Yeah!! Halle-le-LUR-yah, they got married!!!

I wish I could add pictures to this post but never fear I will add them later. My camera needed to be used for the wedding and it is off getting down loaded and what not. But my sweet friends, Michael and Lorisa, got married here last night! Let me just tell you how the Lord was SO good to us and literally held back the storms that were surrounding the area. Not a drop landed on this ground! Thank you, Lord, for that!!!! Anyway, it was beautiful and I can't wait to post pictures when I can. Thanks to all of you who were here helping pull this thing off! Junie, Kim, Karye, and Jevanna were here practically all day making it super special for the M and L.

Today my feet have blisters on the bottom of them from all the running around we did. It was a blast but these old feet are paying for it today!! We are chilling as a family today before Brian has to hit the ground running tomorrow morning for work stuff so I'd better get off this computer. I'll post pics when I get my camera back!

Wedding weekend....

Just wanted to do a quick post and tell you that we have not forgotten about blogging! We are gearing up for a wedding we are having here at the house on Saturday and just truly busy! Hopefully, I'll be back soon with pictures of preparations and wedding day! Its going to be a blast!!!

Great Wolf Lodge

***Big shout out to Amy P. who told me how to do more than 5 pictures at a time!! Now I wish I'd done them in the order in which I wanted to talk about them but oh well!

Last weekend before the crazy move Brian and I took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge for our *family vacation* for the summer. It was totally awesome and the kids LOVED it!! It is a completely kid friendly place. The major thing about this place is it has an indoor water park! So you can go anytime of year and hit the wave pool!! . I was concerned about Adiah liking the water but she couldn't get enough of it! Our room looked like a log cabin on the inside, too! There was a separate sleeping area for the kids inside the cabin and the parents slept out in the other section. There is also this crazy scavenger hunt that the kids got to go on. I can't do it justice to explain it here but it was wild and sent us up and down 8 floors the entire weekend! The only *bad* thing that happened was early Sunday morning, (which we were getting up early anyway to get home to start packing) while the kids were still trying to wake up, the fire alarm went off and the entire hotel had to vacate the building! I'm talking EVERYONE!! Even those still with eye boogers and pj's on! Apparently, there was a fire in the kitchen. But Brian, who thinks quick on his feet, decided we weren't risking not being able to get back in the building for hours to get our stuff would gather everything and just leave. We are not the example to follow in an emergency. Everything we've ever been taught about just getting your loved ones out and leaving the other stuff behind went out the window!! Brian even stopped at the front desk to pay our bill on the way out. We're nuts! But it was a fabulous weekend and we just relaxed and enjoyed each others company!!

Ridge posing next to the little mouse painted on the wall next to his bed...

Nat hanging out next to her friend...

Adiah getting ready to go swimming....cute little water bug!

Pondering deep things over a cheese pizza...

The firetruck!!

On our way there Miss Priss conked out!

Ready for their adventure!

The fabulous room!!

Having a little daddy playtime on the bed

Emily hanging with her friend next to her bed!

More pics....

I don't know why I can only get 5 pictures on one post at a time. I've tried downsizing the pictures and everything. Go figure! Any suggestions? Okay, here are a few more.


Emily's room

Natalie's room...she is still in that bed. I thought me taking pictures would force her to get up. No such luck.

This is a little room on the backside of the house. They called it the flex room. Its small and odd shaped so Brian decided it will be his music room. His dream come true!

A tour around the house...

Mind you we haven't even begun decorating but for those who asked to see the inside...here we go. We still have things piled up everywhere! When will I get to that you ask? Well, hopefully by next weekend because we are having a wedding in our front yard with reception in the backyard in about 1 1/2 weeks. Talk about incentive to unpack!! Really, I don't care about the upstairs as long as the downstairs is presentable! Natalie started at her new gym on Friday. She goes M, T, TH, F from 4-7:30. She seems to like it although she is the new girl who doesn't really know anyone just yet so its slow going. But she likes her coaches and that's good!!


Looking into the living room from the front door

Looking up the stairs from the front door

Standing in the dining room door looking into the kitchen

The swimming pool which the kids LOVE!!

Sweet chinese baby girl who was following me around while taking pictures! More pics to follow....

Happy Birthday, Emily!!!

Today is my baby girl's 11th birthday! I can hardly believe it! It seems just like yesterday that I was giving birth to her. She has grown and matured into this beautiful and gentle young women(did I really just type that- woman? sheesh!!!) She has a way that gets you to think about things in a deep way. With the oldest child, sometimes parents tend to be the hardest on them. I find myself doing that sometimes. Its not always right but she handles it with such grace. She has a big heart and forgives easily. Thank you, Em! She is passionate about what she loves in life and is a loyal friend. She has such a beautiful smile and the best laugh. She is a goof ball and she has a serious side to her just like her daddy. She is a great big sister and a wonderful, wonderful daughter. Happy Birthday, sweet Emily! Daddy and I love you beyond words. I can't believe you are 11!!!!

Nov. 2007
Loving the fake moose at Great Wolf Lodge- June 2008

Em and her good friend Rebecca-May 2008

See that smile? Love it!

Happy Birthday Emily! The cake that she decorated herself this weekend!

We made it to the house....barely!

Well, we made it to our new house! I said *barely* in my title because our moving company had a...lets just say....hard time getting all of our stuff to our new house. Between miscommunications about where we were moving to and not enough boxes and forgetting the hardware to set our beds up I thought they'd never finish. What should have taken 1 day took 3 and some of our stuff is still at the house. But they did it and even through all of the craziness we realize how completely blessed we are to have the oppourtunity to live in this house....and we have each other. Our frustrations are nothing compared to somethings that others are dealing with. We are still amongst boxes but with my husband's overachieving ways and my inability to live in chaos we are slowly getting unpacked. The kids LOVE the fact that they have their own rooms however Natalie did need someone to sleep with her the first night as she just wasn't used to being by herself. I don't blame her, actually! If I didn't have Brian sleeping next to me I would have needed the same thing. If you would like something to pray about pray for the kids and this adjustment to not having their friends right down the street. Pray that we find opportunities to for them to get involved in something locally so that the friendships could be easy. They are okay...just sad a little.

And I'll leave you with a praise report....this is just how good and amazing our God is. For the past six months or so I've been secretly praying that when it was time to sell the house that we would just *know* what to do. I was praying boldly! I even went so far as to ask the Lord if we could just not even have to list the house. That someone would just knock on the door and say "I want to buy your house". I know!!! Crazy!! So weeks pass, we go to China, blah, blah. And it was getting closer to our move so we decided to wait until we were out of the house before fixing it up and listing it. This past Monday....packers are at the house. Its a MESS!! We are crazy busy and someone from down the street stops by and asks if we are going to be selling the house. We say yes but just don't know when. They say they have a friend looking to buy and could they stop by. We of course say yes. Long story short. They loved it! Even in the messy state that it was in! We are now in the contract phase of this deal!! Can you believe that? Exactly what I prayed for!! Now, I realize he doesn't always answer like that but people....I believe in an extravagant God who takes care of his children. I'm just so tickled at Him and give HIM all the glory for this!

the view from my front porch this morning....beautiful!

The house....with lots of boxes!!


Lots of trees and land for the kids to go exploring!

Emily's new blog...

The packing? Well, its going. And since the tv's are all unplugged and its too hot to just sit outside, Emily decided to start a blog. If you are interested you can go check her out here.

Moving Day!!

Well...today begins a crazy week of packing and moving. The packers will be here in like 2.3 seconds so this will be the last post until settled in the new house. They will move all of our stuff tomorrow. We spent an awesome weekend at Great Wolf Lodge so I'll need to post about that too. Pray for us if you think about it. I don't care who you are....moving is stressful. And the kids are hanging in there but poor Adiah is wondering what in the world is going on. Let the games begin!!!!

Oh and here is a little shout out to my dear friend, Britney, who will be bringing baby Eli into the world tomorrow unless he makes his debut sooner. I love you, Brit, and wish I could be there with you. PUSH!!!!!!!

Last Day of School!!

Today is the kids last day of school. I was thinking this morning about how much has happened this past school year and it brought me to tears. This year was Emily's very last year of elementary school, we found out about Adiah and went and got her, and we bought a house and we're moving next week!! We've had an awesome school year this year and couldn't be more thankful for their wonderful teachers! We will miss this school alot next year. I attended the 5th grade awards ceremony this morning. Again, I left there crying. They began the ceremony reading "Oh, the places you will go!" by Dr. Seuss. And then began handing out the awards. As I sat there and watched my "baby" girl go up and receive her awards I couldn't help wondering if the next 7 years will fly by like these last ones have. Emily, you are a true joy to parent! You are kind, sensitive, smart, funny, ambitious, creative, loving...I could go on and on. I absolutely CAN NOT believe that you will be entering middle school next year! I have no worries that you will do well in school and make lots of friends. One of the things that makes you so special is that you care so much about others and how you can make them feel better. Jesus flows out of you! Congratulations on finishing elementary school! Oh, the places you will go!!!

I'm so proud of all of my kids! They did so good this year in school! I think we'll go out and celebrate tonight after Natalie's last gymnastics practice at her current gym! Sadness all over the place today!!

* I just picked them up and Natalie was already blubbering and having the shaky cry voice.
** I picked them up from school at 1pm. Its now 1:47 and I've already had to send two of them to their room. Good times!!

First day of school....

and last day of school. Look at how much Emily has changed!!!

MiMi's birthday

Last night we went out to Ft. Worth to celebrate Brian's mom's(aka Carol or MiMi) 55th birthday!! We had yummy hamburgers, cake, and fun playing with cousins!! Happy Birthday, MiMi!!

MiMi and the granddaughters

MiMi loves Adiah! And Adiah loves her!!

Cousin Brooklyn sneaking Adiah her very first bite of popsicle!! Busted!!


The sweet grandsons waiting for their cake

Lovin' on her daddy and eating a banana. Can it get any better?

Crazy Hair Day

Not that there wasn't enough to remember this week with today being the last day of school but yesterday was Crazy Hair Day! There has been crazy hair day a couple of other times during the school year and as much as Ridge wants to participate....it pains him dearly to do it! Seriously, he hates for his hair to be purposely messed up. So yesterday he woke up with the same great ideas about what he wanted to do. I went along just knowing he'd change his mind. And this is what he came up with. He just said "Mom, you get my hair wet and put some creme in it and I'll do the rest." And he did. (I realize its not all that crazy but for Ridgedon it is!) Natalie had fun too! Emily was going to the 5th grade swimming party so she passed on Crazy Hair Day.


The finished product!

Mug shot #1

#2

and #3!!!

Conversation I just overheard....

Emily has a friend over playing this afternoon. Natalie, Ridge, Emily, and Preston are playing some sort of war game in the house that involves pelting each other with balled up socks and hiding. I think its a little like paintball. So they are making up the rules of this game so that everyone is clear. If you hit someone on the head-one point, if you hit someone in the back-one point, etc, etc. And then I hear this..."but if you hit Adiah or knock her down you are deducted 5 points". Wow, thanks guys. Good to know that you have your priorities straight!! I think we won't risk it and she'll hang with me for awhile.