Family Time

Having Melissa and Kyle in town was so much fun. We hardly ever get family to visit since we live far from EVERYONE. We took advantage of all my time off school and went to see some favorite spots in Texas.

First we headed to the Dallas Cowboys Texas Stadium. This was its last year as their stadium since they are building a new one. It was cool to see it so close up and stand on the 50 yard line.

We also had to try out tackling on the turf. It was fun with the kids....



Then we headed to eat some Texas BBQ at a place in the middle of nowhere. It was called Natty Flat's Smokehouse and was quite the tourist spot. It was known for having the worlds largest rocking chair (what a claim to fame, huh).
They also sported world class outhouses...
The kids enjoyed the oversize rocking chairs they had. I guess this one was in some famous movie.

Then we headed to the home of Dr Pepper and toured their bottling plant where they make it from pure Sugar Cane. This was pure heaven for us Dr Pepper junkies. We even bought a Dr pepper cake for Matt's birthday.
Even Brennon became a "Pepper" fan.....

Can you tell she doesn't have caffein often?


The one thing Kyle had to do here was watch a NHL hockey game, Dallas stars vs his Anaheim Ducks. We had a blast and Matt and I became fast Stars fans.
I just had to put up a little reminder for Kyle on what the final score was..... Ha!


Thanks Melissa and Kyle for coming. We had such a great time and are missing y'all already!

A Texas Christmas

Twas two days before Christmas and the Alva's had grins
When Melissa and Kyle flew down with their twins
The girls were a cookin' to make quite a feast
And the little ones could be found makin trouble to say the least.....



Twas Christmas Eve and we headed to see a live Christmas scene
Only with kids we couldn't stay long, only to head for a latrine.

We decided to feast on a fine Christmas Eve dinner
And we found ourselves stuffed at Golden Corral, it's a winner!


Christmas morning came early with a new train table
It took Santa so long to set it up, you'd wonder if he was able...

All the gifts brought smiles to the little one's face
That's what makes it so fun and impossible to erase...





Then off to serve we went that day
To deliver Meals on Wheels, and to see their smiles was better than pay!

What a great Christmas it was, one to remember
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Christmas Traditions 08

I know you are all wondering, "what exactly do the Alva's do to celebrate Christmas?" Well, we are slowly finding that out ourselves each year and want to share a few new traditions with you...

First, I must admit, I have been slacking and have never taken my kids to go and sit on Santa's lap at the mall. OK, so the lines are always long, the mall is always crowded, and you always have to pay an arm and a leg to get one photo that never turns out as you had hoped. Now, that being said, yes they have seen Santa at church parties and we are very lucky to have our own Santa in the family, Matt's step dad, Ron (we love you Ron and will always think you are the best Santa). However, this year our neighbors let us in on a secret and told us to go with them to Bass Pro Shop and see Santa. #1, there is no long line. #2, he looks real and #3 Its free! So off we went. The kids loved it, and so did we!


They even had "real Reindeer" (at least on the outside ;) )
We also got to celebrate by going to Katelynn's preschool party. She sang all the Christmas songs and even made us sing them with her all the way home.
My mom convinced me to make an advent calendar. It has been one of the most favorite things for the kids. Every morning when they wake up, it is the first thing they ask for. Thanks Grandma!
Our ward had such a fun Christmas party this year. We all dressed up like people from Christ's time. Even Katelynn wanted to be the donkey (imagine that). (we only wished we had Dad's purple robe ;) ha, ha)
We also make Christmas cookies and decorated them. Even Brennon got into it!
We put up a fake tree this year, but still had a blast decorating it. Katelynn really got into it and was so proud of her work. It is now in between two couches to be blocked off from Brennon...

Greeting Card

Make a Smilebox greeting

Thanksgiving trip to VA

This Thanksgiving we got to go home to Virginia to see my family. It was so much fun and just great to get away and have a break from school. The kids had a blast and did not want to leave.

Here is Katelynn with her cousins who played together all weekend.
Anyone who knows me well knows I am a big Virginia Tech football fan. We decided to get tickets and go to the game while we were there. I made everyone dress up in VT clothes for the big day...
Even Brennon was a cute little hokie fan!
At the game the stadium was packed even though it was only 30 degrees outside. We won and it was so fun to be part of the crowd. VT stadium is known to be one of the loudest stadiums in the country because of their fans.


Of course the highlight of the trip for the kids was the horses. Even Brennon enjoyed riding and wasn't scared this year.
Katelynn wanted to ride every second of every day. She became confident enough to ride Suzy all by herself and she thought she was so cool.


Thanks to American Airlines we had to lug most of our luggage onto the plane. Note to self, next time fly an airline where you can check your bags! (At least the kids were good).
Grandma and Grandpa were amazing with the kids. They became fast buddies and wanted their attention the whole time. Thanks Mom and Dad for making it a great memory for all of us!

Brennon is 2!

Twilight fans

I went to see twilight with some friends a the day it came out. We had fun and it was so fun to have a girls night out. We are hoping for a series. Wish I could have joined the Chicago group to see it too. Hope you guys had fun. :)