HAPPY FOURTH!

we spent the fourth in tulsa again this year with my brother, josh's family and my parents.  it was so much fun!  

jay got in a lot of golf at their club with josh and our nephew, asher.  carter, my oldest nephew, got a lot of practice driving us around.  he has his permit and is turning 16 in less than a month.  so unreal.  my oldest nephew is almost as old as i was when he was born!  ohmygoodness!!  we also got in SEVEN trips to the pool, lots of cookouts, a night out for sushi with josh and joy, and link had a REALLY good time with his big cousins and all their friends at their annual fourth of july party.  

we had fun livin' on tulsa time.  :)

swimming with daddy and caroline

waiting for the parade down their street with mom

hangin' in the parade car with all the lovely ladies

link and care-bear

two sleepy pics, one at fireworks, one on the road trip  :)

adorable.

happy fourth!  

i hope you all had a great holiday and time with friends and family celebrating our great nation.  

cousin's camp, part II

oh.my.goodness.  i am tired.  what an incredible week!  if you read part one, you saw day one, after the water park.  well the kids just left and link went down for a much-needed nap, and now i am on my computer for the first time in days.  :)

we greeted soliders at DFW, went to legoland, rode a carousel, ate some bubba's, swam at SMU, ate some chuy's, watched a movie at jay's office theater, played hide and seek, played some xbox, slept a little at our house, swam at colonial, helped uncle jay caddy at colonial, ate burgers, saw cars 2, had time at hunny and papa's house, slept a teeny bit more, ate at mi cocina (with most of the older cousins, almost the whole fam at once!), and oh-so-much more!  jay and i also managed to squeeze in some work, taking link to his cousin jack's first birthday party, taking link to get a few more naps, church today, working out, keeping a friend's sick dog this week, and for jay, a LOT more caddy-ing at judd's club championship.  :)  that's all my brain can process and/or remember right now.  :)  there were warm fuzzy exchanges for good behavior, prayers, bible verses, and songs.  oh, and a lot of fun memories made.  thanks kids, for a wonderful week!

(p.s.  i also got a taste of what it would be like to have five kids.  HATS OFF to anyone that does, because i barely made it through one week!)

greeting solders - welcome home troops!

diving at SMU - even papa got into it (above)

precious boys!  so sweet.

lots of snuggles, above with hunny at movie night, below with caroline in his tent

below, link after camp, and showing EXACTLY how i feel! 

byebye for now, time for me to catch a quick nap while my crazy kiddo catches up on sleep, too.  :)

cousin's camp, day one

well i guess technically it's day two, but the first full day.  it's that time of year again, and the youngest link cousins (asher, caroline, carson, and nathan) are in town for camp!  it's so much fun, and today has been perfect thus far.  as the youngest participant, link has to take breaks from camp for naps and early bedtimes, but he sure gets a lot of special treatment from his older cousins, which he LOVES.

it's so amazing because we took the kids to this same park last year and link wasn't quite yet walking, but definitely not swimming or sliding.  this year he was running all over the park, swimming to us in the lazy river, and sliding down every slide he was allowed on.  crazy how that seems like it was just a couple of months ago!

with papa

with sweet caroline

splish, splash!  summer is so fun...and we still have three days of camp left!!  woohoo!  (i promise we got more pics of the other kids, just not on my iphone).  i'll get more tomorrow!

these pictures were taken almost exactly a year apart. this is going by so fast!!!!

8 months old

20 months old

we've already hit over 100 degrees here in dallas, had our first pool party of the summer today, and vacations are all booked, planned, and ready!  before we know it it will be september again and link will be two.  unreal.  i'm just trying to take time everyday to sit down and thank the Lord for each day, savoring the little moments, snuggles, and sweet smiles of our precious boy!  he keeps me on my toes and is the busiest little guy i've ever known, but i love him so and wouldn't have it any other way!

it's may, we are in texas, so if you ask me, it's SUMMER! :)

today link graduated his first year of "school" at the early childhood learning center at our church, wilshire baptist.  his wonderful teachers put together a graduation picture of each child, their class, and gave out certificates of graduation.  it was pretty adorable, and i can't quit smiling at the above pic.  priceless.  although i am certain there will be many more cap and gown moments in link's future, it will be hard to top the cuteness factor pictured above, if you ask me.  :)

his hunny and papa (my parents) make every effort to make sure they see us at least once a week, since we all live so close.  i can't tell you how much i cherish this time with all of us together.  it's so fun to see them with link and how much they all adore each other!  :)

we have done a lot of work in our yard lately, and last weekend we cleared out a very shady section in the back where link can dig, rake, play with trucks, and just get messy all summer long!  i am thankful for a spot where he can stay cool and play.  he cracks me up below, such the outdoorsman.  he loves that hat, such an old man hat, right?

here's a pic of link and his buddy wade.  they had a play date last week and i couldn't help but snap a few photos.  they are a pretty cute combo, don't ya think?  link has started giving hugs and kisses to all his friends.  i love that, even the big, loud, rowdy kid he is, he still has a soft side.  :)

a few of my favorite "things"

bring it on summer, we are ready for a couple of great vacations, a lot of backyard cookouts, some good pool time (i'll have to post a video of the swim lesson progress soon!), and fun in the sun!!!

happy mother's day

dancing in my backyard with my sweet boy and his daddy giggling.  priceless. (link's favorite dance songs are old 97's, U2, and willie.  good taste, if you ask me!)

oh my goodness, i love being your mommy, sweet link!  and i am so thankful for the amazing God that gave us our happy family:  your daddy, YOU, and our fur babies, mckenzie and owen!  i love you all!  thanks for a wonderful mother's day.

and thank you so much to my sweet mom.  words cannot express what she means to me.  i could go on and on and ON (no really, i could!), but to keep it simple let's just say that if i can be HALF the woman/mom/wife/friend she is, i'll be doing this thing right.  she is a living legacy of what a wise, godly, feisty, caring, comforting, teacher, nurturing, sweet, overcoming-any-obstacle, STRONG, LOVING, and never forget truly funny woman.  MOM, you are the definition of class and a true lady.

to my favorite woman on earth, my sweet mother, my inspiration and my love, lavon link.  i love you with all my heart.  and i thank God every single day of my life for YOU.

(here she is, loving on her 8th grandchild.  yes, that's link, 19 months ago!)  she has three kids and eight grandkids and loves them each in her own special way with all with all her heart.  everyone that receives her love knows how special that feels.  thank you, sweet mama!!!  that's living life to it's fullest, if you ask me!!!

loves.

at 19 months, some of your favorite things...

as you can see above, your dogs (well, all dogs for that matter!).  the pics with owen are much sweeter than the ones with mckenzie.  he is typically carrying her around while she growls at him.  she's not a big fan of that.  after all, he did put her in the oven (if you are a friend on facebook, i'm sure you read that funny story, where no animals were harmed, btw.  thankfully the oven wasn't on. :)).

the pool.  sprinklers.  the water hose.  well, really any water.  even the kitchen sink is a favorite of yours.  (above, on the way to swim lessons.  yes, for this very reason.  he loves water!)

trains.  airplanes.  cars.  motorcycles.  heck, just things that make loud noises and move.  haha, now that i write that, i realize maybe you love these things because you all have so much in common!

ice cream.  but who doesn't love ice cream?!

rain boots, being outside, and pushing things.  thankfully for the latter, it's normally just a toy.  :)

baseball.  you have no idea how happy that makes me.  :)

easter

we had a good time this easter with family.  on saturday with the pritchards at colonial, easter egg-hunting and brunch.  then on to sunday with my family at my parents' church, then easter lunch, more egg hunting, cake pop eating, confetti egg smashing, bubble blowing, candy eating...whew!  lots of fun.

there is one hymn i always want to hear/sing on easter.  it always reminds me of my mom.  she always has such a big smile on her face when she sings this song.  anyway, as i've grown older and really listened to what i was singing, i've grown to love it, as well.  now everytime i sing this song i smile, too. it may be old, but it is still so very true and powerful.  happy easter!  here's the chorus...

He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives 

today!

He walks with me and He talks with me

Along life's narrow way.

He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!

You ask me how I know He lives:

He lives within my heart.

lately.

link's second opening day, with cousin nate!  GO RANGERS!

gardening, the new hobby

queso, the new soup.  definitely my son.  :)

time with owen.  he loves his pups.

sunday school ready.  the perfect look, it's short lived, people.  enjoy. (we have to get a pic while he's strapped in, pre-play and pre-dirt.  haha).

first half = new hobby!

on sunday i ran my first half marathon here in dallas, the rock n' roll half marathon. i ran with my brother, josh, which made it extra fun. :) i started training in january after running the white rock marathon relay with my brothers and dad, and feeling very inspired. over the course of the last few months, i can honestly say i've gone from someone that ran some for exercise to someone that really loves running.

for years asthma and sports injuries kept me from really being able to run much more than three to five miles, but thanks to advair (asthma medicine) and ibuprofen, i think i may be able to keep up my new hobby.

our race was great. pre-race i kept saying i just wanted to finish, but internally i REALLY wanted to make it in 2 hours. with one bathroom break and a dead sprint at the last turn, we finished in 2:00:08! so exciting!! thanks again to my family members and friends that were able to make it out. it meant SO much to us that you were there!

now, to find another good half somewhere...any suggestions??

a week in review

dirt and chocolate after a full day, this is typical pre-bath link, 7pm

i'm so happy it's spring. i have been and will continue to spend the majority of it chasing my rowdy, loud, funny, sweet son all over this universe! we spend all of our time outside, and i am not exaggerating. from the moment he wakes until he naps or sleeps for the night, he is ready to go outside and play, non-stop. i wouldn't have it any other way. link is a lot like his parents, in that he wants to go, go, go all the time. we love that he shares our zest for life, so we are just hanging on for the ride! in the last week(-ish) he has enjoyed his first stars game, another trip to austin, a couple of cookouts with friends at our place, and his second st patty's day on greenville. busy boy. here are a few pics from our last week...

first stars game, in the suite for family night with the fine family! thanks, dan, steph, and jules!

st patty's day on greenville, cook out at our place with friends.

corn dog at shady grove on sunday night in austin. good times.

life is good. we are all sleeping a lot later, thanks to daylight savings, and because of that, we are now officially down to one nap, typically from 1-4pm, give or take. we are two days from link officially being a year and a half old (on the 25th), so it's a good time to mark some memories for the baby book:

- you love being outside more than anything

- you climb. and climb. and then you climb some more. we have put a tent on your bed, and on a trip this week to austin, you climbed out of your pack and play. our days of cribs are short lived, i fear. but it is so cute that you are so active. it reminds us of us. :)

- you love people and love social interaction.

- we can't pass our church without you crying to go in, you ADORE your wilshire family. :)

- you love to stroll the neighborhood in your bob stroller, or any of your various cars. you just love all forms of transportation, especially trucks and AIRPLANES!!

- you are communicating on such a different level now, and it amazes us.

- you love your music class, and loving all that structure has surprised us, but then again...

- you are loving books. that makes me so happy. as active and crazy as you are, you still love to cuddle with mama and read a good book after your nap. :)

- you know how much you are loved. i can see it in your eyes, the way you look at us as your parents, the excitement as you see your hunny and papa, the way you pet your dogs, play with your friends (or pretty much anyone); you expect love, and i love that about you. it's precious.

i'm so proud and happy of my sweet son. sometimes i cannot believe it as i watch you grow and play, that God has blessed me with the son i always dreamed of as a little girl. your dad and i consider ourselves so blessed to have you in our lives. happy (almost) 18 months!