Catching Up...

...is hard to do!

Well, it is going to take me longer to catch up than I thought. I am going to try to stay current and still post things every once in a while from the summer. We are staying too busy to play catch up. I may never make it and you would always be hearing about things weeks or months after they happened.

Since every post needs some pictures here are a couple from this last week. This is what happened when you play with sticks when you moms says not too.

And this is what happens when yo run into a finger nail the nest day!

I hope it isn't a bad sign or reflects on my parenting skills, but it makes me smile every time I see Bradley with he injuries; and not because I like him to be in pain. I don't know why it just makes me smile! Have a great day.

Going on Tour

I decided that I can't wait to get catch up on my blog to post pictures of the house, so here we go on our tour.

The front door and entry way.
The kitchen is on the right of the entry way.
I am kind of enjoying the computer being in the kitchen. Then I can blog and cook at the same time! At least that is one of the ideas.
The breakfast bar separates the kitchen and living/family room.
This shows the pillar and shelve which I am still trying to get used to. There is a pantry on the other side of the wall behind the book case, and then there is the shelve on top. I am having struggles trying to decide how to decorate. I like the picnicking pigs, but they aren't Andy's favorite. I guess I will see how long they last up there.

This is the front room from the breakfast bar. The fire place isn't in our favorite spot, but we are working with it.

The sliding glass door opens up to the back yard!The view from the door.

The lawn from the north side facing south. I love the bird houses and ivy with purple flowers, but the real seller was the pig in the flowers and ivy!

The infamous pig! When we saw that we knew this had to be our house!

There are four bird houses along the fence in the back of the yard.

Bradley took this picture. He was getting into the whole picture taking thing. He is getting really good at taking pictures. I was impressed.

This is the southwest corner of the house. There is our little fire pit. We had a fire in it once already.

The romantic fireside corner! Okay, so not real romantic, but fun.

Doing a 360 from the last picture you can see the RV run with a storage shed. This is the south side of the house looking east.

Doing a 90 degree turn we look north at the porch. I love all the cement and shade in this yard! The boys can play for hours back here. There is also plenty room for a little plastic sand box eventually on the far side.

This is our second storage shed out on the northwest corner of the house. This cement run goes past the garage entrance and two of the bedroom windows.

Going back inside, the hall is next to the couch in the living room. First stop on the left is...

the boys bathroom. I love them having their own bathroom!

Next on the left is their bedroom. I like them in the same room. Their window opens to the back porch.

They have a good sized walk in closet.
This is looking from the closet at some of the shelving that was left in the house. They used to have a train that ran around that room. I found a good use for the shelves.
The 3rd room is at the end of the hall.
As you can see this room is mostly being used as a storage room. However, it can quickly be turned into a guest room for any and all of you who want to come visit!
On the right side of the hall across from the boys is the Master bedroom.

Unfortunately our dresser didn't survive the move so I had to be creative in how I took pictures of our room since there are still piles of clothes. I love the closet space too. Both closets have sliding doors with full mirrors. This one is Andy's closet. Mine is in the bathroom on the right as you walk in. Because of the shape of the bathroom, and because I just accidental erased it, there isn't a good picture of it. The only thing I don't like about our bathroom is all the mirrors! There is a large one across from the door and above the sink. It is nice when we are getting ready, but the toilet faces this large mirror. Then on the right is a large closet with mirror doors. The bad thing is if you don't want to look in the mirror while using the toilet you can look left at the shower or right and see even more of yourself in the closet mirrors!

(What is it with older people and their mirrors?)

Backtracking to the entry way we have the laundry room on your right at you enter the front door. The door at the far side goes out to the garage.

It is a two car garage with shelves on the three walls. We are really enjoying all the storage space!

It is great to have room to grow into. (And to have space for company, hint, hint!)

May Catch Up

These pictures are from May 16-18th. We had a full weekend with lots of family. We really enjoyed it. Thanks for taking time out to come celebrate with us!!

Daniel meeting his cousin Kael Nelson
They bonded very quickly.

REMEMBERING THE ALAMO...

This was our last visit to the Alamo before moving.

Can you name all 6 flags?

We enjoyed the grounds at the Alamo and then went across the street to see the River Walk.

CAMPING ON THE BEACH...

We enjoyed camping on the beach with Melissa & family, and Quincy & family.

Bradley and Guard loved watching the waves. I think they played in them until they were blue!

Once we got camp set up we got dinner under way.
Daniel loved our ocean view!

These little sand crabs were crawling everywhere after dark. You could shine a light on the sand and watch them scurry around. It was pretty tricky getting a picture.
I never tire of seeing the sunsets and sunrises at the beach. Anywhere for that matter!
We enjoyed an evening walk on the beach. We tried to get the kids to stay dry, but it was a little bit too much to ask for a couple of them. Any guesses on which ones?

BEACH TO BAY MARATHON RELAY...

Andy was the first leg of the relay, so we had to get to the starting line early. As you can see the sun is just coming up. Daniel woke early that morning, so he got to go with me to watch Andy run.
There were 1700 teams that came to race in the relay. Notice there are a couple of kids on the front line to the left of this picture. I was worried they would get trampled!
Daniel giving Daddy his good luck hug!

Run Dad, Run! This is Andy finishing strong just before the finish line.

After running 3+ miles he still beat us back to the parking lot.

LAST SWIM...
After the relay we had to do a little more swimming before we packed up to head home and get ready for graduation the next day.

The kids found this jelly fish on the beach. Of course we all had to inspect it.
The kids built some really great sand castles. The best ones were far away from Bradley. He had too much fun stomping on them before they could get too big.

Bradley really enjoyed playing in the water. He was a little bit more cautious after he fell in the water and got swirled around a little. Calias and Brylee got his head above the water and helped him to his feet. After that he wanted someone big to help him in the water. I was fine with that!
DEEP SEA FISHING...

At least, Gulf Sea Fishing!

Daniel, Quincy and Andy went on a fishing excursion. They had a lot of fun. It was about a 4 hour trip. They didn't really catch anything to keep, but they all had fun.

GRADUATION...

Most of Andy's family was able to make it to graduation.

It was lots of fun to see everyone. Thanks so much for your love and support. Thanks also to those who couldn't make it, but have loved and supported us the whole way!!
Happy Graduation Daddy!
Trying to entertain the kids during the ceremony. Isn't baby Kael so cute?!
Thanks Amber for sharing Levi with us. I know it was a sacrifice for you.