Happy Birthday, Uncle John!

John came over and spent Saturday with us and, as always, we had a great time. I miss seeing him as much as used to, but that's what employment and a life will do! We played outside w/ the girls and he made homemade egg rolls for dinner. A-MAZ-ING!!!! His birthday is this week, so we had red velvet cupcakes w/ cream cheese icing for dessert. Too fun! John, we love you and are so thankful to celebrate another year of your life!

Uncle Jeremy, MiMi, & Uncle Aaron

We spent the weekend with both of our older brothers (and Melisa, of course). We had the BEST time!
Thanks to the Boerger B & B for your hospitality. We lounged around the house and enjoyed visiting, lots of yummy food (too much), a family Bible study, time at the park and Paul and Bethy even took a dip in the pool! They confirmed that it was cooooold. Melisa and I had some much needed girl time. We had massages and pedicures on Saturday morning then enjoyed chatting on the porch. She is a precious soul and not only a sister, but also a dear friend. J & M, thanks for everything - it was perfect!
After a couple of days with the Boergers, we headed into Houston and spent the day with my brother. I so love that guy! We met up at his shop and saw lots of his new treasures - beautiful. We headed to lunch and overly enjoyed a diner lunch! Yum! Then, we went to a park and all laughed and played in the beautiful weather. It was great to watch the girls with my brother and hear their giggles. Uncle Aaron wasn't done spoiling, so we headed to Rice village to visit the toy store and Gap. Guess what Lou picked??? Yep, a dinosaur! Soon she will learn to enjoy shopping for clothes, but apparently not yet. So, Bethy banked with lots of goodies from Gap that she looooves. My little diva! It is always sad for me to leave my brother, but it was time to head back home. The girls were zonked out before we even got to I45 !
We were sad that time just didn't allow for us to stop in and see our dear friends in Spring, but hopefully next trip. Also, the girls were just getting over their week-long fevers, so we didn't want to expose them to any kids.
It was an amazing weekend and we are so blessed to have friendships with our brothers (and sil!). Thanks, all!

Around the house
Meet Rosemary

Paul worked on charts early so we could have our days together.Spoiled!The girls loved MiMi's tub Getting warmed up by the fireSnuggles from Lou Playground

MiMi got the super aunt award by going down the slide! Poolside

The girls decided to play in Unlce Jeremy & MiMi's hatsThe girls helped MiMi plant flowersTeaching Uncle Jeremy how to play dinosaurs Grilling...yum

Uncle Aaron

My FAVORITE picture:She adores her Uncle Aaron Brother & Sister

Halloween '09

Such a fun time with all the festivities! We started out the week before with the block party at the church. The girls had a good time playing all the fun games and seeing their friends in costumes. Bethany was Doctor Barbie and Lou was a dinosaur!

Next on the itinerary was the party and costume parade at Lauren's school. She didn't want to wear her Dinosaur costume because she didn't want to scare her friends! I told her if she didn't wear it, she wouldn't get any treats. Her response...."Dinosaurs don't eat treats." Geez! Somehow, her teacher convinced her to wear it!

Madi got to go to the party with Auntie! She was so good!The real Lou....They do a finger painting on their window for each season - here is Lauren's jack-o-lantern.

On Friday, they all dressed up at Paul's office. He went as Clark Kent/Superman!

On Friday night, we went to "Literacy Night" at Bethany's school. The teachers dressed as their favorite book characters and had several games set up. Bethy got tons of candy - too much and it wasn't even Halloween yet! We 'camped' in the living room that night (a tradition). We watched Disney's Earth, ate popcorn and had hot chocolate! Fun family memories!

Taylor was in Bethany's preschool class last year. They're not in the same kindergarten class, but it is fun to have her at the same school!Her friend, Kaitlyn, who is in her class.

Saturday morning, Nana & Buster arrived! We played around the house then headed to Elyjah's birthday party. More fun at the park with friends in costume! Crazy games and Krispy Kreme donuts were a hit.

Mummy wrap game
Little Abby had her "Honey" (aka Haley's mom, Kim) at the party, too. Mom and Kim have gotten to hang out before, so they had fun catching up and watching all the kids.
We rounded out the evening with traditional trick-or-treating in our neighborhood! FUN!!! The girls had a blast. It was fun to hear them giggle and run to the door. Too much candy.....

Babies!

A new love in my life: Christian Paul Gray Autumn meeting her baby brother for the first time! Her face is priceless 6 days later, I got to meet Collin!!!

It is so fun to see these little guys born into AMAZING families. To hold the babes of two of my favorite women is priceless. God is good.

JODI!!!!

We had a surprise visitor from Alabama.....Jodi & her little Abbi! She is a dear soul and I am blessed to call her my friend. She's the one who got our accountability group together over 3 years ago. We went to dinner and to the movies :) Fun times!!!Didn't get one of Kaci & Jodi together BUT I did get this one...... Which one is taller? Kaci or a chipmunk???

Fun with the Gray Kids

We had so much fun having Autumn for 3 nights and Isaac for 1 while Tammy had Christian! It was bittersweet for me because I would've loved to have been in the waiting room when he came into the world, but I'm thankful they are like family and the kids do great at our house. Lou had a blast with Autumn!Tammy will hate that Autumn's hair isn't even combed in these pictures. I was lucky to get us all out the door for carpool on short notice, so the hair (for all of us but Beth) had to wait! We dropped Bethy off at school then took an impromptu trip to play at the mall before it got too crowded. The girls we sooooo cute together!

The kids got to play at the park across from the hospital when we went to meet Christian.

Please take note that I did the girls' hair before taking them to the hospital!!

Tammy was doing great, so she and I walked to the park, too, while the doctor got their paperwork together. Isaac came home from the hospital with us on Friday and we had a picnic on Saturday for lunch. They all played outside for 4+ hours solid that day!

I love these kids as my own and we are so blessed to have our best friends less than an hour away!

Divine Appointment

There are times in our lives that I believe are Divinely appointed by God. [I know, I know - all moments are from Him, but sometimes I think He goes for a gold star for extra effort!] Last Saturday was one of those times for our family. Hang with me here as I tell you about it...... It is worth your patience and needs your prayer.
Paul and I took the girls to Little People park which is kind of tucked back in the neighborhood - in other words, you don't just stumble upon it. For such a beautiful Saturday, I was surprised that we had the place to ourselves - at least until Laura & Bradley walked up with their two little ones.
It started out with a simple chat about the UT game and ended in a commitment of prayer for them and their nephew. They were in town to visit Laura's brother, his wife and their one-month-old son. Matthew was born at 25 weeks (for those men out there who have no idea what that means.....a 'term' pregnancy is 40 weeks), so he had only spent just over half the time most babies do in his mommy's oven. As you can imagine, that comes with many medical concerns. To hear more of the details and follow Matthew's progress, visit the blog that Laura set up for him here.
He is in the hospital downtown and his parents are staying in the Ronald McDonald house since they live near Weatherford and have no other family near. I ask that you join us in prayer for Matthew and all those who love him. If I become aware of another way to help, I'll let you know. I'm sure they'll appreciate your prayers!

A Weekend at Nana's

The girls and I took advantage of a three-day weekend and headed to the panhandle to see Nana! I love being in my Mom's house during the fall. It was cold outside and perfect inside. We took Buster for a check-up (he's a whopping 2 1/2 lbs.), went to the pumpkin patch, and saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs all on Saturday. So, that justified it being a "jammies day" on Sunday! We had a fire in the fireplace all day, stuffed the scarecrow, and carved a jack-o-lantern. Judy (aka Sissy) came and hung out for the afternoon as well. It was such a fun and relaxing weekend! Waiting for Buster at the vet Playing with Nana's decorations.....and Lou played w/ Buster's hippo Isn't he adorable?!?!?

The pumpkin patch

Stuffing the scarecrow - Bethy looks forward to it every year. Buster was so funny with it. He kept attacking the paper they were wadding up! We all had a good laugh.

Our Jack

Lunch With King

After spending the weekend with my mom, the girls and I met up with my dad for some playtime and lunch. We started out at the play area in the mall and visited the pet shop before we left. Before leaving, the girls had King promising to buy them a guinea pig or bunny for Christmas (w/ parental approval, of course)! They've talked about it ever since...guess there's no turning back now.
The girls had a ball running around Chuck E. Cheese's and Bethany got a slew of tickets. Lou mainly rode the games that didn't give tickets, so I tried to compensate by throwing a few skeet ball games myself ;) The girls loved playing with King and slept great in the car when we hit the road!

Boo's vs Booze

In my attempts to perk up my sick Bethy, I hung some Halloween garland in the girls' room. One of her favorites is one that Uncle Aaron sent a couple of years ago that says "boo" on it. So, her comment upon entering, "Where's the boo's?" I had to chuckle because my first thought went to "booze". I guess that's where my mind wanders after 4 days home with sick kids!

Who am I kidding.....I'd think "booze" regardless!

Random Stuff

I realized that I had several random pictures on the computer that needed to be mentioned but didn't justify a whole post. So here is a random one :)

Bethy sportin' a couple of tops she got for her birthday. Thanks Mimi & Jeremy and King! Thank you, Nana, for our box of Halloween goodies!
While Paul was at his Dad's, my dear girlfriend Haley and her two sweeties (little Abby & Cooper) came for dinner and a movie!
Bethy showing off the bookmark she earned at school.

Here are a couple of her assignments that she did earlier this year. The first is a poster that is all about her. The second 2 just crack me up.....The page was a list of "name something that is____" and Bethy would name what she wanted to write and all I did was help her spell them. Two of them made me laugh sooo hard:

"Name something pretty. Bethany"

"Name something scratchy. excema"

Lauren spends hours on end playing with her dinosaurs. No doubt she is still a girly-girl, though. She makes sure they're accessorized!

A Visit from Grandpa!

Paul's dad came to visit for a few days and Auntie (sister Sarah) was here for a bit, too! We had so much fun and alot of laughter was heard! There was tickling, arm wrestling, and giggling! Thanks for spending some of your days off with us!

Tickles!

Beauty shop w/ Auntie

Dog-proofing the yard

Rainy Day Fun

We've had several rainy days here lately. In fact, it is currently a downpour! I captured some of the moments on a couple of days. The girls LOVE playing in the rain!

New Background

Notice the new background in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Do your self exam and encourage a friend or loved one - or stranger for that matter - to do the same. Also, mark your calenders for the Fort Worth Race for the Cure on Saturday, April 24, 2010. I am heading up our team, "Fond of Vonda", and I'll let you know as soon as registration opens.

Vonda & My maternal Grandmother who died of breast cancer when my Mom was only a teenager.

Nana & Buster

My precious mom came to Fort Worth for Bethany's birthday and got to spend some time with the Boerger crew, too. We did a big shrimp boil on Saturday and had a great time (and meal). It was so fun to have her here as always.Lauren eating her cornLauren loved playing this game with Nana......

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was that Mom got me and Aaron a little brother! She got an ADORABLE little yorkie named Buster. The girls love him (Lou might just love him a little too much - she has rough hugs). We had so much fun laughing and watching him play. I have a feeling that Mom has a new favorite child!