Eight years and still counting!

Today is our eighth wedding anniversary. We celebrated a few days early by going out to a nice dinner at Morton's Steakhouse and then Nick surprised me with an overnight stay at the Adolphus hotel in downtown Dallas. It was nice to get away and remember why we fell in love over eight years ago!

Blake is six!

I can't believe that I have a six year old! It seems like just yesterday that he was being born in Utah. He was so excited for his birthday this year. Their was a lot of anticipation. He was up bright and early and we started the day off right with his pancake breakfast. Then his cousins came over and helped me decorate the cake and get ready for his party. He wanted a Diego party and we had 11 kids their. It was a little bit of a zoo, but I learn from every party. We played a lot of fun games and had a Diego pinata. It looked a bit politically incorrect for a bunch of white children to be beating a Hispanic boy with a stick, but Blake really loves Diego! He loved his new baseball from Nana and DaDaw, awesome shoes from Mike and Em, Jet ski game from GG and Pap Pap, Batman car from Tiff's family, and transformers from us. We went to the water park after the party to have pizza for dinner. He said it was his best birthday ever!

New Daddy

Nick's brother, Mike, and his wife, Emily, had their first baby on July 8th. They named her Ruby and we are just so excited to have her in our family! I love this picture of Mike holding Ruby. I know that both Mike and Em are going to be great parents. Blake saw the pictures and said, "she is so adorable!" That is the first time I have ever heard him use the word adorable. Yesterday, my sister's little girl, Rene'e was over and Sydney said to her, "you better be nice to me now because I have a new cousin." I guess Ruby will be Rene'e's competition.

Fourth of July!

We had a fun Independence Day. We went to our church's pancake breakfast, took naps, went swimming, had a great dinner at Tiffany's, and then ended the day with fireworks. Nick's mom, Marie, made the kids their Fourth of July attire. Thanks!

Bike Ride

The kids were begging to go on a bike ride, so we took them out to practice. We learned that Sydney has completely outgrown her helmet and so it is on our list of items that we need to buy. Sydney had a few wipe outs when she does turns, but she is improving. Blake was already a pro at her age, but that is because I needed his seat in my double stroller, so he had to ride his bike while I go for my three mile walks three times a week. I don't have the motivation of another baby coming to force me to really work with Sydney at riding her bike. Blake is so fast now that I cannot even get a clear picture of him. He is trying to learn how to do wheelies. Trey is still trying to figure out how to peddle, but I think he looks pretty cute in is helmet. I am sure he will pick it up quickly.

The Big 2

Trey turned two years old today. I was really sad last night because it was the last night that he would be 1 and I still consider 1 year olds babies. Now he is officially a toddler. We started the day off with our family's traditional pancake breakfast. After breakfast we headed to NRH2o, the water park that we got season passes to, and met up with Tiffany and her kids. Trey is getting more daring at the water park. He doesn't mind getting his head wet and he LOVES all of the slides. He has no fear. After the waterpark we headed home for some rest and then we had his favorite dinner, homemade macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. Trey has never really liked cake, but he really likes pudding, so I made him a dirt cake. He really likes Curious George, so I decorated his cake with a jungle theme. He was pretty excited about his cake and loved it when we all wore our masks. He was really excited about his new tricycle from Nana and DaDaw. He got some new Van sneakers from his Uncle Mike and Aunt Em, a bubble lawn mower from Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Sam, and a Diego rescue pack from Mom and Dad. By the end of the of the day, he was sufficiently worn out. I think it was a pretty good day for him. He is such a sweet baby, I mean big boy!