December11

I have tried really hard to keep this Christmas season calm and focused on the Lord. We have been so busy in recent years that we were having to just shove in our traditions and family time. Not this year!

Coop was a big help to Papa as he put up his Christmas lights.

Caroline participated in another TABC first grade tradition- the Nativity play.

Coop had his first school Christmas play. He didn't disappoint...

This past weekend, we made a trip up to Wichita Falls. We were able to spend some great time with the family there and we also introduced Anthony to the Midwestern/Burns lights and Casa Manana.

November11

Travis Avenue Baptist Church celebrated its 100th Anniversary this November. This church has been one of the most powerful blessings of my life. I am so privileged to be a part of it!

We took a trip with some friends to Santa Fe, NM to celebrate Chris's 30th birthday! We stayed in a beautiful house, the guys golfed, the girls shopped (and saw two showing of Breaking Dawn) and we all ate a ton. It was a wonderful trip!



We came home from NM and headed right back out for Thanksgiving. We continued our tradition of spending the week of Thanksgiving at Riverbend in Glen Rose. It is so peaceful and quiet- even with 30+ family members there!

We experimented with a caramel apple bar- SUCCESS!

Once again, we went into Granbury for the candlelight parade.

The grandkids

The whole crew

The great-grandkids

Our branch

We wrapped up November with a night out at the Bass Hall. We couldn't get our tickets fast enough when we heard that White Christmas was coming. We had a great night at the show.

October11

It was another magical October for the Rangers. We were blessed to get to go to several ALCS and World Series games. We screamed and jumped and made a ton of memories!

In October, we also added a new member to our family. Bella is a six month old tea cup Yorkie. She weighs 3 and a half pounds and shouldn't get any bigger!

Another fun Halloween!

September11

By September, the fall was in full swing. It was soccer time again! Caroline made a lot of progress this year.

Caroline was finally old enough for the TABC first grade tradition of visiting the pastor's office to get a special Bible. It's extra special when the pastor happens to be your Papa!
Caroline and I went on our first Mother Daughter Retreat. It was full of lots of squealing and not a lot of sleeping, but it was great! I can't wait to go next year!

August11

To talk about August without mentioning the heat would be impossible. It was something we will bore our children talking about for years to come.

We were the crazy (stupid) people that made a trip out to Six Flags in that ridiculous heat. Caroline had a free ticket to use and we just couldn't tell her no! She conquered the Texas Giant, Titan and several other "big people" rides.


This year she is in Mrs. Lockard's first grade class. Tammy is a very good friend of mine, so I was very excited for Caroline to be in her class!

The First Day of School

July11

We intentionally kept our July relaxed this year. We spent a lot of time on the lake. Caroline and Cooper have become quite the tubers!

It was time for Cooper's first haircut. He LOVED every second!

We were able to make quick trip up to Wichita Falls to visit Grandma and Grandpa. The kids did a lot of playing and Allison and I spent the weekend picking Grandma's brain about genealogy. We have made a lot of progress. More to come on that another time.


Nana and Papa made a trip over to the UK with the TABC choir. We made sure that Papa could spot us quickly when they got off of the plane!

June11

The beginning of June was mainly consumed with wrapping up the school year. Caroline's class had a special program and she "graduated" on the first grade.

She loved her teacher, Miss Laughlin!

The week after school started, we dove into swim lessons. Mrs. Paige is a great teacher and Caroline made wonderful progress. Now that we have a pool in our backyard, it's very important that she be a good swimmer. We were so pleased with how great she was swimming by the end of the summer.
The first weekend in June was my 10 year high school. I couldn't believe it was already time to celebrate 10 years! It was so great to catch up with old friends. Everyone looked great! We had a great time laughing and remembering old times.

Before we left for Youth Camp, we celebrated Caroline's 6th birthday! She is such a wonderful young lady. We are so proud of her!
Nana and Aunt Allie joined Caroline and me for a trip to the Dallas Galleria. Caroline decided that she wanted to try out ice skating. Wow. It lasted all of two laps. After our ice adventure, we headed over to the American Girl Store.

We went to Chuck E. Cheese that night to cap off our day of celebrating.

The weekend after Caroline turned 6, we were so excited for her to be baptized. She asked Jesus into her heart in April and went "down the aisle" on Easter Sunday. She has grown so much in the Lord in these past few months. He is molding her into a lovely, precious young woman.

Could Papa look any more excited or proud?