Cute pics of Dani!

So I was talking to Grandma Joyce today and she specifically requested to see a recent picture of Dani since Grandma hasn't seen her in person since March. Anyway, I found these pictures of Dani from July in nursery. I took pictures of all the nursery kids (I'm the nursery leader at church) to make snack placemats and magnets for their artwork. Here are several I've taken of her. The kids love to pose for me when I pull out my camera!

Pics from Nat's Fall soccer season

This Fall Natalie has been on a YMCA co-ed soccer team. She's getting better and better every season. I'm so proud of her for sticking with this. Her team - named Manchester United, after the current World Cup holders - is at 1 win and 2 losses so far. We still have another month of games and I have a feeling we'll end the season with more wins than losses.

Emma's 7th Birthday!!!

She's Finally SEVEN!!! To everyone's relief Emma Isabella Bryson made it to her 7th birthday on October 8th. She's been so excited for months about her birthday we weren't sure she'd make it to the big day without exploding!

We started off her big day with the family favorite of birthday pancakes (it's the only time when ice cream for breakfast is mandatory) complete, of course, with a candle!

Then Emma headed off to school with Natalie, but lucky Emma, they only had half-day school! So after homemade cupcakes in class at 10am (the only time when 1st graders get cupcakes that early), Emma's class sang her Happy Birthday and crowned her birthday queen. She's the first one in her class to turn 7 this year.




At noon, the bells rang and we rounded up Natalie, Brooke, Berkeley, Brayden and Emma and headed to Chuck E. Cheese for games!!! It turned out to be a fun and cheap birthday party. The kids had already eaten lunch at school, so I only had to foot the bill for tokens (which I had a coupon for) and drinks!






After a couple hours at the big Cheese, we headed home for cake and presents. The kids made the cake out of ice cream sandwiches and whipped cream with m&m sprinkles and chocolate syrup. It was the easiest birthday cake I've ever made. All I had to do was supervise!

Emma got a decent haul of presents. She got clothes, moola, arts and crafts projects, Barbie clothes and furniture, another Webkinz: a turtle she named Emmy, and a dragon egg that dissolves and turns into a little toy dragon.


On Sunday the 12th we had the family birthday party for Emma at Grandma's house. She chose spaghetti for dinner and we had both chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream cake - LOTSA CAKE around these parts lately!!



Overall it was a great birthday week! I was so happy that she enjoyed it all and BONUS - it was low-stress on me! Enjoy the slideshow!

When Pumpkins Drink Too Much

Okay, so I started to post Emma's Birthday blog like an hour ago and, well, I keep getting distracted by emails, reading other people's blogs, and turning on Dora the Explorer for Dani. Anyway, in case I don't actually get around to Emma's birthday today, here's my pic-of-the-week:

"Red"neck Date!

So I just got the pics from Hilary of our double date with Hilary and Tim last Friday night. The date ended up being guys' choice and I have to give Tim props for originality. He wanted to take us to the SHOOTING RANGE! Yeah, I know, Jeremy with a gun - I was scared too (J/K)!

So anyway, we headed over to Pflugerville to the first part of our "red"neck evening: at RED's Indoor Shooting Range. Did I mention I'd never held nor fired a real firearm? It was all a new experience for me - from the incredibly LOUD sound a fired gun makes in an indoor range to the real rednecks yuckin' it up behind Red's counter.

Tim and Jeremy did a great job showing Hilary and me how to safely load, handle and fire Tim's three different handguns. I tried all three: a 9mm, a 40 caliber and a 380. I first fired the 9mm. It took me a while to carefully go through all the steps in my head that the guys showed us: how to pick up the gun, how to correctly hold it, where to look when firing and how to position my body and arms for the kick from the actual gun discharging. I think the kick had me scared the most. From all the stories I heard in general about the "kick" in a gun, I guess I expected it to be a lot harder and more painful than it actually was. But it wasn't so bad, Thank Goodness!

I next tried the 40 caliber and even though it was a bigger firearm I liked shooting it better, because I felt like the weight gave me a better aim. I only took about 5 shots from the 380 though, and decided that little sucker had too much kick. My hands hurt after just the first shot.

So I guess my weapon of choice for the evening was the 40 caliber, but I don't think the shooting range will be my next hobby. I'm glad for the experience, but it was one of those moments for me when I realized how we take life so easily for granted. A gun is a powerful instrument that we see so much of in the movies and on TV that I'd lost that perspective of what it can do. Holding and firing one gave me a lot more respect for its capabilities.

Okay, I got a little deep there for what was supposed to be a funny blog of a redneck date. So after we "blew away" a wad of moola on range fees and ammo, and tossed around a few more one-liners with the "Red's"neck employees, we climbed back into our car and drove around looking for some dinner.

Now if you were looking to continue on the "red"neck theme where would you suggest for dinner? RED Robin, of course!!! We all four got cozy in a booth, gawked over a girl's wicked-outrageous eyeglasses a couples tables away (wish Hilary'd gotten a pic of those - they were indescribable!), and pounded down some dee-lish burgers and fries. Hilary also introduce Jer and me to Red Robin's Campfire Sauce. I highly recommend it - Utah fry sauce pales in comparison.

Overall, it was an original evening! But then again we don't get out much, so I guess the fact that we actually went out was original. I know - LAME! Enjoy the pics, though!