Aubrie turns 8 !!

we celebrated Aubrie's 8th Birthday on Sunday (her actual birthday), Feb.22nd !! We had lots of friends and family to celebrate with us. Aubrie had a blast and even had an itinerary in place for the day. I just contributed financially and she took over from there. Is party planning in her future ? :)

opening presents and reading the cards to everyone... she is loving it !!

she chose a "jungle" theme for this party.. it was cute.

I cant believe she is already 8 !! Where does the time go ?

My Valentine's Day Present... Venice, LA

Scotty, Cheryl, Tom, Stephen, and I went on a 2 day fishing trip out of Venice, LA. We left Thursday night around 7pm and drove straight through.. about a 7-8 hr trip. We got there around 3am and quickly jumped in the beds and slept until 5:30am. Everyone got up.. ate some yummy breakfeast (thanks Scotty) and we were off on our first day of fishing. It was sooooo super cold on the ride out to the fishing spot.. I had on thurmals, jeans, ski pants, thurmal shirt, t-shirt, hoodie, and a ski jacket. Oh ya .. and of course gloves !! I was ready !!

poofy.. but really WARM !!

I hooked up the biggest fish/shark? I have ever had on my line.. this thing yanked and pulled and yanked and pulled, I probably fought it for about 20-30 minutes !! I got so tired during the fight i had to sit and use leverage to pull this thing in... even Cheryl came to help me out with the reeling !! I got this thing pretty close to the boat, enough to where Tom said.. "I see something!!" , I yelled.. "what is it ?" and two seconds later.. the line snapped !!!! NOOOOOOO... I couldnt believe it.. I wanted to at least see what I had been fighting for ever !! Oh well, It was fun anyway !!

here is one of the many sharks we caught that day

the biggest catch of the trip.. a 5+ foot Wahoo !!

It took Scotty and Tom to fight this fish and get it to the boat.

What a prize !!

here is what we came home with:

Huge Wahoo, 3ft Ling, several AmberJack, several types of Snapper (we caught lots of huge Red Snapper, but you cant keep those in LA.), and some Grouper... Thanks guys for a GREAT trip, I cant wait to go back in March !!

Payton's Basketball ... Jan - March 2009

Payton is playing basketball too this year.. he is on the Owls #24

#24.... .notice anything different ???

Payton asked to have his hair cut.. no more curls !!

it is a good baseball haircut.. its just taking some time to get used to it.

#24 going in for the points...

Aubrie's Basketball.... Jan-March 2009

Aubrie decided that she wanted to try basketball this year. With never playing before and never really even picking up a basketball.. we didnt know how she would do. But to our surprise.. she is turning into a good little basketball player !!! She is getting the hang of the game and has moved up in positions even ! I think she likes it more than softball, and she definitely has the height advantage too !!

action shot.. Aubrie trying to steal the ball

Go Cougars !!

point guard

really putting effort into that shot !! :)

4 Hours in Line

On Thursday at our Academy here in Katy a few Astros came to sign autographs. Hunter Pence, Lance Berkman, Cecil Cooper, LaTroy Hawkins, Larry Dierker, and Bill Brown. They were to be signing from 3:30-4:30. I got there at 1pm and i was number #249 !! Skip got Payton out of school early and brought him to me around 2:30... and we waited ..... and waited... and waited. the line was around the building and down the street, there were at least 200-300 people behind me !! Anyway, when we got closer to the front of the store, Payton went in armed with my camera and got some pictures of the guys ... As Payton was taking a pic of Hunter Pence, he looked up and was playing with Payton as he stuck out his tounge at him. Payton didnt get that pic but the one of Hunter Pence smiling was following the silliness !! By the time Payton came back to me in line all the Astros left. .. YEP left. So apparently they only got to #100 in the line and we were #249 !! So NO autographs, but Payton got to get really close to them and get some pics. Apparently the people in the very front of the line got there at 7am. no thank you !!

Oh well, we will try again next time.

Hunter Pence and LaTroy Hawkins getting out of their cars

Lance Berkman

Hunter Pence

right after he stuck his tongue out at Payton !!

LaTroy Hawkins (above)

Cecil Cooper - the Skipper (below)

Hunting .....

Skipper and Payton left New Years Day to go on Payton's very 1st hunting trip. They went to Crockett, TX. and stayed for 4 days. At the deer lease, there is no cabin, no running water... just trees !! So , Payton got to do some "real camping". He loved it !! The two stayed in a tent, had a camp fire for cooking, a 4wheeler to play on and lots of time to sit in a deer stand. Payton did not get a deer this time, but he learned alot and will be ready for the next deer hunting opportunity.

The camp site

Skipper on the 4wheeler

"is that allowed?"

Payton driving around

target practice

what a good shot !!

Christmas with the Brashear Family 2008

right after Christmas lunch with the Scott Family, we hopped in the car for a 9 hour drive to Sapulpa, Oklahoma to spend some much over due time with Nick, Angie, and the girls. We made it up there late, but that didn't matter, we were all so happy to see each other. We spent 3 days with them an had a blast just catching up and loving on each other. They took us to see Julie's two horses, Twister and Angel. Twister is 1 year old and still in training, but Angel was ready and willing for a bunch of kids riding her.

Jordan, Uncle Nick, and Aubrie

Payton and Aubrie
riding together on on of the horses

Jordan and Aubrie

Julie and Angel

she is in heaven

Twister is very young and VERY stubborn. If he doesn't want to walk ... He wont !! We told Aubrie to stand her ground and make him do what she wanted him to do... she did !! Aubrie pulled and pulled, walked in circles and got that horse to walk !! go Aubrie *the horse whisperer*

Aubrie and Twister

I just loved how she was standing and taking everything in

Payton and Angel

Twister yawning

I love it !!

Uncle Nick giving Aubrie a ride on Angel

Twister followed everywhere they went

Julie

The Middle Child

Jordan
The Youngest

Jamie

The Oldest

Aubrie

Payton

Christmas 2008

Christmas is here ~~

This year Christmas kinda snuck up on us... with the kids in sports, working out at the tree farm and only 4 weeks in December this year.. we were a little rushed this year, but we pulled it off. The kids got to do their shopping for each other the Friday before Christmas and Skipper and I went after that. Christmas morning was nice, the kids slept until 8am, which is normal, in years past we have had to wake them up because we were tired of waiting !! Poppy, Nina, and Ashley came over to watch the kids open their presents. It was a fast morning. Right after we got done we headed off to Skipper's grandparents house for Christmas lunch with the Scott Family.

checking out what Santa left

Payton was given an Ipod Nano... you guessed it "Poppy" !!

loving on their webkins... Loooook twins!!!


Great Gran with "most" of her Great Grand Kids

(3 are missing)

Pop Pop and the Great Grands

Great Gran and Pop Pop surprised the kiddos with a cool gift.... stilts !! we had them all line up for races... man, the boys are quite competitive !! it was all in good fun and we had a blast watching them.