11 years (16 really) of adventuring :)

Getting ready to drop off the kiddos with some super friends who offered to watch all 3 while we celebrated our 11th anniversary in Galveston!  Yay!

In front of the Villa B&B.  The lady who owns/runs this place does it all on her own!  And she cooks a delicious 3-course breakfast :). 

We were all excited that we found this beach in East Galveston, it looks just like a beach approach in California, the green vegetation with a path to the beautiful beach.  Unfortunately, halfway down the trail, we were swarmed by mosquitos and had to run.  We snuck a peak at the beach, snapped a quick pic (below) and ran back to the car with about a dozen bites.  Nice.

I am so grateful to be married to this man who loves God, me and his children deeply.  We started dating as juniors in highschool and never looked back.  It is amazing to see how God has grown us and changed us in the last 16 years.  God has been faithful when we have been scared, disobedient, grieving, apathetic (to name a few).  In the last 6 months, God has continued to stretch us through our finances.  We have been prioritizing our needs (mostly wants) for years and by God's grace we are learning how wasteful, excessive, tragic the "American dream" is.  We are learning about the joy and freedom of giving and giving freely.  We have so very far to go, but God is working (pounding) on our hearts...and we are so thankful. 

Mo Ranch 2010

Mo Ranch has quickly become the highlight of our summer! It is a week of family camp and we are blessed to be there with great friends.

Ty and Laynie getting ready to canoe up the river. Jason and I have lots of room for improvement in the rowing department :).

Family pic!

Jason, Ty and Laynie going down the rapids in the Guadalupe River. It's the perfect spot to be adventurous and enjoy God's creation!

A glimpse of the river.

Love this picture :). Crystal was giving Josie the "good stuff," including bbq brisket, and Josie was a fan for sure! Ha!

Josie did great in her floatie in the river!

Ty and Josie on the last day, while we packed up the cars.

Laynie's Dance Recital

Laynie LOVED her first dance recital. Of course, it was all about the costume and the makeup. She danced a tap dance to Gitchey, Gitchey, Goo from Phineas and Ferb. It was so fun to see her filled with so much joy as she got to dress up, dance and perform. And she loved to watch the other dance performances, she was truly mesmerized by them. God has blessed us with a girly girl through and through :). And if you knew me, you know that she didn't get it from me!

Ty's Kindergarten Luau/Last day of school!

Okay, this is ridiculous, but I've fallen way behind on blogging (again), so I'm going to do a few catch-up posts! Stay tuned!

Posing before school

Tyler receiving his Mossman Knight of the Year award in his class from Ms. Colby. He's such a sweetie, we're so proud of him!

Squeeeeeeeeze!

The best attempt at a picture of all 3!

Ty with his teacher, Ms. Colby. She was such a perfect fit for him, super loving, organized, lots of fun, and had a song for just about everything! Watching him learn to read this year was so cool!

Can't believe we'll have a 1st grader next year. Well, in just about a month! Wow!

Easter Fun!!!

Papa (my dad) is in town for Easter! And boy have the kids been keeping him busy! On Saturday, we walked over to our neighborhood park/pool for an easter egg hunt. The eggs went fast, but the kids had a great time seeing their friends and playing at the park afterwards.

Josie's cuddling with Papa.

After the neighborhood easter egg hunt, we came home and dyed some eggs. The kids love this tradition. We use ours for an outdoor easter egg hunt on Easter day, but don't eat them afterwards. Jason and I are both weirded out by eating eggs that have changed colors :). Our kids do love hard boiled eggs though, especially when they get to slice them in the egg slicer!

They each colored a dozen eggs with our help.

After church Sunday morning, and an indoor egg hunt, we went out to lunch with my dad to Texas Roadhouse. We had planned on going to Red River, but they were closed! But, Roadhouse saved the day with no crowds, peanuts, and good meat!

Tyler brought his new Woody and Buzz lego people along to play.

Trying to take a pic of all 3 is a challenge! They are all looking up as Jason and my dad are standing above, clapping and encouraging them to smile :).

This is more realistic, everybody doing something different!

green

These pics are from St. Patrick's Day. Just 3 sweet kids wearing green, trying to avoid being pinched by leprechauns :).

Josie's 1st Birthday!

My sweet baby girl turned One! It's hard to believe...feels like this year has gone by so fast! She has such a sweet, curious spirit. She has 8 teeth, including 3 molars. She's a great sleeper, loves cheerios and goldfish, but is not a fan of other finger foods...yet. She pulls up on anything, is walking while she pushes her baby stroller, but crawling is her preferred mode of transportation. She signs for "milk" and "all done". She plays peek-a-boo with her bath towel. She makes really cute babbling sounds, like "a tuckatuckatuckatuckatucka". And after having Laynie, I've got to say that the fact that Josie does not have breath-holding spells is a blessing beyond measure. It is so fun to watch her explore her environment without worrying about her passing out. Exhale. But I do have to keep an eye on the dog food/water, 'cause Josie is a fan :).

She is sporting her tutu, "j" onesie and baby legs, all made by me! And she looks pretty darn cute if I do say so myself. :). I'm usually more of a crafty wannabe, so it's pretty cool to actually make something myself!

She thought being bumped up and down in the bounce house was pretty awesome.

It was a bunny party 'cause she's our little bunny. And, it's really convenient to find bunny-themed decorations in March!

This picture shows her sweet curiousity.

Love you Josie girl.