Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

After Christmas we packed up the car and took the girls on their first real road trip. We headed 10 hours west to New Mexico with our friends, the Norris family. Michelle's grandparents have an amazing house in the mountains near Cloudcroft. We played in the snow, the sand, and enjoyed the fresh mountain air. The hospitality and company could not be beat - we had a great trip!

The Tinguely Residence - once home to 14 kids!

Getting suited up for the snow after breakfast

The girls on the front porch swing

The sledding team

* More photos to come once we get some from the Norris's camera.

Christmas 2009

Quinn shows off her gingerbread house which she made at the Austin Children's Museum. Mommy and Quinn went with Linnea and Zailey Falk. It was a blast!

Quinn and Wesley prepare Santa's plate of cookies on Christmas Eve.

Enjoying a cookie near the hearth.

Santa's gifts and empty plate of cookies.

View of the living room after Santa's visit.

Wesley and Quinn with their gifts from Santa.

Quinn loves her new shopping cart!

Baby's first Christmas!

The girls and their stockings.

Wesley and her Uncle Sam at Uncle Mark's for Christmas lunch.

Julian

Mike taking it all in...

Quinn and her new cash register

Baby's first peppermint bark!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving sure came quickly this year! The day itself was lovely with perfect weather. It was made better by family and good food.

Mom-oh and the girls

Mark and Mike on the sofa before lunch

The spread

Julian, Frank, Oliver and Sam hanging out before lunch

Mom-oh and Wesley having a chat

"Baby's 1st Thanksgiving"

Quinn peeks over the table at Mommy

Dig in!

We found the girls squeezed behind our arm chair playing with the lamp's timer... kids find the strangest things amusing.

Wesley and her Uncle Julian on the sofa after lunch

The Great Outdoors

The McClure family spent the weekend outdoors at Inks Lake State Park with some very dear friends. Everyone had a great time and the weather was absolutely perfect. The only hiccup was the fact that there were about five troops of boy scouts that used the adjacent camp site as their headquarters. Argh! All in all , though, I think everyone enjoyed themselves and I hope that we can get together again in the spring before the Texas summer heats things up too much.

Quinn gets settled in.

Wesley enjoys the outdoors in her pack n' play

Patrick and Laura Candelaria in love by the campfire while Mike watches

Dinner is served - hot dogs fresh from the campfire.

Emily, Hadley, Adysen and Quinn enjoy time around the campfire

Michelle and Heather (and Wesley) smile while Laura snubs the camera.

Adysen instructs the girls to march in the "bubble band" while she blows the whistle at them.

One of literally hundreds of bees that we encountered

Nate attacks and slaughters said bees

Lisa and Adam Perry enjoying lunch while trying to avoid a bee sting or smoke inhalation

Jerry on his "Amazing Race"

Hadley and Quinn during a peaceful moment

Hadley answers the call of nature

The gang's all here!

Happy Birthday, Pollock!

Today is Pollock's 7th birthday! Hard to believe we've had him that long already. He's now a "senior".

Pollock looking up at the cupcakes. Ready for his treat!

Pollock and Boone waiting as patiently as Labradors can wait for a bite to eat.

Quinn removing the wrapper for Pollock.

Quinn and Wesley singing "Happy Birthday". Quinn insisted on candles so she could help Pollock blow them out.

Hook 'Em!

Quinn attended her first Longhorn football game this past Saturday. She had to have a lesson before the game on her proper hand formation.

She tries it on her own.

Quinn gets a little help from her daddy.

There it is!

Ok, almost...

Off to the game!