May 2014 update

Our wonderful kids. Watch out for Hailey though...she rules the roost!

What has happened since last July??? Let’s see…

First of all…..Our Spurs are in the playoffs again. Wahoo!!! Go Spurs Go!!!

In September and October 2013, Global Efficient Energy installed radiant barrier, solar attic fans, a solar panel, energy efficient lightbulbs & gaskets for us. We now have what is considered a “Green” home!

Several months ago, Rhett got some new callings. He is now the Scout Committee Chairman as well as the Deacon’s Quorum Assistant.

On Oct 15th, 2013 we went to a Bon Jovi Concert with our friends the Clayton’s & Przybyla’s and had a fabulous time!!!

On December 28th Rhett & I went to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert. Rhett won tickets on the radio (of course) and it was the first time in years that their concert in San Antonio was NOT on a Sunday, so we could actually go!

On January 24th we celebrated Rhett's 41st Birthday!!!

On March 8th, 2014 Rhett and I moved into the world of technology and got iPhones!!! It helped that we were eligible for an upgrade (we had had our same old lame phones for about 5 years) and we got the new phones for only $.99 each. We are still learning to use them.

At the end of March, I was released as the Relief Society Secretary and called as the Visiting Teaching Coordinator…however, they still have not called a new Secretary, so I am still “acting” Secretary. Busy!!! Busy!!!

During Spring Break I started a painting project in Logan & Carson’s room. It involved removing wallpaper and popcorn ceiling, re-texturing the walls, painting (including wood paneling)….and I’m still not done. I kind of got sidetracked for a few weeks, but this weekend I’m getting back at it and I’m going to get it done asap!!!
Before

After...but not quite finished yet

During the month of April, I decided to help a couple of friends out with some childcare in our home. A 4yr-old girl, 2 yr-old boy, 7 month-old girl, and a 6 month-old girl. Two of them came 5 days a week, the other two 2 days a week. That is in addition to my own 2 and 5 year olds every day. I have made some much needed extra money, but boy am I exhausted!!!

After several years of different parts of our home needing repair, and thanks to our tax refund this year, we finally are up and running again. We have desperately needed our fence replaced so that we don’t have to keep our dog chained up (she likes to get out…), so now we have a new fence! We were also able to replace our broken water softener, and most recently get our new garage door/opener installed. For the first time EVER living in this house, we can finally park in the garage!!!

This past weekend for me has been nonstop fun!!! My friend Sarah’s baby shower was on Friday, but some friends who had moved away all came into town for the fun event. It was a total surprise for her!!! We spent the weekend shopping, eating out, getting pedicures, and chatting til the wee hours of the morning…It was so fun while it lasted, but now I’m so far behind on my daily chores, and I’m sooooo tired!

In August, Austin participated in the North East Independent School District (NEISD) Teacher Convocation. He was the only student asked from his Middle School to participate in a short skit to precede the Superintendent’s speech. He was chosen because of his awesome acting abilities. He said it was no biggie to perform in front of 500+ teachers & administrators...yikes!

This past year, Austin chose to receive his Patriarchal Blessing, and on October 27th we were blessed to be able to accompany him to the home of Patriarch Hassell and hear him pronounce a beautiful blessing on our son. Austin is an amazing young man!

Austin participated again this year on his Middle School basketball team in November thru January. It is his favorite pastime and he tries really hard and gives it a great effort. It was fun to watch him play again.

Austin’s Advanced Theatre Arts class put on a play “Roomers” on December 6th. It’s always fun to see how much he gets into his character and how much he enjoys acting. He looks forward to enjoying it more next year when he’s in High School. Whoa! Did I just say High School…..? Aaaaahhh!!!

On April 9th Austin was again chosen by his team of teachers to be a “Driscoll Star”…someone who exhibits many wonderful qualities and is a great leader. Congrats! Most of his classes are Pre-AP or G/T, and he gets fabulous grades!

On April 12th Austin competed at a district-wide Speech Contest. He did a monologue, duet, and poetry reading, and came away with a plaque for Outstanding Performer.

On April 20th, Austin was released as the Deacon’s Quorum President and made the 1st Counselor. He has now served in every position in DQ except 2nd counselor.

On April 24th, Austin was inducted into the Driscoll chapter of the National Junior Honor Society. He just keeps continuing to amaze us!

In April, a piece of Austin’s art was chosen by his Art teacher to be in the District Art show. His Art teacher then entered him in the Junior Visual Art Scholastic Event (VASE) in May. Austin participated in this event with his chosen work of art, and came home with a blue ribbon award!

After several years of prodding from the Dentist, we finally took Logan to an Orthodontist in March to correct his Anterior Crossbite (underbite). We had heard different things of what may need to be done to fix this, however in the end all he needed was a retainer for several months to move his upper front teeth forward. We’re well on our way to fixing his unusual smile!

Logan continues to be a perfectionist. When he does something, he does it well. Each project is a work of art. You can’t tell him to do a quick project because it just can’t possibly happen. Homework is sometimes a chore…for me!

On March 24th we attended the NEISD Elementary Art Show, where Carson’s “hawk” that had been chosen by his teacher was on display. Usually the whole family is able to attend these, but for some reason this time it was just Carson & I who went. Which made it a whole lot cheaper to celebrate afterwards at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard!!!

On May 6th Carson participated in the Wetmore Elementary 2nd Grade program “School House Rock”. It was short and sweet and they all did a great job! Austin remembers doing this same program in 3rd grade, so he enjoyed singing along with the songs. This is a pic of the four 2nd graders from our ward at Wetmore Elementary. Andee, Chloe, Anna & Carson.

We celebrated Jackson's 5th Birthday on January 2nd. I can't believe he'll be going to Kindergarten this year!!! I'll miss my little buddy...

On February 14th, I took my two littlest Valentines, Jackson & Hailey to the Stock Show. They had such a fun time watching the pig races, riding the carousel, sitting on the (plastic) horse, and especially the awesome petting zoo. Afterwards, we stopped at Rhett’s work for lunch with my biggest Valentine.

On March 21st, Hailey was invited to her first Birthday Party… Kaylin’s Princess Party!!! We had lots of fun at Incredible Pizza eating food and playing, but the most fun we had was taking pictures in front of the awesome 50’s Chevy. People kept stopping us asking if they could take pictures because our “Princesses” were all so cute. Even the manager/owner took some…maybe they’ll show up on their website!

We took another trip to the beach, this time with Grandma Stewart. On Aug 7-8th we spent our time in Corpus Christi enjoying the sand, surf, food and another trip to the USS Lexington.

Halloween 2013
Austin - Tony Stark from Iron Man, Logan - Steve from Minecraft, Carson - Creeper from Minecraft, Jackson - Jack Jack O'lantern and Hailey - Pirate Princess

Grandma S. came again in December for a month-long visit. We enjoyed shopping for Christmas, birthday lunches, and included a trip to Houston to visit the LDS Temple and the Johnson Space Center.

Christmas Morning, in Christmas PJ's!

For the second or third year in a row, we took Grandma to Monster Jam on January 11th. It was just as fun as ever, and the kids all love it every year. We even took Hailey this time!

Our Family Cover Photo is from Easter 2014

On April 25-26 we took our first Texas Camping trip. We were planning to go to a State Park, but they were all booked, so we ended up at a nice campground with bathrooms/showers, swimming pool, playground, mini golf, basketball court, tetherball, dog park, water and electricity, etc…all right next to the San Marcos River. It was the first time for all of us ever seeing fireflies! Carson even caught one. We went with 3 families from our ward and had such an amazing time that we decided to make it an annual event.

Long story short, the Home Owners Association board decided to not let us have a swim team this year….so we went team shopping! Our boys are now Northern Hills Nadadores. We are hoping to resolve the issues with the HOA for next year, but are excited for a new team, coaches, pool, experience and getting to know some new friends. Swim season has begun!

July 2013 update

Well, almost a year has gone by since I last updated our blog. It’s been a crazy fun year! I’ll try to update quickly on everyone, and special things that have happened in our family.

Rhett loves his job at Thad Ziegler Glass as Controller. It’s a family owned business and has a family atmosphere. At the Christmas party it seemed like a big family dinner, complete with an opening prayer. Such wonderful people!!! Although he loves the job, it doesn’t quite cover all expenses, so in October Rhett started delivering pizzas for Domino’s. It’s definitely the best 2nd job he’s ever had…as far as making money goes. He works at Domino’s 4 sometimes 5 nights a week. Rhett has been the Secretary in the Elder’s Quorum, but was released last week…so we don’t know what’s coming next for him.

Rhett & the kids in Corpus Christi, TX at the USS Lexington

Maren – I have been keeping busy with 5 kids, laundry, cooking, cleaning, my Relief Society Secretary calling, Cub Scout Committee Secretary, taxi service for kids to and from scouts and swimming, hosting scrap night and baby showers at our house, etc… Rhett and I just celebrated our 15-year Anniversary. We were able to take a little overnight excursion downtown to a hotel on the Riverwalk. We actually had time to have adult conversations!!! We also enjoyed roaming the Riverwalk hand-in-hand, a yummy steak/shrimp/ribs/chicken dinner (for FREE thanks to our awesome friends), swimming in the rooftop pool and hot tub, and finished our time away with a riverboat tour. What an amazing time we had…just enjoying one another without the kids around. Our free dinner friend also offered to stay overnight with the kids, so we didn’t have to worry about them at all. We will definitely do that again!!!

Rhett & I at the Riverwalk celebrating our Anniversary

Austin is excited for 8th grade this year. He played on the Boy’s basketball team last year, winning the District Championship and enjoyed it, although wishing he could play more. Austin is still a HUGE San Antonio Spurs fan and we enjoyed watching our Spurs play in the NBA finals this year. He was sooooo bummed that they didn’t win! Austin was recently released as the Deacon’s Quorum Secretary and called to be the President. He is doing a great job and everyone always tells us what a wonderful young man he is!!! Austin started some little side jobs this Summer mowing lawns and is desperately trying to save up enough money to buy a new iPod. Austin’s birthday is today and he turns 13. Can’t believe Rhett and I have a teenager!!!

Austin is a teenager now. Aaaaahhhh!!!

Logan will be in 4th grade this year. He is a fun, energetic, loving boy that LOVES Legos! We recently celebrated Logan’s 9th birthday and his presents all had something to do with Legos…and his cake was even decorated to look like the Lego logo. Logan likes to build things, and is very creative with his projects. He recently built a rotating ceiling fan with the parts from our Knex roller coaster and has also built a camera. He just likes to create!!!

Lego Logan

Carson has soooo much energy!!! He is constantly climbing, jumping, scaling things, etc. He seems to have no fear and is willing to try almost anything. Carson is a great helper and is a wonderful big brother to Jackson and Hailey. He is very kind and loving and gives more hugs than anyone else. We celebrated Carson’s 7th birthday in June. I can’t believe he’ll be getting baptized in one more year!

Carson on his 7th birthday

Jackson is SUPER smart!!! He is now 4 ½ and has been reading for over a year. He is a quiet boy and just soaks up everything around him that he sees and hears. He is definitely ready for Kindergarten, but unfortunately we have to wait another year! He likes to draw and write and likes to tell me about shapes that he sees….like parallelograms and dodecahedrons. Yep. He likes to keep to himself a lot of the time, but he does come out of his shell around the family, and is such a cute big brother to Hailey. Those two are great buddies!

Jackson playing in an old Rubik's cube costume

Hailey just had her 2nd birthday and is the cutest, most awesome, perfect little girl ever!!! She has such a fun personality, is really smart…(since she hangs out with Jackson all day), loves to hug, talks really well, and is just a joy to be around. Her smile will brighten any day! She recently started letting me put bows and flowers in her hair again…she refused them for a long time. She also just recently had her first Mommy mani-pedi. She is very proud of her cute pink fingers and toes!

Hailey on her 2nd birthday...can you say spoiled???

In February Hailey had an unexpected accident. She was walking on a brick planter we have in our backyard and fell. She hit her head on the bricks...Rhett watched the whole thing from the patio door. Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough to stop this from happening. She ended up with 5 stitches.

By now Hailey's head wound has healed marvelously!

In April we went to Port Aransas, TX to the beach with some wonderful friends. It’s the first time we’ve been to the beach in 6 years…so it was Jackson & Hailey’s first time. It was a fun weekend full of sun, surf, friendship and lots-of-sand-in-places-you-don’t-want-it. We rented a townhome 1 block from the beach and it was awesome!!! We definitely will be doing that again.

Last month Rhett’s 2000 Toyota Camry decided to die on us and need a new engine. Rather than put that large chunk of change into an old dying car, we opted to sell it for parts and bought a different car for him. Rhett is now driving a 2009 Toyota Yaris. It gets great gas mileage and is just big enough to run kids (and pizzas) around. Just what we needed!

Just last week the boys finished up their Summer swim team season with the Stoneridge Shockwaves. They all did a great job and we enjoyed watching them have fun and get better in all their strokes. Austin made it to championships for the 5th year in a row, and Carson qualified for champs for his 1st time! Logan barely missed qualifying by tenths of seconds. Bummer!!!

Carson sitting by Coach Russell at his very first swim championships

Well, that’s about it for summing up the last year. I’m sure I missed some major events, but I’ll try to be better about doing this more regularly again. As always, we love and miss our family and friends from afar…and you are always welcome to visit!

Love - Rhett, Maren, Austin, Logan, Carson, Jackson & Hailey

Wow!!! I have A LOT to catch up on. It’s been a crazy, busy, fun Summer. I can’t believe the kids start school in 1 ½ weeks already! Here we go… Rhett got a new job!!! We are sooooo excited! He even landed the position he was hoping to get. As of May 7, 2012 Rhett is the new Controller for Thad Ziegler Glass Co. here in San Antonio.

It’s a family owned business that’s been around since 1893. The President & CEO Thad W., his father Thad M. and 2 sons Thad C. (who has a son named Thad) and William all work there. The company welcomed Rhett with open arms and the CEO sent out an email memo to all of the employees announcing the retirement of the previous Controller (who worked there for 27 years), and the news of Rhett taking over the reins. He is excited for this new opportunity, and we love being able to see him a lot more & spend more time together as a family. He is no longer selling life insurance for AIL, so he’s not gone working in the evenings and on weekends anymore. Gotta love that!!! Rhett was able to take the boys in May to the Stake Father/Sons campout for the first time in many years. Rhett was released from his calling as Primary Teacher (he’s been in there about 4 years) and was called to serve in the Elder’s Quorum Presidency as their Assistant Secretary…then a few weeks ago the EQ Secretary was called into our new Bishopric, so this week Rhett is being upgraded from Assistant Secretary to Secretary in the Elder’s Quorum. It’s been nice being able to sit in Sunday School with him again!

Maren - I’ve been trying to do some projects lately (scrapbooking, card making, sewing, craft, etc), but haven’t been very successful at getting many completed. As you can tell from the rest of this update…I’ve been otherwise occupied with 5 kids! I am still the Secretary in the Relief Society, so that keeps me busy also. Now we have 2 Secretaries in our house! After 3+ years of searching for a sectional couch for our family room, we were finally able to get one on Craigslist for a good deal. We LOVE it!!!

Such a change from the uncomfortable, too small couches that we’ve had for many years. I also found a rug I liked online…on clearance I must add. Add some throw pillows (I’m going to be making some more), and once I have the coffee table painted black to match the baskets it’s holding, things will be looking really nice!

Austin got straight A’s in all his classes last year, including his G/T math class…and his English teacher recommended that he be in AP English this year due to his amazing writing ability. He has written an entire book now, which is ready for the Editor (Rhett) to read, then be published and bound (by me). He also volunteered to write a script for his Theater Arts class, and the puppet show that they did. His Theater class put on 3 short Sherlock Holmes plays and Austin played Dr. Watson in all of them. He did an amazing job!…and seemed to be one of the only ones who actually cared enough to memorize his parts and really get into it. Here is a picture of Austin dressed up in his character costume.

Even though he wasn’t quite 12 yet, Austin was able to go to Scout camp in June, and he had an amazing time…even though it was over 100 degrees all week long! Austin again competed on the Stoneridge Shockwaves swim team this summer…and did a great job.

He qualified for the Championships swim meet again, and came in 4th in both his freestyle and backstroke, and his relay team came in 3rd (Rhett and I were unable to be at this meet, as we were in Utah at the time). Austin turned 12 on July 21st

and was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday, July 22nd by Rhett. He hasn’t been able to pass the sacrament yet though, since we left town for a few weeks just after that…but he was able to go to Young Men’s for the first time this week and enjoyed going on his first campout as a Deacon.

Logan earned straight A’s also, and continues loving to work on projects…especially ones that he makes up himself. He has currently been making 3D paper Angry Birds. He will be in 3rd grade this year. Logan turned 8 on July 12th

and was baptized on Saturday, July 21st.

It was a great day! We had a combined “Logan’s baptism/Austin’s birthday” party at the pool with friends and family and LOTS of food! Logan was also a member of the swim team again

and did a great job…also qualifying for his first Championships meet. He swam the backstroke and came in 4th place. On August 6th Logan lost another tooth. The replacement was already in ½ way behind it, so we were glad to see that one come out.

Carson thoroughly enjoyed Kindergarten and is looking forward to starting 1st grade soon. He enjoys learning, and he really became a great reader last year. Carson turned 6 on June 2nd and we celebrated by first attending a free party at our local bowling alley, complete with free pizza & drinks, then presents & cake at home.

He is a big helper around the house, and especially loves helping me with dishes and mopping the floor. Carson loves to swim! He also competed with the Stoneridge Shockwaves again this Summer, and is becoming quite the fish!

Carson is my little buddy…always ready with a hug, snuggle and kiss. I think he really likes his Mom!

Jackson is potty training….again. I think sometimes it’s just easier for me to have him wear diapers, than reminding him every 30 minutes to go. Oh, well. It needs to be done! Jackson loves to be outside with his brothers, and especially likes blowing bubbles, jumping on the trampoline & drawing with the sidewalk chalk. He also loves to get rides in the trailer behind the bike…when someone is willing to give him a ride. He is such a sweet big brother to Hailey, and is always talking so nice to her and giving her hugs & kisses. He’s a big helper too and loves being with Mom!

Hailey is now 13+ months old, and has had quite the Summer of getting new teeth. New ones seem to erupt almost daily. Luckily for us, she isn’t grumpy (for the most part). She is growing up too quickly and is now practically running everywhere. She continues to be the bright sunshine in our family as she is almost always happy, smiling and giggling…and talking a lot. She also loves playing “peek a boo”, climbing on furniture, loves her new freedom of going up & down the stairs unaided whenever she wants…and thoroughly enjoys being the Princess in our house. She pretty much rules the roost! She even recently learned to bat her eyelashes at you when she’s trying to be cute…and she succeeds! We celebrated Hailey’s first birthday on June 28th with a ladybug cake

and presents of course.

My friend Maggie did a “1st birthday photo shoot” with her prior to her birthday and the pics turned out SUPERB! I haven't gotten them from her yet though, so I'll have to update those later... Hailey is constantly showered with hugs and kisses from 4 older brothers, a Dad…and a Mom who adore her. We love our little girl!!!

We had a couple of fun trips this Summer. Firstly, Rhett and I were able to fly for the first time EVER together (along with Hailey)

to Salt Lake City, UT for Rhett’s sister Victoria’s wedding in early July. We had a great time with all of the Zimmerman’s and only wish 2 things…1, that we had been able to bring our boys with us, since they were the only Zimmerman cousins not there…and 2, we wish the trip had been longer and we’d been able to spend more time with everyone! We had a great time however, and it was kind of nice just having 1 child for the weekend. We missed Austin & Logan’s swimming Championships in the process however…

We also went on a LONG road trip adventure to Idaho. And here’s the LONG story about it…
We left on Tuesday, July 24th in the evening, and drove through the night to Denver, CO. We spent the day resting, playing and eating at Grandma & Grandpa Zimmerman’s house, then left early the next morning to drive to my Mom’s house in Rexburg, ID. It was a decent drive, given that we were traveling packed to the gills in a minivan with 5 kids! Lucky for us, the kids only started getting tired of the trip within the last hour. We spent the evening with Grandma Stewart, then got up and left on Friday morning for the Stewart Family Reunion at Cabin Creek Camp near Alturas Lake between Hailey and Stanley, ID. We just had to stop and get a picture of Hailey next to the Hailey sign!

We had so much fun spending time with my Mom & brothers and their families…especially the off road adventure we went on up into the mountain wilderness on the 4 wheelers and Razor’s.

The boys had fun playing on the 4 wheelers for hours…just sitting there. We also had a wonderful time catching up with all my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins that weekend.

And more fun of course!

Then the real fun began…we next traveled to Boise (where Rhett flew home to work) to stay w/my brother Brian for a couple days. That trip involved a 45 minute gas station stop (gas pumps weren’t working, and it was the ONLY gas station around), a shredded tire on my brother’s camper trailer, being within 1 mile of a forest fire

3 simultaneously barfing kids (Carson, Jackson & Hailey…all in the car I was driving), and seeing a lot of beautiful mountains, rivers, etc. I’m pretty sure the barfing kids had something to do with the winding roads.
We then ended up having another barfing child (Logan) the next day, and Hailey got it again…while having a Scentsy Campus tour in Brian’s brand new work truck. He is the VP over Physical Facilities for Scentsy headquartered in Meridian, ID and they are currently in the process of building some multi-million dollar projects that he is in charge of. Pretty awesome!
We spent more time with family that evening, then left the next morning to head back to Rexburg. We had planned to go through the middle of the desert so we could stop at Craters of the Moon National Monument, but at the last minute I decided we should just go on the freeway. It’s a good thing I changed my mind (or my mind was changed for me…) because we ended up with one more shredded tire, this time it was on my mom’s trailer. Luckily we were just a couple miles from a tire store, and we took the kids to DQ for lunch while we waited. When we finally got to Rexburg we took the kids to a splash park

and of course let them ride on the restored Carousel.

The next day (Thursday, August 2nd) we had planned another adventure to go up to Island Park, ID to our family cabin

and spend the weekend there and in Yellowstone NP. However, that morning we woke up to my mom throwing up. We spent that day at home, then the next morning when everyone felt fine, we loaded up the car to head out…just as Austin said that he wasn’t feeling well. This time we were prepared however, so we loaded up with 5 kids and a barf bucket and headed out! Poor Austin was sick all the way there, and the rest of the evening was spent NOT on the zip line at the cabin, but on the couch watching the Olympics with his barf bucket. Austin and I had made a pact not to get sick…and he failed! Good thing he was feeling fine the next morning, because he got his turn on the zip line after all.

Friday morning we were all feeling better, so we headed to Yellowstone

with every intention to make the big loop around the park and see LOTS of cool things and animals. Well, by this time the kids had decided they DID NOT like being in the car anymore and we basically just made it as far as Old Faithful

saw it erupt, had lunch, then got back in the car & headed back to West Yellowstone. T-shirt shopping ensued

and once we had found what we wanted...and of course endulged in the tradition of getting ice cream at DQ

we were on our way back to Rexburg. I texted Rhett & told him that I wish he were there to help with the kids. His response was “I think you should stop taking the kids on adventures”. Haha! Very funny. Most of our adventures were out of the way by then, so the next week we just spent hanging out at Grandma’s house with the kids playing outside exploring her 1 ½ acre yard and riding around on her John Deere

until they were filthy at night. I spent some time cleaning/organizing my mom’s house

Office before...overflowing with books!

Office after

we visited my other brother Gary’s family in Idaho Falls where we all had our first Buffalo steaks & burgers…oh boy, were they good! We took the kids on one more short adventure to show them the Teton Dam site

and Grandma bought us a book all about the Dam and the flood. We then continued on up the road a bit and spent a couple of hours swimming at Green Canyon Hot Springs.

Rhett flew into Idaho Falls the next night (Thursday, August 9th) and we were packed again and left on Friday to come home. We drove through the night twice in a row…which is not recommended, but at least there was little arguing in the car since they were all asleep most of the time. We stopped again in Denver (for the day) at G & G Z’s house, long enough for Rhett & I to sleep, kids to play, eat some food, and we were off again. We arrived home on Sunday, August 12th just shy of 3 weeks from when we left. Since then we’ve been trying to get back to normal life and get ready for school to start.

Whew! I think that’s it for this time. Now for some more fun… Love, Rhett, Maren, Austin, Logan, Carson, Jackson & Hailey