a little meet up with the cousins never hurt anyone… 🙂 the sunday after christmas the cold weather finally blew through. we met up with holly and travis and the kids for mass and lunch. it was so good to be able to see them one more time before they headed back home.
xxoo
cheers to forty-five years!
it started out as a “this could be fun” idea between us sisters… gramps got a new shed this last year, kindle got great party lights, we started getting excited about being together and of course all the older kids just want a dance party… so a surprise anniversary party was created.
it. was. so. perfect.
we got better memories than photos…
the memory i took with me is realizing this is what love is…
we are truly blessed and we cannot thank these two love birds enough for their example they show us. their great faith and love for christ, one another, and this family is unlike any other!
may the lord bless you with many more years together!
xxoo
a little dinner and christmas lights with mama’s aunts and cousins… i would love to do this again next year!
i couldn’t help but think of how happy our gramps and granny would be to know that we can still get together like this to enjoy these little moments.
{thank you to colleen for these pictures, especially for taking a picture of our little clan}
xxoo
for the boys…
and just for us girls…
anna kate you don’t look that thrilled… but i think you were pretty happy to meet your aunt and two of your other cousins!
the flight there wasn’t as easy as when your big brothers were babies on flights. i think it got to your ears a little bit more. plus, i’m learning that you are just really a girl and you don’t want to miss a thing.
people are so helpful and friendly when you have a baby in tow…
we got to chad and mendy’s late that evening. you had a great nights rest and were ready for a brand new day the next morning. you enjoyed meeting some of your fur cousins and they wanted to get to know everything about you! mainly your toys 🙂
uncle chad’s let you sit on his bike… a real biker babe you are.
(thank goodness you did not spit up}
we had such a great time on this trip it was just the get away we needed. a time to stop and enjoy some of our family that we miss so much and just regroup before the holidays. dana and i wish so bad that we could make this a tradition. we are so glad we got this chance!
we enjoyed a day of shopping and meeting santa and a rather yummy southern dinner.
{grainy selfie to prove what a great party girl you are}
later that evening we all watched elf together 🙂
{happy sunday}
we enjoyed a “little” bike ride and chad let me play photographer that day for his family.
a big thank you to chad and mendy for being such great hosts, as always! it was such a great visit. of course it was so hard to leave their house not knowing the next time we will make it up there. we are already looking forward to seeing them again during our summer vacation. as for this little traveler…
you are such a happy baby. we all want pictures with you….
but i think you enjoy them solo 🙂
“ready for take off mama!”
xxoo
well we already had the birthday party for all three, but when the opportunity to surprise the big guy arises you go for it!
we had a great time surprising joshua on his e i g h t h birthday! he was not expecting it at all. we had so much fun playing with his new toys too!
no granny did not give you any cupcake anna kate. you were eyeing it like crazy though! you act so big for your age crazy girl.
so many laughs so much fun! we are already looking forward to playing with this one over the holidays…
happy birthday joshua! you are such an awesome cousin and best friend!
xxoo
a few sweet pictures from our adventures to oklahoma, as well as the crazy next week we endured….
when we got back to bc from our trip we spent a day to recoup. however, that evening the boys ran fever. but that wasn’t the worst. jack, normally when croup strikes you it happens in the 3 am to 4 am time span. i knew you didn’t sound good but by 4:30 am you were sleeping rather peacefully. that quickly changed by 9:30am and before 10:30 am we were out the door…
strider at rest was what they diagnosed you with. they also said the oh so familiar… “you are too old for this one buddy!” fortunately, we received great care and headed on back home that very same day. exhausted but we made it. and by monday….
we were still exhausted. you guys still have some yucky congestion going on but i think the rest we are getting lately is helping us!
xxoo
yes we are crazy. but yes it was totally worth it.
the day after the boys birthday party, bailey was my partner in crime and helped me make the trip up to oklahoma to surprise holly for emily’s first birthday. unfortunately, we were surprised ourselves when holly said she couldn’t be around us because she had just been running a fever that afternoon 🙁 . luckily, all we got were bad allergies and complete exhaustion. 🙂 but the kids had a blast and we had so much fun celebrating this little sweet heart…
happy birthday sweet little girl! this year went by so fast!
xxoo
“baptism is God’s most beautiful and magnificent gift. . . .we call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. it is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God’s Lordship.10″ CCC 1216
what a wonderful weekend this was for our family. anna kate was welcomed into our faith september 5, 2015. our lord blessed us with family and friends who helped make this weekend so special. my best way to share how special of a weekend this was … is through pictures. thank you so much to everyone who traveled to be apart of her first sacrament. it was so beautiful. i really just wanted soak up every minute i could. and that i did … i also took a gazillion photos. 🙂
{missing our sister kindle 🙁 }
anna kate frances you are fearfully and wonderfully made… and you are a perfect fit for this family!
xxoo
fredericksburg style….
we enjoyed a wonderful weekend with family in our favorite small town. fourth of july parade, back yard bbq, fireworks and all.
irish eyes were sure smiling down on us that day. i know they had to be so proud to see us gather together with all these new little faces that have made the family grow even more beautiful!
lots of love and laughter from everyone! we missed seeing those who couldn’t be there with us but looking forward to the next time we can all gather together again! thank you to our wonderful host! 😉 who is up for hosting the next one?!? a hotel might work best for this clan 🙂
xxoo
a quick trip back to bc was made last weekend. we had so much to do there! we got to go and wish nana a happy birthday…
more cousins were in town so it was so great to spend some time with them!
thank you so much to the winland crew and granny and gramps so this mama could also complete another training session for catechesis of the good shepherd. they also let me take daddy out on a date to see ol’ garth brooks!
more blurry phone pics to prove we can still have fun 🙂 at even 35 weeks pregnant.
we had a fun and exhausting weekend. we are going to rest up as much as we can before another fun fourth of july weekend! so much to do before little anna kate makes her debut at the end of this month. let’s see if we get to do it all before she comes!
xxoo