HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY KING RICHIE!!

Richie, you are "THE KING!"

Sometimes life is hard and you cannot see what is ahead.

But you always keep trying.

You are number one!

Take a bow. We love you.

Richie, you always make us laugh. You keep us wondering--we never know what you will do next. We are so grateful that you are part of our family.

Pictures from Emily

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Family Pictures October 2009

Whitni Parker came out a couple of weeks ago and took these pictures for us. I just love the black and white close-ups of the kids. They are my favorite ones. We had the pictures taken in front of our house at the fishing pier. It was very cold and very early in the morning. But, the kids did really well---for most of it. :-)

PS--As soon as I can get the pictures off of my camera and into the computer I will post more. So, look for more to come very soon.

Fun Fiddling

Lydia had a final lesson with her Coppell violin teacher--Ms. Younghans--this week. She has been a wonderful teacher for Lydia and we will miss her dearly. Luckily Lydia will still get to see her at orchestra. Lydia will start lessons with her new teacher this Saturday.

I have some fun news. Lydia met with the band director last week and he is going to have her play her violin with the 7/8 grade band. At first we were thinking that it would be a little weird--OK--A LOT weird. However, the more we thought about a fun and easy class, we decided that it would be a good idea. The band director will have Lydia play the flute parts on her violin with the band whenever they play inside--at pep rallies, concerts, etc. She will get to play the mallet instruments (bells/xylophone/marimba) whenever they play outside at the football games. So, the other night Lydia started practicing the school song to play at the high school dedication this weekend. Rich heard Lydia and the two of them had a great time going through the silly songs that bands sometimes play. I am not sure who had more fun--Rich remembering his many years in band or Lydia thinking about the crazy times that she will have this year. This afternoon was her first practice and it went really well.

So, our new theme for Lydia this year will be, "If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band!"

Big Bekah?

Well...Bigger Bekah. Rebekah has gained three pounds in the last three weeks. She has gone from 9 to 12 pounds!! In fact, she is now 12 lbs. 11 ounces. We are all so pround of her and grateful that she is doing so well now. As you can see, she has also made lots of progess. She can now sit in the Bumbo seat. Before she would slump over in it after just a few minutes. She can also hold her own bottle--for a minute or so. Her legs are so much bigger and she actually has a tummy. She can sit on her own for just a few seconds. She is definitely more active and we couldn't be happier!

Happy Birthday Lydia!!

Yesterday was Lydia's 11th birthday! I can hardly believe that I have an 11 year old. Lydia is getting so grown up and is such a good girl. We truly do love her and are so grateful that she is part of our family.



We registered Lydia for school last week. It was so fun to drive by the school and see Lydia's name on the school sign! We also got a letter in the mail inviting our family to a dinner at the middle school for all of the new families to meet all of the staff and to take a tour of the school.
Lydia and her new friend, Chloe, made angel food cake for the dessert.
Lydia invited some friends to go swimming, have lunch, eat cupcakes, and get their nails done for her party. Lydia had a great time. They all wore matching sun glasses and flip flops.

Itty Bitty Bekah

...won't be bitty for long.
Rebekah has always been little. However, lately she has been too little. She only gained 3 ounces from 4-6 1/2 months. So, the pediatrician had us give her some formula. She gained 23 ounces this week! She has gone from 9 to almost 11 pounds!! It took a few days to get her to take the formula. However, now she is a champ and loves the bottle.

Way to go Rebekah!!

House Update July 23

Lots has been done around the house over the past week. The backsplash is now finished in the kitchen and in the tech area. The air conditioning is now running and the two week period for the floors to acclimate has begun. The sprinker system was installed and so was the sod. The landscaping is mostly done. They still need to put in the trees and flowers. The cedar on the house has been stained. The builder spent several hours today making a punch list of items to be finished in the next couple of weeks. We are getting very excited to see it all coming together.

Ice Skating in July

We decided to go ice skating with LeeAnn while she was here for a much too short visit. Rich and I took turns holding Rebekah.

Richie and Lydia

Jacob, Jenn, and Rachel Anna and Lydia

Summer Fun!

Richie had fun waiting for the fireworks.

Rebekah was so good on the trip. Jacob rock climbing.

Lydia and Richie climbed too.

Rachel is wearing one of the shirts that we tie dyed. We had so much fun with it. We dyed shirts, socks and even underwear!

Lydia and Rebekah watching fire works. Georgia, Jacob, Lydia, and Rebakah at the Diamondbacks baseball game.

LeeAnn and Lydia got matching shirts. Rachel loved wearing Sarah's mask so that she could get her beauty sleep!

We all had fun at the circus!

Awesome Arizona!

We recently returned from a WONDERFUL trip to Arizona. We had SOOO much fun with family there. We went swimming a lot to try to stay cool and just to have fun. We went to the community pool.

Lydia and Jacob jumped off the high dive.
.

Richie decided that doing cannon balls was fun. However, he decided that diving was really fun.

We did so many fun things. My favorite thing was seeing Wicked with Rich and my sisters. The musical was incredible and I would highly recommed it to anyone. I do regret not taking Lydia with me. I would have if I had known how good it would be.

We also had a great time at the circus, the rodeo, the baseball game (INDOORS! :-)), shopping, eating caramel apples, rock climbing, Jamie cutting the boys' hair, playing Wii, doing crafts, getting our nails done, watcing the fire works, and much more. We look forward to having this much fun again soon!! Thanks to the Vallerys and LeeAnn for such a great time!!

July 9 House Update

It has been fun to watch the house get closer and closer to being ready for us to move in.

They have painted the exterior and installed the roofs on the front porch and the porch outside the office door. They also added the sidewalks, driveway, and patio.

Today, they started putting in the countertops.

This is where we are going to put the computer. It is just off the kitchen and will be a great place for the kids to do homework.

This area at the top of the stairs will be a great playroom for the kids.

House Update -- Trim and Cabinets

So, the work has been fast and furious over the last two days. The trim guys started on Wednesday and finished today. The cabinets have also been installed, and the stone work has started on the fireplace.

Dining Room

They have installed the banister on the stairs.

View of upstairs from the family room

View of the kitchen from the family room.

The stone on the fireplace is the same as the exterior of the house. There will also be a stone hearth.