Our Christmas

I was grateful to have a picture of us.  I'm always behind the camera!  This man has had to do and be so much during our difficult first trimester.  I am so grateful for his servant heart!  I needed him and the grandmas so much, and they served us all so selflessly.

We still don't feel like we have established all of our family Christmas traditions.  However, we have used this interactive nativity set from FamilyLife for the past two years and the girls love it!  It takes a week, and we present it is as a daily family devotional.  It tells the Christmas story, and at the end leads up to why Jesus came and gives you an opportunity to explain the gospel to little ones.  One of my dear friends from church just bought this, and saw her son become a Christian with the help of this tool.  So cool!

Our gift to the girls this year was this pink retro kitchen set.  Now, when I'm watching the Food Network they get inspired and have to go make me something.

She says that this Supergirl costume was her favorite gift this year.  My mom gave it to her and it was a big hit!

The girls don't love anything more than dress-up.  Their great-aunt, Lala, gave them these adorable dresses.  Lil' sis wants to wear this nightgown all day and every night.

One of my favorite things...Christmas cards!  If you sent us one, we enjoyed it so much.  It was the year of the picture card, which made me very happy.

One wonderful surprise was getting to spend Christmas Eve with Amy at home.  She was in the hospital over Christmas, but we were allowed a few hours to do our family celebration at home.  We enjoyed a nice dinner and some fast presents. 

I had to get a shot of the Christmas coats, this is the 3rd Christmas where they have worn them.  This is probably my favorite consignment sale "find" ever.

This shot was taken of us on Christmas Day at Nanny & Papa's house.  Here are all 4 granddaughters and now we are all married.  It was the first Christmas with all of us together.

Christmas performance at Dance Class

Big sis' is dancing in the middle.  She enjoyed her first Sugarplum Fairy performance.

Please pray for our beloved sister, Amy

About 4 days ago, we received the shocking news that Amy, Adam's sister, has cancer once again. She has been diagnosed today with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Amy should be starting a 7-day round of chemotherapy today. Our hope and prayer is that this first-course of treatment will put her in remission. She has been told that with AML she will need a bone-marrow transplant, which raises other prayer needs as well. Please pray for her and our family in the coming days.

For updates on Amy go here to her CaringBridge site.

our news!

We are due with our 3rd child at the end of June!

halloween 2007

This was the year of the Rapunzel & the cowgirl. Big sis' asked to be Rapunzel this year, but didn't like the wig as much as she thought she would. Lil' sis' was a great sport about wearing her hand-me-down costume. Adam did an excellent job convincing her that boots are great...he's so much more qualified for that than me.
Trick or treating was fun with some of the neighborhood kids. I enjoyed visiting with my parents and Adam's mom, who came to join the festivities. My mom made it a party with the wonderful dinner she made. And it was fun having grandparents around, they got the kids very excited. Here are some pictures of the evening.

playing with pics

I had fun playing with a few new photos, softening the colors and the edges. This is incredibly addictive for a gal who loves pictures!

I already miss vacation.

Two weeks ago, we spent 7 nights on lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, AR. It was one of the most relaxing trips I've been on. The highlights were; family movie night, swimming with the girls everyday, not cooking too much, walking around downtown Hot Springs, and trying new restaurants. I love that we had some peace & calm in the midst of the busyness of fall. We came home and had to jump back in to a fast-paced life. Vacation...oh, how sweet you were.

snow white

I never know what she is going to come up with next. Today she found her costume and it put her in the mood to watch the movie. This was funny sight to me.

a great family night

puzzle time

future best friends, I hope.

Tonight we just had a family night and had fun! We did puzzle games to start, went to Lake Pflugerville for a walk at sunset and dropped by a park to play (and burn off the last bit of energy)! We love hearing what Lil' C. has to say these days. She has all her little opinions now. Lil' A. continues to have a major fear of ants and spiders - which dictates how much fun she has outside (we are working through that). Adam and I know setting aside family time seems like work sometimes, but it is always so rewarding. It was neat seeing so many people out doing the same thing. These moments are so sweet!

a "Hip! Hip! Hooray!" video

park play

Just a fun afternoon with some park play.

We love RayRay!

Her sunglasses were a favorite gift this bday.

We all miss Aunt RayRay and can't wait for her visit in October!

a new dance class

We started a new dance studio about 1 mile from our house.

It is called Greater Austin Dance Academy. So far, we love it!
Lil' sis is content to eat snack & watch a cartoon, while the class is going on.

She is dancing on the far right.

I can do it too!

She watches and learns routines from her sister's dance recital video. Here she is performing "Baby Face." She has actually convinced herself that she danced on the video and will point to the tv saying..."dat's me, right tear!"

neighborhood cookout

It never fails...if we invite neighbors over, we always have to pray for God to hold off the rain. We are not completely sure what God is teaching us in this. We had a cookout for our neighbors on Memorial Day weekend last spring and here is a picture of the storm right over our house when the party was supposed to start. Today you can see almost the same looking storm. Well, it did rain for a little bit and for the first half-hour no one was around. Adam and I were laughing at the scenario a bit. We had a party all set up and it was looking like we were going to have a quiet night at home. But just like before, the rain didn't discourage everyone. And we had eight families join us for a cookout tonight. It was a really good time, and we met new people. God allows rain each time, but we see His faithfulness in the big picture.

Labor Day Cookout

(nearing the end of the party)

mini-trip to the Salt Lick

hanging at the Salt Lick
she's loving the buttered bread

the butter-moustache!

silly in SueSue's hat & TGO's glasses

On Sunday evening, we went and joined TGO & SueSue at the Salt Lick in Driftwood, Tx. I was the only one who had been and it was fun to experience it all together. We enjoyed BBQ on a screened in patio, with cooler weather after a thunderstorm. It actually felt a little like Tx fall weather. I have thrown down a challenge to Mom & Dad...they have to come up with the next authentic-Austin-dining-experience. Can't wait!

just 4 years??

How does this transition happen in only 4 years??

I'm overwhelmed sometimes at how grown up she's getting.

daddy/daughter date night

They had a daddy-daughter date this weekend. It sounded like a lot of fun (completely tailored to them) because they went on a "progressive-dessert" date at the mall. They apparently hit up three stands - candy, icecream, & pretzel! So fun to hear about their "sweet" time.

a postcard from Austin

playing at Amy's

SueSue recently took us out on a lunch date to Frisco's downtown & Amy's IceCream on Burnet. The girls enjoyed getting out for lunch and playing on the playscape at Amy's. My mom always loves to share local "Austin" places with us. The girls and I had a great time...SueSue always has fun ideas!

my first blog

Over the past month...

Lil' C. turned two
I witnessed my sister’s wedding
I went to my high school reunion
Celebrated Dad’s 60th bday
Found my daughter giving herself a haircut
Watched friends plant two new churches in Austin
Had my 5th wedding anniversary

Wow! Nothing like…a restful summer month. Now we are making our plans for the fall. Lil' A. starts dance classes again and we will attempt to do preschool lessons at home. Lil' C. remains content most of the time to tag along, if she is well fed, of course.