New Buyer, New Contract, New Closing

The first offer/contract fell through on the 9th. We were back on the market for 6 days when we received the new offer! We are set to close on January 13th. Won't that be a nice way to start out the new year?! We hope that it all works out and we'll keep everyone posted.

Some December Pictures

Ashton fell asleep watching me clean the kitchen!

Asher was "sorting" through the mail

Daddy was "watching" Ashton while I went to the store

Ashton in his Star gown and socks :)

He is so smiley!

Happy 35th Birthday Stephen!

Aden with cousin Meagan

The family playing Rock Band ~ the boys love it!

Asher on Bass ~ he is a Rock Star

Prayer Request

We found out last night that my cousin Matthew Hicks, Mark’s brother, was murdered around 4AM Monday morning. A lot of the details of the incident are still unclear. We do know that Matt knew the guy that shot him and that he is in custody. Matt’s girlfriend was with him when the incident took place at the suspects home. Matt was an amazing guy, he was only 32 years old, a Navy Seal and still on active duty. He was living in Virginia Beach and working out of the Washington DC area.

In January 2000 Mark lost his oldest brother to a battle with leukemia, he was 30 when he passed. Mark still has his brother Jay, 35, who lives close by.

Please pray for the Everett Hicks, Sr. Family as well as the Burkhardt extended family.

Delayed

Closing has delayed......not a big surprise at all. The buyers lender wants to have an Engineer's report done on the foundation. The lender will then look over the report and determine if they will loan the money on the house without us having the foundation stabilized first. Let's keep our fingers crossed!! New closing date scheduled for December 16th.

Las Vegas Weekend

Ashton and I went to visit Ginny and Dad and families. We had a great time. Ginny and I hung out on Friday and went to Lake Las Vegas and to Hoover Dam. Saturday it was just the girls, Ginny, me, Sheila and Joann, we went shopping and more shopping and more shopping then went to Green Valley Ranch for some Sushi. It was really nice of Grandpa & Grandma to watch Ashton and Johnny for those two days so we could run all over the place. On Sunday we hung out at Dad's just relaxing. Ashton did great on the plane both ways. We were very lucky to have two nice ladies next to us that offered to help out if necessary. On the way home we were in a window seat and the man sitting next to us had a 3 year old at home. He also offered to help get stuff out of the bag if necessary. I must say that it was a very good feeling to see that there are still some people who are nice to you when you are traveling with an infant. It was funny when we were boarding after first class and there was a man in his 50's that had a terrified look on his face....I'm sure he was praying that we weren't in first class near him! It turned out to be a nice experience since it was my first time traveling with one of the kids on my own.

Lake Las Vegas

We did one of the tours.....it was pretty neat

Lake Mead side of Hoover Dam. The white line on the rock

is where the water level used to be. I think it's about

13 feet down from normal levels.

Ashton was having some play time with Johnny's toys

Always so happy after his bath!

Johnny in his new COW Boots

Alex was playing his guitar and Johnny decided he was going to "play" too

Ashton was so happy sitting in the highchair while I got ready for the day

Johnny and all his drool......

Aunt Sheila held Ashton like this for at least 30 minutes until he fell asleep

Ashton and Grandma Schnitzius

Johnny was playing this time.....he has the pick in his hand!

Grandpa & Grandma Schnitzius with Ashton just before we left their house on Sunday night

Motorcycle Show

On Sunday while I was still in Las Vegas Stephen took the boys to a show at Market Hall. They were able to see all the new motorcycles and ATV's. Jim, Mistie and Ashley went with them and from the photos I would say the boys had a great time!

Aden looks like such a big kid sitting on this bike

Asher saying "Rock On"

I imagine Aden had a little help getting on this one!

How nice.....two brothers sharing.....only because it's not at our house!!

Mommy & Daddy Weekend

Stephen and I left all three boys with his parents and went to New Braunfels for Wurstfest. We had such a blast! We were able to see a friend on Friday night, eat at Sushi Zushi, hang out on Saturday with some more friends in SA, then we all headed to the festival. We met up with Stephen's boss and his wife at Wurstfest as well. We were able to drink some great German beer called Warstein and have some pretty good sausage. This was the first time for me to leave Ashton for more than a few hours. On our way home we stopped in San Marcos for some outlet shopping. So, it was a good trip and we had a nice time hanging out with friends.

Big News

Stephen and I got a call from our Realtor this morning with an offer on the house! We were very excited to hear all the details. Stephen had to leave for the airport shortly after our phone call, so I was left to handle the paperwork. I signed all the documents and everything was scanned and submitted! If the deal goes well then we are looking at a closing date of November 28th! Wow! I've begun looking again today and there are still a lot of houses for sale in the area we are looking at. We know it is very likely that we will be in an apartment for a month or two, but we are OK with that!! We will keep everyone posted on the proceedings!

The Costumes

We tried to get Asher and Aden to pick out costumes.....they were both set on being Ghosts. We even showed them all sorts of other things, but neither one of them wanted to be anything other than ghosts for some reason. It made my job a lot easier, for sure. Thanks to Bo for the hair and makeup, it turned out great!!! They don't even look like the same kids. I guess that's the point!

Aden pre-hair & makeup

Aden post hair & makeup

Asher post hair & makeup

Scary Ghosts!

Mommy and the SCARY ghosts

Ashton was a pumpkin.....

My cute boys!

The Ghost and the Pumpkin

Stephen put this on and we had to take a picture! HA!

Pre-Trick or Treat Pictures

Asher was being silly and wouldn't let me take his picture

Aden was ready.....

Ashton in his cute little outfit!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We are going to get the boys dressed up tonight for Trick or Treating. It should be fun. We'll have lots to post tonight.

Another reason to remember this day.........

14 years ago on Halloween Weekend is when Stephen and I met and started dating! I was looking for a picture to post of us from "way back then" but I don't have anything scanned.

I love you Stephen!

Time Consuming

I've been working on several new designs for my background. I've got some for seasons and still need to finish one for Christmas. I found this background on another site, so I can't take credit for this one! Web design is a lot of fun for me, but wow, it takes a lot longer to work on coding when you have 3 kids who need your attention. Nap time isn't quite long enough to get things done sometimes! Stephen has been traveling a lot lately....he's been gone every week for the last 7 weeks. I know the boys will be glad when Daddy is home for a while. Trying to squeeze "fun" stuff in on the weekends between unpacking, doing laundry, going to church and getting Stephen packed again for the airport is pretty exhausting. I am looking forward to November and December since the travel schedule usually slows down a bit.

I took this with my camera phone, so it's a bit fuzzy. He is too cute in that little hat!

Asher on his new bike! Thanks Seth & Laura!! You're the best!

Ashton was all grins last night after his bath!

Ashton is 3 months old today!

How 'bout them Cowboys?!!

We took the boys to the Dallas / Tampa Bay Game yesterday!! It was the first game for Aden and Ashton and this was the second time Asher was at Texas Stadium. Again, Uncle Tommy had some tickets and the whole family went. We had a great time eating hot dogs and listening to all the cheering fans. Aden was pretty impressed with everything and was pointing things out to me all during the game. Ashton was so good. He was just looking around at all the people and made friends with the guy sitting next to me. It was a great afternoon at the stadium!

Aden sitting with Daddy.....he wouldn't sit still in his seat!

Oklahoma State Cowboy Marching Band was pretty awesome!

Asher and Uncle Tommy

And the Cheerleaders!

Aden was being pretty silly at this point....he was getting sleepy

Dallas Mavericks Game

On Thursday night Uncle Tommy and Stephen took Asher and Aden to the Mavs Game. Mommy and Ashton stayed home to watch the game on TV, we looked for them in the stands, but never did see them. Asher and Aden had a blast! The Mavs Man, the guy dresses up as a basketball, came over and gave High-5's to the boys. They were excited telling me all about it. Aden saw the Mavs Horse and wasn't too sure about him. It scared him a bit, luckily he was not too close to their seats.

The seats were about 5 from the floor....about 10 rows back total.

Another great view from their seats!

Aden and Daddy

Asher and Uncle Tommy

Awh.....Asher and Aden.....my sweet boys!!

American Airlines Center after the game