Pascagoula Nature Center

So, I have to say that we didn't do too much at all last time we came to Mississippi.  A large part of that was because we were poor and had hardly any money for to pay for gas to go places.  (Rick and I were talking about how badly and cheaply we ate one pay period when we decided to go to New Orleans for a day trip).  Rick found this Nature Center in Pascagoula.  And on the outside, it's really small.  But, we decided to take a trip out (about 40 minutes away) to check it out.  And we were pleasantly surprised.  It was a small little building, but there was a lot of neat stuff in there.  And Evan got to pet a snack, which he was super duper excited about.  He kept trying to squeeze it though, which definitely could have been an issue...

Rick and Evan

It the tumbleweed of the deep south

Evan playing fish operation and putting all the fishie parts back together.

Evan loved the snakes, but he kept calling everything "Fishies".  We have to try and expand that vocabulary of his!

Alligator snapper turtle skull.  Nasty.

Jackson County.  We had to cross county lines to get there.

Pretty rocks.

Me in front of the creepy bobcat.

Logan really could care less.  Plus, the peacock was freaking him out.

Evan petting the snake.

The boys looking at the peacock outside.

There was a big lake, and we took a walk to the island in the middle. 

And we took a couple of pictures.

And then it was too cold so we decided to go back to the car and maybe get some lunch.  The end.

We tried going to this famous restaurant on the way home but we didn't think it was open for lunch or maybe, the season.  So then we went to Tato Nuts, which is a famous donut place down here, and bought some donuts. And we decided to check out the Mexican restaurant around here that we heard was pretty good called El Saltillo.  It was definitely Tex-Mex, but there were some authentic items, including Rick's tacos el pastor.  Evan ate a ton of tortilla chips and poked his burrito, and Logan ate about all of my rice and beans and half of Rick's rice.  I still don't understand how he is so skinny with how much that baby eats. 

Before and After Pictures

I don't see that much of a difference, but I thought that I would post a few before/after pics thus far.  The before pics I weighed about 227 lbs.  In the after pics I am around 179-177.

2012 Achievements and 2013 Goal Setting

I like to do this every year it seems.  I like to highlight a few things that happened in the previous year and I like to look forward to goal-setting for the next year.  So, here it goes: 

2012 Highlights

1)  Logan coming into the world:  He has been such a blessing.  He makes our family feel more whole and unified. I love his sweet little personality.  I was so blessed with a relatively easy pregnancy, labor and recovery.  He nursed so well even from the very beginning and I just love his easy going, low key personality. 

2) Rick getting into and graduating from OTS: I think this would be at the top of the list if Logan hadn't been born this year.  What a blessing.  I've often wondered why we were supposed to go to Fort Meade, and I am almost positive now it was for a variety of reasons, one being that Rick would get the support and experience that he needed in order to get into OTS.  He had a wonderful commander and enlisted leadership that helped him get into OTS.  And, we are so thankful that he had a chance to go in a timely manner and survive Maxwell AFB and their Basic Officer Training. 

3) Weight Loss:  I knew that after I had Logan I would have to get on the ball with getting in shape and losing all the weight that I had gained since getting married, getting pregnant, etc and then some to be healthy.  For me, weight loss isn't about an end factor.  I am planning on having more children, but I want to be at a healthier weight for those pregnancies and deliveries than I was for my first two boys.  I have been working on making healthy choices an integral part of my life.  I am so thankful for the support and love that I have received from Rick, especially since he gets to babysit while I go run or has to endure eating more veggies than usual because I made it as dinner.  I still have a long way to go, but I never would have imagined that I would have lost 50 lbs already after having Logan.  I have about 35-40 more lbs to go, but I know that I can do it! 

2013 Goals

Spiritual: 
       -Focus on the attending the temple more often.  It can be done, even with young children. 
       -Make my scripture study more personal.
       -Make Family Home Evening a priority, even if it's only 5 minutes.

Temporal:
        -No going out to eat except for special occasions.
        -Build up food storage
        -Focus on spending more time together as a family.
        -Pay off 1 debt

Fitness/Health Goals:
        -Track Weight Watchers points consistently.
        -Record mileage that I've run this year.
        -Cut the amount of sugar that I eat.
        -Work out 5-6 days a week.

And, that's it, folks!  

Christmas in the Southwest

I'm not having very good luck with my blog posts this morning.  This is my second time writing about Christmas, since I actually deleted my first post.

Oh well.  We had Christmas in Phoenix, and had fun with family.  While we were there we ate Mexican food, saw Les Miserables, and just spent time together.  Here are a few pics: 

Making Christmas Trees on Christmas Eve.  Thanks pinterest!

Frosting that was snatched.  Quite yummy.

Cross-eyed and eating his Christmas tree.

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Toys and puffs, and he plays with the clothes tag. 

Part of Evan's haul, including the wagon from Santa.

Evan opening up his Star Wars toy, and Logan is quite interested in it as well.

Practicing standing up.

Cheesy smiles for the camera!

Pretending he's a girl.

Evan dressed as Wolverine.

Logan with his big toy this year, the jungle car track with cars. 

On the 27th, we headed to California to spend the rest of our vacation with my family.  We had a lot of fun.  The boys opened up a ton more gifts there (Second Christmas) and loved playing with all their new toys.  We went out to eat a couple of times and played Mario Kart a lot (my two nephews got it from my brother for Christmas, so we needed to break it in).  We also celebrated my nephew Casey's birthday.  He turns 7 today, actually, but we celebrated early.  He had an Angry Birds party, and the two boys LOVED playing with the balloons. 

Evan going after the Angry Birds balloons.

Evan thinking that more gifts were cool.

Yum. Birthday cake.

Evan and Rick at Farrell's

Logan at Farrell's.  He woke up right in time to eat as the food came out.

Mom and I.

Casey making his scary eyes for the camera!

Logan enjoying his food. 

Logan with his big smile.

Logan upset because we were getting a picture of the ice cream sundae we all shared (the 4 of us) instead of eating it.

The Gibson Girl ice cream sundae.  Totally weird...Sherbet, Vanilla, Butterscotch sauce and strawberry sauce, but still tasted pretty good.  We ordered it because it was featured on The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network.  

 And that is THE END of our Christmas holiday.