Christmas was GREAT! Despite having little money, we were amazingly blessed and ended up with a wonderful Christmas. Here are the kids in their Christmas PJ's...that Santa brought to a Christmas Eve party we were invited to.
Rhett turned 39 on January 24th. Per his request we made a homemade cookie cake and it was very tasty! He got a new hand blender (for making milkshakes) and a blu-ray player (thanks to a very generous & anonymous friend giving us an Amazon gift card for Christmas).
I’ve just been busy as usual, trying to keep up with kids, hubby and my calling. Life seems to be getting more and more busy each day. I fondly remember those days not too long ago when I was able to have time to myself, instead of just what “had” to be done. Hopefully those days are not over forever!!!
Austin
At the end of December most of us ended up with a case (or two) of Pinkeye…something we’ve never experienced before. Carson, Me, Austin, Jackson & Logan all ended up with it. By far Austin had it the worst. Austin and I actually got it twice!
Austin fractured his ankle at Scouts on Wednesday, January 25th.
They were rolling a large tractor tire (like the front tire in this picture)
in some sort of relay race in the parking lot. He was running alongside a friend who was rolling it, but was unable to jump away fast enough when the friend lost control & it fell over onto Austin's foot. He has a splint on right now, until the swelling goes down enough to see the Orthopedic Dr. to have a cast put on. He is learning how to maneuver on his crutches, but luckily his school has an elevator. He has special passes for the elevator, extra time getting to class, and wearing sweat pants (which is against the dress code). He also finds a "buddy" to help him carry his books, etc. to class. Fun times ahead!!! The thing he’ll miss the most is being able to play basketball. Luckily the NBA season is in full swing and he loves watching the Spurs play just as much!We unwrapped his splint on Monday, January 30th to check the swelling and this is what we found. Ouch! Fortunately he said it doesn't hurt at all. We have an appt with the Orthopedist in 2 days. Hopefully he'll be able to cast it then.
This is Austin on Wednesday, February 1st getting his cast on at the Pediatric Orthopedist's office. He'll wear this for 3 weeks, then get a new cast for another 3 weeks, then have to wear a walking boot for 2 more weeks. The fracture is actually a separation of the growth plate at the base of his tibia. Dr. Stall said there's a 1 in 20 chance that his right leg will be slightly longer than the other one, by about a centimeter.
Logan
Logan made us some much needed cash recently. He was a surrogate for a company who researches car accidents for court cases. This is the second time he’s done it. All it requires is for us to wait in the waiting room, read, watch movies, eat snacks, take a nap if necessary, then when they are actually ready for him he gets to sit in a car for 10 minutes and have some pictures taken of him. It’s hard work I tell you! Logan loves to be creative and is always coming up with some interesting things to pretend. I don’t understand it, but there are chains, ropes and wires strung all over the backyard for some reason…he’s got a plan there somewhere?!?Carson
Carson is doing great in school. He is really becoming an awesome reader! His new favorite thing to do is play board games…although he has a rough time finding people willing to play with him. He especially loves playing “The Farming Game” with Rhett. It is a game similar to Monopoly, but instead you buy acreage, tractors, harvesters, cattle, etc. He is such a loving boy and is constantly coming up to me with lots of hugs & kisses. I love that boy!Jackson
Jackson is potty training!!! We celebrated his 3rd birthday on January 2nd.
He loves just about anything, especially monster trucks and playing on the computer. It is amazing to me how smart he is. He is leaps & bounds ahead of friends his age. He definitely has his Dad’s smarts!Hailey
Hailey turned 7 months old this week and is eating cereal, veggies, fruits and juice. She officially learned how to crawl on January 8th, and within a week was sitting up by herself. She is now crawling over to things (coffee table, couch, people sitting on the floor, etc.) and is pulling herself up to standing. She is very unstable though once she gets up there, and most often ends up toppling over and bonking her head. Not fun!!! Hailey is teething again and we are waiting for some more pearly whites to make their appearance. My baby is growing up WAY too fast!!! My friend Maggie (MaggieMeiPhotography.com) recently took some great pics of Hailey in her Christmas dresses….yes, DRESSES.
My mom and I went shopping for Christmas dresses and weren’t able to even find ONE at several stores we looked at. We hit the jackpot when we went to Sears. We just couldn’t decide, so we got 3!
It’s been so fun dressing her up…and she seemed to love this photo shoot. (This was was her actual "Christmas Dress" that she wore to church)
We just had to have this one because it's PURPLE!...Grandma's favorite color.
Our main goal for this shoot however, was to get a 3-generation picture of my Mom, Hailey and Me. It turned out great!
We had a lot of fun with Grandma during the month she was here. We went Christmas shopping, did our first ever “Secret Santa” (which the kids LOVED doing), she and I attended “Les Miserables” (which was awesome!), saw “We bought a Zoo” in the theater (cute movie!), celebrated Grandma & Jackson’s birthdays, hosted scrap night, went shopping at the outlet malls in San Marcos, went to lunch and to the San Antonio Temple, took kids to the Dr. (due to the pinkeye that hit our house while she was here), visited a friend in Boerne, TX (north of San Antonio)
and last but not least attended Monster Jam at the Alamodome. Our Monster Jam 2012 experience: The day before the show we were able to go see one of the monster trucks, “Avenger” up close & personal at Advance Auto Parts and meet the driver and his brother (who drives another monster truck). It was a surprise to the boys….and BOY WERE THEY SURPRISED! They got to look inside, climb all over it, and get autographs and pictures.
The boys with Jim Kohler, driver of Avenger
The boys with Steve Kohler, driver of Wrecking Crew
This is the Team Scream truck & trailer that they haul the monster trucks in.
I don't know what Austin's doing here...
The next day in the afternoon we were able to see all 16 of the trucks at the “Party in the Pits”. This is where all the trucks are displayed on the Alamodome floor with the drivers and you can wait in long lines to meet them and get autographs. We chose to simply walk around, get pictures of them all and then get out of the HUGE crowd. Dinner was a picnic out of the back of the van, then walk back for the show at 7:00.
These pictures were taken as the trucks lined up to race each other around the track.
Wrecking Crew and Wolverine
El Toro Loco and Maximum Destruction (Max D)
Monster Energy and Iron Man
Grave Digger and Wolverine
Grinder and Superman
Get Er Done and Max D
El Toro Loco and Avenger
Storm Damage and Grinder
Grave Digger broke a wheel & crashed
Jim Kohler had an awesome crash in Avenger & came out celebrating!
One of the highlights was the “halftime show”, which was Robosaurus…a huge metal beast that spews fire and eats cars. Very cool to see! He just bit this car in two. 
We all had an awesome time (especially Grandma since it was her first!). We may just get her to come back every year for Monster Jam!!! Well, I guess that’s about all for this time. We continue to love living in San Antonio…especially during the wintertime when we see videos of snowstorms and ice elsewhere in the country!
Enjoy all the new pictures! We love you all.
Rhett, Maren, Austin, Logan, Carson, Jackson & Hailey Zimmerman
