Saturday, July 24, 2010

My Baby is 9!

When I think about the last 9 years of my life, it seems to have flown by and stood still all at once. My life changed 9 years ago when we welcomed Lexi Ray into our lives. She is a blessing to so many and I'm so thankful that she is mine. It's so much fun watching the young lady she's turning into. She's so full of life and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her. I pray that she will grow to be a noble, courageous, kind, trustworthy, confident, humble, hardworking, patient, generous woman of God. That she will be bold enough to stand for what she believes in and loving enough to accept differences. Someone who is satisfied by the little things that life holds, but dreams for big things too. I hope that I can share in her joys, help her through her heartaches, and know when to stand by and let her make important decisions.
~~~~~~~~~
This year after much pleading on my part, we opted not to have another slumber party. We settled on every other year...yeah me! We celebrated her birthday by taking 5 special girls to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and go ice skating. We couldn't have ended up with a better bunch either. They were wonderful little ladies and brought joy to my heart as I watched them help each other across the ice. It took about 45 minutes of warming up before they decided they were ready to become professionals. Tatum loved to grab my hand and lift her foot up off the ice without telling me...it was pretty cute! She also tried to sweet talk me into an ice skating outfit (and if I was rich, I would've given in!). Sweet Addie is a little fighter! She doesn't quit. Fall after fall, she never gave up or complained, just kept trying. Riley played it safe and stayed close to the wall or helped the little girls out by checking on them. Mia was a natural and took to the ice in 15 minutes. Lexi too! She was all over the place and even did a few spin moves. Best of all though, was watching them interact with a new friend. There was a sweet little fellow that we met almost immediately, who helped us with our skates, escorted us around the ice, and reminded us to use our manners. He was precious in his black helmet and gloves and the girls were so incredibly kind to him that we became his new best friends. My heart was so full of love for these little girls and their loving hearts!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Port Bolivar, TX

We love the beach!
Cousins... Big Boy!
Papa & Nana ...and their legacy.
Lexi, Nat, & I convinced Mom to scare Dad in the middle of the night by dressing as a shark! I think it worked and was pretty funny!
Lex & Nat found the dress up box and put on a show!
At the fish market...
We took Lexi to town for a birthday lunch!
On the ferry.
Enjoying Lexi's breakfast birthday cake.
Happy Birthday!
Daddy's hanging out!
Mmm...ice cream!
Mom, LuLu, Lex, & Tatum.
Me and my sweet brothers.
Hard at work. This year, my brother invited us to spend a few days on the beach at his boss's beach house. It exceeded our expectations by far! We found a huge house that comfortably accommodated our family of 15 + LuLu and Robert. Between ping-pong, pool, karaoke, and a beautiful deck, we probably could have enjoyed the house by itself, but not our family...I think we all agreed that we could leave out lives and become beach bums pretty easily.


























Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Girlfriends

Here are the beauties I spent last weekend with! Aubrey and I went to elementary school together, but got super close in 6th grade. Jill and I met in gymnastics in elementary school (we weren't very good). Kimberly and I helped each other survive middle school. High School brought all of us together and our friendship has stood the test of time!


Monday, July 12, 2010

Girl's Weekend

Jill made this amazing breakfast with peach mimosas.
Getting ready for pedicures.
Jill & Kimberly were sporting stripes & Kimberly got a little crispy again!
Preparing our food. Yay for Girl's Weekend 2010! I have such a special group of High School friends and we try to get together one weekend a year to catch up. Between babies, jobs, husbands, and distance, it's hard to find a time that meets everyone's schedules. This year half of our group is traveling to North Carolina to visit Bekah, and the other half of us who couldn't leave Texas traveled to a beautiful farm house in Buffalo Gap. We had such fun and enjoyed each other as always. We started with lunch at the Health Food store, layed out at the Country Club, gathered our food and headed to the house. We ate....and ate....and ate....and did pedicures, looked at old pics, laughed, slept, and even got spooked in that big ol' house! Kimberly took all of the group shots, so I'll post them when she sends them. We are already looking forward to next year.








Silly Kids

Who are these kids??