Our Brand New Niece

Just a quick update to introduce everyone to our new niece, Jaycelyn Tylar, born yesterday morning to my brother, Jeff and his wife, Tammi. She joins big brother, Trevor, who will be 2 in April. We are so excited that she is here and can't wait to see her in person, which will be the second week of March when we go camping at a bow shoot near them.

Congratulations Jeff, Tammi and Trev! We love you!

Family Trip to the El Paso Zoo

We had all been looking forward to Colton having a 4-day weekend and Colin a 3-day weekend for President's Day, but it didn't quite turn out the way we expected. Cady wound up very sick with a severe ear infection, throat infection and the beginnings of a lung infection, so needless to say, we didn't do much. By Monday, she was feeling a lot better, though, and had been on antibiotics for a few days already, so we decided to make a trip into El Paso to try and cure our "stir-craziness" (mostly mine).

We go to the El Paso Zoo at least once a year and hadn't been since Memorial Day of last year, so we decided that was where we would go. Here are some of my favorite pics from our visit:

They have really made the sea lion exhibit nice. It is one of our favorite stops at the zoo!!

I try everytime we are there to get a good picture of the elephants and this was the best one ever. They are usually out so far you can't get a good look at them, let alone a good picture. We got there right after they were fed!

The orangutans are another favorite because they are so unpredictable! We have seen them playing with burlap sacks and sleeping in funny positions, but this was the first time to see one of them climb so high up in a tree and just hang out there!

Had to show you a picture of our very own little monkeys, too!!

Daytrip to Cloudcroft

Hoping for a day to play in the snow, we went to Cloudcroft one Saturday in early February with Colin's parents. The weather was windy and cold, but no snow. We had a great time anyway, though, driving around and seeing deer and more turkeys than any of us had ever seen in one day! We also went for a short hike, ate great BBQ for lunch and watched Colin trying to teach Colton to ice skate. We finished off the day by stopping by the local bakery and picking up their famous freshly baked pies: Mixed berries for us and blueberry for John and Sara. That was a long ride home having to smell them all the way! It was definitely worth the wait, though, and we enjoyed a wonderful day with family.

Beautiful Ruidoso

In January, we were invited to Ruidoso to stay with some friends at their family's cabin for a weekend. It was beautiful, although there was no snow on the ground. The river, which was right across the road from their cabin, was partially frozen however, making it absolutely breathtaking! We had a great time going for hikes, visiting the Hubbard Museum of the American West, playing games, eating great food, and just spending time with great friends!

Catching Up with Cady!

Little Cady-Bug. Where to begin? I never realized that siblings could be so opposite! She is so much more independent (by that I mean stubborn) and outgoing than Colton, although she still "pretends" to be shy sometimes! She loves Hannah Montana, the Wiggles, Elmo and the Doodlebops and she is very much into clothes, shoes and jewelry right now - especially anything pink! She loves to sing and dance and amazes us with her ability to memorize words to songs, but her favorite thing to do when she hears a song is to run to her room and grab her guitar! Even riding in the car or her stroller she plays the "air guitar"when she hears a catchy tune!

She has turned into my little shopping buddy, which is something I have always wanted. You should see Colin cringe when out of the blue she will ask to go to Kohl's! It makes me so proud!!

Now if only we can master potty training!!!

Colton's First 2 Months of 2008

Hello everyone! Well, this was a New Year's Resolution of mine, and two months into 2008 I am finally doing it! I want to catch everyone up on "McVaugh Moments" from January and February, so bear with me for a few posts while I get everyone up to speed.

First of all, there is Colton, who is still our little cowboy. Can you believe he turned 6 on the 30th of December? We can't. To celebrate his birthday, he chose to have a couple of friends over for his very first sleepover. In the middle of January (poor kid is getting used to having his birthday postponed - comes with being born during the busiest holiday season of the year), his friends from his old daycare, Tyler and Travis joined us for a family celebration and stayed all night. Colton chose a hunting/camping theme, so we let them roast marshmallows in the backyard and they slept in our family tent in the living room. I say "slept" but it was more like wrestled and giggled until midnight or later with it starting back up before 7AM the next morning! They had lots of fun, though! My mom and dad offered to make his cake this year and they did a great job as you can tell from the picture below! They also saved me the annual birthday party stress of making it myself - thanks, Mom and Dad! He celebrated 100 days of Kindergarten a few weeks ago and he is counting down the days until Spring Break! He does enjoy school, though, and is reading very well and enjoys all the new friends he has made. Besides reading, he has accomplished 2 other goals he had for himself at the beginning of Kindergarten. One was to do the Monkey Bars without help and he's definitely got that down! He goes outside everyday after homework and practices and is almost skipping a bar already! He also learned to ride his bike without training wheels, with Colin's help. Both were huge accomplishments that made him and us very proud.He is also still in 4-H and looking forward to playing tee ball for the first time, starting soon!