Sea World

This summer, my sisters, the girls, and I took a quick little girls' trip. Jessica and I met in Dallas for one day while Jaclyn was working, then met her in Temple and saw her new apartment, then went to San Antonio. We spent the first day shopping, then took the girls to El Mercado in downtown San Antonio. Jessilyn got her face painted, and they each got a new little mexican dress. We went to the Tower of Americas, then to dinner and the river walk. It was a long, but very fun day. After that we spent two days at Sea World. It was a quick trip, and the girls had a blast having "girl time" with their aunts. One evening, we drove to our old house that we lived in when Dad was in medical school. It looked much better than we were expecting, and they have painted it a lovely, very "San Antonio" shade of turquoise. haha

Visiting with Macye and Bryce while in Dallas.

Sweet sisters! (pretty cute, too!)

Showing off their new dresses.

A little face painting.

Jessilyn posing with the cast of the ski show

Close-up of our attempt at a picture at the entrance...typical

New sunglasses

At top of the Tower of Americas

They love their aunts!

Reese's #3

My little Reesey turned three in August. Yes, I said August...don't judge. We had a fun party at a local kid-sized gym. It was a blast! I think the kids had a lot of fun. When I asked Reese what she wanted for her birthday, all she would ever tell me was "A big dragon and a little monkey." Your guess is as good as mine. So, we had a "monkey" themed party. The only thing I could find decor-wise was a monkey mylar balloon. I made some monkey cupcakes, and there you have it. It was a great day!

She wanted her cake to be a pink monkey.

Jessilyn made her practice blowing out her candle on her birthday donut. She wasn't too into it...obviously.

Sweet cousins!

All the little monkeys

Ready to open gifts

New monkey sleeping bag from Pops & MiMi

Going for a ride on her new scooter.

My Man is OLD!

July brought a trip to Amarillo. Randon's mom's family was having their annual reunion, Randon's birthday, and Fourth of July. We celebrated Randon's 30th, that's right, I said THIRTY!!!, birthday. We celebrated with his family on his actual birthday, then the next day with my family. The next day was July 4th, and we shuffled back and forth between family celebrations. I headed home in the middle of the week to work, then went back. While I was home, I painted Reese's room. We moved her from a toddler bed to a full size...she has a new Big Girl Room. We had a great time in Amarillo swimming, fishing, golfing...it almost felt like a real vacation!

We're Back!!!

That's right...NEW POST button. Let's just say this particular computer mouse hasn't clicked on that button for a while now. But school has started and we're getting into a new routine (hopefully one that includes more frequent blog entries). Our summer has been crazy busy! I have a lot to catch you up on, so hold on and enjoy the ride....
Here....
we.....
GOOOOOOOOO!


Jessilyn turned 5 on June 15! We had a great party. This was her first "friend" birthday party since we've moved to Midland. For the past two years, we have just celebrated with family in Amarillo. But Little Miss Social has now made way too many friends to not invite them over for a party. MiMi and Marlie, and Gran and Gabe all came down. We played on the water slide, drove the Jeep, jumped on the trampoline, and threw water balloons. Opened WAY too many gifts, then topped it off with cookie cake and ice cream sundaes just before some nasty weather blew in. Jessilyn got her first American Girl doll, Kit Kittredge. She was SOOOO excited! What a great day, and what a great girl! She truly is a little light that shines full of the joy of Jesus! I love her!!!!

Sparkles Soccer Fun

Last night Jessilyn's soccer team "The Sparkles," had a soccer party. Midland has a new semi-pro soccer team called, brace yourselves, "The Sockers." So witty... Anyway, Jessilyn's team got to go down onto the field before the game started and were each individually introduced. They were even on the jumbo-tron! Then they got to walk out onto the field with the pro players and stand with them during the National Anthem. Jessilyn's walking partner was Chuck, and when we left at halftime, he had scored the only goal. She must have been his good luck charm! We ate hamburgers and hotdogs. There was also the sweetest snow cone stand you've ever seen. You just got a cup of plain shaved ice, then the flavors were in little dispensers like fountain drinks. The girls could pick their own flavor, any flavor(s), as much (or as little-even though that wasn't the case for any of them) as you wanted. That's a little slice of heaven for 4-5 year olds, I tell ya! The girls had a great time, and Jessilyn thought she was pretty hot stuff! Good times...

Jessilyn is #4, with the white long sleeves on...the one trying to strangle her friend in the last pic.