Visit to SC

The kids and I went to SC for an impromptu visit. I had a good friend having a baby shower and it was David's spring break at school so off we went. We were fortunate enough to find a decent flight fare. We had such a great time visiting friends and family! Mommy got together with a group of her dear friends from high school and had a playdate for Mommies and kids too! It was so wonderful to see each other and to see all of our children playing together. We also had a wonderful time at Misty's baby shower.

Leslie, Joey and Carlysle were able to come and stay with us at Mom's for the weekend and it the children had a blast together. Aunt C and Mary Anna came down for a visit and joined in the fun. We also made sure to include our precious dog "Bodhi". We kicked off our last night with BeeGee and Papa with "movie night". We laughed ourselves silly at "Madagascar 2".

We also had a great visit with Mana and Papa, who drove all the way down to Florence to visit us. This is the second time they have come down and taken little David off to stay in a hotel. They went to Chuck E Cheese, we went shopping and out to eat dinner, and they went back to the hotel and went swimming....what fun!

The last part of our week was spent with Nana and Papa Stanley. Nana was so kind to come and get us and drive us down to Hilton Head, where we had a great visit. We had wonderful home-cooked dinners, discovered some great parks, had a nice picnic and visited the horses in Sea Pines. David and Nana topped things off by baking Easter cupcakes together. We had an early flight out of Hilton Head and off we went back to Texas. We were sad to leave family but so happy to get back to Daddy...we missed him so much! We always enjoy our trips "home" to SC and look forward to the next one.

David's 1st Tee Ball practice

David is so excited to start Tee Ball this spring! His team is called the "Battling Braves". They had their first practice Sunday afternoon so we all went to watch him. It's really neat because many of the boys on his team are already his friends and they also have young siblings. All of the mommies were chasing babies the whole practice. Grant loved playing in the dirt and trying to eat rocks. David listens so well to his coaches and had a blast! He even wanted to stay after and run the bases- a Daddy tactic to make sure he was good and worn out!

Daddy's birthday office surprise

Donald decided a few months ago that he wanted to decorate David's office with some really neat things. He called so many people and asked for items that he knew David would love. I helped him and we pulled off a really great surprise for David. Donald worked really hard accumulating the items and then set them all up and decorated David's office. He did a great job and David was almost speechless. He was truly overwhelmed! I was able to snap a few photos but they aren't great- I was so busy taking it all in myself. Thanks to Donald for making David's day/month/year and thanks to the family and friends who contributed! Some of the items included; a replica M-14 rifle (with a plate inscribed for Star of the West), several golf flags signed by various PGA professionals, golf flags from courses they've played and one from a championship in high school from Grandpa Don, a signed photo and football from one of David's clients (a Houston Texan football player), a family photo collage from Nana, flags and a print from HHI from Papa Stanley and apparently there is more to come...Very special indeed!

Happy Birthday Daddy and Uncle Duck

Daddy and Uncle Duck were able to leave work a little early yesterday so we could have a family cookout for their birthday. We had a great time! The kids rode bikes and had a blast playing outside all afternoon. We are fortunate that Texas doesn't really have a winter, only a hard fall and an even harder summer. The weather was perfect for our cookout. Reese was getting backyard football lessons from the guys and I couldn't help but think of the lifelong memories that were being made. The mommies were on food and baby detail, but we had so much fun spending time together as a family. The Birthday boys had a great, relaxing afternoon and we are so glad they did. Happy Birthday Daddy and Uncle Duck!

Daddy weekend off

David got his first "weekend" off in several years and we decided to take a family vacation down to Galveston. We packed up and left Friday afternoon- beach bound! Well, let's just say the phrase "life always happens while you're making other plans" could be our mantra for the weekend. First off, we hit traffic in Houston, three tolls, and steady rain...it took us 6 hours to finally get to Galveston. We arrive and Little David comments from the back seat, "I am NOT impressed with this place guys!" I thought David and I were going to lose it we were laughing so hard. I think our standard of the beach is a little high, considering South Carolina has some pretty darn beautiful beaches. Galveston was devastated by hurricane Ike this past fall and it is still in bad shape. Many of the businesses are still closed, there is debris everywhere, so many people displaced from their homes, piers washed away, beaches washed away.....it was truly sad.
Still eager to embrace a new adventure, we check into our condo-which was very nice but still had so much water damage...again, sad. I had at least packed food and snacks for the kids and rice milk but after the long journey we were hungry and tired. In order to get any food (not even a vending machine in the condo) we would have to go back out into Galveston and we were down on the east end away from everything. We decided to order pizza in and stayed up late watching a Disney movie with Jr.
The next morning, we awoke to a foggy, rainy and increasingly growing colder morning. We decided to go out to the aquarium. We had a great time at the aquarium! After that, we realized the water park (even the indoor part) was not open, and many of the other "kid activities" were closed. We couldn't go to the beach due to weather so we decided to just save the money we would've spent on another night in the condo and head back.
Plan B...we drove to NASA and drove around that area for 2.5 hrs looking for a hotel room. No hotels were to be found. Most of the hotels in Galveston and outlying areas are still full with Fema families. So, with heavy hearts we headed home. We made it a point to discuss how lucky we are and how many blessings we have, when so many of those people are still homeless.
We arrived home and after spending more than 14 hrs (cumulatively) in the car, were relieved to just get back in our own beds. We woke up Sunday morning, had a nice breakfast at home and headed to the park and then our local exotic safari zoo. Little David and I have been to this zoo before but it was Grant and Daddy's first time. The experience there is so unique because you have bison, Scottish cows, camels, deer, llamas and many other animals come up and eat right out of your hand. Daddy really enjoyed it too and it was good to see him relax and let go of the stresses of work, even if for a short time.
So, although our weekend wasn't what we pictured, it was wonderful because we got to spend it together! We will remember the people in Galveston in our prayers as they rebuild and we are grateful that God opened our eyes to even more of our blessings.

Cowpoke Day

I am behind on my postings....honestly, I have just not been taking pictures like I normally do. I am still intimidated by my new camera and have been avoiding it and David has my other camera at work. I've missed lots of special events and I'm just sick about it but I have some new posts I'll get up soon. Little David's class had a "cowpoke day" at school a few weeks ago and everyone got to come dressed as a cowboy/cowgirl. Well, that's like asking a fish to dress up as a fish around here......everyone got on their rodeo digs and headed off to school! It was so cute. Even Grant wanted to get in on the action! Yee Haw!