ColieAndBrenda.us

It is December 16th and the kids can’t wait for Christmas!  We had a great Thanksgiving!  A small family gathering this year, just 12 of us.  We went to Colie’s parents house for lunch.  So it was us, them and Colin’s mother.  We played Settlers after lunch, and just relaxed!  Nice day!

On the day after Kalyn and Tim took family pictures for us!  They turned out really well and I posted them here on our site.

Since then we have had our first ever (as bosses) work Christmas Party!  It was really fun to see how much the employees like the gifts they got.  Colie had a brilliant idea for the gift! I pod Nano’s for each one.

Riley and Mac each had a chance to go out shopping with Nana for gifts for the family, so they are looking forward to everyone opening their gifts.

That’s it for now I guess!  Maybe more shortly after Christmas!  Hope you all have a Blessed Christmas focused on the Greatest Gift Ever, Jesus Christ!!!!

I noticed on Colie’s update in August he didn’t tell much about the birth of baby number 3!  In May I had high blood pressure and had two trips to the hospital.  June brought the arrival of my parents, hoping to make it before the baby was born. On June 6th after visiting the doctor labor began! It was fun to play cards with my mom while I timed contractions! This is the first time I actually got to labor at home, so it was kind of weird trying to know when to go to the hospital!  We got to the hospital at about 5:30 pm  to hear “we don’t have a room for you.” After waiting outside the nursery for 30-45 minutes we finally got a room. So after only a little over 4 hours at the hospital we finally decided the baby’s name would be Spencer Graham, he was born about 5 minutes later!

Spencer Graham born June 6th at 9:36 pm. Our heaviest yet at 8 lb 7 oz, 20 1/12 inches.

Unfortunately since it was late the big brothers were asleep so they didn’t come to the hospital until  the next day. We got to come home on the 8th to a clean house, thanks to my parents!  They stayed about 2 weeks after Spencer was born.

In July I decided that to get ready for Interface in the fall I would practice getting all three boys and I out the door for Good News Club!  Mac and Riley really enjoyed it, and I had fun sitting and talking to the other mothers. One week I got to go visit newly born Allie Joy Elliott!  We also started going to the Library for reading time!

August brought our 6th Anniversary!  Wow, 6 years!  We had a great weekend in San Antonio.  We stayed at the Inn on the Riverwalk. We went to a bead show that was small, but way cool!  We went to the Alamo Draft House to watch a movie (I can’t remember what it was we saw, sad eh?). I did really enjoy the Draft House, it was fun to eat and watch the movie at the same time, and not have to miss anything to get your drink refilled!!! We did some shopping and lots of sight seeing! It was a great getaway!

Since then Mac had his 5th birthday, and we just celebrated Riley’s 3rd birthday with family at Six Flags Fiesta Texas last Saturday.  Even though this post doesn’t seem like there was much going on, probably because I forgot most of it already, we have been busy.  Life at Hill Country Plumbing takes a lot of time (especially Colie’s, but some of mine also.)  Anyway, our family is growing, and we are doing well!  God bless you and yours!

Goodness Gracious!!! I had almost forgotten we had a website. Life is Busy! Just as I am sure all of you are as well.

As I have looked thru some of these older posts and pictures I have realized what a blessed life we have.
I have taken my Master Plumber Exam and passed. We have bought my former employer’s business, and we have recently enjoyed welcoming our third son into this world. God is Good!!

I just built a shed in the back yard. It has been a long time in the planning but finally put it up. Mac loves to go ‘hiking’
(what he calls taking a walk)
Although he did really well hiking out at Enchanted Rock last weekend.
Riley likes to chase Mac around the house. Every once in a while we find him ,like this evening, playing in the toilet. This time it was with the rubber duck. Last time with some of mom’s Tupperware.
Brenda and the boys are heading out to Cali for Heather’s Senior Recital this month. I’m toying with the idea of taking a motorcycle training course while they are gone. Not sure if I will or not. The Bluebonnets are the most prolific I have ever seen them. Wildflowers everywhere!!!
God Bless.

Not a ton going on here but I thought I should send out what is.  We are HOT here.  This weekend and the beginning of the week were over 100 degrees already.  The pool shortened their hours which makes it really hard for us to get there, and by the time Colie gets off it is closed.  So we get there maybe on the weekend… Bummer.  We are waiting patiently for Krystal’s 2nd baby girl to come.  She is due on the 22nd, but really could come anytime.

Colie is working quite a lot. They are on 4/10’s but have been working Fridays as well some weeks.  The next two weeks he will be out of town a few days.  Last week he went to Big Sandy TX overnight.  We miss him when he is gone.  They have a school coming up that will take a lot of time and it is about 2 hours away… we aren’t sure how that one is going to work yet.  He has had consistent side work if he is not working for Hill Country on Fridays… Helped on or done a few roofs already this summer.  We praise the Lord for his provision of work.  The weeks that were slow were really hard for him… he hates sitting around.  So he is glad it is busy again.

Mac will be 3 in Sept.  For his B-day we are flying out to CA to spend both Aspynn and Mac’s b-day together, and go to the LA County Fair, something Mama really misses!!!  I am excited we get to fly, we got a really good deal, Praise the Lord!!!  He talks, but really chooses the words he learns…  Many times he will not learn the word, just the sound of something, like “whoo whoo” for train.  I think he doesn’t really feel the need to talk much.

Riley is a small little thing.  Still hasn’t doubled his birth weight.  The Dr. has us coming in for weight checks.  It was once a month, but now he wants to check every 2 weeks. He is crawling all over and getting in to everything he can!!!  So he is doing everything else as normal so I try not to be concerned.   I know God is in control!

I am enjoying watching the kids grow and learn.  I spent quite a lot of time trying to clean out.  We had two garage sales and made about $600.  I am so glad to get rid of some of the stuff.  I think there will be one more sale at Colie’s grandparents house, then most of it will go to goodwill!  I am no longer doing Tupperware, I just haven’t had the time to keep up with it, or the money to keep active.  I did enjoy doing it, but now is not the time for it!  This Summer will be a quiet one compared to last summer.  That is a bummer in a way, but we need the rest with Colie working so much.  My parents will come out sometime in July we think and we do have a few places we want to go then.

Well that is about all!  God Bless!

Well last Sept. my ‘97 Gmc started to chug and died on my way home from a side job…. Last weekend i finally got it running again. Only had to replace the intake manifold gasket. I thought for sure the heads were cracked or something else serious from the white color of the oil. but Praise the Lord it was just a blown gasket. I learned alot trying to pull that thing apart.
The same weekend i got serious about ‘fixin’ it, Our new dodge decided to blow its crankshaft while Brenda was going to pick up some pizza. Sooo it was towed to the dealership and got a new engine. It was finished the same weekend I got the other truck running. so we went from one to three vehicles in one week. Anyone want to buy a truck???
Although it is hard to part with an old friend( think your favorite hound dog, or your horse if your a cowboy) I placed Ol’ Betsy (the 97 GMC truck) on craigslist.
We’ll see if she’ll be appreciated (pun intended)

Mac has had a chest cough for a couple of weeks, Riley has an ear infection. Brenda didn’t feel well for about a month after Christmas, And I was down for the count for a week and a half (maybe pneumonia)…. We will be glad to be over all the sickies.

Baby Riley arrived in this world at 6:32 Pm October 7th 2008
One ounce heavier than his brother at 7 pounds 13 oz.
A Long Boy at 21 inches he has almost 3 inch long feet
His face looks like mac but he has darker hair..
Praise the Lord for answering prayer for this labor and delivery,
18 hours after Brenda’s water broke he finally decided to come with only 15 contractions during delivery.
20 min. of pushing there He is ……. pictures on photo page.

We purchased a 2008 QuadCab Flaming Red Ram 1500 this last week. Brenda is ready to get Riley out of her tummy!
Mac is ready to see the “baaaby” as he calls him.
We had fun at the Comal County Fair last night… walking around petting all the animals. I think Mac was little scared of the calves that were trying to lick him.
He did like chasing the baby pigs though.

It has been way too long since we wrote. So sorry about that. We are now expecting our second child. He/or she is due in the middle of October. We have been doing ok. I have had lots of morning sickness of course!!! Mac cut his head open when he pulled Colie’s bike over on himself, but it seems to be healing alright. This summer will be quite a time, we have lots of company coming and a family reunion to go to. My mom and dad will arrive mid June for a 3 week visit, which will include the Baird family reunion in OK!! After they leave we have a week then Heather arrives for her 2 weeks!!! A blessing since she has only been able to come for very short times previously. Within another week or two, I haven’t figured out exactly how long, Joel, Melissa, and Emma Kate will arrive for their 10 day visit!! We are so happy that they are all getting to come. We will be doing lots of things while they are here I imagine, but not too much since I will be getting closer and closer to the new baby. We are hoping next month to find out what it is. I am sure there is more to say, but this is a brief overview of what is upcoming! Hope you are all doing well!! Thanks for checking out our news!

hmm. been a while since we have updated!! I now have a laptop so I am on the internet a little more often than before. Mac is now walking, albeit a little on the shaky side. Just today Mac used sign to say please!!!! We are so proud of him. He is using it for all kinds of things; a shower, a cookie, getting into the cabinet, (pick me up!) He is sooooo much fun.

We all went camping a few weeks ago. Stan, Krystal, and Kaila, Brenda, myself and Mac, and my four youngest siblings. Galveston was fun but very wet and rainy.
The next weekend we went up to missouri to see Tim and Kalyn, and Matt and Trina. We had a blast just hanging out with them. The highlights were….. Lambert’s (home of the throwed rolls)
Branson, shopping and Golf.

Work is busy, like usual.
Brenda is busy with Mac, Interface, Tupperware, and working at Hill Country Plumbing one day a week.