Valentine's Day, Baseball Games, and Entermissions

We had a nice, quiet Valentine's Day this year.  Zane and Bryson were at school all day so Ashlyn took time to make them some Valentines.  I love how she enjoys me writing words out so that she can copy them.  She wrote "Daddy" and "Bryson" by herself with me showing her how to spell them.

We also baked them a cheesecake and cut up some strawberries as our Valentines gift to them.  We enjoyed this cheesecake after a good dinner at Carolina Ale House (Bryson's favorite place)!

Zane and the kids each handed me separate bouquets of flowers that are still sitting on my table today!

Later that weekend we went to watch Zane's first baseball scrimmage (he is assistant coach for the varsity baseball team at the High School he works at).

Bryson absolutely loved watching the game and laughed at a lot of the baseball phrases he heard Zane yell out to the players:

We left the game a little early to head over to our church for their EnterMissions (the annual missions conference).  On this night, they had an international dinner with foods from many different countries and then a silent auction followed by a live auction.  Zane was able to meet us there in time to bid on a few different baskets.  We had set aside a part of our tax return and were happy to win a few different baskets for our family.

The live auction was very loud, so we made sure to bring along Bryson's large headphones to block out some sound:

Since Zane had to finish his baseball game, my sweet friend, Jenny, met the kids and me there and was so nice to help me get food for the kids and keep us company.  Zane and I have grown close to Jenny and her husband, Daniel.  They are the kind of friends we can call last minute to meet us at restaurants, call for prayer or help, or just to come hang out at our house.  They love on our  kids and our kids absolutely love Jenny and Daniel.  It may also be because they're the kind of friends who order ice cream for our kids at restaurants at 8 pm after finishing dinner.  We love hanging out with Jenny and Daniel.  :)

Ashlyn had missed her nap time to go watch Zane's baseball game so she was exhausted.  I have no clue how she slept throughout the live auction, but she did!

Last I heard there was over $18,000 raised for missions!  It was definitely a great night with lots of fun!

Super Bowl and Circus Fun!

Our small group decided to have a Super Bowl party and we had such a fun time!  Bryson was so excited to see if his NY Giants would win, but he was even more excited to have an excuse to have his small group friends over to play!  Along with a variety of appetizers, our family experienced our first shrimp boil (apparently it is pretty popular in the south).  For all you Arizona folks, it was basically shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes, onions, etc. along with some spices, all boiled together.  It was really good!

We put a tv out in our garage so that's where most of the guys hung out while also cooking the food:

Zane put together a score pool for excitement (and also so some people could win some candy):

We just had a good time hanging out and watching parts of the game while eating yummy food and having great conversations.  :)

The weekend after Super Bowl ended up being pretty busy too!  One thing we got to do was take the kids to the circus which was so exciting!!  Ashlyn was absolutely in love with everything but especially enjoyed the elephants.  Bryson probably would have much rather seen the NC State Wolfpacks playing basketball there, but he did enjoy the circus!

These guys really almost gave me a heart attack!  I told Zane that this was one job I would not be able to let Bryson do:

I took a few videos, but Zane told me there was a sign when we walked in that said no videos were allowed. So, I will refrain from posting the videos of the circus and instead I will show you the video of the kids during intermission:

Bryson really loved when the basketball hoops came out and these guys did some tricks!:

The circus was definitely a blast!!

Happy Birthday Bryson!!

My sweet baby boy...

...turned 6 today!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Bryson!!  We love you!!

Play-Doh People, 100 Days of School, and the Big Wolfpack Game

What fun things have been going on at the Porter house over the past week?

Well, Ashlyn loves playing Play-Doh while Bryson is at school!  She was proud of her 3 people she made the other day.  It's her, Bryson, and me in the car on the way to school while Daddy is at work:

Bryson celebrated his 100th day of school.  In honor of this, he had to wear a shirt decorated with 100 of something.  We chose to use an Iron Man 2 puzzle!  We originally put the puzzle together and glued it on as one piece but unfortunately it didn't sit well on his chest.  So, I pulled off each individual piece and started over.  :)

He even made some special glasses at school that he let his sister borrow:

But the most exciting thing for Bryson was a fun trip he got to take with Daddy!  Ashlyn and I went to a friend's birthday party while Bryson and Zane went to watch the NC State Wolfpack game:

Zane got 2 amazing tickets to the game and a parking pass from his new principal and they were great seats!  Zane and Bryson got to sit in the special area with comfy chairs, all you can eat food and drinks, couches and tv's, etc.  And from what I've heard, they both enjoyed a ton of food!  Bryson even talked his Daddy into letting him have his own cup of Pepsi for the first time...but soon after asked Zane for just a big cup of water.  :)  Zane said he enjoyed the barbecue while Bryson loved the homemade potato chips:

After filling up on food, he moved on to eating cake:

Bryson was so excited he was literally bouncing in his seat:

Bryson (and Zane) really LOVED getting to go to this game and enjoyed their time together!

Stay tuned to hear about Super Bowl day and hopefully the circus we have tickets to go to tomorrow!!