A Good Dog

One of my favorite quotes is: "My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am." I am always amazed at how our dog will run up to us and lick us, watch us attentively, and sit at our feet when we are home. Even when the kids are a little crazy and things are wild, she really wants to be there in the thick of it all. Alot of times I think we need to get the Dog Whisperer to come to our house because Sammie barks and howls every time the doorbell rings. She also jumps up on people when they come over (luckily she is only 16 pounds). But even with all of her faults she is a good dog because she makes us feel so good!

Have a great week!

Multiple Personalities

The next few pictures are pictures of Hannah all taken within a period of 20 minutes. As you can see, she went from Soccer Star to Bride to Princess in a matter of minutes. Maybe the title of this should really be quick change artist?



Speaking of changes, check out the change on Jacob's face while receiving love from his siblings. Its as if he realized that this might just be too good to be true! :)




Have a great week!

Date Night

Last night Rich and I went to the Clay Walker concert. He was at the Opening Event for the Heart of Texas Fair. He was a really great performer and we had a fun time.

We also learned something---we need to make sure we go out every now and then without the kids. When we told them we were going out without them they were stunned! They kept asking us: "Why aren't you taking us?" "Why didn't you get us tickets?" The best was when Jacob actually told us that he "forgave us" for going out without them!

We used to be pretty good about date nights etc. but having three kiddos in school and sports means the 5 of us are usually at a game, practice, or school function. Speaking of which, here are the kids in their various uniforms:

Hve a great week!

Grandparents and Gotcha Day!!!

The past two Sundays have been fun celebrations around our house. Last weekend we celebrated Grandparents' Day with my parents. Andrew pulled out his cookbook and made an incredible lunch. The best part of the lunch was that he made 2 desserts! (That's my boy!!!) All 3 kids made homemade lemonade to accompany the meal. The name of it was "Pucker Up Lemonade" which we discovered was a perfect name! A fun time was had by all.This week we celebrated our family's Gotcha Day which was also great. Gotcha Day (or Family Day) is the day we added Hannah to our family so it is a very special day in our house. We celebrated by bringing in Chinese food and having a fun family lunch. My parents brought their two Chinese students from Baylor. They told us that our Chinese food was not very authentic but it was still good. My mom made moon cakes for our dessert. The moon cakes were also not very authentic but were yummy as well!

In light of all of our family events, I'll end with one of my favorite quotes about family. Brace yourself, it's from Jeff Foxworthy!

"If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair. Because five minutes at the fair, you'll be going, 'you know, we're alright. We are dang near royalty.' " Jeff Foxworthy

New School Year

A couple of weeks ago the kids started a new school year. (Which is my latest excuse for not blogging!:)) All 3 kiddos are happy with their new classes etc. Hannah's backpack is bigger than she is but she can still carry it!

My favorite activity of the new school year is taking the traditional first day of school picture. The best part is hearing the kids complain about it like that is really going to stop me from taking the picture!!!

Cadillac Ranch

On the cruise we saw and swam in the most beautiful water in Cayman and Cozumel.

In Colorado, we were in awe of the mountains and streams.

In Amarillo, we saw a "field" of Cadillacs! :) I don't know if any of you have ever been to the Cadillac Ranch, but we have. It was a little detour on our way back from Colorado. I had seen it in one of Andrew's books and I was curious to see it in person. The Cadillacs are planted face down in the ground. They also had been grafittied which was interesting. Well, at least now our kids can never complain that we didn't take them to see the Cadillacs in Amarillo!!! :)

Rocky Mountain High

One week after we returned from the cruise, we were very happy to repack our bags and head to Colorado. This time we were with Rich's family. We loved the beauty of Colorado and being with family. Here are a few pictures from our trip...The natural beauty of Colorado is truly awesome!

This picture above is not exactly a natural beauty picture---it is from the Hammond's candy factory and store in Denver. It was a very yummy. By the way, this is the place where Santa gets his candy canes! Yummy!