Friday, December 18, 2009

December already!?!

Having fun chasing the birds the birds in Central Park





Love this piano!



FAO Schwartz...very cool store!!!

Great view from the Circle Line tours



Having fun!



Beautiful little China Doll!

Our family having fun in NYC Central Park!

Smiling Faith




Emily & Faith in Central Park

On the street following the parade after it had passed...

or "Mary & Papa's" as Faith called it. :)

Beautiful young lady! Where did all the time go!?!

Our front row seats for the parade on the VIP bleachers!!! YES!

Yes, that is Santa's lower 1/2 Miss Pearl. :)

These were our front row seats prior to getting the VIP bleachers. If you will notice, it is still dark outside. :)

Kermit!!! Incredibly Large Kermit!





Emily & her team mates in Volleyball! We had such a great time watching all the games!

A day by the bay

Amanda, Emily, Jeff, Faith, Miranda with Mason & Tyler!

Em with her friends! Emma, Miranda, Liz, Caitlin

The girls playing in Port A with Mimi & Papa!

Em & Faith being silly!

Emily playing with Faith


Wow, I am so not sure where the all of the time goes. Seems like school just started! Now the year is 1/2 over. We have had a really busy few months. So many cool memories...
*Faith walking into school everyday & asking Miss "desada" (Quesada)..."I late?" All because we were late ONE day!
* Faith learning to read so well! Emily loves to help her with her reading.
*Faith & Emily laughing and giggling as they play

*The girls listening to sweet Nana as she was talked to them...so thankful for those memories as Nana went to be with the Lord last month. So thankful she got to love on Faith! She always loved her great grandbabies...they were the joy of her life & we counted it such a blessing that she lived here with us so that our kids knew her and loved her like we did! This is going to be a tough Christmas, especially for my momma...but she had such an incredible life & always told me not to be sad for her when she was gone, but to rejoice...so that is truly what we are trying ot do...rejoice for her.

*Faith as she says the blessing at dinner..."...Jesus loves me pray, Amen." What she means to say is what we typically say is " In Jesus name we pray, Amen". Then Emily looking at me & saying "You forgot to set up the video...AGAIN!"

*Faith asking "when fat boy bring me presents?" Meaning Santa...:)


We took the girls to see Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade last month & had a wonderful trip! That was on my bucket list & i thoroughly enjoyed it! We got to sit on the front row of the VIP bleachers, thanks to a wonderful policewoman that we struck up a conversation with an hour or so before the parade as they were all getting to their posts...so awesome...note to self if we ever go again...nothing to drink & don't leave your seats an hour & a half before the parade to find a potty! Took us forever & the crowd was so heavy by the time we got back that i was SURE we would NEVER get back to our family! The people in the crowds literally had to turn sideways to allow the slightest bit of room for us to squeeze through...many were NOT happy with us, others were so helpful, holding our hands to steady us as we climbed over their families. Just incredible & impossible to describe! But we got up way before dawn to get our front row seats & I was determined to get back to my spot! :) The parade & floats were wonderful!


Thanksgiving dinner at Tavern on the Green was FABULOUS! We saw 2 shows...Wicked & Mary Poppins or as Faith called it "Mary & Papas". Wicked was a show that I highly recommend if you ever get the chance to see it...GO! i will see it again sometime. Excellent!

The girls got out of school today for the Christmas holidays & I am so ready for some time to just sit back & relax a bit. I pray that your Christmas is blessed with lots of love and laughter!

Merry Christmas!


Sunday, September 13, 2009

September

Well, school has started and Faith is loving her class and teacher. Emily is really enjoying Middle School. I was a bit nauseaus about it, but seems for no reason other than it does make me think about how old she is getting and what a precious young lady I have instead of a little girl. She is up at the crack of dawn to run Cross Country in the mornings & then plays on the volleyball team. They just took 2nd place in a tournament last weekend. Was great fun to watch. Faith is ready to start a sport, and we will soon. She will be great at it once she starts. She is very competetive & is sooo fast. :)
This last week has been such a long one. Last Sunday morning early we got a call in the middle of the night that Nana had fallen. I got to the hospital before she did, so went to her place. They were trying to stabalize her before they took her to the hospital. But as she was on the stretcher, she looked up at me & told me she had broken her hip. Just what we all dreaded ever happening. It has been a long week of family rallying around and being with her 24 hours a day. She had surgery that i truly was concerned that she would not come back from, but came thru with flying colors, and she is now in a rehab hospital where she walked yesterday...we are so thrilled!

My Sixth Grader and my First Grader! Can't believe it!



Grandad & Momi's Birthday...they got some cool gifts!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Can't Believe Summer is over!!!


My 2 amazingly beautiful girls...My biggest blessing is to be their momma!


Smiles! oh so sweet! Climbing our favorite tree in Rockport!
Next time we need tennis shoes!

"Hello! Anyone there?"

Giggling girls...nothing better!


Fun time in Rockport!



We were working on writing letters in the shaving cream...they were working on making faces!

Sea World jungle gym net...was quite a climb for Faith! But she is a very determined little girl &
very competetive! She wants to keep up with Em!
Ok...so we have to take a few business calls while we are playing. :)

Two BEAUTIFUL girls!!!

3D glasses are the coolest! Fun at the circus!

Emily's 1/2 birthday party- sweet girls all being oh so silly!

Not sure that i will even attempt to expain these pictures...:)

Hiding while playing "Flah light tag" in the dark
at the Hill Country Hyatt...the flash from my camera
was not very popular... They make YUMMY drinks there...

Word searches and puzzles...popular past times.

Floating in the Lazy River Hula Hoop contest.



Dancing- tada!


This has been an incredible summer. We have had tons of fun in the midst of very busy schedules. Faith is wonderful and again can't even begin to express how great it is to have her in our family...just can't imagine it without her! Last week we snuck away for a few days, tried to bury the phones as much as possible & just enjoy the kids. We went up to one of our favorite spots -Hill Country Hyatt in SA. The kids rode bikes, enjoyed hula hoop contests, roasting marshmallows, building sandcastles, floating on the lazy river and watching movies on the lawn and eating & snacking all day long. Great fun! Today the girls and i went to Rockport to visit Susan & Ale & just enjoyed the day piddling around Rockport, enjoying ice cream & their little aquarium area along the water. Faith had a party to go to for one of her friends tonight. They were in class together & it was fun seeing how much she could really talk to them now. Brinley was always so precious to Faith when she came to the class at the end of school last year- she just took her under her wing & i am so grateful for such a sweet friend.

Faith is doing so well with her English now...she understands really everything we say to her & can get across to us anything she wants to. Her sentences are becoming better each day & we are all working hard to help her every step of the way. Emily is our biggest help in this as she & Faith interact constantly all day long. I am really going to miss them being here all day when school starts. But i do think they are both ready. It was been a busy summer work wise, so not as much going on as summer past, but i think that it has been great for Faith to have stayed put awhile & have this truly become her home. She is certainly a home body. If i need to go out & run errands or show a house & I ask her to come with me, she will always choose to stay here if that is at all an option. She does not enjoy the heat of South Texas at all! She loves to swim...which is a great thing, since we love to do that as well.

We have gotten the jet skis out a few times & played up at the lake, which is always a blast for everyone. Emily, Faith & I went to Kids Camp together for 4 days last month up at Camp Zephyr on Mathis Lake. That was sooo much fun for all of us. Faith only went because I was going...but Emily was gracious enough to be excited that we were both coming. :) We did Sea World a few more times...we saw the Ringling Brothers B & B Circus which was fantastic...It was great watching Faith's face as she watched the show. So precious thinking that so many of these things are truly firsts for her. Emily had a 1/2 birthday party (since hers is at Christmas time-when life is crazy). The girls had fun doing a photo scavenger hunt at the mall & swimming at Mimi & Papas & having a slummber party. I hired 2 awesome teeager's to help out & it was a fantastic time...i highly recommend that!! :) REALLY can not believe that summer is over & schedules start up again in 2 days!