Christmas Card Photo Attempt

As was attempted last year, we attempted to get a shot of Meme and Poppy with the grandkids for their Christmas card.  While Meme and Poppy were getting ready, I had the chance to get a few pictures of Luke and Megan. 

I love this picture of Luke.  I was able to snap it at just the right time and think it turned out great. 

Megan was being a goof ball.  She wouldn’t sit in front of the pond, so I snapped a few pictures while she was acting like a monkey and swinging around on Meme and Poppy’s swing by the washer pit. 

I wasn’t able to get a picture of Megan and Luke both looking at me.  Luke is looking at Ruth who was jumping around behind me trying to force a smile from Luke. 

This isn’t the best picture, but it’s my favorite!  I love the way Luke is looking at Megan. 

Labor Day - Party

Meme & Poppy had a party Labor Day weekend at the house.  It was a GREAT party.  Everyone visited, we ate AMAZING bar-b-q, swam, laid out and pitched washers.  Meg was so excited that some of the guys swam with her – they let her climb all over them. 

***Meg & Poppy***
 

Tuffy is one of mom and dad’s oldest friends.  Dad and Tuffy went to High School together.  I have so many childhood memories with Tuffy in them.  Watching Meg and him play in the pool brought back so many of those memories.  Tuffy was always willing to get in the lake with us when we were little kids to let us stand on his shoulders or to throw us.  I’m so thankful that Meg will have memories with him too. 

***Tuffy & Megan***
 

***Meg & Uncle Kyle***    

***Meg, Parker & Meme watching the washer games*** 

The weekend in San Antonio was perfect.  We all had a GREAT time. 

Labor Day Weekend – Parade

I think this is the first time since Jarrad and I have been together that we didn’t go out to the ranch for some dove hunting.  Unfortunately, Jarrad had to work and couldn’t get the weekend off, so Meg & I headed to San Antonio for the weekend.

***Meg, Maddie & Gus***

 

***Maddie, Megan, & Layton at the parade***

***Super adorable Gus and Jamie***

 

We drove down on Friday afternoon after Meg got out of school.  Saturday morning, Meg and I headed to Boerne to go to the Kendall County Parade with our favorite friends, The Middletons.  We spent most of the day with them, before heading back to Meme & Poppy’s house for the evening.  Layton had a birthday party for a friend, so Maddie came back with Meg & me to the house.  Jamie, Lath & Layton joined us later for dinner.    

Megan and Maddie had so much fun playing at the house.  They both love the movie Avatar, so they played Avatar most of the afternoon.  Maddie had even made them some bows for “hunting”.  The ran thru the creek bottom and in the woods for hours.  A little later, they fished for tadpoles in dad’s pond.  After fishing, they swam for a little while. 

 

June in SA

Meg and I headed to San Antonio for a quick visit with the family.  We drove down on Wednesday night and came home Sunday. 

Thursday, we went to see mom’s new office and meet a few of her co-workers.  Then, we met Taylor for lunch at Longhorn for the best burgers in the world!  Poppy, Megan and I then headed to the grocery store and home for the afternoon.  That night, Ruth and the boys came over for dinner.  Luke is getting so big, it’s hard to believe how fast time is going by! 

Megan brought her old tricycle and scooter down to my parents to give to Luke.  He loved, loved, loved them.  Of course, he’s not big enough to reach the pedals yet, so Taylor and Poppy took turns pushing him around on them.  

 

Friday, Poppy, Megan and I offered to keep Luke for the day.  I forgot how much energy is required to chase a 13 month old around.  Luke is into everything.  He’s a climber (which I have NO experience with) and always moving.  He doesn’t like being told no.  He has this super cute little temper when he gets mad. 

After lunch on Friday, Poppy, Meg and Luke got in the pool.  Meg has become such a strong swimmer.  I love watching her dive for dive sticks and jump off the hot tub into the pool.  She would spend all of her waking hours in the pool if we’d let her.  

Friday night, Taylor and Ruth came over for dinner and to hang out.  It’s was a perfect night.  We swam a little, then picked up Beefys. 

Saturday, Sheryl came into town (I didn’t get one picture of Sheryl – boo).  Meg, Sheryl and I did a little shopping at Target that morning, then came back and laid pool side all day.  We went out around 12:30 and didn’t come in until about 6:00.  Meg stay in the pool most of the time – except when she was eating. 

 

Aunt Sheryl caught a dragon fly and Meg was so excited about her new found friend.  He survived until she decided to take him swimming. 

 

Taylor, Ruth and Luke came over in the afternoon and enjoyed some sun too.  Luke went down for a nap as soon as they got there, but was so excited to come swimming after he woke up.   Meg loves Luke so much. I love watching how their relationship grows each time they see each other.  We are spending five days at the coast in July and I can’t want to see their bond grow even stronger. 

 

***Poppy and his favorite granddaughter and grandson***

Saturday night, the Middletons came over for dinner.  The adults sat around the pool while the kiddos swam for a few hours.  I didn’t even get my camera out :( 

We hated to say good-bye Sunday morning, but both Meg and I were starting to get a little home sick. 

Short Trip

Last week, Megan and I headed down to San Antonio for my cousin’s wedding shower.  I still can’t believe Stephanie is getting married!  The shower was beautiful.  The hostesses didn’t leave out any details!

Mom, Sheryl, Ruth and I headed out to the shower together.  It was about an hour from my parents house, so we decided to carpool instead of taking a bunch of different cars. 

   ***Beautiful sisters!  Aunt Lanie (mother-of-the-bride) and Mom******Stephanie opening a few of the gifts***

 

***The Beautiful Bride-to-be.  My sweet Stephanie***

 

After the shower, we headed back to the house for a small get together with Taylor, Ruth, Luke, Sheryl and the Middletons.  We laughed and giggled all night. 

I can’t believe how big Luke is getting.  He’s so adorable and a good baby.  He has decided that he doesn’t like the word “NO”.  It’s funny to watch, and I can remember those days with Megan. 

  ***Adorable little man***

Meg and I headed back to Mansfield on Sunday morning.  On our way home, we stopped to take a few pictures in the Bluebonnets.  They were beautiful!

Spring Break part 3

Being in SA is always so much fun.  I miss it so much sometimes, and would love to move back, but I know that our lives are here and wouldn’t change that for the world. 

We spent Sunday with Taylor, Ruth, Luke and friends and family for Luke’s dedication.  The day turned out to be beautiful. 

Tuesday, we got to hang out with Kyle and Sheryl.  They made a special trip to mom and dad’s just to visit us.  We went to lunch, then went looking at model homes.  K&S are in the process of remodeling, so they were looking for ideas :)     

Tuesday evening, Taylor, Ruth & Luke came over for dinner.  Unfortunately, K&S had to leave before dinner, so they weren’t there. 

I can’t believe how fast Luke is growing!  He’s crawling all over and starting to walk.  Taylor and Ruth are definitely going to have their hands full with this little monster :)     

A trip to SA wouldn’t be complete without a few pictures of the dogs. 

***the old man – Gauge******Gunner (left) and Duncan (right) fighting over Poppy (center)***       ***the princess, Dixie***

Spring Break part 2

***WARNING – COMPLETE PICTURE OVERLOAD***

Monday of Spring Break, Megan and I met our good friends Laura & Lauren at Sea World for the day.  When we woke up that morning, I was disappointed to see that it was overcast and a little chilly outside.  Of course, that didn’t stop us. 
Since it was Spring Break, we planned to meet up with Lauren & Laura at Sea World as soon as it opened.  I completely misjudged traffic, so Megan and I arrived super early. 
We saw all the shows, had some lunch, tried to pet the dolphins and played in the cargo nets.  It was a great day. 

***Meg at the entrance***

***Meg & Shamu***

***Megan & Lauren***

***The girls were so happy to spend the day with each other***    

***Being goofy outside of Shamu stadium*** ***Finally, they posed for a picture***

***The BIG Whale***

***The “little” Whale***

***No splash zone for me thanks!***

***Megan and me***    

***Laura and Lauren***

***Leaving***