pitch a tent

It's Friday Family Fun Night! 

our family in the tent

We borrowed a tent from a neighbor friend and popped it up in our backyard for a family camp out.  We cooked out on the grill and enjoyed the luxuries of home (indoor plumbing, diaper changing station, refrigeration, etc...) all while we were camping in our own backyard.  We loved it!  It was such a blast with the boys, they love an adventure and it was a perfect night to sleep out under the stars.  Dane & I slept inside and Doug and Duke braved the outdoors.  Fun memories were made, no doubt - and we will be doing this again very soon...

Easter Worship

we love Easter! It's a wonderful time of year to reflect on the love God has for us and the price Christ paid for our redemption. We celebrate Easter each year with a family luncheon at our house. This morning we joined our church & over 6,000 people at the Kay Yeager Coliseum for Easter Service. It was a great time of praise and worship and was very exciting to have our family along with us. More photos of our celebration to come...

a botanical picnic

This morning I loaded up my boys and we headed to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. We were on a mission to see our sweet family that lives in SC who were in Texas for a visit. The weather was stormy all around us but we were able to see & enjoy the Butterfly Conservatory and a wonderful picnic in the Garden all before the rain began to fall.

It was a great morning with family!

sunday fun-day!

we love days at home when we get to enjoy being parents and just have fun with our boys. Today after church we put the boys down for their naps and hit the backyard to set up for an afternoon of outside play known around here as Sunday Fun Day! We set up the water table, the baby play slide, chalk & bubbles - all things outdoor play. We even enjoyed dinner on the patio (which we do often). It was a great day...

kicking around downtown

this weekend we cleared our planner and just hung out as a family. saturday morning we loaded up and headed out for an adventure of downtown. If you're familiar with the WF downtown you might wonder what in the world? We hit up a new coffee shop on 8th Street, the vibe is fun, then we went by the Farmer's Market (but they were closed) then onto the Downtown Train Museum. We happened upon an exhibit that was going on and got to see some pretty neat Antique trucks, a fire engine, a 1950's police car and more. It was pretty fun for a lazy day around the town. I am so glad we aren't on the soccer circuit yet, I am not looking forward to spending my Saturday in the sun or the rain watching soccer...yet.

carry on...

before church and family

 Today we stand before church and family to vow we will raise Dane in a home that honors the Lord Jesus Christ.  This was not a baptism service, but a time for us as his parents to commit to teaching him God's ways.   Pastor Bob McCartney prayed for our family and for Dane to come to know the Lord at a young age.  

We love God and we want our boys to have their own personal relationships with Jesus Christ.  We will do our best to teach them God's ways, to foster their love for people and for writing God's promises in their hearts through scripture memorization.  We pray often as their parents that God will lead us as we lead our children.  God has blessed us with these boys and we want to turn them toward Him.

JOY!

our family - Christmas 2011

church this morning as a family, then a yummy lunch at Nonnie's.

we headed home for nap time and to regroup then back to Nonnie for gift giving/receiving with the children. It was such a fun, relaxing day to enjoy with my siblings and their families. Mom is an amazing cook and always has quite a spread. We have eaten well.

Such a wonderful Christmas is upon us.

FWCW party

tonight we are celebrating Christmas with the FWCW team. Dinner was yummy and it was great to meet the staff and their families. Duke always enjoys staying at "Daddy's hotel". It was a fun evening...

and tomorrow we welcome a new family member- sooo exciting!

the big bad wolf

Duke loves the Fantasy of Lights! We drive past many times each day and park by the Three Pigs to get a closer look. Last year this was his favorite and again this year, he loves it!

Daddy & Dane (6 months)

our family in front of the Three Pigs:

"is the big bad wolf going to eat us?" - Duke (3 yrs)

air show

this morning we headed out to SAFB for the air show!

we took our picnic blanket and found a great spot to relax and enjoy the planes

Honey & Grandad joined us! So fun!

Dane even took a cat nap in the stroller

friday family fun

tonight we packed up the picnic basket and headed to the park. the weather was finally cooler this week and we wanted to spend some time together as a family making memories...

Dane is 3 months old today

party pics

vacation (part 2) a cowboy experience

today we headed over to Red River, NM to see a Cowboy Shootout. The shops in Red River are fun and the weather was nice. It rained on our drive over but was dry once we got there to enjoy time outside.

We saw Native American dancer and a Cowboy / Robber Shoot Out!

In the end, the bad guy was shot and his saloon girl was so sad. The life lesson here is "don't steal"

Then we headed back toward Angel Fire for a night

at Cowboy Evening!

This place was awesome, a real chuck wagon dinner - we enjoyed steak, potatoes and corn & the best dutch oven biscuits you can find around. These cowboys know how to cook a meal & keep you entertained. We also enjoyed the music and Duke had fun on the trailers, seeing them rope the cows, playing in a teepee and 'driving a wagon on the range'.

Dane even liked it, he listened to the music and I tapped my toe.

It was such a fun night under the stars. The next day, Duke and Daddy headed back to this same place to continue the adventure...

say hello to:

Dane's birth announcement

displayed on our refrigerator!

Photography by Frances Sims - she's awesome!

we are family

This weekend was the 'we are family' reunion. Which is Mema's family from all over, but a lot of people traveled from California to big ole WF. Last night we all headed to the Plex for some outdoor fun. We had a good time!

Daddy took Duke on a Go Cart ride.

so serious - I love this picture

Mommy & Duke played Bumper Boats

with Daddy, Honey, Uncle Jay & Uncle Jeff

we all got wet, which felt great in the 110 degree weather

Grandad & Duke won quite a lot of tickets

Dane was here too and enjoyed being held by family.

family of four!

today we invited our favorite photographer, Frances Sims, over to capture our newest addition and our growing family of four!

this chair is special to us, a gift from Grandmother Denman

that was given to her by her sweet friend Mrs. Sikes.

Duke, almost 3 years old

yes, I love this picture of my guys, so sweet!

my baby boy Dane - 1 week old

our family of 4 at home in the backyard

easter Sunday

Happy Easter!

Duke with his basket surprise!

our family

Today we celebrate our RISEN Savior!

We enjoyed the morning with our church family then headed home to host 30 of our sweet family members for lunch. Everyone brought a dish which made it e.a.s.y on us. It was a great afternoon and we hope to do this again each year as our family grows!

5k fun

In support of the new church at Sheppard, we joined 1,800+ people to participate in the FBC fun run. Since I am currently 33 weeks pregnant, we walked the 3.1 miles + (Doug was a trouper to go at my slower pace).

It was super fun! They had the neatest "stops" along the way with cheerleaders, cookies, ice cream, long horn and more! It was a great day & the over cast weather was ideal.

We are excited for the journey our church has taken and thrilled to be apart of a church reaching out to SAFB.

Spring Break Out

Welcome Flowers and color and Spring! This week is Spring Break so Duke & I joined Doug in FW for a few days to celebrate Spring and have some one on one time with our sweet son. We did it all and ate tons of Tex-Mex! We hit the FW Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, the Kimbell Museum and of course "Daddy's Hotel". Doug has a huge project going on in FW, so it was great to take Duke to see where Daddy is working. Last time we took Duke they were framing the hotel, so now he is able to see how big and grand this new hotel location will be.

I will share more photos from our Spring Break Out in a day or so.

Enjoy this weather, I hear colder days may come before the true Spring arrives...

snow week 2011

Tuesday through Saturday our town was shut down due to snow and icy roads. We stocked up on goods before the blizzard hit and were able to hunker down at home and enjoy family time. Entertaining an active 2 year old isn't easy all day everyday if you can't go outside. We built tents, made tons of "snow ice cream", played games, dragged him around the house on a sheet, learned flashcards & even watched some handy manny episodes (big deal around here, Duke doesn't watch much television). It's been an unforgettable week for me. I've enjoyed this time with my guys! I am fortunate to share life with them and being locked inside for 5 days was a great memory maker for this Mommy.Duke laughing with his snowman! (M&M's eyes & mouth, toothbrush nose, hard hat & twig arms.) A sweet, hardworking snowman

Daddy built the snowman, Duke gets the credit!

It's COLD, but he needed to get outside!

Our house after the 2011 blizzard - February 2011 (Duke & Mommy)