Lexington Baby Shower for Ryder

Kalyn's girlfriends from school and their moms gave us a baby shower for Ryder last night. It was so much fun...for the girls especially!! The moms found camo decorations and had a couple fun games for us all to play. When we got there we were given a list and told to look at all the baby pictures to try to match with names of moms and daughters. WOW that was tough! There was also the candy bar game where the clues were baby related and we had to guess which candy bar each clue went with...pretty funny! A buffet was also set up with homemade enchiladas, taquitos, chips and dip, and a CUTE fruit salad in a watermelon baby carriage...all so yummy!! The cake was too cute and the cookies were a hit as well. Kalyn and I enjoyed opening all of Ryder's gifts and felt SO blessed to have such special friends. Thank you girls for sharing in our celebration...we love y'all!

Port Aransas...again!!

We just got home from another fun weekend at the beach. This time we went with my parents and my sister's family. My parents rented this awesome house for us all to stay in and it was right by the pool and not too far from the beach. Kalyn and Sheldon were SO excited to see their cousins-Colten, Cambry and Carrys. They all had FUN! We went to eat at Moby Dick's on Friday night which was yummy then we spent the rest of the evening swimming and just visiting at the house.

Ricky and I were in charge for breakfast each morning so we cooked scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits on Saturday morning. After getting stuffed we got ready to go to the beach for some fun in the sand and waves. We all enjoyed swimming, building sand castles, boogie boarding, and collecting seashells. Cambry really enjoyed helping Uncle Ricky find seashells and she was so cute in her swimming suit and sunglasses. Sheldon, Kalyn, and Colten had a blast boogie boarding and playing in the waves. Kalyn and I worked on a sandcastle for a little while before it got washed away! Carrys was a real trooper...she enjoyed the water for a little bit then took her morning nap on Oni under the umbrella. It was a really fun morning and we were all starving by lunchtime so we headed back to to the house for some sandwiches and fixin's. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching a movie, napping, and just visiting...it was nice to just relax. Mom and dad cooked hamburgers for supper and we all enjoyed going for an evening swim in the pool afterwards. The kids also had fun feeding bread crumbs to the sea gulls. I just loved sitting on the porch feeling the breeze before going to bed.

On Sunday morning we had pancakes for breakfast then Daddy led us in a family devotional which was special. We are truly blessed to be a family. Caleb, Ricky, and I took the older kids back to the beach while mom, dad, and Carie stayed at the house to let Carrys take a nap. We had fun again in the waves and sand...who couldn't?! We went back to the house right before lunch and joined the others in the pool for a little bit. After lunch we all relaxed for a little while then mom and I took Kalyn, Sheldon, and Colten swimming at the pool. After awhile it was time to get ready to go into town to do a little souvenir shopping before eating supper at Jay's Seafood and Spaghetti Works. I got the fried fish tacos...sooo yummy!!! The yumminess didn't end there...we went to get some ice cream too! It was really cute to watch all the kids enjoy their treats. We headed back to the house and let the kids feed leftover pancakes to the birds then they swam for a little while before bed. It was nice to just watch them and enjoy our last night in Port Aransas.

Yesterday morning we had cinnamon rolls then we got busy getting all our stuff together, packing, and tidying up the house. We all had a great time together as a family and made some great memories to last a lifetime. Thank you mom and dad for a WONDERFUL weekend at the beach...love y'all!

28 weeks...and growing!

Avada Kedavra Voldemort!

Ricky and I took the kids to see the final Harry Potter movie last night since it was showing with captioning for me to enjoy as well. We were all anxious to see how it would end (although I already knew after reading the book). WOW!! It was everything we hoped for and it was bittersweet knowing this is the last movie in the series. The four of us have had fun watching them over and over again at home and look forward to the last one being released on DVD!! :o)

Family Baby Shower for Ryder

Ricky's mom and sister-in-law were sweet enough to throw a "family" baby shower for Ryder last Saturday. Kalyn and I had been looking forward to this event for quite a while and we had so much fun. It was especially nice to see some family members we normally don't see much except around the holidays. Alot of Ricky's family were able to come which was really nice for Pat. Some of my family from Llano (mom, great aunt and step grandmother) were able to come along with my sister and her two little girls from San Antonio. Carie brought a dear friend of ours with her along with two of her kiddos-it was so good to see them too! Pat made delicious chicken salad sandwiches and had a lot of good fruit and dip as well. The cute and yummy cupcakes were a hit...SO good!!! Kalyn enjoyed helping me open all of Ryder's gifts and we got lots of cute and useful things for him. We are so blessed and thankful to have such a loving family. Thank you to ALL of you who were part of the shower. Especially to Pat and Damary, thank you for planning this special event for Ryder as well...everything was wonderful and we love you!

Gift Table

Baby Ricky

Baby Chera

Lets EAT!!! YUMMY cupcakes...cute too!!

The "big" sister

I think Cambry likes her cupcake!

Sweet girls...Shyann and Emily

Andrea and Ashlyn

Kalyn and Mommy Pat, Kalyn, Chera, and Damary

Carie, Cambry, Kalyn, Chera, Carrys, and my mom Toni

Lets see who this is from...

My big helper

Avent bottles...yeah!! All the little girls wanted to help in some way!! Sweet!

CAMO!!!!

Special gift from Ricky's mom...his baby book wrapped in one of his baby blankets

Family Camping Trip

Ricky and I wanted to take the kids somewhere this summer just the four of us before Ryder comes, but there was just so much going on with all of our schedules that we could not fit in a long trip. We were able to squeeze in a weekend of fun at Lake Granger this past weekend though!! We took our travel trailer to the lake on Friday after Ricky got off work and just enjoyed being together. Most of our evening on Friday was spent catching shad for fishing bait the next day. The kids have always enjoyed helping Daddy Ricky put the shad in the buckets after he catches them in his casting net. Saturday morning Ricky cooked us a good ole country breakfast...eggs, bacon, and toast. It was yummy!! Sheldon and Kalyn were both very anxious to get down to the water to fish so we headed out soon after Ricky got all the fishing gear ready. It was funny to watch the kids fish...they had to learn to be patient!! Poor Ricky was running back and forth between them for awhile until they settled down long enough to let him fish himself too! I just enjoyed sitting in my lawnchair with a Harry Potter book. :o) The fish weren't really biting that much...Sheldon did have one big break on his line once though. Before long it was time for lunch so we headed back to the campsite and had some sandwiches and rested for a little while. Kalyn and I needed to leave around mid afternoon for Ryder's first baby shower so we swam in the lake for little while before we had to shower and get ready. While we were at the baby shower the boys continued to fish...I think Sheldon really enjoyed having all of Daddy Ricky's attention for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, they didn't have any luck with the fish again but they enjoyed being together. Kalyn and I got back to the lake just in time for us to go to bed and we all slept much better than the first night. Sunday morning came and we had to pack up before going to church. We weren't ready to leave, but I am so thankful we were able to have just a couple days of fun at the lake with our kiddos!

VBS 2011- "Believe it or not...it's in the BIBLE!!"

We just finished our VBS today...whew!! It was a fun 3 days for the kiddos and adults as well. Our good friends, Jason and Katy, were the coordinators and they did a FANTASTIC job!! We had lots of fun singing, puppets, and fun classes for the kids to visit each day. Bonnie and I had the arts and crafts rotation...we had fun helping the kids paint and decorate their treasure boxes. We also has a couple fun games to play as well! Kalyn has always enjoyed VBS, but this year was the first time Sheldon truly enjoyed it. He was singing and just having fun with his friends...a HUGE change from last year!! :o) God is good!

Our 4th of July Weekend

Ricky and I really enjoyed being home just the two of us the whole weekend. Ricky worked lots on our shower and started fixing the pathway between the side door and the gate. I had fun scrapbooking and got more done than I expected I would. Ricky cooked chicken wings and pork chops on the grill for lunch while I made ranch potatoes, sweet corn on the cob, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. We even fit some pool time in as well. It was a great weekend...I always love spending time with my hubby! Love you Ricky!!

Happy 6th Birthday Colten!!

Kalyn, Sheldon, and I headed to San Antonio this morning to celebrate my nephew's birthday at the pool. He had a combined party with his friend, Cooper, and the theme was Captain America which was fitting for the 4th of July weekend. It was very HOT, but it didn't stop anyone from having fun. The kids were in the pool the whole time except when it was time to eat pizza for lunch, sing to Colten and Cooper before eating cookie cake and cupcakes, and watching the boys open their presents. After the party I left Kalyn and Sheldon with my parents and came home ALONE. :o) They are staying in Llano through Wednesday...yay!!

Have a fun and safe 4th of July weekend!!