Javier's

We had so much fun last night at dinner and I wanted to post our picture from Javier's. We got as many as our siblings together last night as we could for dinner and we went to Javier's. The food was super yummy and the company was even better.

More "like father, like son"

The latest obsession at the Haws Household.

Yesterday they seriously considered golfing in a hurricane, that's how dedicated they are!

And the winner is....

Andy Haws (77); (I know, I couldn't believe it either ;) )
Shawnee Haws (74);
Casey Dalpias (71);
Brady Haws (69);
Natalie Dalpias (51);
Tami Jones (48);
Nicholas Jones (45);
Emily Russ (42);
McKenzie Hart (38);
Johnny Russ (144); Johnny had a bit of a late start due to the fact that he thought the brackets were broken because Florida didn't make it. So we are discounting his score...

This was fun, maybe next year we will have to actually have a prize for the winner!

Christmas Pictures (in no particular order)

So I have tons of pictures from this past week with Christmas and all and I thought I would just share them with you all. The first couple are from today but the rest are pretty much from Christmas Day. Enjoy!Benson drumming away. I took this one for Danny (aka Elder Haws).

This is Nick today. Brady gave Nick this suit and I thought it looked fancy on him. He was shoveling the driveway when we got home. Thanks for the suit Brade!

Our "official" 2008 Christmas photo.

Mom's gifts to open Christmas morning. She also got a dishwasher a couple days prior to Christmas. (Santa is very self-less.)

Andy and Cory's piles.

Dad's chair surrounded in gifts.

Nick and Tami's piles. Nick really spoiled me this year, like always.

This is what it looked like after Santa left. Looks nice and clean!

So those of you who live in the area know that we got tons of snow on Christmas night. It was so bad that McKenzie's parents told her not to even try to drive home, and Nat and Casey didn't want to deal with driving in the snow and stuff, so we all had a "sleepover" at Mom and Dad's. Nick and I drove down the street and got our air mattress and then we pulled out some mattresses for Nat & Casey and also for McKenzie. Andy just slept on the couch. It was actually really fun. We watched "Head Over Heels" and then fell asleep!

What would the sleepover be without balloon animals made by Casey? Nick is sporting his super cool crown or hat that Casey made him.

Shanna was talking to Danny. (She doesn't look happy does she?)

Dad sporting his new basketball shoes that Nat & I (and our spouses) got for him.

Shawnee & Brady

Ronola

Shanna and Cory

Nick and Tami

Casey, Nat, & Cory

McKenzie and Andy

Mom went crazy with making quilts for everyone. These are the ones she made for Andy & Cory. Nick says this was a "Quilted Christmas."

Dad with his hot air balloon quilt that Mom made him. (I used this one at our sleepover and it was FABULOUS!!!)

Emily, Nat, and I secretly surprised Mom with making a quilt with some fabric that she used to sew things when we were little. I'm pretty sure she liked it. She started crying when we asked her what the fabric was from. Big hit I think.

Okay this is my favorite picture and this is why I saved it for last. I am posting this mostly for Danny but I thought I would let you all see how much weight Dad has lost. He fits into Danny's leather jacket that Danny wore right before he went on his mission. Dad, that's amazing. We're all proud of you for losing that much weight!

Anyway, we really had a fun Christmas and it was fun to be able to talk to each of you (my family members) on Christmas. I am really grateful for each of you and for all that you've done for Nick and I. We love you all so much!

My new roomate

This is weird... me blogging... ewe gross! I must be turning into a girl. But anyway, McKenzie told me I should blog what happened last night. So I was sitting on my bed reading a cookbook about how to cook ducks and geese (I really must be turning into a girl). I saw something move out of the corner of my eye but when I looked I couldn't see anything. I shrugged it off, but then it happened again, but still nothing. A little bit later I got up to go to the bathroom. I saw it again so I took a closer look and this it what I found. (Sorry the pictures suck!)

A FROG!!!!!

I found a plastic bottle in the garbage so I cut it in half and put him outside in the flower bed.

So there it is... my first blog post. Now excuse me while I go throw up! If I was a real man I would have just eaten it! Bear Grills would have!

Pickin' up Sticks

So I guess we made it sound like we cut the WHOLE tree down but we didn't. We only cut the west 1/2 of the tree down because it was dead. Mom is hopeful that the tree will grow back at least a little, but I'm pretty sure that it won't. Anyway, we finished up the whole clean up process on Monday night for family night. Here's who was there: Wayne, Jan, Cory, Becca, Tami, Natalie, Casey, Benson, and Andy. (Ronola and McKenzie came later and ate dinner with us all.)

Benson and Grandpa Otis
Loadin' up the trailer to haul it in the field to dump it.
Big Boy Benson standing up. He's been walking around like crazy!
This is the finished product. (Johnny this is for you.) Don't be disappointed that there wasn't much more destruction to the tree... sorry I explained it wrong.
The girls raking. Tami, Becca, Natalie, Mom

Dad put a fanny pack at the top of one of the trees. He says there's a reward for whoever gets it.
This was a hard picture to get. I had to walk over in front of the King's house to get the house and the tree in one picture.
When Dad was cutting down some of the big branches, one of them hit the slide and dented it. He fixed it though.
Nat, Becca, Tami
Dad and Benson again.
This is the only picture I have of the slide after Dad and Cory and fixed it. They did something else to it after this picture.
Pickin' up sticks again.
Cory made this little cat house for Becca's cat Panda. I thought it was so cute so I thought I'd let you all see it.
Benson and Grandma Jannie

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Happy Birthday Andy! Sorry this is such a late post. I just wanted to let you know that I am so happy you are in my life. You are constantly making me laugh (even when I don't want to)! You are a great person & I hope you know that you can do anything you put your mind to. I have really enjoyed these past four years with you! I hope you had an awesome birthday. I sure had fun laser tagging (and I hope the rest of you who were able to come had fun too)! Love you! Happy (late) Birthday!