Weekend with the Fellers!

I think it has officially become a tradition...for the third straight year, Jason ran the Cowtown marathon (and quite impressively I might add! ... took 7 mins off his time from last year and finished in 3:07...yeah, he ran 26 miles in 3 hours - about 7 minutes per mile!!!). Philip ran the 10K on Saturday and did very well, especially considering he has not had much time to run lately and was "terribly out of shape" in his opinion. He paced at about 8.5 minutes per mile. These boys sure do enjoy physical fitness and are already planning on doing a triathlon together in the spring.
 

he was flying at mile 20!

We love this cowtown tradition because it means we get to spend an annual weekend with some of our favorite people, the Fellers family! Philip and I have been friends with Kameron and Jason since 2001 and we had our first children only 6 months apart. Levi LOVES their daughter Mollie and they play so well together! They are expecting a second in July and we are super excited that this time around they will be having a little BOY :) I'm sure Levi and Joel will love playing with baby boy Fellers in the future and Mollie will have her work cut out for her keeping all those boys in line!

waiting for Daddy/Mr. Jason to run by so we can cheer!

This weekend was a blast as usual! We took the big kids to play at 3 different parks and enjoyed the pretty weather. One thing we love about our time with the Fellers is that we always feel rested because relaxation is a must :) This trip the boys and kids all took a nap in the afternoon while Kameron and I did a little shopping at the mall. That evening we all enjoyed a dinner at home followed by a bath for the kiddos and some TV and conversation before hitting the hay. Thanks so much for coming to stay with us Fellers! We can't wait to meet your little boy soon!

I loved this cute little stegosaurus jungle gym (so did the kids)

Mollie Moo :)

Levi guy

Joel could swing for hours and be content

Bye Bye Beard

Beard circa December 2011

Every winter Philip grows a beard. He says it keeps him warm and it is nice to have a break from shaving. This year he started early (October) and kept it much longer than usual. Well...you may have noticed in the previous post, but on a whim right before we left for Houston he decided to shave it off. He had fun with the process and I had fun snapping some silly pics :) I don't miss it at all.

stylin'...

going...

going...

GONE!

I Want to Win!

A friend of mine from work has used Milestone Portraits several times and I have always thought her pictures were great. So...I entered their Calendar Contest this year in hopes that I would win the first prize $500 gift certificate for photography through their studio. I REALLY would love to win and get Joel's 1 year pictures done there along with some family pictures and pictures of Levi.

I had to take the boys out for a mini shoot a little over a month ago and they took pictures for about 20 minutes. Then they choose their favorite image and you get a free 4X6. They are able to use the pictures for advertisement and you get automatically entered into their Annual Calendar Contest. They put their favorite images (Levi & Joel are #20 and it's super cute!) on their website and the top 12 will be in their advertising calendar. Then you just tell your family and friends to VOTE. Who ever gets the most votes wins $500 in photography! You do have to enter your e-mail to vote, but I voted for my friend in this contest last year and the only e-mail I ever got was one to enter the contest this year. I'm sure if you get e-mails from them you can unsubscribe.

Soooo...if you have not voted yet from the nagging e-mails and facebook posts I've done PLEASE help me out :) Go to the contest page here and vote for Image #20 which is an adorable picture of Levi & Joel. Thanks!!!

Don't these two deserve to WIN :)

Weekend with the Herrs

This weekend we drove down to the Houston area to spend the weekend with some of our good friends from college, The Herrs. We had such a wonderful weekend, despite all the rain, and enjoyed just hanging out and watching our three adorable little boys play. The pictures tell it best:

rub-a-dub-dub...three cute boys in a tub :)

The boys had a blast playing in the bath both nights!

After baths we had a "dance party" both nights...Levi happens to LOVE to dance,

so he was THRILLED that Noah shared this habit :)

 The weather was a little chilly and rainy, so the boys enjoyed watching some movies in bed :)

 On Saturday we risked the weather and went to the zoo. We were SO glad we went. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon! There was hardly anyone there so we could see all the animals with out feeling

rushed or having obstructed views. Levi had a blast pulling the wagon and pushing Joel in his stroller, as well as seeing all the cool animals! The adults all had fun too :)

the sea lions were Levi's favorite...he kept talking about them and they were the first thing we saw

Joel played with his zoo appropriate toy much of the time and was an angel baby :)

The sweet Herr family

not sure what Levi said or did, but we sure thought it was cute!

the jaguars were a hit...they were do beautiful!!!

my sweet little love! He was such a happy baby the whole time!

 Thank you Herrs for hosting us in your home. Thank you for giving up a weekend to spend time with us. Thank you for feeding us delicious meals and helping us have a fun filled and relaxing weekend! Can't wait until we can hang out again!

Silly Faces!

My sister Kate and friend Lauren have posted photo series of their kiddos making cute and funny expressions and they inspired me to try to get Levi and Joel to do the same. During Joel's morning nap I showed the pics of Charlotte and Nora looking silly to Levi and then asked him if I could take some pictures of him like that while he played with his play dough (a current obsession). Here is what I got:

Thanks for the great idea girls! I sure do love each and every one of those expressions...ok maybe not the angry 11th one...his cuteness and sillyness kill me! Up next, Joel :)