Lincoln's First Beach Trip

After all of the craziness of Christmas, we loaded up the Durango and headed out to the beach one blistery winter day.  The sun was shining, but the wind was also blowing.  So while, it was a beautiful day, we weren't going anywhere near the water!

Our trip was spurred on by the fact that Andrew said he had never been to the Gulf of Mexico.  Since it is all of 45 minutes from our house, we knew that a trip was a must.

Look at my beautiful baby all bundled up in a hodge-podge mix of clothes.  We call this style "put on as many layers as possible so you don't freeze."



The boys wanted to stroll down the beach and look for shells and driftwood.  Kari and I set up shop near the pier, and made a camp for the babies and ourselves.  Can you tell we were cold?  Look at poor Lincoln's cheeks!



He wasn't scared of the grand expanse of water.  All he wanted to do was crawl around the blanket and play with the toys we brought.  The only problem was that I just wanted him to stay under the blankets where it was warm.



Emmy convinced Kari to walk around with her so she could look for shells.



They came back pretty quickly so they could burrow back under the covers.



We did enjoy listening to the waves roll in and taking in all the beauty that comes with being at the beach.



Emmy decided that a dance and gymnastic performance was on our agenda.  We buy so much stuff to make them happy, but I don't think anything we bought made her as happy as having our undivided attention while she performed and played.  Food for thought next year when I am trying to decide what to buy for Christmas.



After a while, we decided to go and explore on the jetties.  Kari found a walking stick and proceeded to start climbing and jumping way farther than she had any right to.  She made some comment about needing to put her yoga pants to work...or something to that effect.



Before we knew it, we were chilled to the bone, and Dad called and said he was making chili at his house.  That was all of the incentive we needed to pack our stuff up and head back to EC.



Lincoln's first beach trip was a success.  Maybe next time he will actually get to go in the water.  ;)

Thanksgiving 2015

We did two Thanksgiving celebrations this year- one in Cedar Park and one in Milam.

The weekend before THanksgiving, we traveled out to the Austin area to see Bradley's family.  Lincoln loved crawling around on their area rug.  It was a warm day, so we let this guy craw around in just his diaper for a little while.  I think he enjoyed it.



Brad's brother is always happy to see the little people, and they were glad to see him too.



Grandma Susan does such a great job of taking time to do things with the grand babies.  In the midst of getting Thanksgiving dinner ready, she took time to stop and have  a tea party with Emmy.  It's those kinds of moments that my baby girl will treasure forever.



Before we knew it, it was time to eat.  The food was delicious!





These little cuties weren't hard on the eyes either!





Aunt Jessica and Uncle Dan came by to meet Lincoln.  Dan even had a spot of tea with Emmy as well.  When in doubt pinkies out!



The next week, we drove up to my grandmother's house in Milam.  As soon as we got there, Emmy started asking my uncle to take her fishing.  I guess the time payed off.  She caught one of the biggest bass that they've ever caught off the pier in a matter of minutes!  She was on cloud nine and walked around telling everyone about her fish the rest of the weekend.





The next day, we prepared and devoured our Thanksgiving day meal.  It was delicious and so special since I got to see a lot of my relatives that I only see at Christmas.







We went fishing again and Bradley got lucky this time.  He was so lucky that I made him throw all that luck back in the lake for someone else to enjoy!


We left on Saturday and traveled over to see my Uncle Bill in the hospital.  He was not doing well, and my aunt thought that getting to see the babies might cheer him up.  She was pretty excited to meet Lincoln as well.



It was a great holiday, and we enjoyed getting to spend time with so many people that we love and care about.

Bek's Graduation

Our little baby Rebekah is growing up!  Bek's graduation was a ton of fun.  We headed up there on Friday morning, so we could help Aunt Cindy decorate the house.  They had her party right after graduation.  It was a little stressful for Aunt Cindy, but so nice in the long run since they got everything done that night before Rebekah went to project graduation. Here's a little run-down of the weekend.

Lincoln was such a trooper on the way there. He was a great riding buddy!



JT was so proud of his sister at graduation.



Rebekah got lots of awards and honors that night (and some scholarships too!).



She looked so pretty when she accepted her diploma!  All of her hard work paid off.



There were lots of family in from out of town to wish her well.  We got to meet our newest little cousin, Landry.



After we left the ceremony, we headed back to their house to PARTAAAY!



Everyone was in good spirits and ready to revel in  Bek's accomplishments.



These little kiddos were more interested in each other.



I see some mischief makers in the making!



That weekend, we spent plenty of time being with family and enjoying our hotel's amenities.  The girls loved the indoor pool.



All too soon, it was time to go home.  These little divas knew they would miss each other, but they knew it wouldn't be long until they saw each other again.




Happy Graduation Rebekah!  We are so proud of everything you have done so far, and  we know the best is yet to come for you.  You can and will do everything you set your mind on, and we can't wait to be there for you all along the way.  :)

Spring Break '15 Recap

Spring Break was a busy week for us.  We started off on Friday by heading out to Cedar Park to visit the grandparents!




While we were there, we ate dinner at a restaurant on Lake Travis called The Oasis. Super cool, but really busy on a Saturday.



There were lots of photo-ops while were were waiting.









The food was really good too!







On Sunday, Emmy got to make Smores!



Later that week when we got back to EC, we spent an afternoon playing at Friendship Park.







Another afternoon we got a treat--a snowcone!





Playing at Nana's house was also a must for a our Spring Break "to-do" list.





Magical Mickey Mouse pancakes make us smile too!


The final day of my  break was spent with these chicks at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  We got to see Luke Bryan in concert and he didn't let us down.









Other people spent the day having fun at home.



That was our spring break in a nano-second!