Changing Blogs

After blogging on here for over 5 years, I managed to delete almost all my pictures.  Long story short, I'm starting a new blog at http://aarader2013.wordpress.com/.  Please change your link, and hopefully I'll still feel like posting.  We did get a new computer, which will be nice once I learn all things Mac!

8th Anniversary

Tomorrow is our 8th anniversary on the 8th.  I think that makes it extra special.  I'm especially blessed to have Aaron as my husband!  This was one of our engagement pictures from 2004.

 

Here's a picture from our wedding day.  Now my flower girl is in high school and driving.

Happy 2013

It's another new year, and I blogged way less in 2012 than I did the last few years.  I guess these kids are keeping me busy!  We've enjoyed having Daddy home for the holidays, and he even put up new light fixures in our kitchen (no more fluorescent lighting).  Aaron's so handy!

 

He's also been entertaining Bethany and Zachary, especially since we've been home a lot due to them being sick.  I hope their colds are gone by next week!

Winter Wonderland

We took pictures after church on Sunday.  The kids were dressed Christmassy!

Our first Christmas in the new house.

Christmas Eve with Aaron's family.

And Christmas Day at my parents' house.

 A white Christmas!

Christmas Weekend

Our Christmas party at school was on Thursday.

On Friday WE hosted the Hodges Christmas!!

  

 Today was Christmas in Granbury, and here's our traditional family picture.

Santa 2012

Santa 2009

 

Santa 2010

Santa 2011

This year's Santa picture is pretty much the same as the others.  O-well...Merry Christmas!

Nicaragua Trip

We got back late last night from our 5 day trip to Nicaragua.  I took close to 300 pictures, so these are just some to show the different things we got to do.  We hiked up a mountain on Sunday afternoon, which has a great view of Jinotega.

 

Angela and I helped Becky organize baby supplies for the Casa Maternas.

We passed out SMILE boxes.  This was one of the older girls.

Always time for a coffee break!

We were there for the Mision's Christmas party...the kids helped decorate the tree.

Aaron making the kids smile :)

Lots of Smile boxes! 

Visiting a Casa Materna.

Our group from Grapevine with Benny and Donna (missionaries our church supports).

Our last stop on Wednesday was to a preschool.  These kids were the most fun, and we got to give them dresses and clothes too.  They were so excited!

 

All-Stars

For as long as I've been doing this blog, I've been a fan of Dancing with the Stars.  I was so happy when Melissa and Tony won last night.  Aaron was making fun of me while watching the show because he said I had a smile on my face like I was a proud mother or something.  Haha!

 

Update on potty training: Bethany had her first day with no accidents.  She even went a couple of times on her own, AND Zachary went before bed tonight!  My biggest issue is now it takes so much longer to get them ready for bed. 

North Pole Express

Last night my parents took the whole family on the North Pole Express train in Grapevine.  The kids got to see Santa and get a bell, just like in the Polar Express movie.  It was all good until...

 

Bethany had a meltdown!  And let me tell you, tantrums at 3 years old are BAD.  We've also been trying to potty train, and we've had too many accidents to count today.  It's so, so, so frustrating!  Say a prayer for Aaron and I as we do our best at parenting these toddlers :)

Cousin Love

Last night was pretty exciting because Katie lost her third tooth!  What a fun time hanging out with the cousins.

Slumber Party

This is the first time I've tried posting from my phone. So, here's a picture from tonight with all the cousins in our bed. Katie and Randal are spending the night for the first time together!!

Granbury Thanksgiving

My grandma said I didn't post any pictures of our kitchen, so this is for you!  I also took a couple of pictures of our Christmas decorations.

 

We spent Sunday afternoon in Granbury celebrating Thanksgiving, and we even got to see family from California.  The kids had fun playing on the "beach" since the lake's SO low!