Wildlife Ranch

During Christmas break, Ty and I took Taylee, Carter, and cousin Grace to the Wildlife Ranch in New Braunfels. Carter and Tay had been with me before (in July) and Carter definitely remembered the place. He covered his eyes as soon as we pulled in. He and Grace alternated being excited or terrified as we drove through. Taylee was a lot older than last time and much more alert and seemed to really enjoy herself even if she didn't really understand what was going on. Tyson definitely enjoyed himself and fed almost every animal there. I always enjoy going...though I'm too much of a wimp to feed the animals out of my hand.

Ty feeding the "deer"...I'm not actually sure what this animal really is



Carter's progression from nervousness to full-on panic



The zebras were not nervous at all...they kept pushing their heads further and further in the car



Taylee was a little oblivious to it all....I think the Zebra wanted to taste her next


The ostriches and emus are by far the scariest...their pointy beaks are quite sharp when they come for food fast and in quick succession



Grace started really freaking out when this ostrich started pecking at our window...


Llama


Petting zoo area...Carter wasn't too into the whole "petting" idea and ended up on Dad's shoulders


Taylee, however, was up for anything...

Christmas 2007

We had such a blast in San Antonio for Christmas! We started off the festivities making gingerbread houses. Carter and Taylee were much more interested in eating the treats than building the houses. Carter did manage to keep some of the candy on and the walls pieced together.

Taylee giving Grandma kisses. When my Mom picked her up, Taylee would grab her face and give her a nice open-mouth smooch on the cheek.

Reading the Christmas Story. The kids and grandkids helped act out the story of Jesus' birth. Grace was a very convincing Mary, Abby was the cutest little angel, Marissa was a lovely donkey, McKayla a very wise man, and Carter a "once in awhile" shepherd. He was very particular about when he wanted to be a shepherd. He WOULD NOT wear the shepherd costume, but did wrap his blanket around his head.

Christmas Eve Pajamas

Opening pajamas Christmas Eve...Carter got Lightning McQueen pjs from Grandma and Grandpa. The bottom pic is Grandpa being grandpa...pajamas on head and all



The elves hard at work...and the finished product....Santa and the elves celebrated with "adult drinks" (as Grandma called them)

Christmas Morning...of course Taylee had to try out everything in her mouth

Carter loved watching Madagascar (thanks K, Ri, Annie, and Katy) and playing in his new tunnels

The kids were worn out by 11am...Christmas morning excitement

Christmas Dinner

When it rains, it pours...

I've taken yet another hiatus from posting because...well, some fairly big things have monopolized my attention. We got back from Texas safely last Saturday night and were so grateful to be home. The drive through Price Canyon was slippery and scary...but we made it home without a glitch. We got a good night's sleep and then woke up the next morning to drive to the airport to pick up Chris and Sara. We had to take two cars to fit all the luggage and it was pretty snowy, so we came up with what seemed like the safest plan: I drive the acura (with traction control and stabilization) alone and Tyson drive the honda with the two kids (since he's a seasoned snow driver from Alaska). Of course, by the time we got to the airport, the storm had picked up and we had a hard time getting on I-15 to get home. We got separated and Chris and I made it home before Ty, the kids, and Sara. Turns out they were close to home when the car slid, jumped a curb, and hit a tree. One car down. It's currently in the shop and I've got a rental. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Then, during the week, both kids got sick. We contributed it to having more kids in the house from preschool...then heard that little cousin Katy had RSV when we were together and Taylee's symptoms matched hers. Add to that, Tyson got injured skiing over the weekend and his PARKED car (our SECOND car) was hit. So...all I can think is that we've paid our dues for the year and the rest of 2008 will continue without a hitch.

Greetings from San Antonio!

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Merry Christmas!

It has been one busy Christmas time for our little family. We left on Saturday (Dec 22) morning around 10am to begin our drive to San Antonio...and then decided to just keep driving. We completed the drive in 22 STRAIGHT hours and arrived at my parents house around 8 am Sunday morning...right in time for sacrament meeting. We quickly dressed and made it there only 5 minutes late. We ended up not staying the entire time because Tyson was basically asleep and Carter was completely out of control. We came home and SLEPT. The kids were actually AMAZING during the ride. We were so blessed with good conditions and very patient kids. It was fun to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with siblings, grandparents, and cousins, and our kids were overly spoiled. Carter just wanted to spend the whole day opening presents....he still has some things to learn...and some toys to give away when we get home. I have many pictures to post...maybe tomorrow I'll start going through them. Yesterday, Ty and I took Carter, Taylee, and Janessa's daughter Grace to The Wild Animal Ranch in New Braunfels. I'd been before (during the summer with Carter...see archives from July 2007), but Tyson never had. He had a great time...but the kids screamed. Carter remembered his mom flipping out about her hand in a buffalo's mouth from the last time we went, so he covered his eyes as soon as we pulled in the park. Grace was fine until a ram kept getting a little close to her window. Tyson had the zebras sticking their heads all the way in the car to get more food...he loved feeding them all. Taylee was basically oblivious to it all. We took a picture of her with the zebra literally right next to her elbow and she just sat staring at the camera. While using the restrooms at the animal ranch, I saw a brochure for a children's museum 30 minutes up the road, so we decided to take the kids there too. It was such a fun place! For a children's museum, it was really clean and organized. The kids just ran from place to place, sitting in and touching everything. The best part was a "traveling" exhibit the museum had for a month...life-like dinosaurs. They moved, made noises, ate, had baby dinosaurs cracking out of eggs, etc. It was so cool. Carter, however, thought they were way too real and flipped out. It's been a fun trip and a welcome break. Pictures to come...

It's Time....

So, I've been putting this off for awhile now, trying to decide if I really wanted to do it-but it's finally time to take action. I'm going private. I would love to still keep in contact with all my friends and acquaintances out there, but I'm not willing to risk my kids' info,etc being splashed all over the web. I do periodic "google" checks on my name, my kids' names, and husbands name to make sure there are no crazy things going on with our info and my latest search came up with comments, emails addresses, etc that I'm not comfortable with. If it were just me and Ty, I'd probably be okay-but I'm not okay with my sweet little ones having their names, pictures, potty-training and solid-food eating being read by anyone and everyone. So-I'm going to make my blog private in 2 weeks. If you read my blog and would like to continue...that's great-just email me @tbombbyu@gmail.com with your google sign-on email address and I'll add you as a reader. I know this may seem extreme, but my only other option was to write "anonymously" with nicknames for my kids and no pics. I print out my blog as a journal, so I'd rather keep it more intimate with names and pics...so-private we will go.

On another note....
I've been a huge slacker lately because we are hip-deep in basement finishing. Trying to get the whole project done in 2 1/2 weeks has been stressful to say the least. Along with that, we're getting all the permits for a home occupation and business license completed and approved. There is a light at the end of the tunnel though...it looks as though my preschool will officially be up and running come January. I'm filling my classes and excited to get going. If you know anyone who is interested and in the area, feel free to pass my email address along. The classes are twice a week and are $5 a class (about $40 a month). Happy Holidays!