December 2018

The busiest time of the year, but also the most magical time of the year. 

 The girls enjoyed making gingerbread houses.

 We visited Santa Claus at BLORA's Nature in Lights.  We got there right when it opened and beat the crowd.  They have a cute little village with Santa (not impressed) and all these little boutique shops.  Santa was more worried about the football game on his cell phone than his actual job!

Kate lost both her front teeth for Christmas this year!  The last one came out as we were driving to church.  I love her little grin and whistle speech right now.  I also like how she turns her head we she eats because there is nothing to chomp the food with.

Making Kate look like Cindy-Lou Who from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas for one of the dress up days for school.  When I picked her up from school, poor thing said her head hurt.  I used a hard plastic cup underneath and felt pretty bad that she had it there for 8-9 hours! 

Kate is a believer.  Jane is just along for the ride.  If she can't see it, she doesn't believe it is real.  Dassie, our elf on the shelf, made her appearance this year.  Jane was pretty cute and said "She's just a doll Kate.  She can't see us when we are upstairs".  Kate was very worried that Jane would touch the elf and make her loose her magical powers.  She told me to tell Dassie to hide higher so Jane wouldn't touch her. 

Of course, MEDDAC decides to have a military ball during the busiest time of the year.  We had a good time at the ball.  I got my hair, nails, and make-up done.

Harker Heights had a 5K run called the Frosted Mug.  I was the first female finisher! At the very end, I was chasing a 7 year old to the finish line.  I couldn't believe how quick he was!

Bryan finished in second place while pushing the two girls in the stroller.  He is first place in my eyes.

The night before Christmas, we visited Santa Claus driving around the city with the fire department.  We met him at the high school because he wouldn't be driving around our neighborhood until 9:30 at night.  My kids had to go to bed much sooner than that. 

 Reading "T'was the Night Before Christmas" in their new princess jammies.

Christmas morning came really early this year.  I think 5:45 or 6:00!  They were so excited to open their present from each other.  Kate got Jane a Kit Kak bar and a mermaid pillow.  Jane got Kate a Frozen stamp kit. 

We got a lot of camping gear for Christmas.  We are really hoping to take the family camping more often, with all the cool state parks near by.

Jane got Bryan this singing cactus.  I thought it was hilarious!

My kids opening grandma and grandpa Koplin's Christmas present. 

Traditional Christmas cinnamon rolls.  They are so yummy.  This year I used sweet potato, instead of a regular potato.

A yummy Christmas dinner.  We even used our good China this year!

 I thought this was so cute.  The girls decorating grandma and grandpa's gift with all their Christmas loot.  Guns, markers, jewelry beads.  Haha!

2018 Christmas Letter

Scroll down to the bottom for the actual letter.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

 

We are now living in Harker Heights, Texas.  Our family moved two hours north of San Antonio to the military base Fort Hood in August.  Bryan completed his Optometry Residency and Fellowship at Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas this summer.  He was promoted to Major this month! Rebekah is working at Seton Medical Center in Harker Heights in the surgical services department.  She has enjoyed having a Monday through Friday job as it works well with the girl’s schedule.  She is 7 credits short of completing her Master’s in Nursing Education.  Kate (5) is in kindergarten and loves school.  She has lost four teeth.  She enjoys climbing and swinging on everything, so we’ve signed her up for gymnastics!  Jane (3) is attending a bilingual children’s daycare center.  Her smile and personality are adored by everyone she meets.  She loves to play dress-up, hide-and-seek, and pretend to be a kitty.     

We hope this letter finds you well.  Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Bryan, Rebekah, Kate & Jane Ahlborn

November 2018

I am very proud of my little garden of lettuce.  Our house had these tiny raised gardens and I figured I'd try to use them for the winter before we move them to somewhere not in the middle of the yard in the spring/summer.  I had put in some beets and peas, but they didn't make it.  Only my lettuce has survived.  But that is a good thing, since I can barely keep my house plants alive! 

 Bryan went to San Antonio  to present his fellowship before the board of Optometry and became a new fellow! Congratulations to him!!

We camped at McKinney Falls State Park over the Veteran's Day holiday.  It was a little wet and a little cold.  But the girls did great.  This would be a beautiful place to visit in the spring and summer when the water is warm.  

We also ran 9 miles in San Antonio over the Veteran's Day holiday with one of Bryan's friends, Joy.  Because it was such a small race, most of us got first place in our age group! It was a very cold run.  I guess this prepared me for my other very cold run in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

 Kate's school picture!  Look at that fake smile!

I went up to Oklahoma before Thanksgiving to run a 1/2 marathon.  Basically, I am trying to keep up with my friend Jennifer and all her different state medals.  This run was so cold. It was so cold I ran the fastest I've ever run- 1:52! A new PR!

The worst part about this race was that I lost my car keys that were hidden under my car.  I had no cell phone or money because everything was in the car.  Nothing was stolen out of the car. No windows were broken.  My keys were just taken out of thin air.  I found a kind sole that let me warm up in their car, call a pop-a-lock guy, and wait until my car opened was opened.  I took an Uber back to where I was staying (Adam's house) to shower and really get warm.  Then I had the car towed just in case someone were to come back and claim the vehicle.  Bryan was able to first class mail the extra car keys, thank goodness- because a new key costs like $250!  It was a crazy, cold adventure!

 But I got my Oklahoma medal!

For Thanksgiving, we all traveled to Michael's home in Ardmore, Oklahoma.  It was Wendy and her family, Adam and his family, Bryan and our family, and Stratton.  Amy and her family came a few days before, but left early to have Thanksgiving in New Mexico.  We played ultimate frisbee, ran a 5K, played at a trampoline park, swam at a hotel, watched Ralph Breaks the Internet, went bowling, drove through a park with Christmas lights, ate Braum's Ice Cream, and played with cousins. 

It was lots of fun!

October 2018

Bryan turned 36 at the beginning of October.  We got him an inflatable eye with glasses to put in our yard for Halloween. He thought it was pretty cool.  It gets harder and harder each year to find a good gift for him.  Mostly because we don't need more stuff, but also because we purchase what we want anytime. We enjoyed some pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

 Kate participated in her elementary school's run-a-thon. She ran 27 laps to help raise money for her school.  We sure appreciated everyone that helped donate to make this a fun event for her.  She did her best.

We traveled to Muenster, Texas for a 1/2 marathon.  It really was the worst race ever!  It was so hilly and we pushed the stroller. 

Mostly we wanted to wear our running Trachten and go to an Oktoberfest.  The towns folk running the show really liked our gear and asked if they could use our photo for their website.  We could be famous!

The girls really like the face painting. 

After the race, we went and visited our cousins in Ardmore, Oklahoma.  My girls always LoVe seeing their family!

My Volvo was gradually costing us too much money in repairs.  We traded it in for a Jeep Grand Cherokee.  Pretty much the same car, minus the brand and a few upgrades.  I LoVe it!

We went kayaking on Stillhouse Lake, which is about 8 minutes from our house.  There had been lots of rain over the past couple weeks, but we didn't realize how bad it was until this adventure!

We took the girls to a church in Robinson, Texas for a fall festival.  It was rather small and the weather was awful.  We had to go indoors for a little because of a potential tornado.  Maybe next year, we will attempt the fall festival in Marble Falls.

This year we dressed up as Goldie Locks and the Three Bears.  Everyone was happy with the decision.  It is always hard pleasing everyone, especially when both the girls want to be the princess.  Maybe you could give me ideas for next year? Or maybe I'll be a prince and Bryan will be a prince, and the girls can choose a princess??

I am pretty sure we did the pumpkin cutting on Halloween.  I know how Texas rots the pumpkins real quick!

Happy Halloween! All of our loot from 2 hours of trick-or-treating.  The weather was cold and rainy, and I think all the neighbors just wanted to get rid of candy, so they dumped it into the girls bags by the handful.

September 2018

Keeping up with my blog has gotten a little more challenging over the years.  Especially as the girls have gotten older and all of us are involved with more activities.  It is spring break 2019 as I write about these last 6 months.  

Jane started pre-school at Iglesia Cristiana Mont Sinai at the beginning of the month.  They integrate English and Spanish into the curriculum, so we might have a little Spanish speaker (or undersander-er). The best part is wearing these cute little uniforms.  Unfortunately, Jane only likes to wear dresses, so I had to shop around for appropriate wear.  But isn't she darling!

I started a new job at Seton Medical Center in Harker Heights.  It is literally 7 minutes from my house.  I work in the surgical services area, which has been a little bit of an adjustment.  I see patients for about 1 hour at the most.  It is very family friendly though.  I work roughly 8-9 hours three days a week Monday-Friday.  I don't have to work on the weekends, unless I decide to take call.  Call is about once a week on the weekdays and one weekend every two months.  Super easy.  Eventually, I'd like to pick up some shifts in their ICU.  

Kate lost her other bottom, front tooth this month.  Her teacher pulled it out in class and she got a fancy tooth necklace to keep it safe from the school nurse.  She was excited because it was just like the story Fancy Nancy and the Too-Loose Tooth.  It is fun to see her grow up, but it is also a little painful.  I keep looking at her and thinking about when she was 18 months or 3 years old.  My little KitKate is growing up so quickly!  

I wrote a little note from the Tooth Fairy.  It says "Make sure you brush a little longer. Your tooth was a bit on the rotten side." 

Rebekah turned 34 this year.  I pampered myself with a haircut and pedicure.  We went out to eat at Richard Rawlings' Garage and I bought myself a Nothing Bunt Cake.  The girls and Bryan got me nail polish and a new car! 

The next weekend we traveled down to Kerrville, Texas for their triathlon.  Bryan did the sprint this year and I completed the Olympic distance.  If I remember correctly, Bryan got 4th in his age category (lost by 0.01 seconds) and I got 3rd place in my age category. Bryan's little brother, Michael, came out to race in the sprint triathlon as well.  We stayed out at Bryan's grandma's house and the girls enjoyed seeing and petting all the animals.  

The girls having fun at a trampoline park.

We started the girls in gymnastics every Tuesday at Texas Tumblers.  They both really enjoy it, thank goodness!