22 months

I can't believe my baby will be turning 2 years old in two months!

from this weekend...

lots of time spent outside playing in the nice weather!

back to school

Aiden 1st grade

Dario 2nd grade

Today was the boys first day of school. They both had a great first day and like their teachers. It's crazy how peacefull and quite it is around here with the boys back in school! I enjoyed have them around alot during the summer and was a little sad to have them go back so soon.

elayna's party

On Saturday we celebrated our niece Elayna's 10th birthday. First, we all went to a fun indoor water park. It was nice not having to worry about getting burnt and applying sunscreen! After the water park everyone went back to Lauren and Dan's house and Lauren had planned a fun Luau themed party, with delicious food. Ava was in heaven rummaging through all of her cousin's pretty dress up clothes. Everyone got a good laugh watching all the kids and Grammy do the Limbo.

lake vacation

The start of school is right around the corner. We were able to squeeze one last vacation in before school begins. We went to the lake and stayed in a cabin with my sister and her family. It was so much fun to get away for a couple of days and enjoy nature and each others company. I love that my kids have cousins who live close by and that they are such good friends.

yellow watermelon...

is so much more fun to eat, even though it tastes just like red watermelon!

beach day

This past weekend we went to visit my family and on Saturday we went to the beach. The sun was blindingly bright and hot, the water was murky and crowded, but we still had lots of fun. Well everyone except for Laila, this was her first trip to the beach and I think it was a little scary for her. She wanted to be held the whole time and at one point she was saying, "I go home!" She ended up falling asleep on a towel in the sand.

laila

Laila's new favorite toy is a phone or a hello as she calls it. Yesterday in the car she was playing with her toy cell phone and would drop it and say, "want my hello!"

Zinnias

I love that these flowers thrive in the heat of the south. They are so easy to care for and grow like weeds!

vacation at the lake

Last week we went on a relaxing vacation to the lake. We rented several cabins with Brian's family at a state park in Louisiana. The cabins were huge and so nice with beautiful views of the lake. The kids were looking forward to this trip for a while and had fun fishing, hiking, swimming and playing with cousins. The adults had fun staying up late and playing lots of games. After going on two vacations in a row it was hard to get back to everyday life!

trip to utah

Yesterday I got back from Utah. I flew out there with my mom, dad and brother to attend my brother Andy's wedding. I also got to photograph the wedding; I'm lucky I had such a beautiful couple to work with! All five of my brothers were in Utah and it was lots of fun hanging out with them and my new sister-in-law Kay Lynn. We crammed lots of activities into a couple of days. We went hiking in the mountains, fishing at a lake, visited BYU, and my dad took us on a neat trip to visit the graves of our pioneer ancestors and other historic sites that they helped build. I absolutely love the climate in Utah, if only Texas was that cool and dry!

happy father's day

six years old

Aiden turned six this past Sunday. We partied all weekend long. On Saturday we had a party with my side of the family. Aiden wanted to have a pirate party, luckily we found a lot of pirate decorations at the Dollar Store, and we had a treasure hunt for the kids. Then Sunday we had another party with Brian's side of the family. It was lots of fun; thank you to everyone who came! It's hard to believe Aiden is six already! Here are some pictures from this weekend: