Summer Visit to Houston

My sister and her family were in Texas for over two weeks so we took the opportunity to spend more time with them and headed down to Houston! It also gave my parents and my grandmothers time with ALL the kids! It was a lot of fun! We were all able to spend some time with both my grandmothers and even were blessed to be able to see my aunt and two great-aunts! The kids enjoyed playing together, no matter where we were, and even did a pretty good job enduring all the photo opps! ;)

Sisters! My sweet nieces, Kaitlyn and Rebekah!

Pop (Russell Arnold) and his namesake (Samuel Arnold)!
Best buds!

My granny with all 5 great-grandkids!

My aunt Judy and my big boys!

My 2 great-aunts (Aunt Betty & Aunt Doris)
with all 5 sweaty kiddos! That's love!

My MeMe with 5 of the 16 great-grandchildren she has! Wow!
She moved the next week to Georgia, where 8 of the others live!
We miss & love you MeMe!!!

My sister, Alicia, and I with our MeMe!

The Hartman's visit Dallas! ...finally!

What a fun, memorable, and busy summer we had! A few of the highlights were: my sister and her family's visit from Oregon in June, our trip to Houston to see more or them, our family vacation in July to MS to visit Rob's grandparents, and then to complete the summer, Sam started Kindergarten, Joel turned 5 and Asher turned 2! I've only included a few pics from my sister and her family's time in Dallas. More will to come...promise!
While they were here we visited the American Girl Store (above pic) so Kaitlyn could pick a doll. Stephen and Alicia were rewarding her for her hard work at school that year. It was a lot of fun, especially for me, who doesn't ever get to go in girly stores like that! We also had family pics done all together, spent an afternoon at the pool, went to church, and barbecued for Father's day! The kids just loved being together and playing! It was so fun seeing them interact and get along so well and really enjoy playing together! Wish they lived closer! :(
We also made sure to get eat a meal at Babe's...our FAVORITE fried chicken place around! (Come visit, we'll take you, and you'll get it!) (See below pics.)

Joel and Pop after a delicious meal!

Aunt Alicia soaking up as much of Sweet Asher as she could! :)

And Nana soaking up as much of Kaitlyn (shown)
and Rebekah as she could!

We're baaaackk!!!

Sorry I sat the month of April out on the blog! My computer was out of commission most of the month but it is back and good as new!!
So, what have we been up to, you might ask?... Well, the boys are finishing up their year at CLC, the preschool they attend, and playing tball twice a week! Asher is basically along for the ride in all of it; from dropping the boys off, picking them up, and going to the practices and games, Asher gets put in and out of his carseat and stroller more times a week than I can probably count. But boy is he a trooper! He loves to put his shoes on and head out to the car when it's time to go...thank goodness!
When the boys aren't in school or at tball they enjoy playing Legos, Thomas, or Playmobil! Sam is becoming quite the Lego-maniac! ;) He can build all kinds of great ships and buildings and get all his "guys" set up inside and ready for battle! And Joel is usually flying something around the room with his hands! It could be a car, a plane, Buz Lightyear, or Thomas the train, but no matter what it is, it's flying, with sound effects to match! And Asher is now becoming quite fond of trains and cars as well (with sound effects too) and he gets excited whenever we see a large truck or digger around the area! He also LOVES to play outside, push anything on wheels, and throw things (though we try to limit it to balls)! ;) He is definitely "all boy"!

Most currently we are on the hunt for a swing set for them all to enjoy in our backyard! I really miss our old one and actually asked for a swing set for Mother's Day (hey, it will bless me just as much as them)! :) We've found several on line we like, but boy is shipping something like that ridiculous! I think we may have to be limited to what we can find at the stores.

In April we were able to go visit some family in Houston and Santa Fe! We got to spend some time with my two grandmothers and aunt and the boys did awesome! The boys hugged and talked and seemed to really enjoy being with them all. It was such a blessing! And in Santa Fe we visited Rob's grandparents and his sister. And again, the boys did well and seemed to enjoy being with them! I wish we could visit more often, but we are so thankful for the times we do get!

So there you have it. Nothing extremely exciting, but it's our life and we count ourselves blessed to have it...3 boys and all! It truly is in my three boys that the Lord has really taught me some of the most valuable lessons in my life (and continues to do so) and helped me to understand the gospel in a deeper! "How deep the Father's love for us..."

So long for now, and pictures to come!

Zoo Day!

Monday we headed to the Dallas Zoo! We decided to become members so we can go as many times as we want this year!!! It was a glorious day....sunny, no wind, not hot, and not too cool! Absolutely a zoo-perfect day! Here are a few pics of our fun family day!

Joel showing off his map!

Which penguin are you the same size as? Joel is about the same
size as the emperor penguin!

My big boy wading in the chilly water in the children's zoo area!

Joel enjoying the water too!

And don't forget Asher...he wanted in on the water fun too!

Our new friend...she walked over and picked up food

and then sat back down and kept looking at us

while she was eating!

Asher in his usually pose!

Joel, resorting to Daddy for a ride when his

legs were "tired" from all the walking!