Long time...

Wow how time flies when the holidays come around!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends, our Oklahoma family! We had Thanksgiving at our house with some of our friends who moved here from other states...just like us they're families aren't here! Andy brined a turkey and cooked it on the smoker...WONDERFUL!!! We also deep fried a turkey!

Table setting for the adults!

Our Oklahoma family at Thanksgiving!

We went to Cali for Christmas this year. What a wonderful time we had seeing family and friends! We left Oklahoma on the 19th and returned on the 31st.

We toured the USS Midway in San Diego!

We spent a few hours at the beach. Bryce is looking for rocks and shells!

Tristan had not been to the beach before our trip!

The cousins had fun together...boy how they have grown!

Halloween

We went to a friends house for a Halloween party. There was pumpkin carving, musical chairs, limbo and scavanger hunt trick or treating.

The boys and I dressed as punk rockers...of course, I had to EXPLAIN to them what a punk rocker is!!! I had to chase Bryce down so that I could get the eye liner and lipstick on him to complete the look...Tristan was ready to look crazy!!!

Bryce picking out his pumpkin to carve.

Tristan picking out his pumpkin

All the kids getting ready to go into a haunted maze that someone had in there backyard!

Bryce doing the limbo!

Tristan cheating at limbo...lean back!!!

Bryce and friends wrapping eachother up to be mummies!

Tristan and his friends were the youngest in the group. They teamed together for the mummy wrapping contest and won. They had all three of them wrapped before the other teams!

It's family picture time!

It the time of year that we try to take family pictures to send out with Christmas cards. The last few years we have taken our own pictures...timers on camera's are GREAT!

This year we didn't want to miss the beautiful trees as they are changing colors. So we took our pictures a little earlier than usual.

We went to a park/pond near our house to take our pictures this year. I am VERY happy with them!

This is my favorite picture of the boys!

They came up with the idea of laying on the ground in the leaves!

Bryce...almost 10

These pictures where we all look like we're in black and white is called color accent.

It is a special feature on my camera. They came out okay.

Tristan and his "gansta" look!

Both boys!

Another one of Bryce...He wasn't looking at the camera!

Andy & me...14 years and counting!

Boys...in color!

Our family picture!

Me & my boys!

Andy & the boys!

Bryce's early birthday party

Bryce has 2 friends, from school and his baseball team, that have birthdays this time of the year too. So we got together and did a triple birthday party at our local paintball place...Paintball Land!

The boys invited their friends and some of the parents decided to play too! I did NOT play...I am wishing now that I would've played at least 1 game...just to say I did! Maybe next time!

Anyways...we had 23 adults and kids playing paintball. The 1st two games were kids vs. adults...the adults won both games...imagine that, of course the adults had more paintballs then the kids so that might have helped. Then we split into 2 teams of kids and adults that seemed to be just as much fun! In all the adults played 6 games and let the kids have the 7th game just for themselves! It was a fun day had by all! Bryce is already requested to do again next year!!!

Bryce's wakeboard cake (from the side)

Bryce's wakeboard cake

Tristan was able to paintball...he was SO excited!

Bryce in the field

Andy running to another location

Bryce and some of the other boys looking for their targets!

Andy...ready, aim, fire!

The only brave mom of the 3 boys, Heather!!! YOU GO GIRL!!! (Actually, Kasey would've been out there but she had knee surgery a few months ago...so it was better for her not to play this time!)

Some of the dad's

The kids

Summer fun

Bryce riding for the 1st time this year...the water was cold...that explains the wetsuit!!
Andy keeping his hands out of the water because it was so cold!

Andy jumping the rollers

Andy wakeboarding at sunset

Bryce wakeboaring at sunset

Andy trying to catch the football as he jumps in the water

Andy wakeboarding

Me and my man

Tristan getting up on the wakeboard

Tristan wakeboarding

Tristan...being a ham

Bryce jumping wake to wake

Bryce and Andy riding doubles...Bryce is spraying Andy!

Bryce and Andy doing the "mini man"

My friend, Heather, and I took the boys and friends to the drive in for the 1st time this summer...we were bummed when the movie messed up so we had to leave!!

Bryce's 1st wakeboard competition

Bryce & Kelton (Bryce's wake boarding hero)

Bryce with the other winners of his division!

On July 29th, we headed down to Eufaula lake, OK. (Last year we went for the weekend to watch the wake board competition...this year we went so Bryce could be in the competition.) We drove down that Thursday, in the rain. We got Bryce registered and then he was able to practice behind the actual boat that would pull him during the competition.

On Friday, the 30th, Bryce did his qualifying run. He rocked it. He didn't fall once and he pulled off every trick that he had practiced. He placed 2nd in the qualifier, so he rode 2nd to last in the finals.

On Saturday, we spent the day watching all the other riders...Women's, Wake Skate, Outlaw, Pro etc...Bryce's hero, Kelton, rode in Pro. He is from Tulsa and he is 19 years old. He is awesome to watch!

Sunday was the finals, for ALL divisions...it was a long day. Bryce's division, Grom, started out the day at 9:30am. Bryce had a good run, he crashed once on a wake to wake jump. We were sure that he would be so mad that he wouldn't be able to finish his run...but he made us proud by getting up and doing the smaller tricks...working himself back up to a wake to wake. The boy that placed 1st on Friday went out to do his run and crashed twice (which means your run is over) so we weren't sure how it would turn out for Bryce...this boys has more tricks than Bryce so he got different points. The boy that placed 2nd is only 7 years old...he is soooo cute! He went out there and tore it up...he did a hop 180, which Bryce can't do but Bryce did a wake to wake and the other kid didn't so...we had no idea how he would finish. The Pro division finished the day at 5:00pm. Then they had to tally up all the points and print out the standings etc...then it was time for the awards.

We were (and are) so proud of Bryce he placed 3rd out of 8 boys in his 1st wake board competition. He is ready to get out there and learn some new tricks..."so next year"(as he put it) he can do better then the other kids!!!