The New Blogger

Sooooo, blogger is all new.  Just trying it out...

Moved

I'm trying out WordPress for a while. Blogger isn't the most user friendly, so I want to try something new. I'm going to keep this blog active, in case Google decides to overhaul Blogger and make it easier to use. Daryl says he's heard nerd news rumors that they may be working on spiffing blogger up a bit. If they do, I'll reevaluate. In the mean time, you can find me here:

http://darylanddiana.wordpress.com/

Egg Hunt #2

We spent Easter weekend with my parents in Friendswood. Their church hosted a big Easter egg hunt (more like a stampede). Much fun was had.

My kiddos.

Ready to run!

No numbers on these eggs! Grab 'em fast!

Lane didn't know the bunny was behind him. Good thing too, because he was pretty afraid of her!

I love these kids!

Preschool Egg Hunt

Last Wednesday Brynna's class had a fun Easter egg hunt. The eggs were numbered, so the kiddos hunted just for their own number. As luck would have it, one of Brynna's classmates was absent, so Lane got to hunt for number 7 eggs. All the kids had a great time.

So proud!

Brynna and her best school friend.

Looking for lucky number 7!

Mrs. Thorpe and company

Train Ride & SXSW

This afternoon we decided to hop on the Metro Rail and check out a little bit of SXSW. It was the first time any of us have ridden the new Austin commuter train. It runs just down the road from our street, so we see it all the time. The kids, especially Lane, were thrilled to get to ride it!

My Supermen!

Someone on the train told us there was a carousel behind Spaghetti Warehouse on 4th, so that's where we headed. Sure enough there was a super fun carousel down there. It is sponsored by GE and is completely solar powered and FREE! They even had power stations to recharge your cell phone and an outdoor lounge to hangout and enjoy our fabulous Spring weather.

Lane was a little nervous to ride a horse, so he and Daddy rode in the sleigh.

It was Piper's first carousel ride.

Since it was free and pretty much no line, we rode twice. The second time Lane decided he was brave enough to ride a horse.

We had dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse and then walked up 6th Street. We headed back to the train around dusk, before downtown got too "weird" for a family with small children. It was such a fun day.

Triple Birthday!

The three amigas turned 5 years old last month! Instead of a big triple birthday party like we've had the last few years, we decided to tone things down and had a quiet dinner with just the three families.... Well, we had dinner, but it wasn't really all that quiet. The first year we celebrated together we had just the three little girls. Now there are nine kids total. So it wasn't quiet, but it was fun!

2011

Ella (1/8), Adeline (1/9), Brynna (1/10)

2010

2009

2008

2007

My Babies

Brynna

Lane

Piper

Brynna

Lane

Piper

Christmas 2010

Christmas is mostly a blur for me. Piper was born exactly two weeks before, and was our most precious and wonderful Christmas gift (except for the Original Christmas Gift of course). Grandmomma and Grandpa came up Christmas Day to help us celebrate (and help me recuperate). They brought along Grandmother Ruth who was visiting from NJ. It was an extra blessing to see my three kids snuggle and get to know their Great Grandmother a bit.

We had a nice day, and Brynna and Lane certainly did not go without, but having a newborn for the holidays, makes for a very tired mommy. I knew going into December that there were simply going to be things I would have to let go this year. I'll plan a perfect Christmas for my family another year!

Here are a few of the highlights from our crazy Christmas.

Chocolate muffins from HEB for breakfast. Yum!

Brynna's favorite gift this year was this super soft snuggly sweater.

Lane's favorite gift was this super cool train table that Grandpa made.

Grandpa and Piper. They match!

Another favorite gift was this plasma car from Santa.

Piper's favorite gift was this blanket that Great Grandmother Ruth made.

Cousin James came to visit the day after Christmas. Here he is holding his newest 1st cousin once removed. He looks like a natural, doesn't he?

We celebrated with Granna and Pop on New Year's Eve day.

Here is the train table getting some use. Lane like playing with his trains on it so much that he wasn't really interested in opening his other gifts.

Introducing...

Piper Joy Tripp

More to come.

Thanksgiving

We had a super Thanksgiving this year. My parents, brother, and his wife came to celebrate as well as Daryl's cousin, Christina and her family. We had eleven people total at dinner, and I think everyone had a happy fun time. I loved that we got to mix Daryl's extended family with mine. I think that makes for such a rich family experience for our kiddos.

The "grown up" table.

The "kid" table. Brynna and Lane loved having cousins around.

You get a little peak at our new counter tops here. Mom and Brett are sitting on our new bar stools. My Dad put them together for us, and I think they are just perfect for our little kitchen bar.

Some post dinner relaxing.

Brynna and Uncle Brett hanging out.

Lane and Auntie Alexis playing Jenga.

I think this is a great shot of Brett and Alexis.

After dinner we set the kids up with this ginger bread house kit. It turned out to be a great project, since it was too cold to play outside and by early evening the kids were getting a little restless. I picked up this idea from Jessie (my sister-in-law) last year. I can see it becoming a Thanksgiving tradition.

They did a great job, and they all worked so well together. It took Lane a little while to figure out why he wasn't supposed to eat the candy. Once he got the idea, he kept proudly saying, "I no eating the candy!" as he placed his pieces on the house.

The finished masterpiece.

The day before Thanksgiving it was 87 degrees outside. By Thanksgiving night, it was in the 30's. This is Daryl lighting our very first fire in the fire place. Not sure why we didn't have one last year, but I can see a few more this year for sure.

Isaac and Lane playing legos. So fun to have cousins around!

Lane looking at pictures with Cousin Christina.

And to wrap up the evening, Daryl and I got the kids ready for bed in their new Christmas jammies! A fun way to usher in the Christmas season.

It was truly a blessed Thanksgiving.