My New Ride...

is a brand new dark cherry pearl Honda Odyssey EX-L RES with a DVD entertainment. I absolutely love it!!!! The green van I had died of natural causes during our last trip to Paris. We were not planning on purchasing a car until next year, but we had no choice. After a quick burial service for the Ford, Aaron went on line to do some shopping. After getting four dealerships to bid against one another, Aaron secured a very good price for this beauty. I am very happy. The doors can be opened by remote control. Neat! Also neat is that I now have doors on both sides of the car. The boys really like the car.
The car smiles at me.

Grandpa & Grandma Hayes

Aaron's parents came down to visit this weekend. It was good to see them as we didn't spend much quality time with them during Christmas as we were worrying, fretting, cursing, towing, and attempting to repair our broken down van. The boys had fun playing various games (Flippin' Frogs, Hyperslide) and showing their Christmas loot to their grandparents.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning began at 7:30 am. We had warned Nicholas and Carter NOT to wake us up any earlier than that. Sure enough at 7:30 sharp the boys ran into our room excitedly. They had already been elbow deep in their stockings and wanted to tell us what Santa had brought them.

Here Nicholas and Carter are playing with their light sabers. Eric is patiently waiting to see who loses interest and puts their saber down first. Tear, rip, wow.
Nicholas with his prized Star Wars Trade Federation MTT. 1326 pieces of joy in a single box.
Eric really liked his new puppy.
Snag. It appears Nicholas dropped his sabre first.
We spent Christmas Day lounging around in our pajamas. It was a good day spent playing with new toys, watching movies and drinking plenty of hot chocolate.

Part II Christmas Day

Uncle Jason got Carter the Dodge Road Ripper for Christmas. We got him the Hummer Road Ripper. Carter had fun watching the cars race with each other. Eric received the Mr. Potato Head Transformer from his Aunt Susan.
Carter wanted to have this Bumblebee Transformer really bad. I was lucky to have found one. He was very pleased. Can you tell? The Bumblebee Transformer changes into a Camero. Cool!!!

Nick is having a blast with his Star Wars Lego collections. This is what the Trade Federation MTT looks like after spending most of the day with his Dad assisting in putting it together. Did we mention that there were 1,326 pieces. Here is Nicholas' Star Wars collection.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent with my family. It was a very enjoyable evening with a delicious meal prepared by my Dad. With Christmas being so close our boys were really worked up and bouncy. They really enjoyed playing with their cousins.

Here are the boys with their cousins, Thomas and Phillip. Alex was busy helping her Aunt wrap some presents. My Mom and Dad with Eric. Eric's teeth have been bugging him lately and more often than not you'll find him with his fingers in his mouth.
My sister PJ with her kids.
This is Robin, PJ's step-daughter. Robin is visiting from Indiana with her daughter Rebecca. Eric and Rebecca really hit it off and they played and share their toys well. We even caught Rebecca stealing a kiss from Eric. It was so cute.
Here is one of Rebecca's gifts, a Dora blankie.

Eric happened to like the blanket too. In the end though he willingly gave the blanket back to the rightful owner.
Here is Nicholas with a prized gift, a Tommy Twenty. Shoots rapid fire darts, yes twenty of them, without reloading. Careful Nicholas, you'll put your eye out!

Christmas in Paris, TX

We spent the weekend before Christmas in Paris with Aaron's family. The whole gang was there including Aaron's grandparents, Irv and Wanda. Unfortunately we were late arriving as our van just happened to break down just before reaching Paris. Quite the adventure. The boys were very excited to play with their cousins and to see the large stacks of presents awaiting them.

Yep. Jason's head always seems to appear whenever he is near someone taking a photo.
Emily and Eric played well together. It was hard to take a picture of them because they both move so much. This was the only photo that wasn't a blur.
Aaron's Grandfather gave each of the Hayes children and the grandchildren an old pocket watch from his collection. It was a very special gift. Some of the watches have been in the family a while and others had a story related to them. Here is Aaron showing Nicholas his pocket watch.
Here are the Coles preparing to start the unwrapping frenzy.
What, nice smiles and hugs? Are they really brothers?
The next day we enjoyed a delicious Pork Roast prepared by Rob and Aaron's Mom. We also celebrated Corgan's third birthday, which happens to fall on Christmas Day.

Part II Christmas in Paris,TX

Fun family snapshots.

Carter Preschool Christmas Party

Tammie had the stressful responsibility of planning and executing the Christmas Holiday Party at Carter's preschool. She worked hard to get the activities, goodie bags and games prepared and ready to go. The party went off without a hitch (of course) and a good time was had by all. Santa even showed up for the festivities. Carter was very shy and decided that he did not want to sit on Santa's lap. Luckily Santa sought Carter out and spoke with him briefly.


Here is Carter in his Transformer's pajamas. Smiling while making a delicious Christmas tree.
Gift exchange managed by Carter's instructor, Ms. Becki.
Carter with his gift, a soft green blanket.
Santa spending some quality time with Carter.

Visiting Santa

Nicholas wanted to speak with Santa regarding his wish list for Christmas (I think he really wanted to be sure that he got what he is wanting on Christmas morning). Carter on the other hand is not a big fan of Santa and would much rather play at the water fountain than spend quality time with the big guy. Eric, well... is Eric. He didn't care either way. It has been a couple of years since our last photo with Santa (yes, we're bad parents). To make up for this fact we spent ample time in line....more on this below.
The two and a half hour wait in line was worth this priceless photo, wouldn't you say? The boys were really good and didn't complain at all. Aaron did whine a little. He kept saying that when he was young he didn't have to wait in line to visit Santa. Think about it Aaron, that was in CEDARVILLE!!!!!

Nicholas latest hobby

Is taking LOTS of pictures of his Star Wars Lego. We had to narrow down some of the pictures to be posted. We are letting him use our old camera since we bought a new one this year. But he may be getting his own camera soon. Nicholas loves to go on the Lego website and watch the short films that other people have made. He wants to do one. Yikes!!

Third Grade Christmas Program

The night began with the story of the snow family. They made snowflakes for the program.
This was the finale. Can you find Nick?
Nicholas rocking out during his five minute drum solo. Just kidding!! My son kept the beat in time.

Nicholas' school buddies Connor and Giovonni.
My parents and little sis were able to come to the program. All the kids did a great job!!!