Perfect pic

How do you pick just one?

These two are so cute and don't mind their picture taken at all. I decided it was time to get some new photos on the wall and tried to take a photo that would be nice to hang on the wall. We took several shots and now I have to pick one of each of them. They are so adorable. Now I just have to decide which one... maybe I will have an entire wall of pictures of just these two. :)

Just a few weeks ago... 4th of July

For the 4th we went to fireworks that Hollie's neighborhood puts on (actually it was on the 3rd but it was to celebrate the 4th). We had a great evening hanging out waiting for fireworks. Our four oldest children didn't get home until the next day so it was a fun evening with Corbin and Abigail. The kids went in the bounce house and tried to hula hoop. Daniel taught them to swing it on their arms instead and they loved that. Especially when the hula hoop went flying off their arm. They laughed and ran off to chase it. When they got glow in the dark necklaces they could twirl those on their arms really well. We walked down by the pond and watched the ducks and hung out talking while it got dark. It was a wonderful evening.

Aiden needed Daniel's help to get the hula hoop going and loved his new abilities
Sophia and Abigial... pretty girls!

Our two youngest are not very little anymore. All the bigger kids had been gone a week. Corbin and Abigial had gotten to go to San Antonio and Austin with me for a few days and then got to spend time with their parents alone a couple days. They had a fun week even if they missed all the big kids around.
My friend Kelly came to visit and teach swim lessons for a few weeks. It was awesome having her here spending time with her. I thought I should post a picture of Hollie and I with mom and dad. We love living close to them and spending time together. We are a blessed family to live by each other and see each other weekly (daily!)

Happy Birthday Braden

Happy Birthday Braden! He is officially a TEENAGER!
I went and found a few pictures to show off what a cute baby and little boy you were!


To celebrate today we decided to go to the skating rink with a few friends. Our skating experience began with falls to the floor but by the end even the little kids had mastered getting around the rink. Corbin and Abby used their skating trainers to figure out how to get the skates to move forward.
Nathan and Matthew watching the speed races.
Jon, Andy, Tanner, Eric, and Braden





Corbin and Abigail got it right at the end and were making their way around the rink on their own.
It was a great time and on our way home we got shakes. Hope you had a great birthday Braden. We love you!!

Catching up- on the last month!

It is time I actually blogged again.

First I want to tell Nathan- Congratulations!!!! He graduated from Elementary School. We are proud of him and he did really well in school this year. He will be in band next year playing the trumpet and we are sure he will be busy with baseball too. He has some great friends to hang out with and will enjoy the next year.

Good luck in Middle School Nathan!

Texas Size Storm

We had a huge storm last night. It was quick to move in an was really bad. My kids had gymnastics and as we left the sky to the West was black and the clouds were rolling in. As we drove off the emergency sirens sounded. We didn't anywhere to go at that moment so we headed away from the storm to my sisters but realized she wasn't home. At the point we couldn't hear any sirens and it was still clear towards our home so we kept driving. We almost got home and the storm caught up to us. The wind began pushing the van very forcefully and the rain came down so intensely it was hard to see to drive. We were almost home so we hurried home and all got drenched running into the house. But we were safe.

When we got home we found our fence was down in two sections. Here are photos from this morning.

This part is actually three sections the neighbor has already taken out the posts and leaned the sections up against the fence.
All of my family was gone last night and had to weather the storm. Daniel was returning from work and called me to tell me the sirens were going off where he was and that we should probably get home quickly. Hollie was at a VBS with her kids and they had power go out and huddle in the gym until it was safe to leave. Her husband, Mark, beat the storm by his plane landing minutes before the storm. He had to drive home in it. My mom was on the way to the airport and felt her surburban being shoved over half a lane by the winds. She got to the airport only to find out my dad got sent to Austin. He got here just in time for the storm to hit. He did get home late last night after a delay in Austin. Mom finally got home to find all her power out (still out this morning) and in her front yard the tree broke a huge limb off and blocked the front door. They will be renting a chain saw and removing it this weekend. Mark and Hollie had their power go out during the night for awhile and found a leak in their roof.

My kids were shook up a bit last night being in a car and trying to get home. We heard alarms in the next city go off but we were fine. The fence will be easy to repair and we were all safe. I am glad to hear my family all make it home safely. It is still raining today but the big storm is gone. I sure don't remember storms like we have now when I was a teen growing up here. They seem to be getting bigger and bigger!

Chiggers = Misery!

If you don't live down here in Texas you might not have experienced Chiggers. They are microscopic bugs that bite! You don't feel them the day it happens. But 24 hours later life becomes torture. Yesterday we went on a great nature walk the cub scouts. We had a fabulous time. I am always thinking about chiggers when I am out in fields or wooded areas. I stepped into the long grass or off the path I would have chigger bites. I worked very hard to stay out of the grass and support my scouts from a distance... all my efforts were worthless. I counted 20 chigger bites tonight and think that count might not be all. An ant bite and a mosquito bite are nothing like these. You will never experience itching like a chigger bite!!!!

Poor Abigail was attacked too. She had around 10 bites this morning but now the entire area is all swollen and red so we don't know how many she really has but we are coating her with cream to soothe the pain! I know you all feel so sorry for us.

Misery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NJHS Induction

Last night Braden has the great honor of being inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. They had a very nice ceremony. He has to get service hours, keep his grades up, and continue to be a leader to his peers. He enjoyed the ceremony and ice cream after. In the group that made NJHS he has a great circle of friends. He is really going to enjoy being a part of this. We are extremely proud of him and he constant hard work!