3rd Annual Great-Granny-A-Thon!

We had another successful Great-Granny-A-Thon this year! As a reminder, this is a trip that involves me, Katelyn, and both of my sisters going to visit our grandparents in Beaumont and Houston (Katelyn's great grandparents...thus the name Great-Granny-A-Thon). Below are a few pictures as well as links to more pictures from the trip! Thank you Mom and Pop and Granny for hosting us again!

First stop--Beaumont to see Mom and Pop (my dad's parents)!

Katelyn loved pushing this little gardening stool around the back porch...

Next stop--Houston (Pearland to be exact) to see my Granny (my mom's stepmom)!

We went to play and have dinner at the home of one of my Granny's friends. She fixed a wonderful steak dinner and her pool/backyard was so fun and relaxing (with lots of water toys for Katelyn to play with)!

We also went out a boat in Galveston Bay (belonging to another one of Granny's friends!) to have dinner, watch the sunset, and enjoy an awesome fireworks display!

Links to more pictures:

My pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2BZNmLds1YsTi
Brittany's pics: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0UYtnLRmyZuQA

Katelyn's New Shirt!

Here is a picture of Katelyn proudly displaying her new shirt!



Due date: February 13! So....Happy Valentine's Day to us! :)

Happy Father's Day Dave!

I know I'm a little behind on this post, but better late than never, right? We had a great Father's Day! Dave's mom was in Arlington for some training, so we drove down to meet her at her hotel and headed over to Texas Land and Cattle for dinner! What a treat that was! We went back to the hotel after dinner and enjoyed walking around the hotel grounds. Thank you Granny for a yummy Father's Day dinner, and thank you Dave for being a wonderful father to Katelyn! We love you!

Dancing with Daddy

I've been dying to post this precious video! A spontaneous, pre-bedtime dance to one of Daddy's favorite songs....

*Just click on the play arrow at the bottom left of the video

Family Pictures!

We had family pictures taken this month, and it was such a fun experience! We hadn't had them taken since Katelyn was nine months old, and those were done in a portrait studio. This photo session we opted for something a little more non-traditional. Our photographer, Chera, was wonderful! She was a recommendation from a friend, and we really enjoyed working with her! We met her at the Frisco Heritage Museum for our session, and she did quick, wonderful work! For any of you who are looking for professional, low-cost pictures, shoot her an e-mail! I included her contact information and package details at the end of this post (we did the mini photo session). A few of my favorite pics are below along with a link to the full set.

http://flickr.com/gp/33511885@N00/jSHhvo

Chera25 Photography

http://chera25.com
mrs_smokey25@yahoo.com

Full session (50 pix/ approx. 1hr.) (with TX state sales tax = $150.00)

You will receive a Sneak Peek within 1-2 days & an online link in about 2 weeks. At that time, I will mail a CD with all full-size edited images.

Half session (25 pix/ approx. 30min.) (with TX state sales tax = $75.00)

You will receive a Sneak Peek within 1-2 days & an online link in a week or so. At that time, I will mail a CD with all full-size edited images.

Mini session (10 pix/ approx. 15min.) (with TX state sales tax = $30.00)

You will receive an online link within a week & an online Flickr album with all full-size edited images to download to print as you wish. *This is the package that we chose*

Miss Patty Cake in Concert!

Tonight we attended a long-awaited, highly-anticipated event in the life of our daughter. Katelyn attended a Miss Patty Cake concert. If you've never heard of Miss Patty Cake, let me encourage you to visit her website. In short, the Lord has gifted her in a very special way to share the Gospel with children through song and dance! Some of our friends in China (thanks Wickershams!) sent us the DVD 3-pack when we moved back to the States three years ago, and Katelyn has LOVED watching them as long as I can remember!

Anyways, I randomly decided to visit Miss Patty Cake's website one day (they advertise it at the beginning of all her videos) to see what I could find out about this cool lady, and I noticed that she was coming to perform at a church in our area! I about wet my pants (and Katelyn is the one who just finished potty training!). I quickly ordered tickets (can you beat $5 a piece!!???), and invited Reese, one of Katelyn's best buddies/fellow Miss Patty Cake groupie, and her mom Jessica (who also happens to be one of my best buddies!) to join in the fun! We started out with Chick-Fil-A. Between the chicken nuggets, the play area, and ice cream cones, it wasn't for certain that the night could get any better. It did. We drove over to the concert, and walked inside the sanctuary. The girls had both been so excited all day about the show, so watching them enjoy it was just about as much of a treat as the show itself! At the end, Miss Patty Cake took a short break and then took her seat in the foyer to take pictures and give hugs to each child in line. She does this at all the shows, and it was so sweet to watch! What a fun memory tonight was!

Asleep at the Door

Katelyn has had trouble lately staying in her bed once she is down for bedtime. Common excuses are "I need to go pee pee! I need a drink of water! Pat my back! Rock me! Sing 'Away in a Manger!'" The list could go on. I can't tell you how many times an evening we say, "Katelyn, get back in your bed." So, at first, when she stopped coming out, we assumed that she had gotten back in her bed and gone to sleep. Lesson learned: don't assume. On more occasions than we can count, we have found our sweet, tired daughter asleep at her door (and sometimes even in the hallway outside her door). Not quite brave enough to come out and take on mom and dad one more time, but too tired to get back in her bed....