Rocket fun!

The Barrett men had a blast making a rocket car today. Don't miss the video!

Fun pics!

Couldn't resist sharing a few more pics with you!
















Daniel took this of my sister and I during a laptop hangout session in Austin.
















Molly cooked us an incredible meal after the sip & see. Here she is grilling our steaks! Thanks for the support, mom!






















Ellie roots for the team. Touchdown! Just needed a few more that Saturday.




















Anna had fun dressing up as a princess. Could she be the dish fairy?!




















The kids rode the train at Acton Methodist's Lord's Acre. They LOVE this thing!
















All smiles!



















Another of Daniel's photos. If you know Anna, you'll recognize this face!!!

Halle's Sip & See

We had a great party for Leslie and Halle down at Leslie's house in Austin! Halle is 7 weeks old here - she seemed to have a great time, although she missed out on the cupcake bar. :)
























The guest of honor, complete with ballet shoe booties!




















Knox Riemondi enjoys lunch.















Mom and Molly (Leslie's sister-in-law)




















The guests of honor!





















Leslie and friend Angela pose as Ellie blesses her cupcake!















This is Jack, Leslie's nephew, who is 9 months old. He's such a doll!!
















Our cupcake bar, complete with chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet cupcakes, frosting in every color, and tons of toppings! It was so fun!!!














Daniel had fun getting his cupcake JUST right.
















Anna and Daniel enjoying their creations!
















After the party, the kids enjoyed the warm weather by playing outside on the trampoline. This is their "train"!

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year! Daniel took his first school field trip to a community retirement center with his preschool. Later that evening, the kids suited up for some trick or treating fun. We met up with several families in our neighborhood and filled the pumpkins with candy! Last year Daniel & Anna were both shy about approaching houses and ringing doorbells. This year was completely different - they were both running from house to house with joy!! Grammie and Papa Ray joined us - we all had a blast!!

















Fueling up on our pre trick-or-treating dinner.





















Pretty pink princess Anna shows us her best princess moves.



















Spiderman flexes his muscles.





















Our buddy Chris joined in the fun! Need a package, mon?
















Daniel, Anna, and our dear friend Spencer the giraffe pose as we wrap up our evening.

Fun with family and friends!

Barrettworld was wild and crazy this week!

Aunt Leslie came to visit with Halle and Ellie in tow! We visited Grammie at her office, terrorized Target, went to the zoo, made s'mores in Papa Ray's fire pit, met up with Regina, Angela, and Baby Aubree, and just had a great time! Pics and comments to come soon!

We also had another group of special visitors - the Visentines! Michael, Kelly, Andrew and Matthew came out to the country for some R & R! We enjoyed the beatiful Texas fall Saturday with a boat ride to the kids favorite desitnation - McDonalds! We also made smores, but kept it here in the back yard. More pics to come, but here's a fun shot of the kids with the pumpkins they carved. Well, mostly "they" - you know mom and dad were definitely involved in the process!

Big Arrival!

Halle Elizabeth Peck was born Thursday, September 13th at 3:19pm. She weighs 7 pounds, 9 ounces and is 21 inches long. Leslie is doing great and looking even better; she had a little more than 7 hours of mostly pain-free labor! Kevin is doing great - he is trying to keep up with all the text messages coming his way! Big sister Ellie is doing really well - you will see several pics of us in the waiting room with her. She wasn't excited about seeing mom with stuff in her arm (IV) but loves her baby sister and gave her sweet kisses on her head.


Arriving at the hospital!
















Anna and Ellie have a blast coloring in the waiting room.

















New family photo: Grammie, Papa Ray, Ellie, Kevin, Leslie, and Halle!

















Aunt Suzy with Leslie and new niece Halle!

After Halle was born, we took the kids to the park nearby at Central Market for some playtime and a snack. Here's Ellie!

Daniel & Anna can play together!

Back at the hospital:

Kissing Cousins! Anna gives Halle a low-germ kiss on the head.

Anna and Ellie have a chat on Aunt Leslie's bed.


















Doesn't Leslie look great?!

Dave's Birthday!

It's birthday time again, here at Barrettworld! We kicked off Dave's birthday celebration while his brother Dan and wife Amy were in town from Virginia over Labor Day weekend. Dave's parents joined us, too, and we had a great weekend! The guys got to celebrate the opening of dove season by bringing home 2 birds from an evening hunt. However, we would all probably agree that the highlight of the weekend was challenging each other in Wii games!! Boxing, golf, bowling, tennis, and even sawing logs, painting fences, and hammering nails. That game is crazy. I'll post some pics as soon as Uncle D gets a chance to send some my way.
















Tonight, Tuesday September 11th, we celebrated Dave's birthday (which is really on Thursday the 13th). The kids helped me make a chocolate chocolate-chip birthday cake, and they definitely enjoyed it!! Mommy couldn't find the candles she bought at the store, so Dave picked the 0 candle! What a great sport. Besides, who really wants to track birthdays after 30?!



















We put a blindfold on Dave to give him his present....
















...a huge framed Texas map as it looked in 1836!






















Later, Daniel and Anna told Grammie that Mommy got Daddy a sleeping mask for his birthday!

We had a great evening together, relaxing and playing with the kids. Later, however, as Dave & I set out to find a good spot for the map, we heard a large crash from the kitchen. Daniel had already informed me that he was making apple juice. All was going well until he attempted to pour the juice into his cup while the pitcher lid was in the closed position. We had a good laugh (well, all except for sweet Daniel) while we cleaned up 2 quarts of freshly made apple juice off of the kitchen floor. Daniel redeemed himself by making another pitcher of it and (after learning how the pitcher works) poured himself a delicious cup of apple juice.

We celebrated tonight because Suzanne and the kids are trekking to Austin to be there for the arrival of the newest niece, Halle Peck! My sister Leslie is headed to the hospital on Thursday morning and Halle should make her appearance sometime that day. It is super cool that my sweet niece and Dave will have the same birthday!!! I hope to have some great baby pictures to post by this weekend!

New Mexico Vacation! (part 1)

Take a peek at some of our vacation pics! Dave & I spent a week in Pendaries Village with Suzanne's parents and the kids.

It took about 12 hours in the car to get there! The kids had a great time (mostly) during the long drive! We ate snacks, played with toys, and watched DVDs.

Here's our beautiful cabin! Pendaries (Pan-duh-ray), named after the man who owned it in the early 1900s, during the days of the Santa Fe Trail, which ran through nearby Las Vegas, NM. Thanks, Dale, for letting us stay at your beautiful home!

We looked for golf balls in the back yard!

The kids had special "rooms" - they LOVED it! It was a long closet with 2 doors and a slanted roof. It was perfect!

One day, we drove to 2 nearby ski mountains, Angel Fire and Red River. We found a great playground at Angel Fire, where we had a picnic!

Later, at Red River, they had a chairlift open. Dave, Daniel, and Suzanne took an exciting (but slow) ride up to the top of the mountain.

Grammie had fun taking pictures of the kids being silly in the car.

The cabin is on Hole 10 of the Pendaries golf course. Of course, my dad and Dave got in a few rounds. Nothing says vacation like playing golf!

Grammie & Anna on a golf course bridge.

We spent a day in Las Vegas, NM. One stop was the restored train depot. Las Vegas was a stop on the Santa Fe Trail and was a major city on the train route. Over 60 trains would stop there each day during the turn of the century.

We even got to see an Amtrak train come through while we were there!

Waiting for the train.

Here comes the train!!

It was fun to watch people get on and off the train. It was pretty loud, too!

Here is one of the train's conductors. She was super nice and waved to the kids while they pulled out.

This is the Castaneda hotel, which used to be a beautiful, high-class hotel during the train days. It was next door to the train station.

What vacation with preschoolers is complete without a trip (or two) to McDonalds?!

We also had tons of fun just hanging out at the cabin.

Mommy had surprises for the kids all week. Anna loved her new princess shoes.

Play-doh was Daniel's favorite!