The Greatest Blessing of My Life

Mother's Day is always such a humbling, emotional day for me. I'm always so in awe that God would give me the family that he has, and it reminds me how blessed, and frankly, inadequate that I am. 

For lunch, we continued our tradition of partaking in a brunch in downtown Fort Worth. It is so nice for us to be able to walk in somewhere that doesn't have a long wait since we are always the LAST ones out of church. Or at least that's what I claim. It may also have something to do with the omelet bar and homemade bread pudding. 

The Loves of My Life

 Papa and his Tater and Little Man

 This is the best picture of me and my munchkins- Cooper is looking goofy and has my dress all kinds of hiked up. Oh well.

 Behold

 Chris enjoying the fruits of his labor at the ice cream sundae bar.

 Nana getting some love from Coop

 Papa getting Coop's tickles

 Four generations of women

 Me and My man in my favorite hallway in the world. Isn't he good lookin'?
We did have someone come up and tell him how uncanny it was how much he looked like the Rangers pitcher Matt Harrison. If only we had his paycheck, or a dime for every time we hear that!

Aggieland

We finally found the time to do something as a family that was LONG overdue. We made a trip down to Aggieland. Caroline hasn't been since she was 6 months old when we attended Chris' graduation and Coop has never been. We loaded up some of our best buds, the Gentrys, and headed down to see some of the new buildings and catch a Fightin' Texas Aggie baseball game.

Olsen Field recently got an extensive makeover thanks to Blue Bell. Did I really need another reason to love them??

We grabbed some lunch at one of our favorite chicken dives,

caught up with one of the Little Aggies that we love,

and loaded up on some new SEC/A&M gear- Whoop!

The weather was pretty warm so we didn't make it through the entire game, but it was great to see it all redone. It really is beautiful!

After the game, we had to take the kids around to see some of our favorite places on campus. We had to put a penny on Sul Ross for good luck.

We ended our day with a few pictures under the Century Tree.

College Station holds so many special memories for us. We made great friends, go engaged, had our first house as a married couple, found out we were pregnant and experienced our first days as parents in this precious place. I hope we get the chance to make many more trips through the years!

MEd

This could be one of those posts that goes on forever, so I will try to stick to the high points. 

After two years of hard work, I was so honored to graduate with my Masters degree in Education Administration from Concordia University in Austin. My family was gracious to come down and attend my graduation with me!

Of course, Papa couldn't miss the chance to break his grandkiddos into the wonderful world of Texas History. I'm sure this will be the first of many trips to come!

On the way down, we had to stop in West, TX (the town, not the region). As anyone that makes regular trips down I-35 knows, they make some amazing kolaches there! My dad grew up going to a local bakery in town, so that's the go-to place for our clan. 

The Texas capitol

Again, my family was so gracious and allowed me to pick the restaurant for dinner on Friday night. It was an easy choice- The Oasis on Lake Travis. It was positively stunning at sunset, the queso was muy bueno and the company was perfect.

My Little Mighty

Being the foodies that we are, we've all been dying to try the famous Round Rock Donuts. It was a mile from our hotel so it was the perfect opportunity and we were not disappointed!

After breakfast, we headed to the River Bend Centre in Round Rock for graduation. I wasn't sure what to expect because I attended a satellite campus of the university and didn't feel all that connected to it. This ceremony totally changed that. It could be described far more accurately as a time of worship than a graduation ceremony. What a pleasant and God ordained surprise!

Getting "hooded"

Ok, the Austin sun was kinda bright

I was so lucky to make some great friends throughout this process!

After the ceremony, the Deans and Kirchners headed back to FTW, so we got to spend some family time just us. We were famished and couldn't pass up the first Olive Garden we came upon.

And what is more fun than a hotel pool?!

When we got home on Sunday, my Sweet Caroline made me this card. I couldn't treasure anything more!

I'm not sure how God will use this new degree. I am so thankful to love what I do now, so I will be doing something I feel called to do until God places me on a new path. 

Caroline's Program

Caroline's first grade program was a great success! We are so blessed to be a part of a school that has a fabulous music program- which is a good thing since Sweet C is one of those girls that way prefers music to PE.

Coop couldn't let his sissy get all of the attention

The theme was Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes, so Caroline a new set of PJ's in her Easter basket to wear!

Xylophone part

Speaking part

We couldn't be more proud of the little lady that God is turning Caroline into. She seems to have found a niche on the stage- help me Lord! This is something neither of her parents have any interest or experience with, so we'll see!