ICE!

Today we went to Grapevine, Texas to the Gaylord Resort. They had an exhibit called ICE! and boy was it cold. They had huge ice sculptures that were pretty amazing. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. Merry Christmas!

Hannah's Birthday

My mom reminded me the other day that in my lack of blogging I had not blogged about Hannah's birthday. She turned six this year and had a great day. She had her birthday at a place with a bunch of inflatables and had a great time. We always tease her by saying "Hannah, you really need to get happy" becuase she is usually giggling or laughing. Her birthday was no exception. She brings so much joy to our family!

Frosty the Snowman

Tonight Jacob took the stage as Frosty the Snowman for the Third Grade Christmas Musical. I am not biased at all but I thought he was the best Frosty ever! He had an entourage of fans to watch his performance. Our babysitter and her friend came, our friend Emma from China, Steve and Cindy and my parents were all there to cheer him on. He had some pretty crazy dance moves especially considering he was wearing a snowman outfit. Look for him on next season's Dancing with the Stars!!! :)

Costume Crazy!

I am way behind on pretty much everything....letters, reading, phone calls, work, emails....everything. I am actually becoming very comfortable in being behind. I even feel like posting Halloween pictures a week and a half after Halloween is early! :)

Here are the kiddos....Hannah was Fancy Nancy, Jacob was Indiana Jones and Andrew threw on some of Rich's military stuff and was actually a pretty convincing Army Man.

Blogging Absence

Hello All,

Although this may not seem like the truth, I am really not in a competition for the worst blogger in the world. I have been overtaken by Fall events for the kids lately. I have been in high gear craft activity with Halloween costumes, school projects, and other fall activities. Over the next posts, I will posts some of these activities so I can feel justified in my non-blogging!

Froggy-Frogilina....Storybook Pumpkin Contest.

Below are Jacob and Hannah's entries in the Storybook Pumpkin Contest at school. They entered in the sibling category and entered Froggy and Frogilina because they both love the Froggy series. Jacob has kind of outgrown Froggy but at one point had several of the books completely committed to memory. Jacob and Hannah won first place in the sibling division which was fun for both of them. They did share their ribbon with me which I thought was nice!

A Good Dog

One of my favorite quotes is: "My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am." I am always amazed at how our dog will run up to us and lick us, watch us attentively, and sit at our feet when we are home. Even when the kids are a little crazy and things are wild, she really wants to be there in the thick of it all. Alot of times I think we need to get the Dog Whisperer to come to our house because Sammie barks and howls every time the doorbell rings. She also jumps up on people when they come over (luckily she is only 16 pounds). But even with all of her faults she is a good dog because she makes us feel so good!

Have a great week!

Multiple Personalities

The next few pictures are pictures of Hannah all taken within a period of 20 minutes. As you can see, she went from Soccer Star to Bride to Princess in a matter of minutes. Maybe the title of this should really be quick change artist?



Speaking of changes, check out the change on Jacob's face while receiving love from his siblings. Its as if he realized that this might just be too good to be true! :)




Have a great week!

Date Night

Last night Rich and I went to the Clay Walker concert. He was at the Opening Event for the Heart of Texas Fair. He was a really great performer and we had a fun time.

We also learned something---we need to make sure we go out every now and then without the kids. When we told them we were going out without them they were stunned! They kept asking us: "Why aren't you taking us?" "Why didn't you get us tickets?" The best was when Jacob actually told us that he "forgave us" for going out without them!

We used to be pretty good about date nights etc. but having three kiddos in school and sports means the 5 of us are usually at a game, practice, or school function. Speaking of which, here are the kids in their various uniforms:

Hve a great week!

Grandparents and Gotcha Day!!!

The past two Sundays have been fun celebrations around our house. Last weekend we celebrated Grandparents' Day with my parents. Andrew pulled out his cookbook and made an incredible lunch. The best part of the lunch was that he made 2 desserts! (That's my boy!!!) All 3 kids made homemade lemonade to accompany the meal. The name of it was "Pucker Up Lemonade" which we discovered was a perfect name! A fun time was had by all.This week we celebrated our family's Gotcha Day which was also great. Gotcha Day (or Family Day) is the day we added Hannah to our family so it is a very special day in our house. We celebrated by bringing in Chinese food and having a fun family lunch. My parents brought their two Chinese students from Baylor. They told us that our Chinese food was not very authentic but it was still good. My mom made moon cakes for our dessert. The moon cakes were also not very authentic but were yummy as well!

In light of all of our family events, I'll end with one of my favorite quotes about family. Brace yourself, it's from Jeff Foxworthy!

"If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty.' " Jeff Foxworthy

New School Year

A couple of weeks ago the kids started a new school year. (Which is my latest excuse for not blogging!:)) All 3 kiddos are happy with their new classes etc. Hannah's backpack is bigger than she is but she can still carry it!

My favorite activity of the new school year is taking the traditional first day of school picture. The best part is hearing the kids complain about it like that is really going to stop me from taking the picture!!!

Cadillac Ranch

On the cruise we saw and swam in the most beautiful water in Cayman and Cozumel.

In Colorado, we were in awe of the mountains and streams.

In Amarillo, we saw a "field" of Cadillacs! :) I don't know if any of you have ever been to the Cadillac Ranch, but we have. It was a little detour on our way back from Colorado. I had seen it in one of Andrew's books and I was curious to see it in person. The Cadillacs are planted face down in the ground. They also had been grafittied which was interesting. Well, at least now our kids can never complain that we didn't take them to see the Cadillacs in Amarillo!!! :)

Rocky Mountain High

One week after we returned from the cruise, we were very happy to repack our bags and head to Colorado. This time we were with Rich's family. We loved the beauty of Colorado and being with family. Here are a few pictures from our trip...The natural beauty of Colorado is truly awesome!

This picture above is not exactly a natural beauty picture---it is from the Hammond's candy factory and store in Denver. It was a very yummy. By the way, this is the place where Santa gets his candy canes! Yummy!

Barely Blogging!

I think I should change the name of this blog to Barely Blogging! :) The good news is that we have had a fun and busy summer. Bad news---not much blogging time! So ....for the next few days I wil post pictures from some of our events of the past weeks.

The Segura Family Cruise was very fun!!! we had such a good time going to Cozumel, Jamaica and Cayman.

Jacob was our bus co-pilot in Jamaica. He loved the "no problem mon" lifestyle in Jamaica. Do you think his hat makes him look like Bob Marley?

This is was us at dinner one night. Dinners were my favorite part of my cruise. Yes, the food was awesome but itwas also great for all 9 of us to be together and recap the events of the day.

Some of you know that Rich loves Frank Sinatra. This led him and Andrew to sing "New York New York" during karaoke night on the cruise. The funny thing is that one of the cruise people then wanted Rich to star in the All Cruise Talent Show singing "My Way!" They told him that there would be 1,600 people there. Althought the kids really wanted him to do it, he said "no." :)

After the cruise we came home and repacked and went on the Gochis Family Colorado Trip. I'll post some pictures from that tommorow!

Godincidence

I once heard a speaker talk about God-incidences in our lives. She said that when many things in our lives happen we tend to call them coincidences or fate. She asked why we considered them coincidences when they were obviously signs of a God that cared enough to manage the details of our lives. Well, today our family had a Godincidence.

Today Rich and I drove Drew to Pine Cove for a 6 day camp. If any of you know Andrew, you will know that new things are not his favorite. He actually hates transitions/change of any kind. And true to form, today he decided he didn't want to go to Pine Cove. To top it off he was gong to the one in Tyler versus the one in Columbus which then led him to tell us that if he was going to the one in Columbus he would be more likely to see friends from San Antonio, etc. etc. etc. He actually looked a little miserable as we drove in to the camp. Then, as we got out of our car, a precious girl from our church in San Antonio ran over to say hi. We love this girl and her family and had no idea that she was a counselor at Pine Cove. This in fact was her first week there. Andrew was so excited to see her. Rich and I were thrilled that she was there and because of all the little details that had happened it was clear that we were experiencing a Godincidence. :)

The other miracle of the day was that I was able to leave Drew at the camp. It was not very easy but I know that he is in His hands and will experience a great week!

Independence Day

Happy Independence Day. We had a great day yesterday celebrating the 4th and being thankful for our freedoms.....

Freedom to vote

Freedom of speech

Freedom to practice our faith

AND freedom to post a 4th of July post on the 5th of July! :)

Happy Birthday Drew!

Andrew turned 11 and because he takes after his mom he decided to turn his birthday into a 3 day celebration. Friday began for him on his last day at Pre-Teen Church camp when he was serenaded by other campers at breakfast. We then ate at Chili's that night as a family where he was serenaded by the wait staff and had a birthday milkshake. Saturday morning began with a birthday waffle breakfast with our sweet friend Mallory. Then Saturday night we had my parents and Steve and Cindy over for cookie cake and birthday wishes. Tonight he and some buddies went up to Dallas to watch a Rangers game. This kid knows how to celebrate! :)

It is hard to believe that 11 years ago Rich and I became parents. I remember leaving the hospital and thinking the nurses and doctors must be crazy to let us go home with an infant. Sometimes I feel sorry for Andrew because as our first child he has been our guinea pig in many ways. I once saw a book called "The first child as first draft," and I thought that was a pretty good explanation for what you feel like as a parent of a first born. Jacob and Hannah have definitely had the benefit of more relaxed versions of me and Rich. Andrew has had to endure parents with less perspective....but he has survived. Some would say by his 3 day celebration he has not only survived but thrived!

Backwards Blog

Hello there! You are not mistaken, this is an actual blog entry! My sister gave me "feedback" that I need to blog more. I am accepting her feedback and will try to redeem myself.

This is a backward blog entry...I will be posting pics from the past month...starting with the most recent pics first. All in all, it has been a fun, eventful past few weeks.

Father's day with a special tie cake for my dad and Rich.

Th kids at their Vacation Bible School program. They loved VBS !

We went to a family friend's wedding in Fredricksburg, Texas. It was very fun...this is Jacob doing his air guitar to a song he requested "Eye of the Tiger." Nothing says "Happy Wedding" like the Rocky 3 Soundtrack!

Hannah at her dance recital! She was fabulous and I am not biased at all!

Jacob doing "Blessed is the Texas Child" for the 2nd Grade Poetry Recital.

Fun trip to Houston to celebrate my grandfather's 91st birthday! He is an amazing man and our family is continually blessed by him and his amazing life!

Andrew in the 4th grade musical at school. It was a great performance.

Well, that's a look in the rearview mirror from the Gochis Household. The pictures don't include the boys being at Baylor Basketball Camp.....swim lessons for Hannah....the rock one of my children put in their own ear and the subsequent ER visit to remove the rock....me going to a Boot Camp program at 5:15 A.M. on MWF. There is never a dull moment and we wouldn't trade it for anything!