Caroline turns 2!

I can't believe my little pea pod is 2! We had a great time celebrating Caroline's birthday. She ended up having 2 celebrations. My parents had us over and then we had her first "kid" party at Chuck E. Cheese.




She was so excited to finally get to eat and share her "Dora the Explorer" birthday cake with all of her friends. All week long she would say "Dora-chocolate-cake."

It's hard to believe it was only a year ago that she turned 1 and was still able to fit in the bumbo seat!

4th of July

We started out the 4th of July by going to our local parade along with a friend from playgroup. Typical Caroline had no issues running after the candy, beaded necklaces, or anything else. Later in the evening our friends had us over and we grilled some delicious steaks. Then we decided since the 4th only comes around once a year let's stay out late (9:30pm that is)! Caroline loved the fireworks and it was a day well spent together.

A busy month

July is turning out to be a very busy month. Between going away parties, a bachelorette party, baby shower, Caroline's birthday and not to mention Keith will be between TN, OR, and ID all within the next 3 weeks...I think we have our hands fulls. We're also looking forward to our trip to Mexico this month! Hopefully we will be able to sit back and relax while we are in Cancun. Besides being busy, some important people in our lives are moving. Our dear friends just moved to VA. We will miss them so much! We ended up buying our first house a couple of blocks from one another in NW-central Austin and then we all moved to the burbs around the same time as well. We've gone from couple friends that stayed out late at one anothers houses to now having children and getting together for playdates. Marcy~hopefully when you guys move back we'll all be in the same neighborhood again! Another sweet friend, Julia, is moving to Germany! Julia has been in our real life group at church for several years. She's the most beautiful, sweetest person in the world! Julia~always keep in touch. We love you! We went to a going away party for our friends that moved to VA last week and had alot of fun. The next night one of my best friends from high school had her bachelorette party here in Austin. We are going to her wedding in just a couple of weeks in Mexico. It was really fun to see some of my good friends from Kingwood again. Kelli~we can't wait to see you tie the knot on the beach. We'll come in our swimsuits...:)
Caroline has really enjoyed playing with Aubrey. It will be fun to see how much Aubrey and Will have changed when we see our friends next.

Of course Caroline managed to find her favorite toys at the going away party:
1. a stroller
2. a house
3. a kitchen

Me and Marcy

The whole clan

Kelli, Me, and Erin at the bachelorette party

These are some of my friends from high school that were able to make it to the party Sam, Kelli, Me, Erin, and Jessica

On a final note this is my favorite Psalm below. Keith and I are reading through the Bible in a year along with our church family and I read this one yesterday.
Psalm 139
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Express game

We went with a couple friends to an Express game this week. It was Caroline's first experience at a baseball game. I think she did fairly well. Fortunately, Dell Diamond has a great kids play area.

This picture just really makes me see that she's turning into a little kid!




You can just tell by this face that she's saying please get these things off me! How dare you people!

Hmmm, who's idea was this? You are supposed to get on the trampoline and jump and you go flying straight up. It was so cute watching her up there, but she just didn't want to jump with those weird harnesses on and everybody looking at her. Can you blame her? :)

6 years

The night we got engaged at "Nana" restaurant in Dallas

Leaving our reception

6 years, 2 houses, a 2 year old, and 100lb lab later....

Today is our 6yr anniversary. It's really hard to believe it's been that long already. I'm so grateful to be experiencing life with Keith and to have him walking beside me as we seek out God's purpose for our life together. I love you Keith. Happy Anniversary!

First fishing tournament....

I have the joy of teaching preschoolers on Sunday mornings. This Saturday I was up at our church reviewing the curriculum while Keith was watching Caroline. Somehow they ended up at Sportmans Warehouse, imagine that :), and found a fishing tournament.

Look at that trophy!
Caroline likes to get these high-heels out of my closest and walk around like mommy

San Antonio

We decided to go on a small vacation this year. After completing the patio a trip to the caribbean just wasn't in the budget. :) We went to San Antonio for 2 days last week and did Sea World and the zoo. It was Caroline's first time to see animals of this sort. It's questionable as to what her favorite part was, but I definitely think she enjoyed the whale show, "Believe." The music was so loud and I think she really enjoyed seeing the big whales. I probably enjoyed it more than her though.:) It's so awesome to think that God actually created something like that. I could sit and watch them for hours. We stayed at the Westin La Cantera and loved it. It sits on the highest hill in San Antonio so you have great views of the beautiful hill country. I have several pics to share from our trip.... View from our room

One hot and sweaty kid



Of course she managed to find a "park" at Sea World!

When we sat down to watch the whale show we managed to sit right behind 2 little girls who were chowing down on popcorn. Caroline practically started begging for popcorn. The sweet little girl noticed Caroline wanted some so she gave her 2 pieces of popcorn. Of course that wasn't enough to satisfy her little appetite! After more whining from Caroline, Keith leaned over to one of the little girls and asks for popcorn. I thought I was going to die! :) This just shows the measures a parent will go to keep their kid happy. The story ends of us having to move seats....


Not having a swimsuit didn't stop us!


Caroline is saying "roar" in the pic. We went to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. About 20 seconds after this pic was taken the tiger started moving and I've never seen Caroline so frightened.

The next day we went to the zoo and Caroline loved brushing the goats. We thought it was really cute until she wanted to brush her own hair.

I have to say that I've riden on an elephant before.

After a long, hot day (okay, we were really only there 2 hours!) at the zoo we thought we'd finsh it off with a train ride

Pics at the pool...