Some privacy...

A few of you asked why we decided to go private with the blog. Nothing creepy happened. I don't think any weirdos are stalking us. All is well.

Jarin just left for a deployment to Qatar for 4 1/2 months and we both felt like our family is more vulnerable in his absence. So, we decided to go off the radar, at least while he is gone. When he returns, we'll probably open it up again. We think its really fun to find blogs of long-lost friends and don't want to permanently drop off the earth. We're not trying to close ourselves off from friends and family, but we just needed a little more security.

A new look...

Elle got a new haircut today.  She has the world's most awesome hair.  Its thick and shiny, has tons of body and holds curl/style like a champ.  Its amazing!!!  She's been begging me to cut her hair so she could donate it to Locks of Love.  She and Hannah did it together about 2 years ago and I guess she really loved it.  What's not to love?  She got a sassy little bob to match her personality and was able to help someone out!  I took 11 inches off.  Here are some pictures.

Before:

( I thought this was so cute!  She's helping Jesse see inside the mixing bowl.)

During:

After:

We're going private

I've gone back and forth on this one and I think its time for us to make our blog private, at least for a while. I'll probably change the settings in about a week. If you want an invitation, just shoot me an email at wildthayn@yahoo.com and I'll make sure you receive one. Thanks!

Christmas Day

Christmas morning came early.  Too early.  I heard the girls around 5:00 am.  Being the sugary sweet mommy dearest that I am, I lovingly invited them to return to bed and resume Christmas morning festivities anytime after 7:00 am.  I was so thankful they didn't wake up until 8:40!!!  Woohoo!!  An extra hour and 40 minutes of sleep for me and the Mister.  Here are some pictures of their favorite things:

Hannah got an ipod shuffle, pink.  I think it has rocketed her into teenage-ness.  Augh!!!

This wasn't Elle's favorite present, but her tonsils are too awesome not to put this one up.  Her favorite present was a sparkly box filled with Hannah Montana stationary and pencils.  Anybody want a pen pal?

Jesse was too cute with his new pirate get-up from Logan.

Nate's favorite gift was the Little People fire engine from Santa.  He and Jesse push each other around the house on it.  I love it too because every minute spent on the fire truck is a minute that he isn't emptying out cupboards or my purse or somebody's toy box.

Christmas Eve

I'm going to try and catch up before I get too far behind...

On Christmas Eve, we had the missionaries over and went Christmas caroling and delivered some treats.  Then, the kids reenacted the nativity.  Jarin taught them a couple of new songs and walked them through the whole thing.  It was so cute and so funny!  Unfortunately, Nate tuckered out early and when he's done, he is DONE.  So, we just put him to bed and he missed the whole thing.

Then the kids opened their Christmas Eve presents.  They totally know that its always pajamas now.  It kind of takes the fun out of it, but we still string them along and try to make it fun.  Check out how wound up they are!!  Its amazing to me that they actually fell asleep before Santa came.

How lucky am I?

When I was growing up, I can only remember one time my father raised his voice at me. The one time he did yell, we were hunting and he told me to get down because somebody was shooting towards me. Hard to believe, but completely true. Ask any of my siblings. That's just the kind of man he is. How lucky am I to have been raised that way?

I recently learned a little something about my wonderful husband. When we went to Destin for Jarin's military training, he asked me to put his flight suits in my bag, since it was bigger and he had run out of room in his smaller bag. Things got busy and we left town hours later than we had intended and I left those flight suits right where he had left them in our room. I discovered my mistake at 10:00 pm on Sunday as I was unpacking the bag. Training began at 7:30 am the next day. You can't just buy a new flight suit either. They're military issue. Plus he had no name tag or military patches. I didn't expect him to yell at me. He never has. But the more I think about it, the more thankful I am for such a loving and patient husband. He paused for a moment, then laughed and gave me a big hug. We called a friend and borrowed a flight suit and flight cap from him. (Its a small world in the church and military.) It was ill-fitting as Jarin is 6' 4" and Aaron is 6', the patches and nametag were all wrong and the hat was a little snug on Jarin's giant noggin, but he never complained or even took a little jab about it. How lucky am I to be married to such a great guy? I could go on and on about Jarin. He's the best husband and father I could ever ask for and the longer I know him, the more impressive I find him to be.

Destin, FL, part 2

I wanted to get a nice picture of the kids on the pier. This was the best I could do. This picture is seriously the best representation of what my life is like right now. I have these wonderfully happy and spirited children who make my world so exciting! We do such fun things together, but nothing ever turns out how I plan it out in my mind. I think I'll frame this one and hang it somewhere that I'll see it daily. It just makes me laugh!

A local church near Destin was having a live nativity with a petting zoo. We took the kids and had a great time. They loved being around the animals and feeding them. The nativity itself was pretty sweet. They did a beautiful job of re-enacting it.