Random thoughts!

This week was a little different for us because Troye had to go out of town for a class. He doesn't travel often so it was a little strange. I had to take Colt to a 4H fundraiser. This was all new to me. He had to go to help serve food for the club putting on the dinner. They are a small community group but they buy about $20,000 worth of animals every year the the local fair! Wow! Well we were told that they need to meet the kids and see them work if they are going to possibly be bidding on the kids animals. I was so proud of Colt. He was very nervous but he was a worker and did all they asked and more. Cam was upset that he didn't get to help. He had planned on helping and even wore his server outfit! But he quickly recovered and found another kid to play with while the dinner was served! The pictures say it all, he obviously had fun!
When Troye returned home we declared the day a play day! We hiked the land, played tag and hide-n-seek and had a good old fashion campfire dinner! They boys loved it and we all enjoyed spending the day just having fun!

Awesome weather and day!

We finally have some nice weather! The rain is gone and the sun is shining! Today we worked on the greenhouse. We were able to get the plastic over the roof supports and down one wall! It is so exciting to see the progress!
While we worked colt and Camaron played and helped out when necessary. Camaron discovered a tree that was growing downward so he climbed up! He was so proud and then he realized he was stuck! Ha! But we helped him down and all was good! Troye taught Colt how to drive the mule! He was so excited! He was very careful and did a great job!
After we worked most of the day we took the boys to the Sam Houston museum at Sam Houston State University. We enjoyed looking at the buildings and walking around the pond! After the museum we finished off the day at 3spoons enjoying some frozen yogurt!
It as an awesome day with lots of fun and lots accomplished!

Trying to find the silver lining!

Troye went back to working the night shift last week. We all HATE it! But the only thing we can do is pray for something to change it; in the meantime we are trying to make the best of it. We still have some adjusting to do but hopefully we will get there! He works 6pm to 6am, so it is a long night for him and now he has an hour drive there and back! I am specifically praying for his safety while driving.
The great thing is that our new house seems to work much better for Troye sleeping during the day! He does not hear us at all and the curtains make the room black so he is able to sleep better than before!
Cam is taking it the hardest. He just doesn't understand why Troye has to sleep during the day, probably because he doesn't realize Troye is gone all night! Troye was off the last two days and we tried to make the most of the time. We had a camp out in the living room and roasted s'mores in the fireplace! The boys loved it! We also played charades... The boys current favorite game!! Today we had nice weather so it was important that we work on the greenhouse. The boys helped out but also had a lot of time to just run and play and of course find the mud! They were soaking wet and covered in mud by the end of the day! It was fun to watch!
So even though we do not like this shift and it is not easy we are trying to make the most of it and not complain! I said try! Here are some pictures of the boys in the mud and our camp out!

Awesome visit from friends!

We have some great friends that came to visit us this past week! They are starting out on a new journey to rv around the US! We are so excited for them! The Haigood family arrived on Friday afternoon and even though we have only seen them twice in the last two years, it was as if we had never been apart! The boys (did I mention they have four boys) were best of friends as always! They immediately started playing and having fun! We enjoyed showing them the land and letting the boys be boys! We also enjoyed touring their rv and hearing more of their planned adventures!
On New Year's Eve, we had a huge party! The Haigood's were here and the Inman family joined us too! All in all we had 11 kids and 6 adults! It was a FANTASTIC night! We ate, laughed, played games and ate some more!
The Haigood's were suppose to leave on Tuesday but we were lucky enough to have it rain and we didn't want them to get stuck so they stayed one more night!! Yea! But on Wednesday they headed out! It was time for them to start the journey to Florida! Can't wait for them to come back next year!!
Thanks for visiting Alan, Jill, Micah, Nate, Caleb and Joshua!

A serious game is going on here!

Wendy, Jill and Charlene

The Haigood's, Dunlap's, and Inman's

Lots of eating going on!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Caleb and Cam

The 6 boys

Boys being Boys!

Mule Riding time.... the boys loved this

Micah shooting the air soft gun

Nathanael's turn shooting

Caleb and Cam swinging, they did this forever!

Here is the set up!  We had a plug installed so they could hook up the rv

This is the moment they arrived!  They boys went running down the drive way to each other! LOVE IT!

Merry CHRISTmas!

We had a great Christmas! It was a little hard to wait until Troye was off work to open presents but the boys did great! They loved all of their gifts and we enjoyed spending time together!

The boys main gift was air soft guns. They love to play army so we thought it would be fun to play with air soft guns. They were super excited and surprised! They loved the guns and all of the army gear that they received too!

Troye was given a chain saw by my parents and he enjoyed cutting down his first tree on the property with a chain saw.

Troye bought me a stand mixer!!!! I am so excited and plan on baking a ton!

The day after Christmas we were able to have a great time playing air soft army! The boys loved it!

Christmas at Grammy and Grumpy's

We went to Grammy and Grumpy's to celebrate Christmas with them and uncle Mark's family. The boys were so excited they were up and ready to leave by 8am! We headed out and made a few stops. Once we arrived the boys had fun seeing Grumpy and playing outside. Grammy came home from work and let the boys decorate a cake for Uncle Mark's birthday! The next morning all of the grandsons got to play! They had so much fun with each other! I think their favorite thing was riding the tricycles down the driveway! They did that forever! It is great to see them have so much fun with each other even though we live far apart and don't get to see each other that often. After lunch (and what seemed like waiting forever for Cam) we opened presents! The boys were spoiled! And so were we! It was a great time! On Sunday we opened stockings and enjoyed more time playing. But shortly after lunch we all had to pack up and head home. I knows boys were not ready to leave!
THANK YOU, Grammy and Grumpy! It was a great weekend!