moving thru march...

this year was such a fun basketball season. last game of the season was a nail biter! but the boys pulled it off and won by one point! Cynthia and Julia came with us and experienced their first kids basketball games in America!

since we bought our new sectional couch, andy has been sketching and planning building us a coffee table. we were so busy for awhile, that he "planned" things for a long time, and we finally had some free time for him to actually build it! i am SOOOOO proud of how it turned out! it is beautiful and just perfect!!!

always worth a picture when brothers are bonding. logan is teaching ian the art and tricks of solving the rubics cube!!

the older boys went to men's group with andy, so tysen and i went on a date. he got to practice paying for my food (i gave him the money of course!), getting my drink and refills, opening all the doors...everything he needs to practice for a real date! he was so proud to serve me, and really embraced that role of provider. as we were leaving, he opened my door, and kinda chuckled as he said, "i really like being the man!" ....this boy has such a precious heart.

honor roll alert!!!!! they had a short ceremony to honor the kids who made the honor roll list. so proud of logan's hard work!! a couple of his buddies were honored too! so thankful that logan has this squad of guys around him. (andrew buban and luke robertson in pic below)

pictures galore

so much happened in the past few weeks, so here's the short version:
the boys got free aggie basketball tickets from their basketball team...super fun! logan brought luke and michael, and it was a fun family outing! also cool to get to be on the court after the game! logan hopes to play for the aggies some day!

the boys were outside yelling...i went out to check on them, and tysen said "it's just brotherly love mom!!"

we made a trip to dfw for ethan and allie knowles wedding....made a quick stop so andy and tysen could meet declan. he is just the sweetest kid! he was only 3 weeks here, and he was already smiling at us! a lot!! it was crazy adorable.

got to see LOTS of friends at the knowles wedding! wish i had taken more pictures....

family breakfast time. ian and tysen created a drawing game that we played...:)

part of the vandy clan came for a visit!!!!!

jan 20th....declan clyde

the long awaited arrival of karis and thomas' little boy. this one was a doozy. i can't even explain except that karis is the sweetest and most special little sister, so her offspring is a big deal. she did so much of the labor naturally, so we couldn't be with her much...so there was a lot of waiting. like 36 hours of waiting. mom and i stayed at the hospital all night, hoping he would come...but he held off to the next morning, and even carleigh made it back in time. but he was SO worth it. 

declan clyde spooner has already captured the hearts of everyone in our family.

this was the first picture we took from the waiting room, when we knew for sure he had been born. (marilyn and i were snooping outside the room, and we heard him crying)

these are the times that i don't like living 3 hours away from my family. my heart ached and ached when i had to leave...and i couldn't stay gone very long. i came back and got to spend 2 more days with this precious new family to help them and get in my snuggles with declan. such a special time, and i'm so thankful to have been able to be there. ah! just looking at these pictures makes me want to go back!!!

getting started in 2016

we jumped into january in full swing!! all 3 boys are playing basketball this year....it's tysen's first year, and we are really enjoying him being in a sport! logan and ian are on the same team...and it's been super fun that they each have a good friend on the team with them!!

tysen's first grade program...a sock hop. he sang "locomotion" for about a month straight. :)

we had saved for a new couch last summer, but just couldn't find one. finally found a great price and a super comfy couch that we ALL love!!

it's been so fun to watch logan get older and more independent. he has a great group of friends...michael lives around the corner, and took logan ice skating one night...

christmas 2015

oh christmas. the busiest time of year that we are supposed to be "relaxing". :) always a blur. but always a blessing. for our family this year, we tried something new. instead of just andy and i getting the boys gifts, we decided to do stockings like normal...but to have each person get each person 1 gift. i really want to develop a heart of giving and generosity in my boys...so teaching them "how" to give is a big deal. so each person had to think about the person they were buying for, and think of something they would like. this was the most fun for me...seeing what they chose for each other. they had the greatest ideas and did so good!! it really made christmas special!!! definitely our new tradition!!
next we were off to granny's house...had some hang time on christmas eve with the cousins...and our christmas brunch the next day! lots of noise and chaos as usual...and we are waiting for one more little guy (aunt karis' baby) any time now!! the vanderveers were next...and some extended time there! saw the new star wars movie, and six flags...and our yearly dinner at the stewarts!!

pre-christmas fun

december is always packed...and as usual, i'm way behind on all my pictures, so i'm trying to play catch up. there's always lots of parties, and our annual marshall/vanderveer pre-christmas breakfast for dinner....but i've been terrible about taking pictures. one thing fun was that we signed up to host international students who were interested in having dinner in an american home. they connected us with two chinese girls...so we had them over for dinner one night! i admit, i was hesitant. the unknown is always a struggle for me...being excited about something that i have no idea about. yikes! but the Lord is so gracious with me, and continues to teach me about believing His word. relaxing and trusting him. and of course, it was awesome. cynthia (left) and julia (right) were so sweet. they even brought a ginger bread house for the boys to put together. it really was fun getting to know them...and we were SO proud of the boys! they talked and laughed with them...it was really sweet to see them interact and love on strangers!! we anticipate many more dinners with these sweet ladies!!

andy has the privilege of officiating several upcoming weddings...this one was in town, and so it was fun to have the marshalls with us!! looking forward to many more weddings!! i think we have 5 from nov '15-july '16!! we really love this stage of life!!!