Hasson Family

Family Pics 2011 (part 1)

2011-11-30T12:47:00.018-06:00

it's been almost a year since I posted last. So, I have a lot of catching up to do. Here's some pics from this past year:

Natalie's 14th B-day

2011-01-26T09:55:00.007-06:00

I can't believe that Natalie is 14 now! Where did the time go? It seems like she was just a baby yesterday. Now she's a teenager who will be starting high school later this year! Enjoy the pics!

Fall 2010

2010-11-27T22:36:00.016-06:00

We had so much fun this fall! The girls and I made some fall crafts. We went to our local farmer patch to see the largest pumpkin in Texas, which was 1198 lbs! The kids enjoyed the hay-bale maze and playing in the deer corn "sandbox". We carved our annual jack-o-lantern for family night. Lily was a cute spider-girl and Joshua was an adorable superman for Halloween! Enjoy the pics!

Joshua's 1st Birthday!

2010-11-17T10:34:00.010-06:00

It's hard for me to believe that Joshua is one year old now! The time has just really flown by! We enjoyed celebrating his birthday with our extended family. Coult did a great job on the cake! As you can see, Joshua really enjoyed eating it.

Lily's 8th birthday and baptism

2010-11-07T21:40:00.008-06:00

On Sept. 30, Lily turned 8 years old. In some ways, I can't believe that she is already 8! In other ways, it's been a journey that sometimes has seemed longer than maybe we were prepared for. But, in going back and reading my journal entries written when she was a baby and a toddler, I have realized just how far she has come. She has such an amazing spirit! The desire to be baptized was in her heart, in spite of the fact that she is terrified of putting her head under water. She has never put her head under before, so we were unsure as to whether or not she would be able to go through with her baptism. I know that it was her strong spirit and the many prayers offered on her behalf, that enabled her to overcome her fears and be baptized. I can't quite describe what I felt that day. But, I do know that I felt that for that brief moment, her disabilities just melted away and I was able to see Lily for who she truly is. The anxiety and autism didn't stand a chance against her spirit. I will cherish that moment always. The Spirit in the room was so strong that I couldn't hold back my tears. I know these words don't do justice to how Coult and I felt that day. Natalie was so proud of Lily too. She has watched Lily's struggles and I know she understands too just how amazing it was that Lily was able to go under the water. She was holding Joshua whenever Lily came up out of the water and she said that his face just lit up and he had a huge smile on his face--almost like he was saying that he knew she could do it. I feel tremendously blessed to be the mother of such special spirits.

pics from the past few months...

2010-09-08T13:55:00.014-05:00

Vacation June 2010

2010-07-13T21:24:00.012-05:00

We had a fun family vacation to the Greer Family Farm, which is close to Jefferson, TX. We were able to go fishing, ride in the lake on paddleboats, swim, pick berries, eat smores, see some cute farm animals and just enjoy the sights and sounds of the country. It was so beautiful there and we really had a great time! Even Joshua seemed to enjoy himself. Well, all except for the life vest we attempted to get him to wear. As you can see from the pic, it was too big and he was not too thrilled with how it ended up under his ears. LOL Needless to say, we decided to just take turns with the girls in the paddleboat. Coult and Natalie really enjoyed the fishing. Lily loved the swing set at the nearby farm house and the wooden swing in front of our cabin. There was a dog there named, Tux, who loved to follow us around and try to play fetch with whatever he could find. If we didn't throw a stick or ball as soon as he thought we should, he would drop it closer to our feet until we picked it up. Once, he even continued to drop it in front of us as we walked down the dirt road back to our cabin, until we gave in and threw the stick for him. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Lots of pics!

2010-04-16T20:35:00.019-05:00

Here's lots of pics from the past couple of months. Sorry about the duplicates.

Growing up fast!

2010-02-03T09:46:00.017-06:00

Joshua is growing up so fast! I can't believe that he is already 3 months old! Here are some pics from his few months. Can you tell how much his sisters adore him?

Birthdays

2010-01-12T22:37:00.006-06:00

So much has happened in the last couple of months, that I neglected to add pics of Natalie & Lily on their birthdays. Lily turned 7 yrs old on Sept. 30th. I can't believe that she is 7 already! She loves snails, so this year she wanted a snail cake for her party. Coult always makes the birthday cakes for our family, so he made a snail one for Lily. She loved it!

Natalie turned 13 on Dec. 2nd. It's hard to believe that we are now officially parents of a teenager! She had a few friends over for a "winter theme" late-over. Coult made her cake as well. She wanted a red velvet cake, so it was kinda crazy to see a blood-red cake under all that pretty pale blue icing!

Joshua Ellis Hasson

2009-11-16T08:45:00.013-06:00

I know I am waaay behind on posting. But, the last couple of months have been quite busy. We've had Lily's 7th birthday, Halloween, and the birth of our adorable son, Joshua. I can't believe he will be one month old this Thursday! It seems like he was born just yesterday. Here are some pics of him. I'll go back and add the pics from Lily's b-day and from Halloween in the next couple of days.

First day of school 2009

2009-08-25T18:21:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the first day of 7th grade for Natalie and 1st grade for Lily! Natalie had a really great first day! Lily's first day was a bit rough on her, but today was much better. Hopefully, they will both have a fun, productive school year! Here are some pics from the first day:

Our trip to Corpus Christi

2009-08-18T18:06:00.010-05:00

I can't believe how far behind I am on posting here! Coult and I went to Corpus Christi in July, just the two of us. My parents very generously volunteered to have a "Grandchildren Week" so that the parents could have some alone time. We had so much fun! We went to aircraft carrier "Lexington" and took the tour there. It was nicknamed the "Blue Ghost" during WWII. It's huge! Coult loves almost any kind of airplanes and I enjoy seeing the airplanes that were used during WWII. My love of history and his love of airplanes was the perfect combination for the tour. We also went to the Texas Aquarium, walked through several shops right off the beach and walked on the beach one evening close to sunset. Coult got some great pics of a sunset that we could see at a restaurant where we were eating supper one night. We also went out on a small boat into the bay and were able to see dolphins that swim right up to the side of the boat. We were almost able to touch a couple of them. It's really neat to see them in their natural habitat. The man that runs the "Dolphin Connection" boat service had many interesting things to share about dolphins. He has taken people out into the bay to meet "his" dolphins for over 30 years! We had a great time in Corpus! It was wonderful to have some time to ourselves too! Of course, we missed the girls, but everyone needs some kid-free time, right? ;) Here are some pics from our trip:

Natalie's Art

2009-07-06T08:37:00.010-05:00

Natalie really enjoys her Art class in school each year. Here are a few pics of art work that she made this past school year. She had an excellent teacher who really tried to make it fun and challenging. She even had them make their own Art "Yearbook" by hand. Some of the pics are of her yearbook that she sewed by hand and then personalized by adding pics of things she made that year. She is quite a talented artist! She must have gotten that talent from Coult, since I can't even draw a stick figure! LOL

We're having a boy!!!

2009-06-15T17:11:00.003-05:00

Today was my 20 week ultrasound and we found out we're having a boy! We're so excited! It's always so neat to see that ultrasound when you're finally far enough along to see the baby's profile, arms, legs and everything! He was moving around constantly, until the last few minutes. I think he wore himself out with all that wiggling and fell asleep! They gave us a dvd recording of the ultrasound, so Natalie and Lily were able to get a glimpse of their baby brother too! It's a good thing Coult and I finally agreed on a boy's name!

Last day of school 2009

2009-05-31T13:46:00.006-05:00

Once again, a school year has flown by! I can't believe that Natalie will be in 7th grade at the Middle School next year and that Lily will be in 1st grade! It seems like Natalie just finished kindergarten and now Lily has too! Natalie has learned so much this past year and grown up so much too. She got "commended" on both the math and reading portions of her TAKS test (state assessment test)! She excelled in all her classes and especially enjoyed her art class this year. She's nervous about middle school, but we know she'll do great there as well. She officially entered the young women program at our church this past December and she gave her first talk in front of the entire congregation today! She did a wonderful job! I can't believe how fast she is growing up! Lily has come so far since the first day of kindergarten. She has overcome many challenges and continues to impress us and her teachers with her abilities every day. She was blessed with an awesome kindergarten teacher who always had Lily's best interest in mind. She also had a wonderful Aide with her each day who took such great care of her, but also knew how to help Lily work towards greater independence. She is reading "B" level books now and her writing has improved so much! Her social skills are really blossoming as well! Here are a few pics of Lily's last day of kindergarten. I don't have any of Natalie's last day since there weren't any programs for her grade that day. Sorry Lily's not smiling in the pics, but she just finished performing a sing-a-long with all the kindergarten kids and held it together so well, till they moved the bleachers while she was still in the gym! It was too loud for her, so by the time she and her aide made it to the class-room, she was crying to go home. At least I managed to get a couple of pics before we left.

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

2009-05-20T14:46:00.007-05:00

We went to an Easter egg hunt and cook-out one evening at the home of a couple from our ward. They teach our Family and Marriage Class and invited all the couples and their children to a fun evening at their home. The girls had a blast riding in the wagon behind the four wheeler from the back yard to the front yard where all the Easter eggs had been hidden. Lily surprised us with how much she enjoyed it! She has been doing so well with her anxiety lately and we're hoping that we finally have found the right med for her. Natalie found a new friend to play with and they both had a wonderful time. Coult and I enjoyed visiting with our friends as well. It was a really great evening!

Rachael & Jordan's Wedding/Trip to Utah

2009-04-09T11:36:00.007-05:00

During the first weekend of March, my Mom, my Dad and I were able to fly to Utah for Rachael & Jordan's wedding reception. It was a super quick trip, but very enjoyable. We got there late Friday night and had to leave mid-day Sunday. But, we did manage to get in a couple of hours of sight seeing before the reception Sat. night. We really enjoyed being able to celebrate with Rachael and Jordan and meeting many of Jordan's family members. Here are some pics from our trip:

Better late than never

2009-02-02T13:40:00.007-06:00

I'm really late posting this. But better late than never, right? A week after Christmas, we had our first annual post-Christmas gingerbread house decorating activity. I discovered that Kroger puts their gingerbread house kits on sale for $1.00 right after Christmas! I couldn't pass that up! We decided that it was kinda nice to wait till after the holiday rush to do this. And saving 90% doesn't hurt either! LOL Anyway, here are a few pics:

Christmas Eve

2008-12-27T21:34:00.010-06:00

We had a quick trip down to my parents for Christmas Eve. Coult was on call Christmas day, so we had to head home late Christmas Eve. We had a great time! We were finally able to meet Jodi and Jordan too! Here are some pics from that night:

Tortilla snowflakes

2008-12-20T20:01:00.003-06:00

Natalie saw this dessert idea in one of the recent Friend magazines. We decided to give it a try for our FHE refreshment a couple of Mondays ago. We each had fun making our own snowflake and then eating them! They are so easy to do and the girls have wanted to make them several times since that night. You just sprinkle a few drops of water on a tortilla and heat it in the microwave for a few seconds--just long enough to make it pliable. Then you fold it the same way you would to make a paper snowflake. We used our kitchen shears to cut out our designs on the edges, unfolded the tortillas and then cooked them in a little bit of milk free margarine in a skillet. Then we sprinkled some cinnamon and sugar on top. Yummy!

Snow!

2008-12-11T09:37:00.008-06:00

We awoke to a wonderful surprise on Wed. It was snowing! It snowed for a while and then stopped. The snow started to melt and then we were surprised again when it started to snow even harder that afternoon! It was snowing pretty hard when I picked Natalie up from school. She was so excited! That time, the snow was able to accumulate quite a bit. It was at least 3 inches deep by the time we went to bed last night. The girls made a small snow man Wed. morning before school and our neighbors were able to build a full size snow man by late Wed. night. The girls really enjoyed the snow! I have a couple of videos of them throwing snowballs at each other that I will try to add later. I still can't get my videos to upload for some reason. Anyway, Lily was so sad this morning when she found out the sun was going to melt the snow and that it wouldn't be snowing any today. She told me she was going to "make the sun go home" so that the snow wouldn't melt. LOL She has really been wanting to see snow! Natalie said the snow brought back memories for her of when we lived in Utah about 9 yrs ago. She loved the snow then and she still loves it now. I love seeing everything looking like a winter wonderland outside. Who knows, maybe we'll get some more snow before winter is over.

Happy 12th B-Day Natalie!

2008-12-06T22:02:00.009-06:00

Natalie turned twelve this past Tuesday! It's hard to believe that she is twelve yrs old now! She had her first ever slumber party Friday night. The girls seemed to have lots of fun! She had a Hawaiian Luau themed party. Coult did a great job on her cake (as always)! I tried to upload a video from her party, but it wouldn't work. I'll try again later. Until then, here are some pics from her special day:

Mr. Turkey aka Batman/Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T22:45:00.003-06:00

I know this is late. But, better late than never, right? A few weeks ago, Lily brought home a turkey that we were supposed to "disguise" as a family. It was a homework assignment from her kindergarten teacher. The idea was to disguise the turkey so that he wouldn't get eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a lot of fun disguising her turkey as Batman.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year with Coult's family. We had lots of yummy food and had a great time visiting his side of the family. I love Thanksgiving because it's always nice to be reminded of all the things I have to be grateful for. Here are just a few of them:

~My wonderful husband, Coult. He is such a loving, supportive person and I'm grateful that he is there for me and our girls. He means more to me than words can say.
~Our two beautiful daughters, Natalie and Lily. Having children has taught me more about love than I can possibly explain. I can't imagine my life without them.
~Our loving and supportive extended family. Coult and I are very blessed to have such wonderful extended family who are always there for us.
~The true gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life, I wouldn't have been able to make it through some of the trials I have had. It gives me great peace and happiness.
~My life and the life of several of my family members. After almost dying in the tornado in 1999, I have a true appreciation for how fragile life is and how none of us know when our time on this earth will be over.
~I'm grateful for our home, the food we have to eat every day, and the clothes I have to wear. I know there are many in this world who have no homes and no food or clothes. After losing everything in the tornado, I have a better understanding of how quickly a person can lose everything. I'm very grateful for those who helped us in our time of need. I will never again take having a roof over my head for granted.

I hope that you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

"Twilight"

2008-11-23T15:01:00.003-06:00

I went to see "Twilight" with some of my friends late Friday night. We had so much fun! I don't think I've been out that late at night for a long time. I know, I know, I have no life. Anyway, for those of you who haven't seen the movie yet, I won't ruin it for you by posting any of my feelings about it. So, Cynthia, you're still out of luck! LOL You'll just have to wait till Tuesday. Then you can give me a call and we'll chat about it!

Our Anniversary

2008-11-05T18:05:00.001-06:00

Today was mine and Coult's 15th wedding anniversary! I can't believe we've been married for 15 years! It's flown by so quickly. Coult took the day off from work today and took me out to eat at a yummy Mexican food restaurant while the girls were at school. The restaurant was about 45 minutes from our home. On our way home, we passed through a small town that has several antique shops in their downtown area. We walked through a few of those together. I found out something about Coult that I didn't know for the last 15 years--He actually likes shopping at antique stores! I always thought that when we went to them on rare occasions that he was just humoring me. It turns out that he actually enjoys it! He even pointed out an antique sofa that he said he wouldn't mind having. That just goes to show that no matter how long you've been married, you can still learn new things about each other. I'm so glad that I am married to such a wonderful man. He is patient, thoughtful, loving and such a great father for Natalie and Lily. Happy Anniversary Coult!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T20:45:00.009-05:00

This is our first Halloween to live in a neighborhood where lots of kids will go trick-or-treating. So, the girls really wanted to have fun decorating our house for Halloween. We went to our church Trunk-or-Treat first tonight and then went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. The girls really had a fun time! Steven went to a church Halloween party and he let me take a picture of his costume before he left. Mom, it looks like Steven found an excuse to wear that suit that you just love! Ha Ha! ;) He can't wait for you to see the picture! Here's some pics of our Halloween night and of our house decorations. Natalie was such a beautiful Medieval princess. She made her own head piece and choker in her Art class at school. They turned out really pretty! Lily was an adorable Aggie basketball player. Sorry Aaron M., but it's a lot easier to find an Aggie uniform around here than a UT one! One of Coult's patients got a basketball signed by some of the Aggie women's basketball players and their coach and gave it to Coult to give to Lily to go with her costume.

Camping trip

2008-10-23T18:05:00.017-05:00

This past weekend, we went camping at Lake Somerville. It's a lake at a state park about 45 minutes from our home. We had never been camping as a family before, so we weren't sure how it was going to go. We were especially worried about how Lily was going to do. She did great! Natalie has never slept all night in a tent before either. She has always chickened out in the past because she was scared. She did great too! Coult even taught her how to build a campfire. We got to see some raccoons while we were in our tent Friday night trying to go to sleep. One of them even unzipped our empty tent bag which I had left out on the picnic table! The girls were really excited to see the raccoons. Just our luck, we ended up being the only campers who weren't Boy Scouts in our whole camping area. Which meant that we were serenaded by "revielle" early Sat. morning. Actually, Lily and I were the only ones still asleep at 6 am because Natalie and Coult were already up trying to start our morning camp fire. Coult got up super early because he woke to something pulling on one of our tent poles at about 5 am. It turned out to be a 30-40 lb raccoon trying to get to the bags of food in our tent! Then, after the raccoon ran away, a skunk walked right across his feet while he was sitting in his chair! He was so scared that it was going to spray him! Coult and the girls went fishing for awhile, but didn't catch anything. It was fun for them anyway. We also waded along the lake shore for a while before we left. We had so much fun! I'm not much of a camper, but since it went so well, I wouldn't mind going again. Here are some pics from our camping trip:

A memorable night with our girls!

2008-10-16T09:07:00.009-05:00

A few nights ago, Lily was in such a great mood and really wanted to participate with the family! It was awesome! She was so connected with us and we just didn't want the night to end. She played "ring around the rosy" and "duck, duck, goose" with Coult, Natalie and I for over an hour. She is dangerous with "duck, duck, goose" though! LOL She wouldn't let us get past the first few words before she was pulling us all down onto the floor! Eventually, Natalie asked her if she wanted to attack Coult and they ended up rough-housing with him and playing "evil scientist plastic surgeon". Natalie has such a fun imagination and she is great with helping Lily to use her imagination too.I know he really enjoyed that since it doesn't happen often. They were being so silly, so I took a couple of short videos of them. And yes, those are Lily's pajama pants that Natalie is putting on Coult's head! Natalie said "Mom! She's actually playing with us! I don't want this to ever stop!" I wish I could have gotten a video of "duck, duck, goose", but it was hard to video and play at the same time. It made us so happy to have fun like this with our girls. The night before this happened, I had been praying to be able to understand Lily better and to be able to be more patient with her challenges. She is having a lot of anxiety issues that have us really worried right now. That night was an answer to my prayers. It was Heavenly Father's way of letting me know that Lily really does love to be with us, but it's just hard for her to show loving emotions and really allow herself to connect with others. There have been a few other times that this has happened. But never for this length of time. I'm really trying to hold onto this experience to remind myself that even though times can be challenging with a child on the autism spectrum, that they are truly fun children who just need those around them to try to understand what they have to cope with everyday. Enjoy the videos!

Happy 6th B-Day Lily!!!

2008-10-02T20:07:00.016-05:00

Lily turned six years old on the 30th of September!!! She wanted to have a Batman themed b-day party! I'm not sure why, but that's what she wanted, so that's what we did. Coult almost always makes the girls birthday cakes. He did a great job making a milk, egg free Batman cake for Lily. We all had yellow and black teeth by the time we finished eating! LOL Here are some pics of Lily's party and of her playing with some of her gifts:

All is quiet

2008-09-21T16:13:00.002-05:00

Well, the last of our "evacuees" just went home. It seems strangely quiet now. I'm glad that we were able to provide a place for them to stay during the storm and until their electrical power and water were restored. But, I know that they were all glad to be able to return to their own homes. My parents house sustained pretty significant damage, so it will be a while before things return to normal for them. Their roof was stripped down to the ply wood in several places, so they have lots of water damage inside. Alisa and Michael's house had some damage to the outside walls, but not much water inside. My grandfather's house had some water blown in, so he will probably be getting new carpet. Aunt Shirley and Uncle Paul lost some shingles, but they aren't sure about the inside of their house yet. I guess they will find out tonight when they get home. It's amazing the destruction that a hurricane can cause. It's so sad to look at the pictures of my parents home and the surrounding land and seeing all the trees broken and shingles littering the ground. It's horrible to think of the people in Galveston and Bolivar who didn't survive the storm. I'm sure there were many who were swept out into the Gulf and will never be found. We were very blessed here in College Station. The hurricane shifted just a bit before it made landfall, so we had tropical storm winds here instead of the forecasted hurricane winds. We didn't have any damage at our home and didn't lose power at all. I'll be glad when hurricane season is over.

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-13T02:32:00.002-05:00

It's 2:30 am and I can't sleep. Hurricane Ike should be to our area in the next hour or so. The wind is only gusting to about 30 mph so far, but it's going to get much worse soon. I managed to go to sleep a little bit, but every time I do, I wake up from flashback/nightmares about the tornado. I have only had tornado "flashbacks" about 3 times since the tornado, and tonight was one of them. I know that if I hear glass breaking, that is going to be the trigger and all my memories of that night will come back. Just the bits and pieces that I have remembered over the last few years are terrifying enough. I don't want anymore. But, I don't want to scare Natalie and Lily, so I thought I would just go downstairs where I won't hear the windows rattle so much. Coult is having to stay at the hospital tonight because they want to make sure that all those on shift tomorrow will be able to be there. Steven is here, so that makes me feel better. But, I still wish Coult was here. He's always been there to give me a hug and calm me down after a flashback dream. I'm so worried about my family in Nome right now too. I know they're getting pounded by the storm right now. I can't imagine how scared they must be with the wind speeds so high where they are. This hurricane is crazy! It's huge! I thought when we moved here that we would be far enough away that we wouldn't have to worry about hurricanes anymore. Not so. My family would have evacuated here, but the weather here probably won't be much better. I keep thinking about how Galveston Island may never be the same. We have gone there numerous times and it's hard to imagine it being under water. I will be so glad when this hurricane is over. Earlier today, Coult and I found out that his maternal grandmother had been evacuated from a nursing home and flown to our town. We found her in Reed Arena where they are housing many special needs patients. It was a sight I will never forget when we walked into the arena and saw row upon row of mostly elderly and/or handicapped people laying on cots. They were being cared for by many military doctors and nurses as well as volunteers from the area. I still can't believe how many people were there and what "organized chaos" it was. I mean, they were doing there best under the circumstances, but no one should end up like that. We were able to give them some helpful info about his grandmother and we tried to comfort her as best we could. I don't know if she knew who we were or not, but she seemed to have some recognition in her eyes when she heard our voices. Thankfully, the doctor assigned to her agreed that they couldn't care for her properly in that facility and they were able to transfer her to a local nursing home. As soon as the weather clears, we will go and check on her. She's actually only a few miles away from us on the same road that Coult's hospital is on. I don't think she was sent here by accident. I know Heavenly Father had a hand in getting her to a city where she has family that could look after her. Coult's parents had to evacuate to another area, so they are unable to be here for her right now and I know that is very difficult on Coult's mom. I hope that we were able to put her mind at ease somewhat. At least now she knows that her mom will be looked after until they can all return home after the hurricane. I really should try to get some sleep now.

Lily: Queen of the day!

2008-09-10T15:32:00.008-05:00

Today Lily was chosen to be the "Queen of the day" in her kindergarten class. She got to wear a beautiful crown and have a book written about her. She and her classmates even drew pictures of her to put in the book. Lily did an excellent job drawing her picture and writing her name!

Busy couple of weeks..

2008-09-05T13:32:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy around here! First, the new school year started. Natalie and Lily seem to be enjoying their new school year so far. Lily loves her teacher and the para that works with her. We have been blessed that Natalie and Lily have always had great teachers working with them. Natalie is enjoying being the big kid on campus. She's in 6th grade this year, so this is her last year on the intermediate campus. She even got to choose her own locker this year! She picked a top one, of course. Last year she had a bottom locker and things kept getting dropped on her head. Remember those days? She wasn't thrilled about having to "dress-out" in PE this year. But now that she's done it a couple of times, I think she's getting accustomed to it. Lily is in kindergarten this year! She did great the first week! She says she likes kindergarten. Unfortunately, this week she has been sick. She came home with a high temp. Tuesday afternoon and wasn't able to go back to school for the rest of this week. Her temp is finally down today, so hopefully she's on the mend. Earlier this week, several members of my family (my mom, dad, grandpa, brother, sister, and brother-in-law) all evacuated to our house because of Hurricane Gustav. Thankfully, southeast Texas was spared. They're all back home now. I'm so glad that we were able to provide a place for them to evacuate to. We had lots of fun while they were here. We had air mattresses everywhere at night, but I don't think anyone was too uncomfortable. We really hated to see them go, but life goes on. Here are some pics of the first day of school:

Fun with cousins!

2008-08-16T20:55:00.009-05:00

Tye, Kenadie, Aunt Alisa and Grandma came to visit us earlier this week. We had lots of fun while they were here! We tried to get a pic of all the cousins together, but they just wouldn't cooperate too well! LOL Lily absolutely refused to have anything to do with a "group picture". And we couldn't keep Tye or Kenadie still long enough. But, we got some cute pictures anyway. I especially love the one of Tye waving at me and the one of Kenadie trying to walk in Lily's tennis shoes! It was hilarious! Enjoy the pics!

Mini-golf, bowling, and food--oh my!

2008-08-03T15:44:00.003-05:00

Aunt Shirley and PaPaw came to visit us this week. We had so much fun while they were here! We played glow-in-the-dark mini golf one afternoon. Unfortunately, it was so dark in there that the pictures didn't turn out. We introduced them to a couple of new restaurants, as well: Fish Daddy's and Hullabaloo's. PaPaw really enjoyed the fried catfish at Fish Daddy's! He even ate some cold for breakfast the next morning! We also went to a diner called Hullabaloo's. A little background on Hullabaloo's: Coult and I like to watch some of the shows on Food Network, including Diner, Drive-in's and Dives (something like that). Anyway, I decided to see if the host had visited any restaurants in Texas. I was shocked to find one that he visited is about two minutes from our house! So, when my parents were up here visiting about a month ago, we all decided to try out Hullabaloo's. We figured it couldn't be too bad considering it was on Food Network. It was really great! It's in an old diner car that was brought down to Texas by the owner/cook who is from the Northeast. The food is great! So, we decided to go eat there again while Aunt Shirley and PaPaw were here. PaPaw loved their liver and onions and Aunt Shirley was excited to find that they cook an authentic grilled ham sandwich. It was so big she couldn't eat it all even in two meals! While they were here, we also went bowling. We forgot the camera, but Coult managed to take a few pics on his cell phone. We had a great time! It was Lily's idea to go, but then she got scared. Coult helped her and she ended up being in second place! I found out that even though I'm a pro at Wii bowling, I completely stink at the real thing! I was in last place! Oh well, it was still lots of fun!

I finished painting the kitchen!!

2008-07-25T18:26:00.006-05:00

Natalie and I painted part of our kitchen a couple of weeks ago. She was a big help! She and Lily are in Galveston this week with Aunt Shirley and some family friends. I know they're having a great time! We miss them a lot! I decided that since I have the house to myself during the day, it would be a good time to finish painting the kitchen. The true color is kinda hard to see in the pics, but it's a pale, soft aqua blue color. Anyway, here's some pics of the finished product:

Farewell to the syringe...

2008-07-18T20:43:00.004-05:00

I know this is an odd picture to post. But this syringe (well, not always this one, but ones just like it) have been part of our lives since Lily was 3 weeks old and began taking compounded Prevacid. We took her for her yearly appt. with her gastro doctor on Wed. and we finally felt like Lily was ready to try some of the Prevacid granules mixed into her applesauce. We've tried in the past and we've tried the solutabs that are supposed to melt on your tongue. But, Lily always ended up vomiting immediately due to the texture of the medicine "beads". This time she did great! I called the little beads "polka-dots" and told her it was big-girl Prevacid and she took it without hesitation! We are so excited to finally be done with the liquid compound. We had to have it shipped to us every month and it has to be refrigerated, so it was not exactly convenient. So, after almost 6 years, we say farewell to the syringe that has been such a part of Lily's life. We are very grateful for the Prevacid though, because without it Lily would be unable to keep her food down and would have to have major surgery or a feeding tube. She came so close to that as an infant and when I think back on those days, I'm so incredibly grateful that she responded well to the Prevacid. Maybe some day she will even be able to swallow the Prevacid pill. But, I guess I'm getting ahead of myself, huh? ;)

Tea Party!

2008-07-13T17:29:00.012-05:00

The girls and I had a lovely tea party this afternoon after church. Well, technically it was pink lemonade, but it was quite delicious! They wanted cookies to go with our "tea", so I made some milk-free, egg-free cookies so that Lily could have some too. That little stinker wouldn't even try them! LOL Oh well, at least they tasted yummy! Lily ate her old stand-by--golden oreos. It was a really fun time! I'm so glad that Lily has learned to play with Natalie and I hope that someday she will want to have a tea party with some girls her age too. Notice our "guests"? We enjoyed the company of Hello Kitty and Niki the Bear during our party. Don't you just love our accessories? The girls insisted I wear the crown and Lily even wore her boa. Natalie was dressed as a princess. Here are some pics:

We're all moved in!

2008-07-07T13:47:00.008-05:00

Our new home:

Sorry about the lack of updates lately, but we've been super busy getting settled into our new home. It's so wonderful to finally be moved in. We're still waiting for our appliances to be delivered (fridge, washer, dryer) due to a back order. But other than that, we're doing well. The girls loved the paint in their new rooms! I'm so grateful to my mom and my friend Heather for helping to paint. Coult and Steven helped out as well when they finished moving our mountain of boxes! We're also very grateful to my friend Cynthia for providing such a delicious meal for us the night we moved in. Also, it was so helpful to have several men and their sons from our church come to help move our furniture. Our move would not have gone so smoothly without all the help we received from our loving family and friends.

Lily has been having some issues with anxiety lately, so it was really wonderful to see her playing so well with Natalie last night. They put on a "dress-up" show for us last night. Yes, Lily is the surgeon and Natalie is her patient! Enjoy the pics:

Missing our girls...

2008-06-20T22:28:00.002-05:00

Natalie and Lily have been staying with our extended family for the last week while Coult and I get everything packed for our move next week. We miss them so much, but we know they are having lots of fun with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins! We appreciate everyone who has is taking care of them while we're packing. We have the best extended family in the world! Sorry I don't have any new pics to post right now. But without the girls here, I just don't have any thing to add. We had our first walk-through at the house today and our closing will be next Friday. We are so excited that we will be in our new home soon. I promise I will post some pics then. I hope you're all having a great summer so far!

Creativity Time!

2008-06-13T13:04:00.004-05:00

Natalie is always coming up with creative things for she and Lily to do. A few days ago, she decided to draw some food on her marker board and let she and Lily color it and pretend to eat it (erase it). As you can see from the smiles on their faces, they had lots of fun!

End of another school year!

2008-05-30T10:20:00.008-05:00

Lily & her teacher:

Today is the last day of school for my girls, and I realized that in only 30 minutes, Lily will no longer be in preschool! I know I'm probably going to cry when I pick her up and we have to say goodbye to her teacher and the aides in her room. She will be going to a new elementary school for kindergarten next year. She has had a great year and we all really love her teacher. I'm nervous about her going to kindergarten. But, we had our big meeting with all the school personnel a couple of weeks ago and she will have lots of support next year. She's going to have her reg. ed. kindergarten teacher, her resource teacher, an OT, Speech Therapist, and they are also going to put an aide in her classroom. I know it's going to be quite an adjustment for her, but I know the school staff will help her to have a positive experience.

I also can't believe that in just a few hours, Natalie will be finished with the 5th grade!!! Where did the time go? It seems like she just finished kindergarten! Next year will be her last year before middle school. That makes me feel really old! She always does well in school, though and I know she's going to do great next year too.

We are going to have such a busy summer! We should be moving into our new house by the first part of July. I have lots of packing to do in the next few weeks. I started packing a couple of weeks ago. But, I don't feel like I've made much headway yet. I'm dreading the actual move, but we can't wait to actually live in our new home! There's even a pool just a few houses down, so we can spend lots of time swimming this summer. With the scorching Texas temps, we're really going to need that pool!

**As requested, I have created a section of "Lilyisms". It's on the right side of the screen under the pictures of the girls**

Disney on Ice--"High School Musical"

2008-05-26T20:27:00.007-05:00

We got free tickets to see "High School Musical" on ice last Thursday. It was a really great show! I think Coult even enjoyed it! Natalie loves High School Musical 1 & 2 and Lily loves the songs that are about basketball and baseball. Lily's face lit up when she saw the basketball players on the ice. Here are some pics from the show:

Ready for church...

2008-05-18T19:53:00.005-05:00

I couldn't resist taking some pictures of our beautiful girls before church today.

New pictures of the house

2008-05-17T14:45:00.007-05:00

Natalie's limo ride

2008-05-14T06:50:00.002-05:00

I just sent Natalie off to school in a limo!!! She earned enough Accelerated Reading points (AR) to qualify for a limo ride to the school librarian's house! Once they get to the librarian's house, she and the other other 5th graders that qualified, get to eat donuts, watch two movies, and go out for pizza for lunch. She has worked so hard this year to meet her goal of 400 points. She exceeded that goal by earning 439 points! In order to earn points, students must read books and take tests on each book. Each book is worth a certain number of points if they make a 90 or 100 on the test. She also was in the top twenty AR readers at the school, so she has also earned lunch with the other top readers at the Outback Steakhouse next Monday during their school lunch time. We are so proud of her! I tried to take a picture of her standing by the limo, but unfortunately the battery on my camera died on me right as I was about to press the button. The librarian took a picture though, and she's supposed to send me a copy. Natalie was so excited this morning to see that limo pull up to our house! I know she's going to have so much fun today!

updated house photos

2008-05-02T09:46:00.008-05:00

Here are some more pics of the house, as requested...Alisa ;) As of yesterday evening, the plumbing, electrical, and ac duct work were finished. The shingles were put on the roof this past week as well. It looks like things are ready for insulation and sheet rock. They also will be finishing the paint and brick on the outside soon (hopefully).

Camp For All

2008-04-29T13:50:00.009-05:00

This past weekend, we went to visit "Camp For All". It's a camping facility about an hour away that was built for children who have chronic illnesses or any type of disabilities. Lily's teacher told us that in the fall she will be a camp director for CampLife, which is a camp that is held at the Camp for All facilities. Children with disabilities and their siblings can stay there overnight for a weekend and enjoy riding in canoes, rock climbing/zip line, swimming, arts/crafts, archery, horseback riding and more. Each child is assigned their own personal camp counselor. Camp for All had an open house to commemorate their 15th anniversary. The general public was allowed to get in for free and enjoy some of the activities that the campground has as well as hot dogs, cotton candy, ice cream and a small carnival. We had a great time! Steven was visiting us and we're so glad that he was able to come too. The facilities look really great and the girls are excited about being able to go there again in the fall. Natalie was even brave enough to do the rock climbing and the zip line! Lily really enjoyed the carnival games. She loved the mini golf, hockey, and basketball games. Here are some pics from our fun day at Camp for All! Sorry some of the pics are out of order...

House framing

2008-04-17T19:36:00.004-05:00

Natalie & Lily

2008-04-16T08:48:00.007-05:00

Lily made this adorable Lightning McQueen car last week at school! It's made from a cardboard box, duct tape and paper plates. She had lots of fun decorating it!

Natalie has been taking ice skating lessons for the last few weeks. She really loves it and has learned so much! We are so proud of the progress that she has made!

Our foundation has been poured!

2008-04-13T18:20:00.004-05:00

We're going to have a new home!

2008-03-31T15:21:00.003-05:00

We are so excited about our new home being built! We've been renting since we moved here and it will be so wonderful to finally have a home to call our home. The girls are super excited as well! They've already picked out their future bedrooms on the floor plan. Construction started last week, so there isn't much to see yet. But, I'll keep posting pics as things get done. The house is supposed to be completed sometime during the middle of July.

More egg decorating pics...

2008-03-28T08:31:00.005-05:00

Here are some more pics of our egg decorating. I tried to download another video, but it just wouldn't work. Maybe it will work later.

Easter egg decorating

2008-03-27T20:10:00.001-05:00

Coult & Steven's trip to Guatemala

2008-03-17T20:45:00.024-05:00

I hope y'all enjoy the pictures of Steven and me in Guatemala. These are pictures of either very old cathedrals, central areas of our hotel in Panajachel, volcanoes, a convent, Lake Atitlan, and some of the markets. If your lucky and your paying attention you might find Ronald McDonald sitting on a bench and Steven in "jail".

Snow in College Station!!!

2008-03-08T09:19:00.002-06:00

Cindy the hedgehog

2008-02-25T20:23:00.007-06:00

We had an interesting pet for the weekend. One of Natalie's teachers has several classroom pets that the students can take home for the weekend. There are rabbits, sugar gliders, rats, and a hedgehog. Of course, Natalie wanted to keep the hedgehog. She was really cute in an interesting way. We had never seen a hedgehog up close before, so we had no idea how prickly their quills look when they're scared or how tiny their little feet are. The teacher has a ball that you can put the hedgehog in to run around the house. It was so cute watching Cindy run around in that ball! We had to wear gloves to pick her up because of her quills. Lily was actually sad this morning when Natalie and I had to take Cindy back to the school. Here are some pictures of Cindy and the girls.

Making Pizza!

2008-02-17T21:10:00.006-06:00

I know it's been forever since I added new pics. It's not my fault...really ;) Actually, if I could ever figure out how to load pictures onto our computer from our camera, then I would update more often. Anyway, here are some pics from one of our Family Home Evenings. We had lots of fun making pizza from dough that we bought at Double Dave's Pizza. It's amazing how much easier it is to twirl dough that it is pre-made! That was $2.00 well spent. We all had a lot of fun and it tasted yummy too! Lily is especially happy when we make pizza because we can leave the cheese off her part! Enjoy the pics!

Christmas 2007

2008-01-02T16:06:00.000-06:00

Santa's Wonderland 2007

2008-01-02T15:49:00.000-06:00

Natalie's ice skating birthday party!

2007-12-05T14:07:00.000-06:00

Thanks, Alisa for posting your pics of Natalie's party! Maybe next time I will remember to check my camera to make sure the battery is there! I can't believe that Natalie is 11 yrs old now! Time has really flown by. We were so happy that my parents, Aunt Shirley, Aunt Alisa, Tye and Kenadie were able to be here to celebrate her birthday. We had lots of fun that weekend! After Natalie's party, we all went to see the Christmas lights at Santa's Wonderland. They were so beautiful! I will share some of those pics soon.

Dewberry Farm

2007-11-30T13:02:00.000-06:00

I'm late posting these photos...but better late than never, right? A few weeks ago, we met my parents at Dewberry Farm for some "Fall fun". We had such a great time that we've decided to make it a yearly tradition.

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T09:19:00.001-05:00

Fun on Galveston Island!

2007-10-29T09:45:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, we went to visit Coult's parents. On Saturday, they took us to Galveston for a day of fun. The girls really enjoyed riding the ferry and feeding the seagulls! We all had lots of fun playing mini-golf and eating at the Rain Forest Cafe. The weather was perfect! We had a really great time with them this weekend!

Pumpkin Time!

2007-10-23T20:39:00.001-05:00

It's so nice to have some real fall temps lately, especially when it's time to pick out a pumpkin. This afternoon, we took the girls to a local pumpkin patch to find a pumpkin to carve. Natalie designed our jack-o-lantern this year. She did a great job! Coult carved it, as he does every year. He did a great job too! Poor guy, he gets stuck every year carving our pumpkin. But I guess that's what happens when you're the only adult in the family who has any artistic ability. I sure don't have any! Natalie also helped Coult carve her little pumpkin and Lily had fun coloring on her two little white pumpkins. Enjoy the pics!

Laurie & Aaron's Wedding

2007-10-16T13:19:00.001-05:00

Steven's home!!!

2007-10-16T08:58:00.001-05:00

Of course, I forgot my camera (again) when we went to the airport to meet Steven. But, I did get a few pictures at my mom & dad's the weekend he came home.

Lily's field trip to the Children's Barnyard

2007-10-16T08:40:00.000-05:00

Lily's Birthday Party

2007-10-01T22:21:00.001-05:00

Lily's 5th birthday was this past Sunday. It's hard to believe that she's five yrs old! Her b-day party was Thursday afternoon. Lily even wanted to invite a couple of her friends! That's a first for her. She was really excited about her birthday this year! Coult made her cake and it turned out really great and tasted wonderful too! I'm so glad that he is talented enough to decorate cakes. He has always made cakes for both our girls for their birthdays. My mom, Alisa, Tye and Kenadie were able to come up for her party as well. We were so glad they were able to be there with us to celebrate. Laurie & Aaron came up on Saturday and were able to take Lily out to eat for her birthday. Here are some pics from Lily's special day:

Fun at the school playground!

2007-09-25T13:41:00.000-05:00

We took the girls to Lily's school playground a couple of weekends ago. Natalie was so happy because Lily has finally learned to play on the playground equipment. They had so much fun! Coult and I really enjoyed watching them play together.

2007-09-25T13:39:00.000-05:00

We were so proud to see Lily climbing! She has gotten so brave lately!

2007-09-25T13:37:00.000-05:00

I think Natalie loves climbing up the slide more than she likes going down it!

2007-09-25T13:34:00.000-05:00

Loving sisters

2007-09-25T13:32:00.000-05:00

Dr. Natalie & Nurse Lily

2007-09-25T13:23:00.000-05:00

Natalie & Lily--Ready for the first day of school '07

2007-08-28T18:19:00.000-05:00

2007-08-28T18:18:00.000-05:00

2007-08-28T18:10:00.001-05:00

Aaron's home!!!

2007-08-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

Aaron got home from his mission this past Thursday! The girls and I were able to go with the rest of my family to meet him at the airport in Houston. I can't believe that I forgot to take my camera! But, luckily Alisa has posted some great pics of his homecoming on her blog. So, if you want to see some pics, click on her link (vasquez family) at the bottom of my blog. It is so great to have him home. We're very proud of the wonderful job that he did as a missionary for the last two years in England. He shared lots of interesting tid-bits and stories with all of us over the weekend. Now, we'll be starting the countdown for when Steven comes home from his mission in October.

Tomorrow is the first day back to school for the new school year. I promise I'll get some pics of Natalie & Lily and get them posted.

2007-08-19T16:10:00.000-05:00

Natalie & Lily were in Houston for most of this past week with Aunt Shirley and Laurie. They're at my mom and dad's now. It's been lonely without them here. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about having peace and quiet and being able to sleep in. ;) But, Coult and I really are missing having our girls home with us. We've been able to talk to Natalie on the phone while they've been gone, but Lily won't talk to us. It's not that she's upset at us or anything, it's just one of the things about her that the autism has caused. It's times like these when I feel like I'm going through the grieving process all over again. I mean, I know that she has made much progress over the last couple of years and I feel that she will continue to progress. However, that doesn't make it any easier when I'm sad about not being able to hear her voice. We know she loves us not from words, but from actions. When she's not here to crawl up in our laps or flash her big smile, it's easy to feel that she has forgotten about us, even though I know she hasn't. Natalie, of course, tells us on the phone how much she loves us and misses us. Having a child on the autism spectrum has certainly made me appreciate so many things that I used to take for granted.

I'm going to drive down to my parents on Thursday, so I'll be able to see Natalie & Lily then. I can't wait! Unfortunately, Coult has to work. Aaron is coming home from his mission on Thursday and it's so exciting to think about being able to see him again after two years. The girls and I will be returning back home next Sunday, just in time for school to start again.

Also, Alisa has set up a blog for mothers and the link for it is on the bottom of my page as "Happy Mommas". It's a place for moms to share experiences, advice and support about motherhood and the joys and struggles that come with it.

I'll post some new pics soon.

Family photo--Finally!!!!

2007-07-15T16:32:00.000-05:00

We finally got a family photo where everyone was smiling! We've been trying for years, but Lily has always gotten upset and we end up giving up. Since everyone was dressed up for church this morning and Lily was in such a happy mood, we thought we'd give it another try.

Enjoying the Brazos Valley Bombers baseball game!

2007-07-14T19:54:00.000-05:00

Coult won tickets for the Brazos Valley Bombers baseball game this evening. We were sitting in the front row reserved seats right behind home plate! We had the seats where there's a staff member assigned to the area to go and get our food and drinks for us. That was pretty cool too! It was a double-header, but we left after the first game. Natalie loved it of course, and we were pleasantly surprised that Lily lasted the whole two hours. It was very pretty hot and muggy, but not unbearable. Natalie and Lily also had fun playing some of the kids games that they had available there. Best of all, the Bombers won the game 3 to 1! It was a really fun family outing!

2007-07-14T19:53:00.001-05:00

2007-07-14T19:49:00.001-05:00

Doesn't Natalie look beautiful!!

2007-07-09T16:34:00.001-05:00

Lily looks so cute in pink!!

2007-07-09T16:31:00.000-05:00

Laurie, Aaron, Natalie & Lily

2007-07-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

Lily with Laurie and Aaron

2007-07-09T16:12:00.001-05:00

Laurie and her fiance Aaron came up to visit us over the weekend. We had so much fun while they were here! Lily calls Aaron "Laurie's Aaron" because she knows she already has an Uncle Aaron serving a mission in England. It's going to be really confusing when she and Natalie have two uncles named Aaron!

2007-07-06T11:20:00.001-05:00

Lily enjoying the fish fry at PaPaw's on July 4th!!

Natalie and baby Kenadie
when she was just 1 day old!

Lily having fun
with sidewalk chalk
at Grandma's.

You can't see Tye,
but Natalie is spraying him
with water and he
is just loving it!!!

Coult and our adorable niece Kenadie

2007-07-05T17:05:00.001-05:00

Cousin Tye

2007-07-05T16:59:00.000-05:00

Tye had so much fun playing in the sidewalk paint with Natalie and Sherry!

Natalie & Sherry

2007-07-05T16:53:00.001-05:00

This past weekend, we went to my parent's house so we could go to Kenadie's baby blessing on Sunday. Michael's family came too. Natalie and Michael's little sister Sherry had a blast with Tye's sidewalk paint!

Lily hanging out at grandma's on the 4th of July

2007-07-05T16:45:00.001-05:00

Natalie has been in Houston all week with Aunt Shirley. So, Coult, Lily, and I decided to make a quick trip down to my parents for the 4th of July holiday. The rest of the extended family was gathering at PaPaw's for a fish fry and we were lonely up in College Station all by ourselves. It was probably crazy to drive 2.5 hrs for a fish fry, but it sure was worth it! We had a great time!

Natalie's graduation

2007-06-28T21:55:00.001-05:00

This was taken after Natalie's graduation from Elementary school. It's hard to believe that she will be in 5th grade next year! She's holding her grad. certificate as well as her Presidential Award for Academic Achievement.

No pictures, Mom!

2007-06-28T21:52:00.001-05:00

I don't think that Lily wanted me to take her picture! I managed to get this photo right before she put the lens cap back on!

Our beautiful girls

2007-06-28T21:42:00.000-05:00

Lily lounging in her chair at the Frio

2007-06-28T21:21:00.001-05:00

Lily loved lounging in her Dora chair behind the cabin and waiting on the rest of us to roast her marshmallow. Actually, she asked us to "smoke" her marshmallows! We thought that was pretty cute! She even ate a couple of bites of them from time to time.

Natalie at the Frio River

2007-06-28T20:51:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, we went on a family vacation to the Frio River, which is in the Texas Hill Country. We stayed in a cabin, swam in the river and floated down it in tubes. Every evening, Natalie couldn't wait for Coult to build a fire so she could make s'mores.