Crawfish Boil

Our next door neighbors, the Hartleys, hosted a crawfish boil for some of the other neighbors. The food was delicious and we had a wonderful time.

Here is some of the group eating one of the batches of crawfish.

Aubrey wasn't excited about the crawfish at first but she sure liked the potatoes, sausage, mushrooms and corn. She eventually tried the crawfish and liked it. She was proud of herself for trying something new.

Taking a water break after eating all the spicy food! Lily LOVED the crawfish...
...and the ducky!
Since Carter couldn't eat the crawfish he decided to settle for his fingers.
Emery with her buddy, Elizabeth.
Josh was getting his boy fix (he has two adorable little girls.)

Good-bye Gedeons

Tara and David Gedeon are the "founding fathers" of our life group. They have bought a house in the Woodlands and are moving this summer. Although they are not that far away, they won't be going to The Foundry anymore so the Wests were gracious enough to host a going away party for them. We are going to miss Tara, David, Cole and Cade. They are a wonderful family and great friends!
The Group

(10 of the 16 couples in our Life Group)

Doug and MikeDarin, Rich, Josh, Kirk and Doug
Greg West and David Gedeon (David said he wore the shirt as a joke...)Me and Angela

Abby and LauraJenny, Tara Gedeon, Suzanne and Mary

Thanks to Robyn and Greg for hosting the party and to Sarah for the pictures.

Carter's baptism

Carter Michael was baptized on Sunday, May 17th at The Foundry United Methodist Church. MIMI and PawPaw provided water from the Jordan River to be used for his baptism. On this day, Mike and I committed to raise Carter in such as way so as to encourage a life of faith in Christ. We pray that he will come to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful day. One of the most precious and memorable parts was when the pastor was saying..."because your child cannot speak for himself"...Carter let out a VERY loud holler.

My very handsome little boy!

Pastor Mike Gammill baptized Carter.The grandparents
All of the Halls
Lainey and Diana with a hungry Carter.
Morgan with Lily
Emery with Maddie

Nana

We were so glad that Nana was able to come in town recently. We love getting to spend time with her. Many times when Nana comes in town I have a lot of "work" for her to do but this time we were able to enjoy our time together. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent an afternoon in the backyard playing in the water.

Ya gotta luv Lily's expression...not sure what she is thinkin'!

"WOW, it has holes in it!""What are you doing Emey?"

(Not a typo, that is what she calls her!)

Will Morgan

Our friends, the Ericksons, welcomed another son into their family. Will Morgan was born on Friday, May 15th. Will was named after Michelle's grandfather who passed away the week before. Big brother, Jay, is excited to have someone to be able to play football with one day.

Me with the proud Mommy.

Mary just so happened to be visiting also!
Congratulations Erickson family!

Sibling Love

It is so important to capture those moments that remind us of the love that can be found in the hearts of our children. I couldn't resist sharing these precious pics.

Biblestudy Playdate

I get together with a group of wonderful women about every two weeks for dinner and bible study. It is a chance for us to better ourselves as mothers and wives by studying God's word. Since we have the luxury of meeting without our kiddos, we decided it would be good to get them together so we could see how much everyone has grown.

This group is connected through our dear friend Wendi who moved to Doha this past year. Jenn (bottom left) with two of her three kids, Marin and Hallie, worked with Wendi. Tracy (top left) with Asher and Harper (Tanner is due to arrive in June) went to Baylor with Wendi. Shannon (top middle) with her son Justin, also went to Baylor with Wendi for a short time. I became friends with Wendi when her sister, Ashley, married Mike's brother, David. Emily (on my right) with Campbell and Chance, met Shannon at StrollerFit. Katie (right) with Kaylinn, John David and Lissie, lived on the same street as Wendi. Now you know the amazing connections and the reason we cherish our evenings without 15 total children.

I am thankful for each of these inspirational women who help hold me accountable in my walk with Jesus.

The Hall girls were loving on Roxy and she was giving them tons of kisses. With all the squealing and grabbing, I'm sure Roxy was happy to see us leave!
3 out of 4 of the newest additions
Hallie, Carter, CampbellSweet Love - Justin and Harper

Thanks for the pictures, Shannon!

Mother's Day

On this Mother's Day I felt extremely blessed. God has given me strong relationships with both my mom and my mother-in-law that I cherish. He also blessed me with the gift of 4 of his children. It was not that long ago that I wasn't sure if he had motherhood in his plans for me but he soon relieved what he had in store for us. Each day I pray that I will be a mother that will raise Godly children and I take a moment (in the chaos) to remember how much my heart ached to have these amazing little angels and how truly precious they are to me.

A Parent's Prayer

God give me wisdom to see there is no unimportant moment in my child's life. May I know no other career is as precious, no other work so rewarding, no other task so urgent. May I not defer it nor neglect it, but by thy Spirit accept it gladly, joyously, and by thy grace, realize that the time is short and my time is now, for children won't wait. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Junior Olympics

Aubrey started taking gymnastics in February at Bannon's Gymnastix. She LOVES it! At first we were going once a week but in April we started twice a week and she even does plenty of "practicing" at home by jumping and flipping all over the place. She also likes to "teach" her sisters all the techniques. Saturday was her Junior Olympics where she was able to show us everything she has learned and we got front row seats instead of having to watch from the bleachers upstairs. Bannon's did a great job of decorating the gym and organizing the kids to make everything run very smoothly. We all enjoyed watching our little gymnast.

Practicing for her ribbon wand performance.Entering the gym
On the beam
Ta-Da!
Backward roll
Ta-Da!Running to vault

Forward roll off the vault
Landing after the bars

Jumping on the trampoline

Receiving her trophy and t-shirt

Aubrey's fan club

"Look at my trophy MIMI." Proud parents