Short weekend away

As of June 11th of this year, Page and I have been married for 5 years. It has been a wonderful journey of ups and downs, but we would have it no other way. :) To celebrate, we originally wanted to take a fun trip & let my parents take care of Evan... we did get to it- on Labor day weekend. So, a little late- but better late than never, right. We did not do anything glamorous- we dropped Evan off at my parent's house & drove into Louisiana to a town called Nachtitoches. I went to college in Nacogdoches, TX, and they are a rival of sorts, so it made for an interesting trip... among many other things.

On Saturday, we got to town, checked into our hotel & headed to the historic downtown area. There is some great shopping there & there are a few historical things to see as well. We were there on a day when there were 2 events that seemed to completely clashed in my mind... a motorcycle rally & a Zydeco music festival. Let's suffice it to say that the combo made for interesting people watching... which is what we did the most of. :)
On Sunday, we did not really want to do a plantation tour (even though that is most of what tourists do there in the summer), so we decided to be adventurous and head out of town to take in the sights of the Alligator Ranch!! It was interesting, for sure!

We stayed around after touring the whole place for the alligator feeding 'show' that was supposed to be the best part of the park. Well, just what you see in this picture is what happened. There was a scripted story being played over the loud speaker & pretty much the 'show' was that this boat came out into the middle of the little pond, the guys did the feeding, and the boat went back to shore. So, not really a show. It made for lots of laughs though for Page and I. :)

Here is the best shot we could get of ourselves with gators in the background.

We love wooden cutouts that make great photo-ops!! There were about 15 of these around the park- we each picked our favorite. :) I think Page chose most wisely.

All gators dress like farmers, right!?

After the ranch experience, we headed back to Grapeland and got to hang out with my family for the evening. It was a great weekend & much needed time away. :)

Lake Fun

At the end of August, we had the opportunity to go to the lake with some friends. We had a great time... the weather was hot, but it was actually not too bad with the breeze. Theer were jet skis to ride & a pavillion where we ate lunch. We all enjoyed catching up & putting our feet in the water.

Here are Page and Evan- both with real smiles! They both had a great time in the water.
Evan LOVES his watermelon... so we just let him have it.

The other love Evan has is throwing rocks in the water... well, there were plenty of rocks to spare & lots of water... so he had a great time.

Summer playtime!

It has been so hot lately that outdoor outings have been few and far between. So, we take advantage when we can. This summer we have had a few random moments in play, as well as some very fun playdates. So, I think the pictures don't require a whole lot of explaining...

Watering the yard...
Evan wearing his version of a bag 'dress' after I wore a dress out with Page one night.

One week, we were able to meet with my college friends Kelli & Whitney in Richardson. We had such a great time!! Evan and Irelyn are exactly 1 week apart, so it was fun to let them play for the first time. :)

Playdough...

Poolside... Mekele also enjoyed this part of the day...

This is what happens when one 2 yr old gets a toy that the other 2 yr old wants...

Another day we spent time at Celebration park in Allen with Colette, Lila & Wyatt. The kids liked the splash pad, but really enjoyed the playground more. It was harder on us Moms to keep up with them, but we were glad they enjoyed themselves so much!

"Look, Mommy, wood chips!"

Checking out what the other kids are doing...

Taking turns on the bouncy see-saw...

We did lots of fun random stuff this summer, but it was great to keep things simple also. :) Looking forward to a busy fall, so some downtime was nice.

Some summer highlights...

We have had quite the summer. From my eariler posts, you can see some of the heavier parts that we have dealt with. However, even with all of that, we have had a fun summer. It has been great to focus on some positive things and get to spend lots of time with loved ones. :)

In mid-july, we had the opportunity to go to the zoo with some friends. It was Evan's first trip to the zoo & he loved it!! We got there early, but it was still super-hot. I was glad to have Page there to push the stroller & keep up with Evan. :) One of the big hits with our little group were the giant tortoises. They were very big & the kids thought it was really funny when they moved. They also all loved the Children's zoo, which was a great place to see lots of variety of animals.

Here is Evan with his friend Wyatt- they watched as the turtles got some new water.

At the Children's zoo, they had an area where you could go in and feed/get close to some birds. Evan thought it was great that a couple of the birds liked being on Page's head or tried to get into our bags. He was able to pet a couple of birds, and did great with the 1-finger petting rule. :)

The other hit was petting the goats. They all did great... Evan really wanted to have a conversation with this particular goat. :)


Toward the end of July, Page had a buisiness trip to Boston, so Evan and I took a few days to go see my parents. It was great to go, relax, spend time outside, and have no schedule of our own. We went to VBS a couple of nights (both of my parents were working it for their church) and Evan loved the stories and playing with the other kids his age. During the days, we played in the water, Dad tried to help Evan fish (even though Evan just scared all the fish away), and we did ots of playing inside.

Here is Evan playing in the worm box. He liked watching the worms, but did not want to hold them.

Here are my Dad and Evan enjoying the kiddy-pool. :)

One of our biggest projects this summer has been moving Evan to his new room so that we can prepare the way for Molly. Evan has now moved to the guest room in the house, and is having a blast playing and sleeping in his 'big-boy room'. We have made some more changes since these pictures were taken, so I will get a complete update when we finish the few final touches, but the room turned out great. Now, we have been able to focus on cleaning out the rest of the house... quite the task!

Evan got a new bed, so new bedding was needed. He LOVES cars, so this was the perfect bedding set. Page painted the bed and dresser & he did a great job.

Evan wanted to be part of the picture-taking. :)

The big-boy shelf that Page built a few months ago...

And, the perfect place to sit and read. I can't believe my little guy is already almost 2 1/2! He is definitely turning into a little boy. :)

In August, we decided to make a cupcake run with Katie and Lauren. Last year we went to Sprinkles with friends & had a great time. But, it is a long drive down there! We heard of a place in Frisco called Dimples, so thought we would give it a try. Personally, I liked Sprinkles better, but it was still a fun trip. Here is a pic of our tasty treats.

Lauren & Katie enjoying their treats.

A rare picture of Evan and me- after we had cleaned him up, thankfully.

Getting some rest!!!

Evan's new bed has come with new challenges, mainly keeping him in it during naptime, when he wants to play with his toys instead of sleep. Thankfully, it only took a couple of weeks to get him in a routine. :)

This is what I found one day when I thought he had been sleeping for a long time...
Page and Evan both sleep much better than I do these days, being 7 months preggo. This is the evidence on a rare occasion when Evan ended up in our bed because he was having nightmares. :) It could be that I could not sleep because there was no more room for me!!

Decided to skip to now...

I cannot seem to keep up with posts, so I will go back as I can and update what I have missed. It has been a pretty crazy couple of months, especially in the last 3 weeks or so- so that is where I start.

First of all, for anyone who has not heard, I am pregnant! :) We are expecting our second child, a girl, in early November. We are elated, to say the least & Evan will pat my ever-growing belly & say, 'Baby come out & I hold it." He is so cute in those moments. He is adorable in other moments as well, but has hit the age 2 full-on. He is testing every limit, every bit of patience & is all boy in playtime. So, that is quite a challenge, especially while pregnant... but he is still the most wonderful boy ever. (Of course I am a little biased.)

Just over 3 weeks ago, we added a brother-in-law to the family. Page's sister, Lauren, married Travis. It was a beautiful ceremony & they had a wonderful trip on their honeymoon. We are excited to have Travis in the family & he has been a great help to all of us in the last couple of weeks.

One week ago, last Wednesday, we were saddened to see Page's Mom go to be with Jesus. She has been fighting leukemia for basically the whole of 2010 & it was time for her to stop fighting. We have been through the ringer of emotion over the last week, and I am sure it will continue until we see her again. She is one of the most wonderful women I have had the blessing of knowing, and I would not choose anyone else to be my mother-in love. We miss her dearly & that will not stop, but knowing that she is resting the arms of Christ, with no pain and no more suffering, helps us to know that God is sovereign and He knows what is best for her as well as all of us. I love her so much & still can't quite wrap my brain around all that has happened in the last 2 weeks, but I know that she would tell me to be faithful to what God is showing us. She is one of the most consistent examples of trust and faith in Christ I have ever seen. When it got to the point where there were no more medical options, she simply said- 'I am ready.' I pray that if I am ever faced with something similar that I will have the courage to step forward into eternity the way we watched her do. She has left quite the legacy & I pray that God will allow me to pass that on to our kids in her absence.

Praise God.