Happy Birthday Austin

Austin is eleven now! He is getting so tall...and skinnier. Is that possible? Brandon has already surpassed him on his weight. So now Austin's main reason for eating is to be heavier than his little brother. Watch out Austin, Brandon is going to be big!
Austin's only request for birthday presents was a skitter. He wanted one for Christmas and Santa didn't bring it. Here's a video of him riding it for the first time. It looks like a baby toy, but it's really fun! We took it to the skate park and had a blast. It's fast! Of coures Austin got more Legos for his birthday. Tom got him some boxing gloves to teach him how to fight??? Shouldn't we be meek and submissive? Maybe Tom got them so he could beat somebody up. He likes to do that. I don't want my boys to be agressive. Uncle Mark may think different. Our boys "used to" be the bullies of the little cousins. Not anymore. We're angels.

Tapout Basketball Team

Brandon signed up for his first year in basketball. He was so excited. I think this will be the best sport for him. It allows him to constantly move around. He's our wiggly boy. By the end of the game, he is dripping wet. Each week he is improving more and more. This is Norco league 8-9 year olds. He is the youngest on his team. He wants to play again next year and then on to football. Let's cross our fingers that he doesn't want to play football. No broken bones.
I love watching Brandon's games. They are so exciting. We're on the edge of our seats the whole time. So far they've had 3 wins and 2 losses.

Our New Car!

We got a new car! Yeah! I was so done driving the excursion. It's such a tank and gas guzzler. My first choice was a honda civic. Tom wanted me to get the odyssey minivan. So, we compromised and got... a honda pilot? I love it. Cindy and Gene have one and I liked the look and the ride. Ours is black inside and out. It get dirty so fast! We were hoping for good gas mileage but it's not looking too good. The advertised mileage is obviously too high. The boys are still getting used to it. They say it's too small, of course anything is small compared to the excursion. I get so excited pressing the little lock button on my keychain. It's been a long time since the excursion locks worked. Oh my gosh, do I have a tough life or what? Thank you hunny! I love my car.

Cousins

We were able to see Brent's kids last week. (We miss you Brent!) They came down with Stefanie for a vacation. They were staying at Melinda's, so we all went over there to play. My kids haven't seen them for at least eight months. It's hard to keep the cousins close when we never get to see each other. Everyone was supposed to stay in southern California!
Jake and Ella are always the first to break the ice. They start up the conversation and get everyone feeling a little more comfortable. Tim and Josh brought their girlfriends. Way to go! I think that makes family vacation a little less boring?

Tennis Terrors

Santa brought the boys some tennis rackets and balls for Christmas. They want to go play everyday. We headed over to the tennis courts to practice. Practice makes perfect, right? The boys were getting really frustrated because they weren't instant tennis pros. One would hit the ball over the net and no one would return the serve. Then they would hit it back over and no one would return the serve. They were getting mad at eachother because there was never a volley back and forth.

New Years Eve

We had planned on going quadding for New Years, but Payton's quad was broken. We couldn't find any shops that could fix it. So we had our own little New Year's Eve party at home. We rented some movies and ate a lot of candy and junk food. We also took breaks in between to play Rock Band2. The kids are such a crack up when they play that. They really get into it. Even Tom and I were playing. The best part about New Year's Eve is that we get to stay up until 12 o'clock. Sorry Payton, you only made it until 11:30. He was trying so hard.

A Cavanagh Christmas

Santa came to our house! I thought he wouldn't because some of the boys have been naughty this year. Maybe they were extra good in December? The boys asked for lots of Legos and that's what Santa brought. Now, instead of having 5 million pieces, we have 10 million pieces! Who invented this stuff?
We celebrated with the Cavanagh's on Christmas day...Dad, Aunt Barbara, Shiv, Asha, Rita, and Nana. When they all came over, it was like Christmas all over again. Lots of presents. Some of the big hits this year were the Transformer cars, Legos, tennis rackets, remote helicopters, race car track, and of course video games.
Austin realized that his quantity of presents shrunk this year. He's starting to ask for some pricey stuff. Poor Payton went downstairs first thing Christmas morning looking for the motorcycle he had asked for. We told him it wouldn't fit in Santa's sleigh. Anyway, he looked all over the house to see if Santa had hidden it somewhere. He is definitely going to be our little daredevil.

Baby Jesus

Sawyer had the honor this year of being Baby Jesus. He was sooooo good! He just sat there in the cradle while everyone took a million pictures. He's the cutest actor I ever saw. We celebrated Christmas Eve with the Hunsaker's. It was at our house. Melinda, Cindy, Scott, and Todd's families all came. It was good to celebrate with our family. We miss you mom and dad! We tried to keep with the traditional food that mom always makes. Of course it's difficult to achieve perfection.

Payton's Wipeout

Poor Payton, he wiped out on his scooter. We were at the skate park and all of a sudden Payton crashed on his scooter. He was trying to race another little boy. He said his face hit the pavement. But it looks like it hit his scooter. There's no other scrapes or cuts other than his lip. (Yes, he had his helmet on.) Payton was so brave when we went to the doctor. The first place we went, they couldn't find the proper sutures. Then we had to go to urgent care. He was so good. He didn't cry one bit. You're such a tough little boy. His only problem was that he didn't like everyone staring at him. It was pretty ugly. When Payton got his three stitches, the doctor kept telling me to look. Pretty soon I was getting woozy. I felt like I was going to faint. Luckily, I just had to sit for several minutes. I guess I don't like the sight of blood! Well, this is our first child to get stitches...and hopefully the last.