared of the Mermaid too..so just Kaden got to meet her.





Getting cozy with Snow White

Showing Sleeping Beauty his lightsaber!

The Castle at Christmas time

Last picture with Oma and Papa Lance

One of the hightlights of our trip to California was Disneyland! We went to celebrate Kaden's birthday and as a special day to have with Matt's mom and Lance. It was the perfect day to go to Disneyland! There were enough people in the park to make it fun but the crowds were so low that we were walking on the rides! The only ride we had to wait for was Finding Nemo and that was only like 45 min! If you recall...last time I had to wait two hours for Dumbo! We went on the Buzz Lightyear ride and it broke! But not until we were at the end so we just walked off (once they let us out of the seats) and as we were leaving they gave us a pass to cut to the front of any line in the park! We used it to go see the princesses and saved ourselves on hour wait! Short lines made Disney so much fun!

Kaden's birthday present from Oma was a lightsaber (why StarWars and Disneyland are connected I have no idea, but whatever). After watching the Jedi's fight Darth Vader (they pull little kids out of the audience and let them fight Darth Vader...Kaden was like No thanks, I'll just watch!) Kaden was so pumped up he went and got his lightsaber and practiced swinging it around the rest of the day. His lightsaber was also the one thing he couldn't wait to show off to the princesses! Notice in all the pictures that he's holding it. That's my favorite memory of the day, watching Kaden impress the girls with his sword. Kaden walked away from Cinderella and said, "Cinderella told me I'm a great knight, hehehehe!" It was to cute.

Caleb, on the other hand, did not enjoy Disneyland as much! He was pretty much terrified on every ride except Dumbo and he's still really scared of the characters! It was so cute, we were waiting in line for Pooh and Tigger and he was so excited. He would scrunch down real low and look at them under the rope and wave, but as soon as we walked up to them he started crying and clawing at me to get away. Then he would look at them and start to smile and then he'd bury his head in my shoulder and start to cry. It was so precious. It was like he was trying to like them but he just couldn't. Oh well, maybe next year he'll be more into it!

The Lord blessed us with such a great day and the memories are so precious...I can't wait to do it again!