Pre-K Rodeo!

Today Levi's school put on what they called a "Pre-K Rodeo." Over the past two weeks they have been discussing all things farm, cowboy and rodeo in class and today all the kids dressed up in their best weastern wear. Levi wore his beloved boots, a dilapidated dress-up up hat and a borrowed cowboy belt with a flashy belt buckle. He was thrilled with his ensemble and pranced around the house before leaving for school. At the end of the day they all headed to the gym for the rodeo. The kids were split into groups and participated in cattle roping, barrel riding, tortilla toss and bandana tag. All the kids were so cute in their cowboy/cowgirl get up and enthusiastically cheered each other on in each event. It was so fun to watch all those precious excited faces and listen to their sweet little voices chant and yell for their classmates! Levi had a blast and was a little sad when it was over. I was very pleased with how well he handled all the events because he can be a bit overly competitive and is often a sore loser. Not today! I was sure proud of my little buckaroo!

Excited for his Rodeo! Later he ditched this sad hat for "a better school hat"

trying (unsuccessfully) to Rope some "cattle"

"Barrel" racing...he was the only one to sprint, and loved it!

Proud to be 2nd place in the Tortilla Toss

He LOVED this Bandana Tag game

snagging a bandana from his buddy Abbie...Levi won round one by being the last one with a bandana

Levi with his classmates and teachers...Yee Haw!!!

Fun with Friends!

This past week I was luck enough to spend time with some of my best friends from college! It was so fun that it ended up that the Valentine and Fellers families were in town so close in time, it made me feel like I was 20 again :).

Lauren and her adorable four age 4 and under were in town because Robby had to come for work, and she was kind enough to give me a whole day of her time. She loaded up all four kiddos and drove over to our house to play for the day on Tuesday. All the kids played so well together, and it was a really nice day of catching up. We got the crazy idea to walk with all 6 kids to the park with the oldest 4 on scooters and the little twin guys in the double stroller. It was a little crazy and sometimes scary as we tried to keep two 2 year olds and 2 four year olds safe. Lauren hit the nail on the head when she said it was like having 3 sets of twins! Levi and Charlotte are only 10 days apart and Joel and Eloise are only 3 weeks apart (and of course Owen and Anson are actual twins). The weather was beautiful, so we spent most of the day just relaxing in the yard and playing at our house. It was nice to share a somewhat ordinary day together and enjoy being together with our precious kids! A lot sure has changed since we met back in 2001, but each time we are together, it's as easy to hang out as it was back in the dorms. I'm still holding out hope that they will move back to the area one day. Lauren has always been such a big blessing in my life and always encourages me in my life and as a Christian. God has truly blessed me with some wonderful friends, and Lauren will always be on that list!

Lunch Time!

afternoon snack :)

hard to get a picture of these two crawling cuties, always on the go!

Ready to scoot to the park!

I didn't manage to get a picture with Lauren or I, so here is one from our brief visit when she was here over Christmas

That weekend Kameron and Jason arrived with their two youngsters for the annual Cowtown Marathon/Boyer Fellers Fun Weekend :). Levi LOVES "Mollie Fellers" (he rarely refers to her with out using her last name) and Joel and Henley had fun together as well. We spent the day together on Saturday starting off with a morning at the zoo and then finishing up with dinner at our house. On Sunday morning we met up to cheer on Jason as he ran his fastest marathon ever, finishing in 2 hours and 59 minutes (that's 26 miles straight with him running each one in less than 7 minutes)! We are so proud of him and all his hard work! I'm also thankful that Philip has a good friend who is always inspiring him to stay active and who introduced him to triathlons. After the race we enjoyed a yummy meal at The Woodshed on the Trinity River. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast listening to the music, playing corn hole and looking at the water as we all gobbled up every bite of some delicious BBQ. We are so glad that we are able to meet up with the Fellers a couple of times a year and always wish we could make it happen more often! It's hard to believe that we all met 13 years ago in our college church group and have been close friends for that long. They are such a blessing to our family. No matter how long it goes between visits or phone calls, I always know we can count on the Fellers and will have fun too! I know that God put this sweet couple in our path for a reason, and I am so thankful that He did!

Mollie, Henley, Joel and Levi enjoying the fish, reptiles and amphibians...always a hit

Checking out the rhinos

picnic at the zoo

England Trip: London

After three nights and four days in England we arrived in London at the Craven's flat! Amy and I have been good friends since kindergarten (that means we've been friends for 26 years!) and I always enjoy spending time with her. Two years ago Amy took a promotion that moved her and her wonderful husband, Jimmy, to London, and I have been hoping we could visit them ever since. When this work trip to England came up, I knew that we needed to fit in some time in London if at all possible. Thankfully it worked out perfectly and we were able to stay with them for three nights! Amy and Jimmy were gracious hosts and made our time in London so enjoyable! When we arrived at the flat Amy had a cheese board waiting for us, she made delicious breakfasts for us and helped us figure out the best way to see the most of the city in the time we had. Not only that, she also got me non-revenue passes on American Airlines so that my flight cost less than half of what it would have if we had payed for it directly! Amy and Jimmy also took a lot of time out of their weekend to spend time showing us around their neighborhood and taking us to some yummy restaurants and pubs. We fit in a lot in our 2 full days of sight seeing! London is a beautiful city full of friendly people, and we really enjoyed our time there (doesn't hurt one bit to have awesome tour guides). Even with windy, chilly and wet weather, it was a lovely vacation. I'm surprised to say, I would love to go back one day!

Boyers and Cravens at the pub

one of the yummy breakfast Amy made!

we enjoyed all the "unique" signs we came across

Saturday was a busy day. We started by touring Westminster Abbey. It is a gorgeous church! We visited on February 8th (what would have been Sam's due date) so I had the opportunity to light a candle and fill out a prayer card for our son, which was a special moment for us. Unfortunately they do not allow photography inside the church, it had several interesting and beautiful works of art we would have loved to take pictures of, as well as the candle we lit. But, they were strictly watching for cameras, and Philip may have been busted with his phone out. :) We enjoyed listening to the audio tour and learning about the history of the abbey. There is a shocking number of famous/historical figures buried in, or memorialized at the building. After finishing the tour we headed towards The Tower of London museum. We enjoyed walking across the beautiful Tower Bridge and were able to hang one of Philip's Mom's luggage locks on the bridge rails. Philip etched her initials into the lock and I know Carol would be touch and love the gesture.

The whole walk to the tour was a little misty and after we crossed the bridge we were caught in a pretty heavy (for London) rain.  Unfortunately, this rain cancelled the Beef Eater tour we were hoping to attend, but we still enjoyed walking through the Tower and seeing all the history exhibits, crown jewels and artifacts. We met up with Amy and Jimmy when we finished visiting the Tower and walked to a nearby brew pub for a delicious dinner of fish and chips followed by traditional British sticky toffee pudding. It was so yummy! After dinner the four of us went on a walking tour of the south side of the river and enjoyed learning a lot about the area from a quirky local named Chris. She had a very thick accent, eccentric personality and was very friendly.

The storm gave way to blue skies, but you may notice my hair is wet :)

The White Tower

Tower Chapel

Sculptures made of this wire to represent the baboons that were kept for entertainment

Philip thought this suit of armor was amusing...

I enjoyed every single bite!

so so yummy!!!

walking by the river

the guys and a battle ship :)

it was neat to see the city lit up at night

we saw several lighted art instillations

On Sunday we slept in, enjoyed another delicious breakfast and then headed out to watch a rugby match at a proper pitch in Twickenham. All four of us enjoyed the match despite the windy, wet weather, and Philip really enjoyed seeing a rugby game in the country where his beloved sport was born. We picked up jerseys for Philip and the boys and a replica kids ball to remember the day. After the match we took the tube back to Amy and Jimmy's flat, changed into more weather appropriate clothes (for some reason all four of us were expecting it to be a bit warmer) and then headed out to see Buckingham Palace and the Piccadilly Circus area. Amy and Jimmy were great guides and showed us all the points of interest in the area. We were surprised to see that, in our opinion, Buckingham Palace was one of the least impressive buildings in London. After walking through the area and taking in the sights we hoped onto an iconic double-decker bus and picked a seat right in the front of the top level. We took the bus back to Chiswick, where the Craven's live, and then walked to a great Indian restaurant for dinner. Everyone told us that there is great Indian food in England and this place did not disappoint! It was delicious and we were all stuffed. But not quite too stuffed to stop by one of Amy and Jimmy's favorite pubs along the river for a couple pints before heading home to bed.

watching a close match!

this is called a scrum...this match was the Harlequins v. the Wasps

Jimmy, Amy, Philip and I after the game!

riding the tube after the game with my BFF :)

view of Big Ben from the palace

for some reason the palace guards were not in red that day

In front of Buckingham Palace, the sky was astounding that evening!

Seriously, stunning!

walking through Piccadilly

Jimmy and Philip were giggling about this blue cock sculpture...boys!

Gotta get a picture with the infamous red telephone booth...and drink hot tea while you stroll :)

The next morning we woke up early to catch a cab to the airport. We were so sad to leave after having such a wonderful visit! My parents watched the boys (with a little help from Philip's Dad and Step-Mother) and we were excited to be home soon to see them after a whole week away. A special thank you to our "babysitters" and tour guides for the week! We love you all and really appreciate you helping make this needed break possible!