TEXAS VACATION (three)

Brooke's love of horses seems to be never ending...And apparently someone is going to have to buy her one.  Soooo if anyone wants to become an instant hero and do that for my beautiful baby girl, it would be GREATLY appreciated. :)

My brother and his family just so happen to now live right down the road from some horse hoarders that give lessons/rides.  My sister-in-law and I took the girls out there to ride them and they were so happy. 

Brooke could just sit perfectly still on a horse and be in hog heaven.

It's really kinda sweet.

Thank you so much, Gena and Breanna, for doing that for Brooke!

TEXAS VACATION (two)

We were in Texas just a couple weeks shy of the year anniversary of Nathan's Grandpa's passing.  We took the kids to see his headstone at the Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery.  Such a beautiful place.  The kids were great in waiting patiently while their daddy took it all in and shared a few moments with his own dad.  It's breathtaking looking at the love and care that goes into the upkeep of the grounds.

My brothers and I have all managed to make some really cute kids.

And I must say...Pretty impressive! :)

Emiley, Caleb, Dayley

Brooke, Breanna, Carley & Cole

How on earth are my nieces

almost taller than me?

And I'm 5'10" for crying out loud!
Unbelievable. 

A visit to a humongous room full of bounce houses and such with Grandma and Grandpa.
Germs, sweaty pits, static attack and vinyl road rash...Now that's a rockin' good time!

 

  Dave & Busters

Brooke was annoyed with my picture obsession because she was too busy playing this horse game over and over again that she couldn't even read or understand what to do.  In the meantime, Cole won 1,000 tickets on a spinning wheel game and then got so unbelievably lucky on this throw-your-money-away grab machine.  The claw miraculously got hooked on the tag of the ball.

 

Fun times with the cousins and grandparents...

We love and miss them all so very much!

TEXAS VACATION (one)

Way past the point of anyone caring especially when I'm only 2 weeks away from putting up my Christmas tree but, I still just have to put up these pictures to look back on.  Our trip back home to Texas at the end of June included lots of things.  Here's the first couple of days...

We got in around 3 am and walked into our friends' Brett and Natalie's quiet house.  They left the door unlocked for us, as well as, a sweet little welcome note and mints on the bed.  Too cute!  That absolutely made me smile after such a long and uncomfortable drive.

 

We spent the whole next day relaxing

in the pool and burning in the sun.  A trip to

Texas wouldn't be complete without a 

sunburn...So I just "had" to do it.

 

 

Brett and Natalie introduced us to the Melting Pot.
A rarity for us to indulge in something that fancy but, hey, we were on vacation.

 This place is like a meal of magical merriment.

A Love Martini...Definitely LOVE...So yummy!

 

You cook your own food at your table.  You drop your vegetables and stick your skewer of meat in the the flavored broth of choice for a certain amount of time and tah-dah! Way too much food and entertainment while eating for one's own good.

Thank you so much Brett and Natalie for letting us take over your upstairs and come and go as we pleased!  You two are simply uhhh-mazing!