A Korean wedding

While we were home having fun out in the snow in February, Joel was spending a couple weeks in Korea for work. But it wasn't all work and no fun - while he was there he got invited to attend his coworker's wedding! He wasn't quite sure what to expect - would it be a very traditional Korean wedding? For the most part it wasn't much different from a typical western wedding...


Except for the women with swords...


And the crazy glowing aisle...


The happy couple greeting guests...


Joel chatted with some of his colleagues while the bride and groom had a private ceremony with family.


After the family ceremony, the bride and groom changed into traditional Korean dress. Here is Joel with the groom, S.W.


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This day was SNOW much fun!!

We had the most exciting thing happen back in February, and I cannot believe it's taken me this long to blog about it! IT SNOWED!!! I know some of you have had so much snow this winter that you are completely rolling your eyes at me, but trust me, this was a very rare and special treat down here in Austin, Texas! It was only the kids' second time seeing snow EVER - the first time being two Christmases ago in Michigan. So it was a VERY exciting day!! Here are some photos...

The kids at the window watching the snow fall.


Seconds later they would be running around the house yelling "It's snowing!! It's snowing!! It's snowing!!" and seconds after that they would be dressed and ready to go outside and play - the fastest I have EVER managed to get them dressed and into coats & hats!

It was really coming down for a while.


Once we were outside, Carter immediately tried catching the snow with his tongue. Is this just something kids are just programmed to do?


Courtney was unsure once she was out there. That other time she had seen snow in Michigan, she wasn't even 11 months old - she found this white stuff falling from the sky to be quite bizarre.


Meanwhile Carter was trying to catch snow with his bucket, to save for later...


Courtney made her way off the porch but still wasn't convinced...


Carter found a nice deposit of snow on our outdoor table to play in...


We built a little friend for my frogs...


Finally Courtney agreed that it's FUN to play in snow!


She started singing a little song to herself as she marched around in the snow - "It is snowing, it is white. It is snowing, it is white." So cute!

And here's the front of our house on that rare, snowy day.


It really was beautiful - like being in a gigantic snow globe. I think I was just as excited as the kids! Or maybe I was so excited because the kids were so excited. And poor Daddy was in Korea and missed it all!

One cute day back in February...

Aunt Laura and baby cousin Morgan were visiting. Morgan's bottle time came...


and Courtney decided she needed to feed her baby too...


Even Bunny was hungry!


So cute. :-)

Spring is picnic season!

On March 9 we had a nice, sunny spring day in Austin, so we decided to have a little picnic lunch down at Zilker Park! Daddy was working that day but he was able to sneak out for a bit and join us. Here's some photos...

Loved this hand-holding as we walked up to the park!


Courtney loves playing the big outdoor xylophone.


After hanging out at the playground for a while, we went to the grassy area of the park to run around. Courtney had fun flying around like a birdie, more on there HERE.


Carter helped Daddy grill hot dogs for lunch.


Carter wasn't too keen on smiling - more on there HERE.


All in all, a perfect spring day - made even more perfect by our first bluebonnet sighting of the season!
Thanks for stopping by today.

I will not smile for the camera...

... and you can't make me!


Ok fine, I suppose I can smile just a little!


Taking photos of Carter is so much fun these days, LOL!

Sunday Morning Sweeties

My sweeties hanging out on a Sunday morning...

This just makes me happy...

St. Patty's at the Hickson's...

Yup this was how we celebrated St. Patrick's Day this year! The kids start young in the Hickson household. I don't know what's crazier, the 2 yr old drinking Guinness or the big toe chaser she followed it with....?Meanwhile, as all the Courtney shenanigans were going on, Carter just sat at the other end of the table, looking sweet as can be...
Ok ok I should probably clarify - Courtney didn't REALLY drink any Guinness! Daddy had the bottle and she kept saying she wanted some, so after he had finished drinking it, he let her hold up the bottle. She may have gotten a drip. I expected her to make a completely revolted face and declare it to be the nastiest thing she had ever tried, but instead she squealed as sweet as can be "I wuv it!!". Yes, we are in trouble...

Our actual St. Patrick's Day "celebration" consisted of Carter deciding he needed to wear a green shirt - and then discovering in his drawer that he actually owns TWO green shirts - so he in fact wore TWO green shirts. We couldn't find a green shirt for Courtney, so instead she wore a My Little Pony shirt with a rainbow on it - the rainbow seemed sorta leprechauny. Or something. I decided we needed a green/Irish-inspired dinner, so I tried something crazy... I actually tried making homemade fish & chips. I bought fresh cod, made beer batter, heated a pot of oil and everything. The result - it wasn't that good and I found deep frying WAY too scary. So that's the first AND last time I'll make fried fish! I also heated some sweet potato fries for the chips (I figure there is orange in the Irish flag, yes?) and then made some green sides - peas, salad with green onions, cucumbers & avocado, and some avocado slices on the kids' plates. But of course their favorite part of dinner - the green frosted cupcakes!

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Camping!

Last night Carter and Daddy went on an overnight camping trip to Pace Bend, an LCRA park about 30 minutes west of us on Lake Travis. This was the third time Carter has gone camping with Daddy, he really loves it! They went hiking, cooked hot dogs for dinner on the campfire, roasted marshmallows for s'mores, and even had a little visit from a raccoon!! First thing Carter said to me when they got home today - "Mommy, we got to see a NOCTURNAL ANIMAL!!". Love that he knows the word nocturnal. :-) Here's some pics:

Setting up the tent.My little happy camper!Going for a hike with the backpack he got for Christmas...Sunrise this morning over the lake - see all those boats? There was a fishing competition going on!And here's a little video of Carter at dinner - taken from Joel's phone, so the quality is not the greatest.

Courtney and I had some fun Mommy/Daughter time together too - but Courtney asked me about 100 zillion times "Where's Carter go?" and "Where'd Daddy go?" even though the answer was the same everytime - "Camping!". Maybe next time Courtney and Mommy will go with them!!

Olympic Fever!

Olympic Fever was in full swing at our house yesterday! We were sad when Team USA lost the hockey gold to Canada, but at least it was a fantastic game! But long before the hockey madness began, our morning was filled with watching some figure skating recaps. Which Carter found quite intriguing, and decided to "skate" along...And the finale, a perfectly executed triple lutz.And Carter takes the GOLD!! Well done.