Anika is 6!!

I can't believe we have a 6 year old! She is the most amazing little girl! She's jolly and smart and imaginative and funny and kind. We are SO thankful she's ours. We love our Bananika!

Aunt T was here for her birthday and Anika was so happy! She didn't even care that we skipped a big party this time around!

She's a poser. =) She loved her birthday gifts.

Brenan's First Steps!!

Crawling is still his preferred method of transportation but he's starting to get the hang of it! His first steps happened around the 5th of December - around 13 months! Go Brenan!

Dallas with M&M

One of my best friends in the world is moving up near Dallas! I'm so excited!! I was able to go up there and spend a couple days helping her house hunt! I totally fell in love with that area and I'm pretty sure that's where I want to go when Nathan's done with school! I guess we will have to wait and see! Mandi found such a cute home! I'm so happy for them!!

Look at this cute street and all the pretty colors! Much to my surprise (and enjoyment!) Dallas and even San Antonio have started to have some beautiful fall foliage. I'm loving it!

This picture of me is horrifying but it's proof that we were together! I love that girl!

The Lights at the River Walk

Yeah - not so impressive! But, the caramel apple we had was delicious! I was a little tired - my body probably hadn't caught up on the sleep it lost from my Black Friday all-nighter!

Thanksgiving!

We had such a nice Thanksgiving! The girls helped me make pies, we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, perused the Black Friday ads, Nathan played (and watched) football, and we ate a marvelous dinner with good friends! It was so fun - Paola (a friend from high school) and her family were in San Antonio house sitting for some friends so they joined us for dinner! I hadn't seen her in years!! It was so fun to meet her hubby and cute little boys! We also had our good friends Aaron and Sandy and their two boys over. It was great. =)

Here is Kes helping with the Pumpkin Pie!
Sandy and Aaron
Paola and Jason
Anika and Lukas
Us!

Seaworld with the Kids!

Over Anika's Thanksgiving break I took the kids to Seaworld! It was great fun. We saw The Polar Express in 4D and saw the Shamu Christmas show. Then the kids went wild in the sand! Brenan even experienced his first taste of dirt. =)

This is gonna be a doozy!

I've got to get this little blog of mine up to speed! I am SO far behind!

Miss Keslie turned FOUR in October! What a little angel she is! We had a playgroup pumpkin party on her day and then the big party was the following Saturday. She wanted a Dora party so I did what I could. =)
Here is our little miss at the pumpkin party!

For her birthday dinner we did pizzas on the grill! It was SO fun and SO yummy! Kes didn't get as into the dough throwing as Anika and I did. She liked watching! She did have fun putting the toppings on though!
I put my Subway braiding skills to work and taught Anika how to braid. She was so proud! She braided the 2 on the left all by herself!
Making the birthday cake!

She was so nice to share the bowl with Anika. =) That is one of the many things we love about her - she is always trying to make others happy!
Another one of my fancy cake creations! Hahahaha!
Decorating cupcakes at the birthday party!
Keslie wanted me to straighten her hair like mine - she's a cutie! I think I like her curly mess the best though!

After Keslie's party was over we had a little party for our now 30 year old! We took Nathan to Red Robins for his birthday with the Gordons, the O'briens, and the Liddells. It was great fun even though we couldn't hear each other! We headed back to our house for some cake and ice cream and other adventures (haha - you had to be there!).

Here he is! He's pretty thrilled to be 30! Brooke made his awesome cake! AND are you proud that I had REAL birthday candles this time? We were still using tea candles on my birthday. =)


Sadly, I didn't get a single picture of the adults! Can you believe it?! Here are some of the kids though!
Dr. West has a lot to be proud of! Forgive me as I BRAG about him. I'm allowed because this is my blog and I love him and he has worked his booty off these past several years!
He should be proud about:
1. Being born.
2. Being the cutest baby ever - besides his own offspring - I know where they get it!
3. Wearing "Hammer pants" and pulling. them. off. (Thanks HIMYM for all the great one liners!)
4. Getting his teeth knocked out and being super brave.
5. Being wicked awesome at roller blading and street hockey.
6. Being elementary school best friends with Rick from LIFEHOUSE. He likes to drop that into his conversations whenever possible!
7. Getting his Eagle Scout.
8. Being a Gilbert golden scholar for 9 consecutive years.
9. Getting a full ride scholarship to the UofA!
10. Sky diving - 3 times.
11. Serving a mission for our chuch in Cali, Colombia.
12. Marrying a pretty stellar girl. =)
13. Being an awesome kisser. =)
14. Anika
15. Graduating with a bachelors degree in business management.
16. Hello! Awesome score on the DAT.
17. Getting into the University of Connecticut for dental school. Yay!
18. Keslie
19. Being a great dad and husband and still excelling in school. That boy knows how to take a test!
20. Awesome board scores!
22. Going to Paraguay as a volunteer to work on teeth.
23. Brenan
24. Getting into his #1 choice of Pedo programs.
25. Graduating dental school!
And to top it off he should be proud that he can:
26. Quote just about any movie even if he's only seen it once.
27. Blow into his hands and make a loud whistle sound.
28. Vacuum up massive cockroaches without even shuddering.
29. Eat and Eat and not gain a pound!
30. AND dance like it's going out of style - you'll never see him do it though! Only select few get to see him groove on the dance floor!
We love you Nathan!!
The actual birthday (back to the tea lights. It's tradition now!).
Pumpkin carving family home evening.

Seaworld had some fun Halloween stuff going on so we checked it out a couple times! SO fun!
I took Bren and Kes the day before Halloween. They dressed up and we saw a couple shows. It was fun hanging out with my little buddies.

Trunk or treating and Trick or treating!

Brenan had a VERY grouchy weekend!

The older kiddos all ready to go!
We had our very own Colombian this year!Anika the dragon and Matthew the wild thing totally hit it off!

Here is our sweet butterfly!

Sorting and organizing the candy! We were seriously lacking in the chocolate area.

Anika's artwork was chosen to be displayed at the library! Isn't she so cute! FYI - she is doing tons better! I think she was just adjusting to the kindergarten thing. I love the little notes she writes me almost daily. I'll have to scan a couple and post them. They are so sweet!

This cute, little guy turned ONE! He's standing on his own a lot but hasn't taken a step! He is totally into kissing and his favorite person to kiss in Nathan! It's adorable!

King of the wild things. =)
Scary picture of me but you had to see his cute cake!

Here is our cake extraordinaire! Thank you Brooke!

He pretty much devoured the whole thing. =)

Because he's cute:
I've been having fun with the girls hair! I love that they will sit and let me play with it! I really need to learn how to french braid!

In closing I would just like to say that a cockroach walked on my foot last night and Nathan didn't understand even a little bit why I screamed bloody murder. =) EEEeeeAHhhHH!!! I just shivered up and down. Worst part? He didn't even vacuum it up - we couldn't find it so it's somewhere in my baby's room. That's a fun thought! =)

Anyway - love y'all!