magnolia bloom...

We have a Southern Magnolia tree in our front yard and I was so excited to see the first bloom a few weeks ago:

Happy Birthday....

to my MOMMY!!! She is the most amazing woman in the world! I am so thankful that God chose me to be her daughter. What an honor to be raised by her, learning from her. She is the most cheerful, optimistic, warm, friendly, caring and hospitable person I know! One of my favorite things to do is hang out with her...she's just one of those people you can't get enough of! I am so excited Mom and Dad are coming to see us next week. Happy Birthday, Mom. I hope you have a fantastic day and I can't wait until you get here so we can celebrate together!!!

overdue pics...

There are so many pictures that I haven't posted, just because I haven't had time. Here are a few from Nate and Sarah's wedding rehearsal:

~sweet daddy/sweet daughter~

~Lynz and Lace~

~Lynzi lovin' her Mimi~

~kissy, kissy~

WHEW...

Where do i start?!?!

Well, I'll start with today. Lynzi is sick. She has croup and a high fever. Yesterday evening, she started "barking" and during the night, her fever spiked to 103.9. She had quite a time breathing several times in the night, which is always scary. Pray with us for a quick recovery and THAT ASHER DOES NOT GET IT. Thanks.

Speaking of Asher, many of you already know his latest antics, but I need to record them for memory's sake anyway. Too bad I don't have pictures for documentation, but after you hear the story, you'll understand why I didn't have time for pictures! Well, I had mentioned a few posts back that he really likes climbing. A few weekends ago, we painted his room. We had moved everything to the center of the room and we still had some touch ups to do, so we left all of the equipment in his room and just kept the door shut. Well, apparently at some point, a certain 4 year old in the house must have opened his door. We had just gotten home from church on a Sunday evening and I was getting their "night-night snacks" ready...when I realized Asher had been making this "I want your attention...come see what I'm doing" noise! As soon as I realized the noise he was making...I knew what he was doing! So I ran down the hall until I got close to his room and I slowed down, so I wouldn't startle him. I knew he had gotten into his room and was on the ladder. But I wasn't prepared for what I saw when I walked in...Asher was on THE VERY TOP RUNG of the ladder (7 ft) with his hands straight up in the air!!! The ceiling fan was on and his hands were oh so close...and he was so proud of himself, just cheering himself on! My heart jumped out of me and ran down the hall, I think! I got him down as calmly and quickly as I could and Ryan took the ladder down to the garage and we closed the door and went on with our night. But that's not the end of the story. The next night, the door was still supposed to be closed because we just hadn't had time to get everything out of their and the paint was still airing out before he could sleep in there again. So we took the 7 ft. ladder out, but didn't look or think long enough to take the 20 ft. extension ladder out. It was extended to the very top of the ceiling, which on this particular wall is 12 1/2 ft! Ryan walked back to check on him (not expecting him to be in his room since the door was supposed to be closed) and definitely not expecting to see him at the top of a 12 1/2 foot ladder, touching the ceiling and squealing with delight! Ryan's heart stopped and Lynzi came in to see what was happening and she just gasped...she was speechless!!! I was outside and Ryan came to tell me about it and he was still shaking! SO...needless to say, we got that ladder out and finished everything up in there and put it all back together so he could go in there without being in danger!!! And last but not least...he got himself stuck in a banister rail by our stairs. It could have been bad, but it wasn't (thank God.) We now have plexi-glass around the rails. So, he's been our little wild monkey lately! Super cute and sweet, but quite a handful!!! :)

What else??? I know there are more stories I wanted to share...but I can't really think of them now. I also wanted to post a few photos, but I've got to give Lynzi her medicine and get them both down for their nap...then take advantage of the time while they're down!

Happy Father's Day...

What a great day Father's Day was...

Thank you, Lord:

• for the amazing daddy you gave my babies!!! It's such a blessing to share life and the journey of parenthood with someone so phenomenal!

• for my daddy too. He is an amazing man of God who has always been a great example in every way! He's also a fabulous PawPaw (he followed the role of PawPaw in some fantastic footsteps!)

• for my incredible father-in-law ("Poppy") who I am grateful for as well.

• and for all of our Grandpa's too!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day, celebrating the men in their life!!!

We had a great day celebrating Ryan! We got up early and went to the early service at church, so I would have time when we got back to finish cooking Ryan's special lunch! Here was the menu (some of Ryan's faves):

• succulent roasted prime rib
• baked sweet potato (with butter and brown sugar)
• fresh spinach-greek salad
• crispy garlic ciabatta bread
• homemade root beer ice cream

mmm...mmm...mmm!!! :)

Nate came over too because Sarah is out of town, so after lunch...we just enjoyed the afternoon, playing with the kids. Then we had LifeGroup in the evening.

It was a great day to be thankful for our fathers and grandfathers.

i love my babies...

Another amazing thing that Lynzi said the other night (as she and I were cuddling in the hammock in the backyard...watching the lightning bugs!) "Mommy, could you ever imagine in the world that we would love each other so much?!?!?) ...makes my heart smile!!! :)


Here are a few pics taken over the last week:

~Lynzi proud of her new strawberry shortcake puzzle we put together this morning~

This is Asher's 2nd new favorite spot...standing in a chair. His favorite spot is on top of the kitchen table, right in the middle of it! He is a climber-extraordinaire (and it drives me cRaZy!!!) I'm not sure if I'll get a picture of him on the table b/c as soon as I catch him up there...I'm sprinting to get him off before he gets himself off! I now have to keep the chairs pulled away from the table (or away from anything for that matter b/c he'll use it to climb up somewhere even higher!) It's quite a chore keeping him off of things during the day. Lynzi was quite the climber too....so I'm 2 for 2!!! :)

Asher eating his first VERY OWN ice cream cone...he was
happy that he didn't have to share with anyone!

Well, the next two didn't come out very clear b/c a certain 4 year old in our house played with my camera that day and smudged up the lens...oh well.

~Family prayer before dinner. Asher loves praying...you can see how excited he is about it!!!~


How sweet is this?!?! This was right before we prayed and Asher got a really good hold of Ryan's hand! I love it. He is really getting the idea that we always pray before we eat. One day I was getting everyone's food on the table and Ryan and Lynzi started eating before we prayed and Asher spoke up big time to let us know we hadn't prayed yet...it was cool!!! :)

I have a lot more pictures that I want to post....so keep checking back!

few pics from our trip...

I mentioned in the last post that the kids and I were able to make a trip "home" last week for an "Operation Recupe Mom" visit!!! She had her second knee replaced, which is obviously a huge surgery and she really wanted us to be there to help her recover. Ryan was in the Phillipines, working on one of our missions projects...so it was the perfect opportunity to head home. It's LOTS of work to prep and pack and get ready to travel with 2 kids, but when you are doing it alone...whew! But it was well worth it. We had a great time and mom is progressing fantastically!!! I left my camera at my cousins house when we went there for her graduation party...and just got it in the mail, so I thought I would post just a few pics.

This was actually the day before we left. We had to make a library run to take back a few of Lynzi's books that were due, before we left. Asher got really tickled....

...and of course, this is what he was tickled about...she cracks him up!!!

The kids playing on the airplane ride. They both did really amazing. The flight there (the second leg) was perfect b/c nobody sat in the seat next to us, so we could spread out and toward the end...I let Asher sit in his very own seat, which you can't really tell he was excited by this picture (not sure what this expression is...actually, I think he is chewing on a cheerio) but he loved having his own seat!

PawPaw, Asher and I went to an Astro's game....and Asher was quite the fan!

So here was the true reason for the trip! Asher with his new walking skills was coaching Grammi on how to walk with her new knee!!! They practiced walking together alot! :)

This was at my cousin's graduation party...the luau boys!

and my favorite one of all.......

~Panama Ash~

more to come....