Happy Halloween

Hayley was a butterfly, Preston a cowboy (but he wouldn't put on his costume) and Miles a little monkey. We went to our church Trunk or Treat and then back to our house to pass out candy. We all had a great time!

FIRSTS!

First day of school!
Hayley's first day of kindergarten couldn't have been better.















She was so excited and looking forward to "playing with friends" and "having fun."



First tooth!
It's finally happened as we knew it
would (and hoped it would)--Miles
got his first little tooth. He is also
figuring out how to get around
though not a full speed crawl yet.

Vacation time finally!! The Emerald Coast

Soft white sand beaches, blue skies, and lots of time to do absolutely nothing but have fun! It couldn't have been better. We spent a week in Panama City Beach, Florida. Luckily, tropical storm Fay never quite made it our way so we did not have to end our trip early. Since we drove there, we made a pit stop our last day in New Orleans, LA.
Now back to reality and the new school year.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Have you gotten your copy yet?

If you don't know what I am talking about than you won't appreciate this post! I picked up my reserved copy of Breaking Dawn the day it came out. Love it! I've become a huge fan of the Twilight series. So far, Breaking Dawn is the best book in the series and I have only read maybe 4 chapters. I'm really trying to space out my reading so that I can enjoy it as long as possible and I really really hope this is not the last book of the series (finishing the final Harry Potter was a sad day for me). I was lukewarm to the first book-Twilight but now love it. Go Team Edward!

The Twilight movie is coming out this fall. I have to admit--the Edward in the trailer does not compare to "my Edward"--a little disappointing. Maybe they couldn't get Orlando B. http://www.twilightthemovie.com/

Double digits!! 11 years now.

We celebrated our 11th annniversary August 4th this year. It is amazing how much has happened over these years and how wonderful life has been to us. I love Chad more than anything and am truly blessed to have him in my life. We have had a lot of fun and grown a lot together. Happy Anniversary Chad! I love you more.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Favorite funnies!

This is for my friend Jen!! We both used to love Far Sides and still do but here are some of my favorites!

A Truly Forced Smile

I can hardly believe our little Miles is 7 months old today.

Time to go to the rodeo again

Every July we head out to the Bryan/College Station Annual Lions Club Rodeo. This is the first year it has been in an indoor arena.

Of course we spent more time riding the ponies and visiting the petting zoo than watching the rodeo.

Miles surrendered to sleep just before the end.








Everyone had a great time. Thanks for coming with us Griffiths and House families!

I love a good nap!

Yes, he fell asleep on the chair half standing up. It's funny some of the places little kids will decide to take a little snooze--high chair, doll bassinet, and the potty are just a few I can think of.

Happy 4th of July!! a little late

This has always been one of my favorite holidays. We are truly blessed to live in the United States and enjoy the freedoms we have.


Every 4th of July our Ward has a breakfast and small parade which is usually a lot of fun.



We then spent the day with Chad's sister and her family at the Oil Ranch riding ponies, petting animals, riding the train and getting very messy with snow cones.

To make the day even better it was surprisingly not too hot!!



The only thing not good was the yucky hot dogs for dinner--oh well.



Of course, we followed up with fireworks at the George Bush Library. Fun fun fun!!

Happy, Happy Birthday Hayley!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy birthday to our sweet girl Hayley! She turns 5 years old today. We have a fun day planned, starting out with going to going with her dad to breakfast and then to see Wall-E and will continue celebrating tomorrow at Build-a-Bear. We love you Hayley! It has been 5 wonderful fun amazing years. We love your cheerful sweet enthusiasm for life and fun!

Laughter is the best medicine

Who can resist a cute baby laughing?

Fun being the youngest!

Hayley and Preston (Hayley especially) find great pleasure in dressing up their younger brother in wipes, stickers, bandaids, you name it. It always (ok-almost always) gives me a good laugh to see what they come up with.

I'm curious to know what happens to your youngest when you turn around or leave the room for a minute? Please share!!


Here are the latest photo ops of Miles (first one is wipes, second is stickers and bandaids).

OK. so that past couple of years we have really gotten into gardening. We have planted many different types. Among some of our favs and best growers are: lantana, verbena, plumbago, oleander, our crepe myrtles, and various breeds of roses..

Many of you ask about our roses, so hear goes. We have have 14 different roses--and have been happy with all so far. I took a couple pictures of our favorites. The first is "Belinda's Dream" and the second is "Judy Garland." I personally prefer the hybrid teas and ones with lots of petals. Some other favorites we have are: Ingrid Bergman, Mr. Lincoln, Strike it Rich, and Neptune. All have done very well here in the Texas heat and bloom most of the year. The most important thing is good soil and placement (right amount of sun/water). I'll try to take some more pictures of our roses as they bloom.

Yes, there are lizards in Texas

For my nephew Dallas who doesn't believe me there are lizards in my backyard. This one crawled on our window while we were eating dinner so we snapped a picture.

Check out my Slide Show!

Washington DC

It wouldn't be a trip to DC without seeing the White House. I was lucky enough to have Miles accompany me to the Active Living conference this week in DC. He has learned a lot about active living research and has made many new friends. In between conferences we are having a great time touring around our nations capital. We've been all over and spent today at the Smithsonian and seeing the monuments, etc. The weather couldn't be better and food is yummy yummy yummy. Last night we had South American food--which to my surprise was fabulouso!! I loved the plantains with cheese on them. It is the National Cherry Blossom festival this week and the trees are very pretty and pink. Although we are having a great time--we can't wait to get home.

Last 3 months (Jan-Mar 08)

Last 3 months