Little Vacay...

A few months ago we planned a little weekend getaway to San Antonio. We left little Boone with Honey and Papa headed south. Dave met us there Friday night, flying from our new hometown to SA. (More on that later). 

We made a little pit stop to eat some lunch and visit the Bears. 

 Heeeeeeeeey.....Sic em Bears! But the real bears were no where to be found in the bear pit. Boo!

There was a food truck on campus. what?!

picnicking.

 We made it to our hotel in SA and got settled in.

checkin' out the beds!

random two peacocks that were walking around the courtyard of the hotel.

 Besides our trip to Sea World, the kids favorite thing was the pool! We swam everyday and they could not wait to take a dip each day after our outings.

Daddy wasn't here yet so we ordered pizza for dinner on Friday night. 

And watched a movie.

 And called for room service. jk.

Daddy made it in late Friday night. Saturday morning we grabbed donuts on our way to Sea World.

Thanks so much to wonderful tips from friends, we had a little plan for our day. We started with feeding the dolphins.

 Lots of great shows!

 A random cheerleading competition going on that AL wanted to watch. We passed on it. :)

 snack break.

 shamu!

a ride we choose not to do!

My favorite show, Azul!

 lots of acrobats, divers, dolphins, awesome!

 kids play area

 watching the roller coaster that we were too small for, darn.

 Our size roller coaster that we were sure would not be G's favorite. But IT WAS! He loved it!

 so glad we won these awesome prizes ;)

Daddy got suckered with the Shamu toys.

 Pooped after a long, fun day!

Straight to dinner on the Riverwalk!

we love mexican food!

hotel entertainment after another dip in the pool.

 Sunday morning we went to brunch at Guenther House recommended by my friend, Katie. They are the Pioneer Brand that makes baking mixes of breads, cakes, etc. It was amazing!! And beautiful! We waited an hour but the entire place is beautiful with a historical home, museum, gift shop and all located on the river. 

 I told G to say "cheese" and he said "how 'bout pancakes!"

 After that we headed to the River Walk to be true tourist and ride the boat.  

We took Daddy to the airport Sunday afternoon and then went back to the hotel for more swimming and dinner at the hotel. Monday morning we loaded up and headed north. We made a couple of quick stops to see some dear friends in Austin.

First we stopped to see my friend Lindsay and her 3 kids. I hadn't met sweet Ally yet. Such a doll! Lindsay has become good friends with another friend of mine, Cabell. She came over too with her youngest, Jude. Her oldest, Charlie, was at school. When Cabell lived in Dallas, Anna Lou and Charlie played together lots as babies. We miss all of these sweet friends so much!

Mackenzie was there, too, but not feeling good :(

Conner, G, AL and Jude. 

We then made another stop to see my friend, Amanda, and her two cute boys, Rhett and Abel.

 Loved catching up with my old BU bff and roomie and her two cutie pies!! Miss them so much! Amazing to me to see our kids playing together. So many memories with this dear friend from so long ago!

This is why G was looking so sleepy in the pic above. He was!

Our crazy weekend caught up with them! 

 We made it home safe and sound and with a weekend full of memories. So thankful for this time with our family! Sure missed this little guy, but he was getting plenty of love from Honey and Papa. And learning how to say 'bye bye'! 

dotMOM!

I was beyond blessed to attend the dotMOM conference this weekend! 

It was uplifting, encouraging, gut wrenching and down right incredible! 

Sweet friends that I attended with- Heather, Sarah and Lisa. (My head is so large in this pic, let's hope its the angle.)

I also ran into Wynne who I know from BU and I haven't seen in years! She has an incredible story so check our her blog sometime.

I got to listen and soak up some amazing words from Vicki Courtney, Priscilla Shirer, Angie Smith and John Croyle. Worship was by Travis Cottrell who leads worship for Beth Moore's Living Proof. He rocked our socks off! Goodness gracious, he has a gift! We also went to several breakout sessions that were awesome. I wanted it to never end! I felt like I couldn't write fast enough and I could listen to each speaker/presenter for hours. I'm hoping the tidbits I brought home will make a difference in my life. So thankful for this time and what the Lord taught me. Also thankful for Dave and Honey and Papa keeping the 3 amigos so that it was possible! I am forever changed!

Giddy Up!

Graham had western day at MDO, so we got all gussied up in our boots, wranglers and shirt! He recently grew out of his boots passed down by cuz Barrett, so we borrowed some from our friends, the Scotts. They also sent over some little wranglers that we decided must be a purchase for G in the near future! Men wear boots in this family so he better get used to it!

Love my little cowboy!!

Birthday Day!

The eve of her big day! 

G wanted to do it too.

February 19th was the actual big day!

We changed pj's because she was hot, she told me.

Off to school.

The birthday treasure chest in Honey's office.

She picked sprinkle donuts for her class treat. 

We love Mrs. Alice Ann!

We didn't have much going on her actual birthday-day so she and Honey went to Build-A-Bear! 

And dippin' dots.

What a special day! Thank you Honey for the best afternoon!

I can hardly believe this girl is five years old! I think of her as my itty bitty baby who didn't eat much, didn't sleep much, but had the best smile, soft raspy voice and bright brown eyes! She has grown up so much this past year! As much as I am not ready, she is ready for kindergarten. She is the most wonderful big sister to her brothers. Graham is her very best friend and she thinks Boone hung the moon. She never questions when I ask for her help with the boys. She takes her role as big sis seriously and loves leading the way. She loves art, dolls, dresses, jewelry and fruit! She also loves to play hard, kick and hit a ball hard!  Anna Lou, aka Lou Lou, has such a sweet spirit and desires to do well in everything. She still has a shy side every once in a while, but when sister is comfortable, watch out! She enjoys playing by herself (I don't blame her sometimes wanting to escape the chaos) and still is deep into pretend play with barbies, her doll house or whatever. She still wants to sit in my lap, and always wants me to scratch her back or head or face or arm or anything. My little physical touch baby! What a joy it is to watch this little one grow into a little girl. She lights up my life every single day!

5 sweet years!

Where did the past five years go?? This is Anna Lou on her first and fifth birthdays!

 Happiest birthday to our firstborn, only daughter, sweet, helpful, smart and girly Anna Louise!

Family Birthday!

The celebrating continued at home Saturday night with Honey and Papa spoiling her!  Her favorite treat from them was a coupon for a trip to Build-A-Bear!      

Sweet Aunt Mary sent this cute cheerleader Barbie that she LOVES!

 Sunday we celebrated with our little family. Graham gave her some art supplies.

 More HK!

So excited to get this Rapunzel doll she has had here eye on for weeks from the Junods!

Dave went to pick up the cupcakes on Saturday morning for AL's party. They had made a mistake and made this huge hot pink cupcake-cake! Not exactly what I had ordered, but they fixed the mistake and sent Dave on with both orders, 72 cupcakes!! Anyone in the north Dallas area want a cupcake?!  

Anna Lou saw the hot pink cupcake-cake and LOVED it so we had to try it and blow out the candles again!