Spontaneous Maternity Pictures

Tyler and Ann came over to Daddy Steve and Namaw's house on Saturday for the meeting with Arnold.  While they were there I convinced them to let me take a few pictures of them so that we'd have some pictures of a pregnant Ann to show their son, Luke, some day!  I'm not sure she was too excited about having her picture taken wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and flip flops...but I think she looked gorgeous!  She has the glow of a new mommy!

Lunch and a Tornado

Daddy Steve was out of town today (Namaw's birthday), so we wanted to make sure she had special treatment!  Caleb, Audria, Brody, Barrett, and I (Mike got stuck in meetings) met for lunch with Namaw at Railhead BBQ in Ft. Worth.  We enjoyed some yummy BBQ on their patio and then we sang "Happy Birthday" and had Almond Joy's (Namaw's favorite) for dessert.

After lunch, Caleb went back to work and the rest of us headed to the Omni Theater.  We saw the Imax presentation of Tornado Alley.  It was interesting to see the tornadoes so close!  When we left Namaw said she learned one thing, "If you ever see those storm chaser vehicles...drive in the opposite direction!"  It was past nap time by the time we left the Onmi...so we headed for home.

Tyler and Ann have plans to come over tonight to take her out for dinner.  I hope that Namaw enjoyed today!  It's fun celebrating the birth of someone you love so much!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAMAW!!!

more to come later.....

Grammy Comes to Visit

The 24th is the big day for Angela....baby Laney will be born!  Grammy came to Texas to help Mark & Angela, however, she stopped by to see us for a few days first.  Brody was super excited that she was able to go to his t-ball game on Monday night.  With as much as Grammy likes watching sports...I know she was excited too!!!

Meeting Arnold

My uncle and aunt (Ron & Jan) went to Africa a few years ago and came back with a burden for the people there.  When they began telling us stories about the people they met there, our entire family felt the call to help the few people who were there working to spread the Gospel of Christ.  For the past two years we have been prayerfully and financially (although we're only able to provide a fraction of what they need) supporting several missionaries in Dakar, Senegal.  Arnold, the head pastor, is currently in the USA!  He went to a conference at Pepperdine and then Ron & Jan flew him to DFW so that he could meet with our family!  It was wonderful to meet in person a man who's picture we've been looking at on our fridge and praying over for the last 2 years!  He has a great vision/plan for spreading the world of Christ in a country that is 95% Muslim.  We had so little time to talk with him...but it was wonderful to encourage him and pray with him. 

This picture of Collin and Brody at dinner was too cute to leave out.  These cousins love each other like brothers! 

Senior Photo Shoot

I had so much fun going with Allison and her mom, Vanessa, to take pictures at the site of a soon to be historical landmark in Arlington, TX!  There were soooooo many places to take pictures...and with such a gorgeous subject, I got some great ones!!!  Here's just a sampling of some of the pictures I took yesterday.

End of Year Program

Just a few pictures from the boys' program.  Just one more year of pre-school for Brody!  Deep breath.

One of a Kind

Remington the Rock

9/2/00 - 5/7/11

It seems like it was only yesterday that Mike and I drove to McPherson to pick up a 20 lb 6 week old black lab.  He was the cutest thing I'd ever seen!  He was a fast learner and before we knew it he was a well trained hunting dog.  He had 5 generations of championship hunters in his pedigree, so we knew he would be a good hunter...but we had no idea that he would also be an amazing companion.  He was so gentle and loving and had the sweetest disposition of any dog I've ever met.  Kids could poke fingers in his ears or up his nose and he'd just lick their face (but only once...he knew he'd get in trouble for licking...his tongue was so big it was like getting a bath when he licked you!)  In the mornings he'd rest his chin on the side of our bed and let out big sighs (blowing air all over our face) until we opened our eyes.  As soon as one eye opened he'd start bounding around the room all excited that we were finally awake!  He knew he wasn't allowed to sleep in our bed (he was well over 100 pounds...that'd be like another person sleeping in our bed!), but every once in a while he'd try to sneak up there.  One morning Mike turned over to put his arm around me in bed (forgetting that I'd already left for work) and was startled when he opened his eyes and saw that Remington was laying in bed beside him...staring at him nose to nose! 

Remington went on many adventures with us.  He rode in the backseat on many trips to Texas, he climbed mountains with us in Colorado, he camped with us in various states, he hunted with Mike....and he hunted without Mike!  One opening day we were in St. John for the day and came home to find Remington limping.  We checked him out and couldn't find anything wrong, so we just made him a soft bed and let him rest.  The next day he didn't even want to get up and just stayed in bed all day.  Within a few days he was back to normal and we forgot about his soreness....until a local farmer stopped by for a talk.  Come to find out, Remington had heard gun shots on opening day and traveled 2 miles to find the source of the shots.  When he found a group of hunters...he decided to hunt with them!  He spent the entire day retrieving birds for the hunters.  They fed him lunch and he hunted all afternoon with them too!  He made it home (probably just before we did) and tried to act like he'd been there all day.  No wonder he was so sore!

One of the hardest things we've ever done is to leave him behind when we moved from Kansas.  We didn't know where we'd end up in Texas (an apartment? a house? would there be a yard?).  Remington was a hunting dog and a country dog.  He didn't belong couped up in a small city backyard where he'd get to hunt once or twice a year.  As much as it killed us to leave our baby behind, we loved him too much to take him with us.  We knew he was getting older and we wanted him to enjoy the last few years of his life.  Teri's brother, Bill, said he would adopt Remington.  They don't have any kids and we knew that Remington would be spoiled living with Bill and Paula. 

Ever since we brought Remington home to live with us, in the back of my mind I was worried about the day we'd have to say goodbye to him.  I honestly didn't know if Mike would survive that day.  Of course, back then I thought it would be us having to put him down or watch him die...I didn't know it would be us giving him to another family.  There is such a strong bond between a man and his hunting dog.  There's this unspoken relationship of shared passion that creates a loyalty like no other.  When we left Remington in Kansas, we left a piece of our heart there with him.  I can honestly say that there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about him.  Even Brody still talks about him all the time (and has a picture of him with Remy taped to the top of his bed).  Every time we talk about getting another dog, we don't get very far in the planning.  I think a big part of the reason is because we had such a perfect dog.  I don't think any other dog will ever be able to compare! 

After we moved to Texas, Bill and Paula let us know that the vet found cancer in Remy.  The next time we were up there for a visit we went to see him and we could feel the cancerous lumps all over his body.  He was still so happy to see us and was a loving as always and was still healthy enough to go hunting with Mike and Chris. He followed us everywhere we went while we were there...like he was afraid to let us out of his sight.  Brody cried and cried when we left and didn't take Remington with us...but again we knew that he was getting to spend his remaining days in the countryside that he loved.

A few days ago we got an email from Teri with news that we'd been dreading....but knew was coming.  Our beloved friend had died.  The cancer mixed with the heat was just too much for him.  Even as I type this the tears stream down my face.  We will never forget the joy he brought to our life.  When we broke the news to Brody the main thing he wanted to know was where Remy is now.  "Do dogs go to Heaven?"  Mike told him that we don't know...that the Bible doesn't tell us.  His response was, "Well if they do...I KNOW that Remy is there."

Baseball Picture Overload

With 14 games in Brody's t-ball season, I haven't taken tons of pictures at every game.  Most of the time it's because it's getting dark outside and the pictures wouldn't turn out very well or because I was having to chase Barrett around while watching the game.  Today Daddy Steve, Namaw, and GG were at the game with us and I guess I was just in the mood to take pictures!  Our team was short a few players, which meant more turns at bat and more turns in the exciting defensive positions (pitcher, first base, second base...).  I'll let the pictures do most of the talking....

Brody looked very proud to be walking out to the pitcher's mound.  He loves it when he gets to play a position where he gets to field a lot of balls!

fielding a ball...

playing first baseman

catching a ball as first baseman

In the 3rd inning Brody was playing 2nd baseman and he got 2 guys out off of one hit!  He fielded the ball in between 2nd and 3rd base and tagged the guy out who was running to 3rd...then he ran to 2nd and got the guy out who was running to 2nd!  He was really hustling this game and had the sweat to show for it afterwards!  What a fun game to watch!!!

KS Easter Trip - Going Home

April 25, 2011
We left Grammy's house a little after 8 this morning so that we could get to Lyons in time to see some of my friends and co-workers at Iron Works.  The boys were in HEAVEN when Junior took them back to see the equipment storage room which houses all the baseball equipment for the summer leagues. 

Then he took them upstairs to the gym with a bat, ball, helmet, and tee.  They ended up using the batting cage and hitting balls off the tee for almost an hour while I talked with some of the ladies who were there for aerobics class.  It's always good to see Junior and visiting the rec commission is like going home. 

The boys weren't too excited about leaving a batting cage to get in the car to drive 8 hours to Texas...but I finally loaded them in the car and we got on the road.  We were really pushing it to get home in time for Brody's t-ball game...but we made it with 1/2 hour to spare! 

KS Easter Trip - EASTER!

April 24, 2011
We were all excited to wake up this morning and drive to Sterling to celebrate our risen Savior with our Kansas church family.  We've really missed everyone since we've moved to Texas and it was great to get to see them!  The boys were all smiles this morning.  I think Brody was just super excited to get to see Collin, Hans, & Alan again!

I think we were the last car to leave the church parking lot....which meant we had to book it to get back to St. John for lunch with Grandma K.  We had a yummy lunch and topped it off with strawberry shortcake...

Grandma K

The boys were tired after lunch...

so Barrett took a nap and Brody watched a baseball game on TV while we helped Grandma move more stuff into the garage for her sale.  After naps we headed back to Grammy's for an Easter egg hunt!  Barrett was a little discouraged when the eggs weren't in plain sight and he actually had to hunt for them!

We thought we were still missing one of the eggs and we searched all over the yard for about 15 minutes looking for it.  Grammy and I both counted the eggs in the boys baskets several times and finally just decided to give up and go inside.  We got a good laugh when we found it hidden under the grass in Brody's Easter basket!  I think Nancy was really glad we found it because she was starting to think she was crazy because she couldn't remember where she'd hidden an egg!

We stayed up a little late tonight since it was our last night at Grammy's.  Nancy and I stayed up waaaaay late talking...but we were enjoying it so much that it was hard to make ourselves go to bed! 

KS Easter Trip - Saturday

April 23, 2011

As I mentioned before, Grandma K is going to be moving to Topeka to live with her sister, so Nancy and I spent all day today at her house helping her get ready for a moving sale next weekend.  I was amazed at how well the boys did today.  They played together great and did a great job of letting us get the work done that needed to be done.  After the boys had been playing outside for a while Brody came in and said, "Grandma's flowers in the front are soooooo pretty!  You need to take a picture of them!"  He was happy to pose in front of them for me.  Personally I think the boy is much cuter than the flowers ;)

I think one of the things that inspired Brody to keep playing happily (and not complaining) was Grammy's promise to take him to the baseball diamond to play after we finished at Grandma K's house.  We headed to the ball diamond after Barrett's nap.  The wind was really blowing and it was chilly.  Barrett was still in "I just woke up and don't want to talk or even smile" mode...so we just sat on the side and watched Brody and Grammy play.  I think he would've stayed there all night (remember...Brody says his eyes glow in the dark so he can still see to play ball at night)...but the rest of us were getting hungry and headed home to eat.

KS Easter Trip - Friday

April 22, 2011
It was funny how Barrett had been asking to go to Grammy's house since we woke up this morning (at Chris & Teri's house) and Brody had a meltdown about having to leave Collin, Hans, & Alan to go to Grammy's!  He soon found out he had just as good of a playmate in Grammy.  We met for lunch in Stafford and then went back to her house just in time for Barrett's nap.  Any guesses what Brody wanted to do?!?

We played catch for HOURS on Friday.  I don't know if Brody would ever stop playing ball if we didn't make him!  I'm glad he loves being active...but it wears the adults out!!  When Barrett woke up from his nap we took the kids to the park.  Since we don't have any 2 people the same size (well...except for me and Nancy! lol), we got inventive with the see saw's.

Barrett had fun going down the BIG slide...

We hadn't been at the park very long when Brody was begging to go play baseball on the UNLOCKED REAL BASEBALL DIAMOND!  Since we hadn't brought his ball and glove, we convinced him to run on the track instead.  Mike spent many hours running on this track when he was in school.  Brody ran a 1/4 mile in just over 2 minutes.  Pretty good for a 4 year old!

Back at Grammy's house we got to work decorating eggs for Easter. 

By bedtime we were all worn out...but, of course, Nancy and I stayed up talking until we couldn't hold our eyes open any longer! 

Kansas Easter Vacation

Ok....I know this was almost a week ago now...but I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to Kansas.  What can I say?  We've had strep throat at our house....

Thursday, April 21, 2011
I woke up early this morning to finish packing for Kansas.  I was hoping to leave by 9 am...but that was starting to look unlikely as the boys moved my piles around as I tried to pack them.  I finally called Daddy Steve and Namaw and asked if the boys could come over and ride bikes at their house so I could pack more efficiently.  I finally had the car packed, portable DVD player installed (Thanks, Anna, for letting us borrow yours!), kids buckled, and was sitting in the Starbucks drive thru waiting for my venti non-fat with whip caramel macchiato by 10:00 am.  Mike is extremely busy at work this week and isn't able to get away to go with us.  So...it was just me and the boys driving I-35 all day long.

The main reason for our trip to KS is to help Grandma K get her house ready for a living estate sale.  She is getting ready to move in with her sister and wanted to get rid of everything that she doesn't need anymore.  There are several things that she wanted to pass down to Mike and asked that we come get them before her sale.  I was excited to have an excuse to take the boys up to KS for a visit! 

Originally, Nancy was going to have to work on Friday, so I drove to Sterling on Thursday and planned to spend Friday hanging out with Chris, Teri, and their kids.  After the fun that Brody had at their house last Thanksgiving (shooting guns for hours on end), I doubt we'll ever be allowed to go to KS again without stopping at their house for a visit!  It was fun to catch up with Chris & Teri and the boys had so much fun playing with their boys. 

Friday, April 22, 2011
It was misty outside on Friday and the ground was soggy wet, so Barrett hung out inside playing with Lego's.  (Teri let me borrow her 50mm 1.8 lens.  I had fun playing with it!) 

Brody, on the other hand, had no desire to be trapped inside the house!  He convinced Alan and Hans to go outside and play baseball with him.

We also went down to Chris's new shop and rode scooters!  The shop is so huge!  Alan had a skating birthday party last week and they just had all the kids bring their skates to Chris's shop and used it as a skating rink!  Pretty cool!

Then it was back inside for more imaginative play....

for a few minutes at least...then Brody was back outside (this time gun in hand).

Since Nancy ended up getting off work today, the boys and I left Sterling in time to meet her for lunch in Stafford. 

Just so I can get something posted...I'm gonna stop here and hit post.  The boys have NO INTEREST in letting me blog right now! lol