Carson's Diaper Cake

Here is Carson's Diaper Cake! May he know how much trouble his Aunt Kelsie went through to make it! ;)

Another Trip to Papa and Lola's

Brylie Turns 5

I cannot believe my little girl is 5 years old! We had a great time celebrating with friends and family at Olive Garden. She loved all her presents, her over-sized cake, and the endless amount of attention she received. After our Olive Garden outing we came home and put together her trampoline from Nana. Unfortunately we decided that we wanted a bigger one so Mitchell's hard work was all "unfolded" back into the box. We ended up getting the 14ft one and spent Sunday putting it together. Once it was together the 4 of us spent over 2 hours jumping together. We even placed the sprinkler underneath it (just like the old days) to add to our fun. I am pretty sure Mitchell and I had just as much if not more fun then the girls did. I definitely woke up really sore the next morning though!

To complete Brylie's birthday weekend we topped it off by going to Hurricane Harbor today with Papa and Lola. We had a really great time even though we caught some rain and had to cut our time a little short. The girls decided they wanted to go to Beaumont with Papa and Lola for the week so now Mitchell and I are once again kidless. I am already missing them but I know that with school starting soon it will put a stop to all of Brylie's many travels. I figure it's one more mini vacation for her before she starts her school career.

On a side note I am so excited that we have finally found a new church home. We have been church "shopping" lately and when we went to visit Heather and the kiddos earlier in the week she suggested we visit her church. So Sunday we took her up on her offer and our so glad we did! One of the most important things we have been looking for is a great children's program. I was really impressed with the program they had to offer. After we got the girls all set up in the computer system we went to check out their classrooms. We went down a hall with 2 humongous rooms one to the left and one to the right. Each large room then breaks off into several smaller classrooms. On the right side (Katy's side) the large room add playhouses galore, a bike carousel, climbing structures, and toys, toys, toys. Then the smaller rooms had even more fun toys. The children get to play in the big rooms and then break off into the smaller rooms for their lesson. The left side where we took Brylie had the same concept. This big room however had over a dozen tables each with a different hands on activity to explore. They get to play here until rally time. During rally time Heather leads them all in praise and worship during the same time the adults are having their own worship in "big church". After the worship time they break off into their smaller rooms for their lesson. It truly was amazing! Mitchell and I really enjoyed our service as well. We felt right at home and felt very relaxed and comfortable. The message was great too. We will definitely be going back and will soon start classes to become a member. I am really excited to start this new journey!

Brylie's Salvation

I cannot begin to express how overcome with happiness I was when Brylie choose to ask Jesus into her heart! Late last Saturday (July 24th) we were laying in bed together and like most nights she wanted me to tell her the story of Jesus dying on the cross. This and the story of His birthday are her favorites and she loves to hear them over and over again. I have told her this story repeatedly since she was 3. She now is able to tell me the story in full detail.

So when we were lying there and we came to the end of the story I asked her to tell me why Jesus died on the cross. She told me because He loved us and wants us to live with Him in Heaven. I asked her if she remembered what sin was and she explained that it was the bad things people do. She told me that she wanted to go to Heaven and wanted Jesus in her heart. Leading her in prayer she prayed that Jesus forgave her and saved her by coming into her heart so that she could go to Heaven. Just as simple, sweet, and innocent as that she now knows Jesus as her Savior.

I am such a proud Mommy to know that I have led her in the right direction. With the help from Jesus she has learned to live her life for Him and walk in His footsteps. I pray that she will never loose sight of the light that shines down this new path in her life.

Busy Week

Whew! What a week! The girls came home from MiMi's last Friday and we have been busy, busy, busy ever since! We spent the weekend just relaxing around the house and beginning to regroup from all the girl's travels. We have gone to work with my Dad everyday this week. I am grateful that Robyn has started working with me it definitely makes it a lot more fun. :) I am pretty sure we have painted more this week than ever before! It is exhausting but fun. However, when I get to come home and work on all the paint projects I've got going on here it sure does make for a lot of paint!

Matt and Robyn got to come over for a game night Thursday night. We grilled out and really enjoyed the company. They even brought baby Miley which was a real treat for the girls. The absolutely loved getting to play with her. After Katy went to bed Brylie spent the entire night holding and playing with Miley. She was so sweet. She held her, rocked her, fed her a bottle, made funny faces at her, and just plain loved on her from 7:00 to well after 10:00 that night. It really was so precious! Of course it also brought up the fact that she still does not have a baby brother like she wants lol.

As far as the remodeling we have sloooowed down quite a bit. Now that I have been working with my Dad again we are all just so stinkin' busy we struggle to find time to put into the house. The living room, kitchen, and girl's room are so very close to being completed. We just have to do some touch up paint in each and then we need to hang the chandelier in the girl's room. I thought that the playroom was near finished as well but I have convinced myself that I want to repaint it a different color. I was having too much trouble trying to decorate it so I decided I will just have to repaint. Hopefully this will be the week...or maybe next.

We spent all day Saturday cleaning house top to bottom. It feels so good to finally have a clean house again. It really has been so chaotic these last few weeks. Today we had a great time at church and then came home for a much needed nap. We have spent the remainder of the day cuddling on the couch. A wonderful end to such a busy week.

"Duck"!

Well, the girls left again today for yet another summer vacation! This time they headed west to Lubbock to visit Mimi and Papa. Like always they were very excited to go! It rained the entire trip both there and back. In fact the weather was so yucky on the way back that my normal 2 1/2 hour car trip took me over 4 hours! I was more than ready to be home outta that car and outta that rain! On the way down there Brylie kept telling Katy and me to "duck" every time we went under an over pass. Like all her games she takes this one very seriously. I was laughing so hard because every time she shouted "duck" Katy would look out the window and say, "where's a quack quack?". Brylie would of course get very annoyed that Katy missed out on the actual ducking part. They did this over and over again while I just sat there cracking up at them.

I'm sure going to be missing my little princesses this week again! But boy do I need an extra week to get this house in working order! I thought that since most of the painting was done in the main areas of the house and that since we would be able to start putting everything back in their places that I wouldn't have a problem doing so this past week with the girls home. My little "helpers" proved me way wrong! I think the only thing we accomplished this past week (aside from passing around sore throats, pink eye, and mysterious hives) was create a bigger disaster! I really did think my mom was going to fall over dead when she stopped by earlier in the week and caught site of what looked like the aftermath of a tornado. So thanks again to our wonderful family I have been granted one more week to conquer this natural disaster.

As soon as I got home I immediately got to work! I almost have the entire living room put together. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but trust me it is! Mitchell even finally got around to hanging up the new mini blinds. I'm so glad that the neighbors no longer have an open view into our everyday lives. I am hoping to prove myself successful this week...only time will tell. :)