Random Photos from December

This is from a trip to Candace's Kindergarten class. I didn't get her whole face but I love the look on her face.

We have had some interesting and exciting news in this area this month. On December 15th the League City Stake announced a new branch being created. Texas City is now a branch. We were in Galveston ward and now we are in a brand new starting from scratch branch. It is definitely an adventure! Robert is the Second Counselor in the Branch Presidency.

This photo is from when we went to go look at where we were meeting and get the keys and pick where the artwork and chalkboards are going. We are meeting in a strip mall space but it surprisingly feels like church.  

 The week that they made the announcement we only had church for an hour and a half and then the newly called members of the Branch Presidency and the new Galveston Bishopric had training meetings and so I rode home with my friend Ashlee (the 1st counselor's wife) and Robert was going to bring Rick (the 1st counselor) home so both our families only had to only drive one car to church. It was a great plan until I realized that I didn't bring a house key and I only made this realization until we were already in Texas City so Kyleeann and I had to take refuge at Ashlee's until our husbands were done.
The following two pictures are from while we were waiting at Ashlee's.
Kyleeann's first time being in a high chair! Thanks Liza for sharing!

Kyleeann loved their Christmas tree and it's lights. I didn't put a Christmas tree with lights up but I probably should have with how much fun she had looking at them. Their tree also has a cute train that goes around the bottom of it and she liked grabbing the train with her toes. 

She is getting so big!

Usually I try to go to store while Robert is home so he can stay with her and I can by myself because it is so much faster and easier. If I do bring her with me I bring her inside first and then go back and get the groceries (It's too heavy to do both her car seat and all the groceries). Today (12/28) when we got home she only wanted to be carried and so I just carried her in one arm and all the groceries in the other hand except for the one bag with eggs because I didn't want them to break. 

This is Kyleeann eating the carton of eggs in their grocery sack. She was loving chewing on it all the way in. She is such a cute little goofball.

 Kyleeann now has her own high chair! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Krenkel!

Texas Bowl

Robert loves college football and so we decided to use Christmas money to get tickets to go to the Texas Bowl. It was my first time at Reliant Stadium, so far of all the Houston Stadiums, Reliant is my favorite. Robert found us awesome seats,  we were on the club access level and right in the front row and they were padded seats!

                  The game was Syracuse vs. ....

University of Minnesota!

We were on the University of Minnesota side. There were definitely more Gopher fans in the stadium than there were Orange fans. 

 For half time both University marching bands did a show and then the combined to perform "Deep in the Heart of Texas" I took a video of it but I can't get it to load, it is on my facebook wall if you want to watch it (it is short, 1:06)

The next two photos are from the University of Minnesota's half time show. They had a 320 or 310 member band and they all fit into a little circle it was so cool to watch! You can see the edges of the football from the Texas Bowl logo that was on the field. 

This is the band expanding out from being in the circle.

 I'm surprised that Robert still lets me go get him food, he knows I take a delivery fee ;)
It was a really good brat, I actually took two bites instead of my usual one because it was so good.

                                             
                                                            It was a little chilly at the game!

 The final score was Syracuse 21 University of Minnesota 17! It was a really good 4th Quarter!

 They had fireworks in the parking lot after the game.

We had a wonderful time at the Texas Bowl! 

Lots of Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

We had so much fun with my parents in town for Christmas! It was so sad to see them leave this morning but luckily we get to see them next month in Arizona! I didn't do a great job documenting the trip but I did get a couple from a few of our adventures. The pictures are not in order.

Every morning my mom would come get Kyleeann as soon as she heard her in the morning so I could sleep. 

They both loved their Grandma/Kyleeann time every morning.

 This was on Christmas. Grandma and Kyleeann matched with their red and white stripes, so cute!

 We took the Broadway Beauties tour in Galveston, which is Moody Mansion and Bishop's Palace. It was so much fun! Bishop's Palace was my favorite. Kyleeann did so well at both of them. This is taken outside of Moody Mansion and its not the best picture of her with her eyes closed but she is still cute. Grandpa Dave carried her through all of Bishop's Palace and most of Moody Mansion. Which was so nice for me because she gets heavy and the tours were long!

She fell asleep on Grandpa during the Moody Mansion tour. Precious! She sure loves her Grandpa!

 We decided to check out the ferry while they were here. This was my first time on the ferry, it was a lot of fun! Kyleeann loved it too! She loves being outside!

 It was a little chilly but nothing compared to what Grandma and Grandpa left in South Dakota.

 Mom and I decided to get Christmas Crackers to experience. It is an English tradition that we have heard and read about but never done. We even saw them at both Bishop's Palace and Moody Mansion. They sell the crackers at World Market and they include a party hat, a joke, and a toy.
                                                               This was my cracker: A pink crown hat, two jokes and a trivia question, and a little red comb that would be perfect for Kyleeann's dolls when she is older and gets some.

 This is the last picture I have for my post. It is all of us watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" on Christmas Eve. Kyleeann is wearing her Christmas jammies from Grandma.

We had so much fun and ate such good food while they were here. I'm so glad they got to make it down. Grandma Sherri and Grandpa Dave you are welcome to come visit anytime, we still have more things to check out here in Texas!

Merry Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year! It was Kyleeann's first and it was a good one. We kept it low key and had lots of fun with Grandma Sherri and Grandpa Dave.

Our Christmas tree with some presents underneath. 

Our stockings. The photo doesn't do justice to how beautiful Kyleeann's is. Not as cute as her stocking at Grandma Sherri's house but I don't have a picture of that. 

 I didn't wrap Kyleeann's present this year since she can't unwrap things by herself, she is too young to play with the wrapping paper, and she doesn't care.
I was really excited for her to get this, it is a toy bar that attaches to her car seat. She loves it! Her other Christmas present is in the background. It is an exersaucer from Grandma Sherri and Grandpa Dave.

Her stocking was full of bath toys, fun! She is holding a really cool bath time book. It is full of animals that are covered in mud but in warm water their mud spots disappear. 

She also got sunglasses in her stocking. We need them in sunny Texas! They crack me up on her. 

 Christmas morning was fun, I got to sleep in a little bit and then we opened presents and then had a wonderful breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole. Yum!

 We hope every one had a very Merry Christmas!

Kyleeann and Santa

At our ward party they had a Santa available for pictures. Kyleeann would not smile for the camera! At least she is not screaming. She did get a good grip on Santa's beard. It was so much fun and I'm so glad that Kyleeann has a picture with Santa and I didn't have to stand in some long mall line!

Kindergarten

Kyleeann is not anywhere near ready to attend her Kindergarten year but we did go visit a Kindergarten class.
My friend Candace is a Kindergarten teacher and we went and read to her class and hung out for a couple of hours.

 There was a lot for Kyleeann to look at in the room.

We had a lot of fun and plan on going back again!

December!

Our apartment doesn't have a lot of room to put up a tree so we decided that this will be our tree this year. It's a cute advent calendar that is hanging on our wall. I want to start a tradition where we do a Christmas activity advent calendar every year. Some of our activities for this year are: bake cookies and deliver to someone, watch a holiday movie, attend ward Christmas part, open new Christmas book (another tradition I want to do every year) and many more! 

Thankful days 28-30

November 28th: First off Happy Thanksgiving! Today I am thankful that we have plenty of food. We definitely do not want for food and I know not everyone is that fortunate. For Thanksgiving we went over to the Dawson's. Wendy did most of the work but I brought a couple of things and it was nice having all that we wanted without having to do all of the work. Thanks Wendy!

Kyleeann in her Thanksgiving outfit.

This ended up being the only photo I  took while we were at the Dawson's. She loves being held and loves watching all the kids. Look how happy she is Elizabeth is holding her!

November 29th: I am thankful for parents. They play such an important part in a child's life. I am so grateful that I had such great examples and my parents are still super awesome even to this day. I'm glad Kyleeann has a great example for a father that loves and cares about her.
Kyleeann and Robert watching the Nebraska game

November 30th: I am thankful for artistic people. I think art makes the world a more beautiful place and I love looking at it but wow I am not great at it, I'll leave it to more artistic people and stick with other things.

 This is my friend Candace and I at a painting class. It was a lot of fun but my painting is not very impressive. I probably should have started out with an easier piece.

Thankful Days 21-27

November 21st: I am thankful for my phone. It is so convenient having a cell phone, I really can't imagine how inconvenient it must have been before they were around. Even more so because of all the things phones can do. If I am at the store and need to look up the recipe to make sure I have everything I can, I can take pictures, it has the weather, a calculator, coupons, I can access certain things from my doctors office like appointments, results, and the list just goes on.

November 22nd: I am thankful for friends and peppermint hot chocolate. My friend Candace came over today and surprised me with a peppermint hot chocolate. It was so nice to hang out with Candace and the hot chocolate was delicious!

November 23rd: I am thankful for warm clothes. It is cold right now in Texas and Kyleeann and I had a birthday party to go to so we put her in her cute hat to keep her ears and head warm. I love getting to wear my cute coats.

















November 24th: I am thankful for the gospel in my life. It really has been such a blessing and has given me so many opportunities. I really need to make a profile at mormon.org but I haven't yet, maybe I'll get it done one of these days. It is so nice how many resources the church has provided, I love having the scriptures, ensigns, and more on my phone. The Church's website is also really nice: www.lds.org

November 25th: I am thankful for cameras. It lets me capture special moments so I can remember them later on and also share them with others. I thought it was funny Kyleeann was holding Robert's finger while they were taking a nap.

















November 26th: I am thankful for my mom! My mom is absolutely awesome, she is always willing to help me out. She is very talented and I am lucky to benefit from those talents. In the picture above you can see three pillowcases, two she made for me. Today is her birthday and so Kyleeann sent her birthday wishes.

November 27th: I am thankful for missionaries. We had them over for dinner tonight and it is always great having them over. I really need to have them over more, we have three sets in our ward and they are divided up into areas of who is suppose to feed them and our area is a lot of less actives so they don't have a lot of dinner appointments.

Thankful Days 15-20

November 15th: I am thankful when I don't have to clean up diaper messes. This morning Robert was with Kyleeann while I got a little bit more sleep. He was lucky enough to be home for this mess and got to deal with it all by himself, he said he called for me to help but I did not hear him, I was out. She needed to be changed and I really think this was the first time he picked out her outfit, he has gotten her dressed before but her outfit has already been laid out or we are tag teaming it where I am getting her new clothes and putting the dirty ones in the hamper and he is changing her.
When I woke up she was in her Huskers onesie (obviously Robert's choice) I added the skirt and bow later.

November 16th:  I am thankful for the ability to talk and be understood. This is Kyleeann talking and it is adorable and I love hearing it but it would also be so fun to be able to understand what she is saying.




November 17th: I am thankful for church on Sunday mornings, it is not always easy getting up when the alarm and the snooze goes off but it is always worth it. We love our ward in Galveston and it is fun getting dressed up.

November 18th: I am thankful for Robert. I really should have switched this one with the first day but I didn't think about it until after I already did it. Today is our two year anniversary! I love Robert more than I did the day we got married and that love continues to grow. It is so much fun watching him be a dad and I am so thankful for all that he does for me, which is more than I could possibly list.

November 19th: I am thankful for pedicures and manicures. This shows a few of Kyleeann's painted toes, when she is older I'll take her to get a real pedicure. I just got a mani/pedi to be ready for our anniversary dinner.

















November 20th: I am thankful that we got to celebrate our anniversary. Robert had to work Monday and Tuesday night and so we didn't get to go out until Wednesday night for our anniversary. It was worth the wait, we had a lot of fun!

Two Years!

Today is our two year anniversay! So much has happened since we got married two years ago (cities, jobs, size of family....)! 

This is my favorite wedding photo:

This is us on our 1st anniversary:

This is a few photos from throughout our two year marriage

 And now our two year anniversary! I am actually wearing the dress from the wedding we were in when we met.

Ashlee watched Kyleeann so we could go to dinner. We went to Rudy and Paco's in Galveston. It was AMAZING! Everything we ate was absolutely delicious, our plates were completely devoured! We both had plantain chips for the first time and they were served with this dip called Paco Pico and I am not a pico fan but that stuff I kept going back for. They knew it was our anniversary so they brought us this scrumptious chocolate cake. It really is my new favorite cake from a restaurant! (sorry P.F. Chang's wall of chocolate cake, you got de-throned!)

 It was a great anniversary and we are excited for the many more that will follow :)