Teaching Friends

I met up with some of my teaching friends from my previous school district for some shopping and lunch.  I love these ladies and without a couple of them I probably wouldn't have survived my first year of teaching.

 We had the best time laughing and catching up.  It seems as if everything around us changes through time, but when we get together we pick up as if we just talked yesterday.  I love that!

This is Mary Sue and me. 

Mary Sue is one of the absolute sweetest people I've ever met!  She was my mentor my first year of teaching and I'm pretty sure I'd be in a different profession if it weren't for her.  Anytime I had a bad day (which was pretty much everyday that first year!) or felt like I couldn't make it another day, she was there to encourage me and cheer me on!  I'm so thankful for her support and guidance as I now can't imagine myself doing anything other than teaching---just had a lot to learn at the tender age of 22!  Ha!  What a blessing she was to me.

My time with these ladies was far too short, but we will be looking forward to our next visit soon!

Grandmother

My grandmother has been here this week visiting us and we are truly enjoying our time with her.  She also came down last summer to spend several days with us and I hope that she is able to come next summer

as well.

    

 My grandmother has had such a positive influence on my life and I'm so thankful that Landon knows her and gets to listen to her talk about Jesus.  When I was a little girl she would always talk about Jesus and how much he loves us...she still does this today and I love that Landon gets to hear it from her, too!

 We've had a great time playing cards, going shopping, getting pedicures, going out to eat, talking, and laughing.

 We also celebrated her 77th birthday!

Birthday celebrations make this little guy super happy!

Grandmother will be going back home tomorrow...all good things must come to an end.  We've sure enjoyed our time with her.  Definitely looking forward to her next visit.

Port Aransas 2011

Last year we took Landon to the beach and he LOVED it.  He still talks about that trip today and will sometimes wake up and ask if we can go to the beach.  So we decided to go again this year and he had just as much fun!

 We woke up early and arrived at the beach just before lunch.  We brought a picnic lunch so after we set up our tent for the day, we ate lunch and then jumped in water.

 Aunt Charley was able to get off from work and join us for the day.  When we took Landon out in the waves he didn't want me to hold him, he wanted Aunt Charley to!  I tend to be on the cautious side when it comes to the water, so I'm sure Aunt Charley's adventures in the water were much more appealing than my over protectiveness!

 We tried building sandcastles but didn't have much luck, however, Landon sure enjoyed digging holes in the sand.

 We knew we were staying the entire day at the beach, so we all took break and let Landon rest in the tent for a while.  There is nothing better than relaxing on the beach listening to the waves...I could do it all day!

That evening we headed out for a seafood dinner and it was delish!  After stuffing ourselves full of seafood we went back to the beach for a bit, but we were really too worn out to stay long.  So, we packed up our stuff and headed to our hotel.  We were all so tired and Charley and I were hurting from sunburns. :( 

We intended on going back to the beach the following morning, but all four of us were still exhausted.  Landon even said 'no' when I asked him if he wanted to go back to the beach!  I know that he'll be ready to go back next year though.  :)

Family Time

After our anniversary weekend, we quickly headed to NB to pick up our little man....we missed that little stinker!  And when he saw us he ran away and wanted nothing to do with us.  I guess the grandparents did a great job of spoiling him!  Ha!

When we got to mom's house they were packing up for a picnic lunch at the park, and by the time we made it to the park, Landon decided that he liked us again....thank goodness--I thought we might have to leave him with grandma and grandpa for good!  :)

 Landon got to feed some ducks at the park, too.

We tried to ride the train that goes around the park, but a thunderstorm rolled in shortly after we boarded and before the train departed they closed it down.  :(  It rained like crazy once the storm hit.   The rain is just what NB needed as they are in a serious drought, so we weren't too sad that we didn't get to ride the train. 

Shortly after our picnic in the park, David had to leave for a couple of days to attend a PE conference so Landon and I stayed with my parents and were able to do some fun things with my dad while my mom worked. 

Landon has been asking me to go fishing for quite a while now, so dad found us a nice little fishing spot and Landon got to experience his first fishing trip.  He had the best time and what a special memory, too!  Fortunately, Landon and dad caught several fish and Landon even got the first catch of the day!

Landon was checking out his catch before it jumped back into the water.  They caught several perch and dad caught 2 catfish.  We had so much fun!

The next day, dad took us to the Wildlife Ranch which is an 'African Safari-Texas Style'.  We had a great time driving around looking at all the different animals.  We saw many deer, zebras, ostrich, rhinos, giraffes, and many other animals that Landon had fun throwing feed at.  :)

We also did a glass bottom boat tour at the Aquarena Center in San Marcos.  We took a ride over the Spring Lake and saw lots of springs that make up the San Marcos river. 

Thanks Dad for all the great memories.  We had a great time!

My next post will be about our trip to the beach! :)

Anniversary Weekend

Last weekend, we headed down south to drop Landon off with my parents for a couple of nights while David and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary in Austin.Our first night in Austin we found a restaurant called Eddie V's and it was delish! I had snapper and it was the best fish I've ever had. David dined on steak and lobster stuffed shrimp and it was just as yummy. Our waiter brought out this anniversary dessert and it was made with warmed Godiva chocolate topped with ice cream...we were in heaven! After dinner, we took a carriage ride around downtown Austin (I know...so very tour-isty) and saw the state capital lit up at night. You can't go to Austin without walking around 6th street, so that's just what we did. We did lots of people watching and just enjoyed each other without feeling rushed to get home. We also watched the show 'Esthers Follies'. If you're ever in Austin go see it! It was AWESOME! We laughed the whole time...so much fun!The next day we walked around downtown and stopped in for a tour of the state capitol building.We also found this beautiful Catholic church, so we decided to take a peek inside and it was just as beautiful on the inside.We attempted a self portrait in front of the church, but this is as good as it got.

We ate a late lunch because we knew we were going to have a ginormous dessert at The Melting Pot that evening. So we basically planned on skipping dinner and just going for the dessert!

Here we are at The Melting Pot enjoying our yummy dessert! We chose the Flaming Turtle, which is chocolate, caramel, and chopped pecans, for dipping all of our dessert items in and by the time we finished we could hardly move...we were so full!
Cheers to many more happy years together! :)

During the course of the weekend, we also did a little shopping, watched the movie, Horrible Bosses (which is hysterical), and enjoyed our time together. Thanks mom and dad for spoiling taking care of our little man for us!

After picking up Landon it wasn't time to come home yet. David had a conference to attend in San Marcos for a few days so Landon and I spent time with my dad while mom worked. When David finished his conference we headed to the beach! I'll be posting about those adventures soon!

Wordless Wednesday...Worn Out From Swimming

Bowling

Our anniversary was yesterday so we decided to do something fun as a family...we went bowling! And we had the best time together!

Landon wasn't too sure of the whole bowling experience at first, but after a little help from dad

and mom
he was ready to do it by himself! :)He couldn't wait to pick up his next ball.
David and I had a great time bowling too! When we lived in WF we often went bowling with a group of our friends and we always had the best time!
As we were leaving Landon said, "Mom, we need to come here some more!" For sure!! :)

We are headed to NB to drop Landon off with my parents for a couple of days while David and I go celebrate our anniversary in Austin. This will be Landon's first time away from both of us at the same time, but he will be in great hands so no worries here! Landon is super excited to stay with grandma and grandpa by himself!

10 years ago today...

I married my best friend.

I'm so thankful that God chose you to be my husband. There is no one else I'd rather walk through this life with.
Thank you for making me a happy girl!

Looking forward to many more years with you, David! I love you.

Fourth of July Wrap Up

In the midst of the busy holiday weekend, David and I went to a wedding reception on Saturday night and had the best time! We had our most favorite babysitter come over and watch Landon while we went to the wedding reception. Katie lives just 2 houses down from us and she is absolutely wonderful with kids. We love her! It was a late night for David and I, so Katie put Landon to bed for us. The next morning I went into his room to tell him good morning and he was so upset to see me. He said, "Where's Katie?...No mom! I want Katie!" Ha!

Now back to the July 4th fun...

Every year for the July 4th our sub division puts on a wonderful fireworks show and our cul-de-sac has a block party where we all get together and eat, talk, and watch the fireworks. It's always a good time for everyone that comes!Landon and several other boys enjoyed riding down our driveways--they had the best time and thankfully no one got hurt!

The kids also played in the water!David and another one of our neighbors were in charge of the grill.This is our friend Diana and her sweet little guy! I enjoyed holding him and all of his chunkiness!This is Landon's friend Luke...he calls Landon, "La La". When Luke was learning how to talk he couldn't say Landon, so he would call Landon "La La"...and it stuck. Luke's family still at times refers to Landon as "La La" and Landon thinks is so funny!

This was the only time Landon sat down the entire evening. He was ready for the fireworks to start, however, I think he was up and running around again before they started. He pretty much just sat there long enough for me to snap a picture.

Friends and neighbors ready for fireworks. These boys took a quick break from playing to enjoy the fireworks! For the most part, Landon is still in the stage where he plays side by side with other kids, but this night he actually played with the other boys. It was so fun to watch him pretend and really engage in their little games.

After the block party, David and I snapped a picture of ourselves. :)

We are incredibly blessed to have such wonderful neighbors that really care about each other and look out for each other.