All is Merry and Bright!

I consider myself the "Anti-Martha"{Stewart}.I have nothing against her. In fact I think she found her sense of humor while incarcerated. She has talents without number, more than the sands of the sea. I, however, have none of them! I don't iron my sheets. I don't have a garden of Eden in my handmade kitchen window box. I don't have candles in decoratively cut paper bags lining my driveway. There is no turkey sitting in a 24 hour brine bath in preparation for a huge Christmas dinner. And once again my Christmas cards did not get sent to all the people I love the most (or even to anyone I don't like that much.) I also probably won't send out many hand written thank you cards for all the wonderful gifts I have received from kind and generous friends and family. (Please accept my apologies in advance.)

However, I did want to write a few thoughts as well as attach this picture Uncle Kyle took of us Sunday after church. It was the only time in a while all of our hair was combed and clothes pressed at the same time. Carpe Diem!

Just in case anyone wonders, the Hinze family is Christian. We celebrate, this time of year, the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We rejoice in His birth, His life, His atonement, His crucifixion and His resurrection. We celebrate the fact that we are an eternal family, and that we will be together forever, even after this life. We strive to live like He did: loving and serving others. To you, our friends and family we wish you a Merry Christmas and a new year full of joy, prosperity and peace! Not just peace in this tumultuous world we live in, but true peace in your hearts. The peace that comes from knowing who you are, knowing you are loved by that Jesus spoken of, and living true to that knowledge. We love you all!

Sister, Sisters, there were never such devoted sisters!

Xander, Brandi, Chrissta and Jeni


Somehow this picture that includes Jeni was left off my post about visitors from Seattle. Thanks to a conversation with my friend Kristen I realized I neglected to add this photo to the others. Not a great picture of any of us and our 7 chins, but wanted it up here anyway.






Brandi, Chrissta, Tara

I wanted to put this one up again cuz we actually don't look hideous!

I have cool sisters! Sure love you gals!

Zion Storm Morgan

On November 16, 2007 Mr. Zion Storm Morgan, our newest nephew was born to my sister Tara and husband Byron. He is a cute bug! We love him!

Grandpa Steve and Grandma Gwen

We had some other special visitors recently. Grandpa Steve (Josh's Dad) and Grandma Gwen came to visit. They went to Cabela's with Xander and Josh, Christmas shopped with Natalie and Benson, we all enjoyed some yummy TexMex at Chuy's and of course BarBQ at Rudy's. They got to see Benson play Basketball and of course brought the kids their Christmas Advent Calendars they give them every year! It was great to see them. Ironically they came the same time Brandi and Eric came so we were sharing our time between them, but we had a great time none the less.

Visitors From Seattle

My sister Brandi and her family (husband Eric, kids Amara, Sullivan and Finnigan) came for

2 1/2 weeks. It was amazing! I stayed up later than usual and we talked and talked. The kids wore out the trampoline. The cousins absolutely loved each other. Fun was had by all. Enjoy some of my pictures from this FANTASTIC visit! In the beginning my sister Jeni was here too. What a blast!

District Champs Again!!

Once again Benson's football team went undeafeted this year and have been crowned District Champs!! It has been so fun to watch him play (#65 left side front row) and see them all improve. They were good last year, but they improved so much. My prediction is that in about three years when these guys are juniors in High School we will be traveling to state tournaments. Way to go Jags!!

Halloween

Xander's favorite holiday is Halloween. Infact he loves it so much he couldn't decide what to be. For the church party he was Harry Potter, for the library party he was a witch and for the actual Trick-or-Treating he was Obi won Kinobe (not sure if I spelled that correctly) with his cousin Phoenix as Superman. Madison chose to go as a black cat. Natalie was Tracey from the movie Hairspray. Benson dressed as Roger Clemens as an Houston Astro. Way too much candy came home! But fun was had by all!

My Little Ladies

So this year Natalie and Madi have been playing Volley Ball. This is actually Natalie's 2nd time and Madi's First. They are both doing great. They both have fantastic coaches and are both making great friends on their respective teams.

Here she is in back row... waiting for the ball to get there.

Taking her turn sitting on the bench. The league every one plays the same amount.

Madi and a friend after the game eating a treat. She has gotten very good also. It is amazing to me how fast all these kids learn so fast and improve weekly. (sorry there aren't more Madi photos, its a little dark in the gym and its hard to get a good shot...

I know that this was supposed to be about the girls but one of the parents from Benson's football team posts highlights here these are great, follow the video link at the top of the page. Enjoy, its from the whole year and the last game of the season last year. B is number 65, watch for him.

http://theosports.com/

Texas State Fair

Last week end Chrissta and I needed a break. We have both been very busy with all the various activities we are involved with. (To be honest, I just work, Chrissta has a lot more to do than I.) May I just say that I am so proud of her and all that she is active with. Most days she is out the door to the gym or to a run by 5:30 AM then home by 7:00 to make sure everyone is dressed, eating breakfast, has a lunch, all the school stuff is ready then drives them to school.

Then she usually has some PTA, Camp or some other committee she is serving on or other folks in the community and the church she is serving, meeting emails to read, send and respond to. (Not to mention all the folks she corresponds with and all the forwards she needs to manage.) Then there is Xander duty. He is not into getting into stuff but he is very creative and like to do art projects and go on adventures. It keep Chrissta busy with all his stuff, besides all the errands she has to keep the family going. Did I mentions every couple of weeks she teaches the co-op preschool Xander is a part of?

Then there is what I call the bewitching hours - the time between the kids getting home from school, and dinner. There is 4th, 6th and 8th grade homework, and getting dinner ready and preparing for all the activities we have during the week. Football games, volley ball practices, activity days, mutual, ladies nights, and whatever else there is.

She does this with out complaint or pay or much help from me. I am at work and I work too late and do have some travel. I love this girl... What an ultimate example to our kids. I am often "Oh you must be Chrissta's Husband" and I am fine with that...

Any way back to the original reason for my post... We decided that we would go to Fort Worth on Thursday afternoon, the Utes were playing TCU and it was the final week of the Texas state fair. So off we went to re-live some of the things we enjoyed when we were a few years younger and things were a little less complicated. (We left the kids with friends and family - thanks to all who helped out!)

The weekend started out great, the Utes won.. we loved sitting with our fellow red clad brothers and sisters cheering on our beloved Utes. We got a room in Fort Worth thanks to a friend in the hotel business. The next day we got up and went to the Texas State Fair in Dallas. I think it was more for me than for Chrissta. I wanted to go and see all the cool stuff and try some of world famous corn dogs and other fried delicious foods. We had original Fletchers Corny Dogs, fried cookie dough, fried pickles, and onion slices. Not to mention swollen fingers and the need for lots of water. What a great time. Not so much the fair, we decided that fairs haven't changed that much since 1982... People selling the same stuff, the same things on the midway. Only prices changed - 14.00 to get in 4.00 per Corny dog well you get it... We did get some photos of Big Tex and one of the many Fletchers....

We did have fun together and that is what counts. The time we spent together taking time for ourselves as a couple was great, and refreshing. Again. I LOVE THIS GIRL!

Xander, Mia, Madi and a Birthday

Yesterday was our brother-in-law Reagan's birthday. This, of course called for dinner at Rudy's!
Here are some photos of Xander and his cousin Mia. They are such good buddies! They love to play together ang get along famously!

You may also notice Madi's lovely and grown up hair cut. Her friend's mom did an amazing job. It is as cute as can be and she loves it!

Sports are back

Many readers of this blog may know that I love me some fall sports. Lets be honest its really the only time the MLB is any fun to watch or really means anything. Especially when the Yankees are in the hunt. (Sorry to all you Mariner fans, looks like another year of not making the playoffs.) Pro-baseball has way too long of a season and its really only a filler between the NBA finals and the beginning of the sport of kings - College Football. It got so bad this summer I actually found myself watching soccer and enjoying it. I am all for little league and such but come on MLB is way too long and there are too many roid users.

Enough about that. Today Benson (65) had his first football game of the season. He is the starting right guard (offence) for the 8th grade A team. I never knew how fun it was to watch linemen play. That is where the game is won. He must have done a great job, as we won 30 - 0. He played in the first half, then they took the starters out and he mostly watched the rest of the game. Here are a few pics:

They warmed up on a very soggy track, so their behinds are a bit red. The game was at Round Rock High School Stadium. Yes that's turf, they don't mess around here...

After the game muggin for the camera.

Right after we moved here Benson decided to play soccer, this is a friend that was on a couple of his soccer teams when they were in first and second grade. Now they are in Jr. High together and are on the same team again.

Obviously the Ceder Vally Jags are my favorite team, but right behind the Utes (nice job this weekend against UCLA) and anyone who plays against BYU are the Texas Longhorns my adopted team of choice. Here are a few pictures from the UT v. TCU game. A friend is a season ticket holder and invited me along. His seats are 3 rows from the top, and there were about 84000 people there very impressive. They also have the largest High Def Screen in the NCAA.

High School Football in Texas

We are gearing up for Benson's first football game this week. And so to get in the spirit of it all we attended the first home game for the high school he will attend and play football and baseball for. High School football in Texas is something else. We sit in this stadium that is amazing!! And we watch these kids that are athletic beyond reason. Friday night's game was so exciting! My heart was pounding, I was shaking, my hands were all clammy and my son wasn't even on the field. At half time our team was down 7 to 17. And with 12.7 seconds left in the game we were ahead 34 to 30. It was amazing! The final play of the game by our opposition almost did us in if it weren't for the star of the team bringing down the ball carrier. It was so fun! Can't wait until Tuesday night when I can watch my boy play.

My Poem

This was for an assignment in language arts. My dad made me post this.

Baseball Game

The cool brisk air blowing against my face

As I step up to the plate

and the pitch......."BALL" yelled the ump.

I step out of the box to look for the sign

Nose, ear, belt, ear, belt, hat, ear, OK i think swing away

As I step back in i get ready to swing away.

My grip tightens as i take a deep breath

The pitch comes but the Ball breaks

"Ball" yelled the ump again.

I step out of the box and try to relax

My coach just yelled "again" when your ready

As I stepped into the box the pitch came automatically.

"Oh, no" a curve ball "strike" yelled the ump

My coach just yelled "do it again big Ben"

I stayed in the box and hit the ball

"HOME RUN" the ball goes soring.

Just FYI

Many blogs out there are "two way" communication vehicles...that's cool! Josh and I decided to make our blog simply an "information out to you" kind of a blog and so we removed the option for people to leave comments. So enjoy the info and know that we love you all!

Xander the Busy Bee Boy

Xander is a Busy Bee. No that doesn't mean he is nosey. It is the name of the preschool group we participate in. Today was his first day back this fall and he was so excited and happy! Nearly every day without fail this summer he would ask me if it was a school day. He really enjoys his friends, learning letters and number, etc. He is quite a kid!