I'm Thankful For.....

1. The free gift of salvation
2. My wonderful hubby
3. My sweet, sweet kids
4. All of our family...parents, sister, grandparents, great-grandparents
5. Our home
6. Our awesome church
7. All of our fun friends
8. All of our other friends who aren't fun (ha ha, just kidding)
9. Thanksgiving Leftovers
11. Gas at about $1.60/gal
12. Christmas music and decorations
13. Mi Cocina, La Hacienda and Los Molcajetes
14. Singing on the worship team
15. Stein Mart
16. Texas
17. Disposable diapers
18. The Food Network
19. that Bobby keeps our cars in working order
20. that Bobby loves to play with the kids
21. that Bobby is so handy
22. Ethan's sticky kisses
23. Ethan's infectious laughs
23. Annaliese's sweet smile
24. Annaliese's cuddles
25. online shopping
26. Southlake Town Square
27. our sweet nursery workers
28. Spinach Cheese Dip in a Sourdough bread bowl
29. my digital camera
30. my Chi hair iron

Ashley's 30th Birthday

One of my best friends, Ashley Hicks, turned thirty this past week. (Man, do I feel old! But she still has a couple years on me! Ha!) To celebrate we had a girl's weekend at the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine. We got pedicures, had dinner, put on a play-pageant and spent the night together in a beautiful suite. It was soooo much fun! We were a bunch of silly girls all weekend, but it was a blast! It was my first night away from Annaliese, but Bobby & the kids did great and had a great time together!

Getting Pedicures Together

(Alyse, Ashley, me, Dana)

Group Shot from Dinner

Me & Ash

Pageant Contestants

Me trying to steal the crown away from the winner!

Cutest Kids in the Whole Wide World!

I have decided that I have the cutest kids in the whole wide world! I know I'm going to have friends that disagree with that statement, and that's okay! To me, no one is cuter!

(Daddy's pretty cute too!)

Very silly Ethan!

Playing Dress Up

Because Annaliese is on the small side for her age, we had a couple warm-weather outfits that were too big for her until now. This little dress & hat is one of my favorites. Even though it is too chilly to wear the outfit now, that didn't stop Mommy from having a little dress-up photo shoot with Annaliese!

Fall Fest

As an alternative to Halloween, our incredible church hosts a Fall Festival at Dragon Stadium every year. They have bounce houses, petting zoo, rides, food vendors and lots of games and candy. We bundled up and met all the grandparents for a fun night!

Ethan had a Buzz Lightyear costume to wear, but when it was time to get ready to go he told me, "I don't want to be Buzz. I'll just be Ethan.". I told him that was just fine and a very good thing to be. We brought the costume with us, just in case he changed his mind, but he was happy being Ethan all night! He reminded me of myself. I remember several years growing up where I just wanted to be me too!

Pop, Gigi & Annaliese

Grandpa and Ethan eating pizza. (With his hood & sunglasses on, it kind of looks like we dressed him up as a rapper! That was not intended!)

Pop helping Ethan with the golf game

Grandpa with Annaliese

Ma with Ethan playing a game

Mommy with Annaliese (where is she under that fur hood?)

Happy Boy!

Little Bonnet Baby

One of the outfits I received at my shower for Annaliese included a cute little bonnet. I was a little bonnet baby growing up - my mom dressed me in them often. I guess that is what they did with little girls before the elastic headbands and stick-on bows! So, when I dressed Annaliese in this outfit I felt a bit nostalgic!

Such a pretty girl!

I love those eyes & lashes! And I love the drool dripping off her lip! :-)

Ethan's 1st Camping Trip

The highlight of Bobby & Ethan's month last month was Ethan's first camping trip. Our lifegroup guys went to Possum Kingdom Lake for a weekend campout. Boy oh boy, did they have fun!

First of all, let me say that it was a test of faith for me as a mom! I did a lot of praying that weekend for Ethan's safety! God is faithful and kept His hand on everyone, and Bobby did a great job of keeping watch of Ethan. He's such a good dad!

They did all the traditional camping stuff....slept in a tent with sleeping bags, cooked over a fire, made s'mores, pee-peed on trees, went exploring and fished. Ethan loved every minute of it! We gave Ethan a whistle to wear as a safety precaution and he never took it off all weekend!

I'm ready to go fishin'!

Off we go!

Hmmm.....see any fish? (Ethan is with his friend Landon who also went camping.)

This is how it's done, son.

Ethan's telling Tim (photographer, friend & lifegroup leader) how to do it!

Pumpkin Patch

While Bobby was out of town last month on business, Pop & Gigi took the kids & I to the cute little pumpkin patch in Colleyville. It was so much fun!

Pop helping Ethan ride the little tractor. (Those things are HARD to get going! You would think they would grease the wheels!)


Ethan on the big tractor

Eating yummy kettle corn

What a cutie!


Peek-a-boo!


Mommy and her punkins!

Goin' on a hayride!

Feeding the cows some bread. Kinda gross and slimy, but oh so fun!

Mamma Mia!

Kimmy & I took my mom to Mamma Mia at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth for her birthday last month. Dale and Kimmy's boyfriend, Jared, joined us, while Bobby stayed at home with the kids (he's soooo not into musicals!). It was such a FUN show! And, I forgot how beautiful the Bass Hall is! I hadn't been downtown in a couple of years (yes, really) and the whole experience made me remember how much I love Fort Worth!

Bass Hall Atrium

Jared, Kimmy, Mom & Dale on outdoor terrace at Bass Hall

And a picture of Ethan & Annaliese from that day for good measure! I mean, we can't have a post without them, can we? :-)

Annaliese At Play

Here are a few cute pictures of little Annaliese playing on her gym.

Up and Running Again!

After what felt like YEARS, I am up and running again with a brand new computer! Woohoo! Thanks to Santa (Bobby), Christmas came early this year and we got to replace our old, slow computer.

I am now able to resume my blog posts! Yay! I feel like so much has happened with the kids in the last couple of months! It's amazing how quickly they grow up! So, I'll be playing catch-up over the next few days with lots of pictures, stories & quotes - check back often!

Thanks everyone for your patience! I know you grandparents and great-grandparents have been especially anxious to see some updates!