My daddy

Today it has been six years since my dad passed away. It is really difficult to think, six years. Some days it seems like a long time ago because so much has happened. Somedays, like today, it is all to fresh and difficult to think its true.

My dad was a great person. He had strong moral character, strong-willed, strong faith, extremely patriotic, and loved his termites. He was a hard worker and believed in persistence because nothing was impossible in his eyes.

He pushed me to succeed in everything, probably contributing to my OCD, haha. He was also quite a jokester and had nicknames for everyone and I do mean everyone. Some were nice and some not-so nice.

I am thankful for the time I had with my dad. I am thankful for all I learned from him. I am thankful we all share in his legacy. I am thankful for all he worked so hard to provide. I am thankful he served our country. I am thankful he believed in community. I am thankful he shared his knowledge. I am thankful he relied on God's will daily and not his own because with that he has given me great strength to share with my children. I am thankful I had the chance to tease him about his accent and share in lots of laughs, even the dirty looks because I'll never forget them either -

a "ditch" of ice cream ... dad do you mean a "dish" of ice cream?

I am thankful for more than he ever knew. I love you dad and I miss you.

Sasha in stunt :-D

At the football game, the groups trade off stunting. Sasha is in a stunt with her group. She about gave Nick a heart attack. As soon as he realized it was her, I was taking pictures the whole time, he was yelling at her to get down. He has this vision that she is going to fall and hurt herself. While that is true, I don't think basing is less of a risk. She could get and has gotten kicked in the face. At times she has bruises up and down her arms from basing and catching a stunt when it is falling. She has been at the bottom of a fallen pyramid; they are both dangerous. It was fun to see her up there enjoying herself. I don't think she will be trying again, Nick will go down to the track next time and get her down himeself. Sasha and I laugh at his protectiveness, yet we both appreciate and love him for it. What's a dad to do :)

some family pics

Nick was the photographer of the night taking some family pics. Although we didn't get a picture of our family :/ If I recall he did ask, by then it was late and we were about ready to leave so we didn't take one. We need to remember to do that first thing when we all are fresh and ready to smile, not ready to sleep:(

Everyone looked GREAT! The wedding was a nice dress-up affair and the men were very handsome in their ties. We need to have another dress-up event so we can get some more good pictures :)

being silly at the wedding

These kids were having a great time at the wedding. They were having some silly fun. I think this should have clued me in on Sunday's Mass. I sat by Sarah and maybe I shouldn't have, they were silly at Mass. Thekla, Charlotte, and Nate played hard. Ella was playing with the older cousins. They all had fun, laughing and being rather silly:) What else do 2 year olds do best:/

I can't wait to see how they act when they are a little older. Nate plays well with the girls but are they going to like him if he gives them bugs? or frogs? Or are they going

to give him bugs and frogs???

Uncle Michael's wedding

Konner in Nate's award winning Cutest baby award :-D I think Konner looks very handsome!

On Saturday Nick's uncle Michael got married. It was a gorgeous view on a hilltop in Hunt. The view was extraordinary. The wedding was fabulous. It was a great evening. The kids all had fun running around. We were the only "group" with little ones. Most of the people there were older with older kids ... I hope our children weren't too silly :) They were silly. They have so much fun together. Nate likes to play with his cousins. They giggle so much and chase each other around, it is quite entertaining to watch. My little man:-D he looked very daper, as did his daddy;-D I love my boys!

another football game

So after all of the halloween fun we went to the football game. It was a decent game. I am finally learning a little about football this year. Sasha has had a great year cheering and enjoying all of the games. It has been fun. We have also had a great time making stuff for her football buddies. That has given us a chance to spend some time together on the evening before she has to give them out. We stay up late, then regret it the next morning, talk about all kinds of crazy things, eat batter, and laugh A LOT. I have enjoyed this experience and time with her. It is awfully strange to think she might not be in the area in a couple of years. She might choose to go to college more than 20 minutes away:-O what will I do????? I don't know Sashies and I have made lots of memories and I am excited to see her grow and learn and explore. I am also nervous. I know she is a smart young lady, focused, and compassionate. Those things also worry me. Parenting is such a catch-22. You teach them to go off and survive, and you are nervous when they do. I will just continue to pray for Lala so she has a good life, follows God, serving Him in all she does, and ask God to protect her and grace her always.

Trick or Treat

Trick or treating was done before the football game, we couldn't miss that:/ That being the game, not trick or treating. I am not a fan of halloween. We met at a friends house and went with a group. Our little Nate lagged behind after a while, then mom lagged behind and we finished up. Besides, we don't need all of that candy and who is home at 5 to trick or treat, not many people.

It was fun to trick or treat. I didn't usually let Sash participate except to only a few houses. We usually just went to a friend or family members that had a busy neighborhood, dressed up, and gave out candy. I have this thing about halloween, it is not my favorite thing to do. I would take her to all of the carnivals and festivities in town, all over town, I was just never up to actually trick or treating. So with Nate, since it was with a group and early, not dark. I thought we would give it a shot. I don't know, I still didn't like it and it made me fairly anxious. We survived. He was tired after about 5 houses. I was glad. We returned to the party and snacked on all the yummy munchies. Oh and yes, Nate had some candy. He was staying with Nana while I went to the football game, so I asked Nana to be sure and BRUSH HIS TEETH really well this evening. Oh the things we do for our children.

Halloween breakfast

This year halloween fell on a Saturday, the first Saturday of Wurstfest. Grammy and Papa had to work at Wurstfest and were going to miss the fun. Meme decided to host a Halloween breakfast. It was GREAT!! Blueberry pancakes, muffins, fruit, juices, sausage, and the kids could share in the halloween fun with Grammy and Papa :-D Thanks Meme for always thinking of ways we can share memories!

and then there's firefighter Nate

and then there's firefighter Nate ...

So we get home from the high school halloween festivities and he decides to put on Nick's firefighter mask. This is a mask we have at home for "decoration". A baseball player fighting fires. When we arrived to the house, we put on the World Series, Nate sat on the couch clapping, "Yay baseball. Me like to watch baseball daddy." Ay yay yay.

A Baseball Player Mommy

Nate and Brianna at the high schools halloween carnival.

Nate and Libby

somewhere under there ... he insists on pulling his cap down so his ears fold over and stick straight out :-0

If I turn the camera to get a long view pic, he feels the need to turn his head the direction of the camera. I guess he thinks he will come out sideways, I don't know.

So I was all ready for Nate to be a cowboy this halloween. He told me, "me not want to be a cowboy mommy. Me no like cowboy. Me want to be a baseball player mommy." So here we are, we have a little baseball player. He wants to wear his uniform to the football games and pep rally. He says he is a Unicorn baseball player. The day of his party at school, he was upset with me because I did not go to Lala's school. Instead I took him to his school. He wanted to go to the field. I explained that he had a party and had to take the cookies to his friends and teachers. When we got to school he gave his cookies to his teachers and the basket of cookies to his teacher to give out to his class. He was ready to go to the field. Oh gosh.

Joanna's wedding

We went to Houston for my cousin Joanna's wedding. Joanna, her sister Jennifer, and Sasha were always close. Sash couldn't go to the wedding and it was a difficult decision for her since she had a retreat team to be a part of. Jr, Michael, Rose, Abue, Nick, Nate, and I all went to represent the NB family. The Baytown Chapa's were always close to our family since Keko was always out on the ship. The Baytown boys grew up with my brothers. I also spent a lot of time with the Baytown relatives and I consider them very close. I am grateful we were able to represent our family, my dad would have enjoyed the wedding and the dance. He also would have complained about the music being too loud which I never understood considering he couldnt' hear my mom when she would ask him a question in a quiet house. ;-) Dad and Nate

Joanna and Jennifer - it's Joanna's wedding. Very hard to believe she is old enough to get married since I haven't aged a bit! (yeah right)

some of the Baytown cousins

More of the cousins

some others ...

Nate dancing

Ramon Jr and Frank Jr

Abue and Nate dancing dancing

Momma, Nate, and Rosey - cutting a rug ....

Momma I want to dance peassss

the fondue fountain is yummy!

Anna and Sonya

Michael and John

Aunt Connie and Mom