Himali's Wedding

So much has been going on the last couple of months! Lots of big things in our lives but the one I'm focusing on right now is my BFF since childhood, Himali, got married! We've been friends since age 12 or 13. We grew up in the same 'hood and were just always friends. One of my favorite memories of Himali is when I had knee surgery and she brought me a giant tweety bird balloon and card. She has always been and still is so thoughtful! We've also had some great trips together just the two of us. When we were in college we did a road trip to Colorado and spent almost a week touring the state. That was her first visit and who knew she'd be living there someday! We also went on a tour of the Northwest in 2008. We travel well together! 

Anyway, back to the wedding, I had the tremendous honor of being one of Himali's bridesmaids. The whole weekend was incredible. The location, the food, the many ceremonies/celebrations. I loved all of it! One of the greatest things was Daniel and I were able to have a few days away without the girls. Of course we missed them but having some uninterrupted adult time was beyond refreshing for us. The night we drove out of Bentonville we didn't even turn the radio on for FOUR hours. We just talked and enjoyed the silence. It was so good for us. The day we got to Colorado we also were able to visit Daniel's grandparents. They were so nice to make lunch for us. We were sad we couldn't stay longer but thankful for the time we did get to visit them. We even got to see Daniel's uncle Bill and Aunt Pam and their son, Trent. 

I am beyond thankful for Melanie Woody, Molly Pickering and Amy Logan for taking such good care of Sarah and Caroline for us. They were so sweet to not only agree to keep the girls but agree without hesitating. That just makes my heart happy. I tell ya, you have to have friends to make it through life. I treasure these ladies! 

Okay...pictures! 

Henna Tattoo!

Himali and her mom, Aruna.

Himali and her dad, Kanti. 

My man and me in front of the snowless ski slopes!

Totally had no clue how to put my sari on! 

My beautiful friend! 

The Bridesmaids!

Nashville!

We were able to visit some BFFs in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. What. A. Weekend! The Lutzs graciously hosted us and we had a fabulous time. We drove all the way on Thursday night and arrived around 1:30. In hindsight we should have stopped in Memphis. The girls were crabbbbbby on Friday and it just wasn't worth dealing with them like that. Once they napped that afternoon they were way better. We had a yummy steak dinner on Friday night prepared by the boys. Saturday, Leslie and I did a little shopping around Nashville. We then came back home to get the kids ready to stay at Leslie's parents' house. Gigi and Dodo were super sweet to open their home to my kids. They even kept them overnight! Wow! I'm still in awe of their hospitality and selflessness, all to let us adults have a night out. So nice. The adults then headed to a beautiful outdoor concert at The Woods at Fontanel. We had beautiful weather and got to see three great bands, Guster (with surprise appearance by Ben Kweller), Ben Folds Five and Barenaked Ladies. Guster is by far our favorite but they were not the main act so most people didn't care to see them. Soooo...we snuck up front and sat front row to enjoy the show! Don't tell on us! We then slept in the next morning and headed over to pick up the kids. Thank you Lutzs for an awesome time! And, thank you Pfisters for welcoming my kids in your home! You rock! 

4th of July Week

We had a great week to celebrate America's Independence. The Pickerings invited us to their lake house on Grand for a couple nights. We had so much fun there. It's always relaxed and full of good conversations and friends. Chance, their son, joined us too and I do believe Miss SJ developed her first crush! Momand dad stopped by to see the girls and give Daniel a birthday gift. it was fun showing them around. Thank you for an awesome time, Molly and Kevin! 

On Friday, we left Grand Lake to head home and pack for Beaver Lake! Daniel and I just bought a popup camper! We were beyond excited to try it out for the first time and to go camping with the Smiths and Fleers. The Smiths also borrowed Brooke's dad's boat so we took it out Friday night. We cruised the lake, stopped at JJ's for dinner, sang along to a "just learned" version of Sweet Caroline then drove over to another marina to watch fireworks. Big big day and night for us! Saturday was spent being lazy during the morning then swimming for a few hours followed by a HUGE fish fry by the Smiths. Mom and dad also stopped by to see the popup on their way home from Branson. We all went home, Sunday, dirty and exhausted but full of fun memories! 

      

Girls Weekend 2013

A couple weeks ago 4 of my college girlfriends and I had a little reunion in Dallas. We met at Shelly's house Friday through Sunday. Friday night we had dinner at Whiskey Cake followed by a painting party in Plano. That was fun but really hard for this non-artistic chick! Pretty sure my painting isn't going up anywhere! Saturday we shopped and ate out at a couple cool restaurants in a neat little area of Dallas. Sunday we enjoyed super cool temps with coffee on Shelly's back porch. I loved sleeping in and being off mommy duty for a couple days. Thanks to Shelly for hosting us! 

VBS 2013

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil...Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always...(Ephesians 6:10, 11, 13-18 ESV)

Our church's second ever Vacation Bible School was last week. It was great! Our theme was The Armor of God based on the above passages. I taught the 9-12 year olds and was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it! My favorite lesson involved feeding the kids brownies and tricking them into believing I put a little doggie poo in them. I had them convinced they couldn't taste it because it was only a teeny bit. They all said they wouldn't have eaten the brownies if they'd known what was in them. Well, duh, they wouldn't have even touched them! They were thoroughly disgusted but happily relieved when they found out I was kidding. We then explained how important it is to keep up your shield of faith by avoiding movies, music, video games, etc. with even a small amount of unwholesomeness. I love that!

One of our classes throwing "darts" at my co-teacher, Buck. 

Sarah's BFF, Jude joined us!

Along with Millie and Riley!

The two seconds they paid attention in the closing group session. 

Happy Birthday Caroline!

Caroline turned 2 on June 2nd! What a quick two years it has been! We have been so blessed by this little fireball. She loves to cuddle, eat (any item that's not food as well!), play outside, read books, watch tv, and do anything big sister does. I'm pretty sure she has no idea she's younger than SJ. 

If you have spent any amount of time around Liney, you have probably heard her crazy loud tantrum scream. The other day I downloaded an app that records how many decibels any sound is. Well, she registered just under 105 db...a little less than a jackhammer. Ha! Clearly this was un-scientific but still...she's LOUD.  Speaking of tantrums, though, I have been able to stop her by sticking her in her crib and telling her to come out when she calms down. It works! She'll stay 5-10 minutes most times and comes out happy as can be. My eardrums appreciate it! 

This summer holds a lot of change for our Liney-cat. We'll begin potty training at some point. She already takes her diaper off as soon as she pees and brings it to me. Oh joy. She will also move to a big girl bed...this was the absolute worst transition with Sarah so I hope it can't be any worse than that. As soon as our contract with our realtor is over we'll move the girls bedrooms around. I'm planning to move them into the same room. I'm sure this will be a tough transition as well but once we get it figured out I think it will be so fun for them! 

A few other notes about C: I can't remember her weight/height but I know she is 50th/85th percentiles respectively. She also had a two year shot at her last checkup...not a single tear. She barely even flinched! The only tears were from SJ, who was mad because she couldn't also get a shot! Ha! She still sucks her index and middle fingers and cannot go to bed without monkey and "bankie." 

Oh sweet Liney, how we love you. You are such a joy to dad and me! We hope and pray for you to love Jesus and trust Him always. You are my favorite 2 year old in the whole world! I can't wait to see how you grow over the next year. I know you will meet and conquer these transitions like a champ and I'm excited to cheer you on! Love you baby girl! 

Gulf Shores 2013 Part 1

Just a sneak peek of some of our pictures!