Grandpa has arrived amidst shouts of hurray! Our journey begins tomorrow... ...pray for Grandpa!

Bathing Beauty Brielle

I think this picture proves just how much time we have spent in our swim gear this summer. Brielle used to spend all her time dressing up as a princess or wearing my shoes. These days, this is what makes her feel pretty.... ...a good look, No?

Partyin' in San Angelo

We were lucky enough to convince some of Jody's family members to come and visit us here in our tiny apartment last week. Veronica, Shane, and Jaeli were driving through on their way home from Tennessee, so Cam, Michelle, and kids drove up here to hang out with all of us. The few days that their visits overlapped, we had 15 people in this little two bedroom apartment--that's an adventure in itself! We divided most of our time between the swimming pool, the lake, and the park in an attempt to just get enough air!

The kids had a blast on the tube ( I even hopped on a couple times!) and Jody was just thrilled to finally get a chance to wake board and ski.

We hauled all the kids to Brielle's favorite park -- this park has a special slide that she could spend all day on. The rest of them liked it quite a bit too.

Eventually, Uncle Shane found a way to make it even more fun. It was his bright idea for the kids to "surf" down it -- they caught on pretty quickly, but I'm not sure if the other playgroup moms are going to be happy with me.

Kutter looks so tough now that he's got it down, and can you see how happy Brielle is in the background?

Who could have fun at the pool without chicken fights? Not our group!

When we were all crammed into the apartment because of bad weather (or sheer exhaustion) we spent most of our time just watching the kids play together. Brielle and Shayla finally spent some quality time together....

...even though I'm pretty sure that Andin will always have her heart.

At one point, I think even the little kids noticed how crowded the place was and they retreated under the bathroom sink. It was actually quite adorable. I caught Brielle and Shalya trying so hard to hide under there, but they would climb in and not be able to shut the doors. Shayla would get in and say, "will you please shut the door?" Brielle would say "sure" and hop out to shut it, then promptly hop back in and say "will you please shut my door?" Shayla would hop right out and they started the whole thing over again. This went on for probably ten minutes before Andin discovered them and came to the rescue!

This place sure feels empty now!

Oh Yeah!

Apparently, I am not the only person in the world that believes ANYTHING can be made better with chocolate.

My prayers have been answered. Intoducing ....

That's right, people. Water now comes in chocolate! Happiness. Joy. And seriously, it doesn't even have calories! The world is now a better place.

Thanks, Michelle, for introducing me to this new little treat!

Just in case anyone's needing a little silly in their day!

Once again, my mom found a way to make sure we all felt a lot of love while we are so far from home. We got a lovely "little" package in the mail full of lots of goodies to make us smile. It really did feel a bit like Christmas. Jody got his big fat birthday check. Brielle got this adorable new sundress which she couldn't wait to model. I asked Breje to choose the best picture -- but it was tough, so here's the top two! Please excuse her cleavage. We're working on it, but dontcha love her tan line? I'm loving Breje's new dress, but isn't she looking just way too grown up? I got an adorable new shirt, you'll just all have to believe that I look totally hot in it, as the pictures were terrible and I deleted them all! (sorry mom, I just couldn't do it) I do seriously love it -- almost as much as the bagfull of quarters she sent! Yep! Quarters are the new IT thing around here as they have become such a necessary part of our routine. These should keep us in clean clothes for the rest of the month! The boys each got these giant Bakugans. I really have no idea how to spell that, but it sure made them happy! They're extra great, because they are actually big enough not to get lost every other minute! Brielle also got this cute doll with snap-on/snap-off clothes. Think she likes it? To top it all off, Grandma slipped in a couple sets of marker paints that have brought us hours of peace and harmony. We know have DOZENS of pictures similar to this one to bring home for Grandma! Thanks Grandma Linda! We love everything!

Happy Birthday Jody!

I had to take a quick minute to celebrate Jody's 38th (that's right kids, he's getting up there!) birthday! I had to laugh as we sat around our little apartment doing our best to make the most of this day. Jody's definitely done his best to make sure that our life together is never dull! We've celebrated birthdays in at least 6 different states, and more than double that number of homes. I'm pretty sure this isn't exactly how my husband pictured his 38th year, but I love that he makes sure that we are always right where we should be -- even when that's not the easiest thing to see. I also love that he makes sure it's never just about him. He asked for a wake board this year-- mostly because that will make us more fun to visit!

The kids told him he could choose how to celebrate his birthday, so yesterday he took us all out for steak and then we caught the 3D version of Ice Age 3. Today he made us all ice cream and then took the kids to the park (it was 99 degrees!-- that's love!) For him, it's ALWAYS about having fun together!

I know what you're thinking -- you're dying of jealousy that you missed out on this flashy little shindig! Eat your hearts out!