3rd Birthday

Lily and Emery are 3 years old!

Good Morning Birthday Girl. They got these adorable shopping carts from Nana.

Sometimes playing with the boxes is as much fun as playing with the actual toy. Those are Aubrey and Emery's legs and feet!
The traditional birthday breakfast - chocolate chip pancakes.
MIMI stopped by to have some breakfast with us. Lily is on the phone with one of the family members that called to wish her a 'Happy Birthday.'

I decided not to rush of to one of the many activities we usually have planned in the morning. Instead we stayed home and enjoyed a relaxing morning of playing around in the water.
That evening we went over to Mike's stepbrother's house to go swimming and have dinner.

Lily and Emery got to choose what they wanted for their birthday treat. They both requested rice krispie treats.

After dinner they opened their birthday present from us.

NEW BIKES!

All three girls got new horns to put on their bikes.
They opened their present from MIMI last because we didn't want to spoil the surprise...helmets!

Happy 3rd Birthday sweet girls! We love you both very much!

Lingerie Shower/Bachelorette Party

The kids and I went to Fort Worth/Dallas so I could help throw a lingerie shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Kim. My mom and brother watched the kids in Fort Worth while we threw the shower at my brother's house in Dallas. It was an afternoon shower so we decided to have a chocolate fountain and all the delicious things you can dip in chocolate.

We kept all the decorations simple and classy.

The shower was hosted by my other sister-in-law, Lori (on the left) and Kim's best friend, Meggie (on the right).

As Kim open each gift we came up with a name for the piece of lingerie that she received. Later they rewrapped each item and attached the nametag to it. Kim took all the wrapped gifts on her honeymoon and Drew got to re-open them.

Meggie gave Kim this t-shirt and a pair of socks as a joke. We gave it a very creative name hoping Drew would be a little suprised when he opened it. The best part is that it looks exactly like a shirt he would actually wear!

After the shower, we went out for a bachelorette party with Kim dressed in her "bachelorette" attire.

We all got fancy rings to wear for the evening.

The girls at dinner.

The whole day was a blast. I really enjoyed getting to know some of Kim's friends better. They are all wonderful people.

10-year Anniversary

Mike and I met at a sorority/fraternity mixer about a week before school started my freshman year at TCU. That night he asked me out on our first date.

September 1994

We enjoyed our years of college together. After he graduated in December of 1997 he moved to Dallas and I spent another year and a half at school. We went to Steamboat, Colorado for spring break in March of 1999. One night Mike took me on a sleigh ride up into the mountains and romantically proposed in a teepee.

We were married July 8, 2000.
10 years and 4 beautiful children later, we were able to celebrate our anniversary with a delicious dinner and romantic evening out.
It is by God's grace that our marriage and family has grown these past 10 years. Life has thrown many challenges at us and it is through prayer and our love for each other that we have remained strong and faithful. Mike is an amazing husband and father. I am truly blessed to be loved by such a wonderful man.

Our Week in Galveston

MIMI rented this house in Galveston so we could spend the week relaxing with her, PawPaw and Mike's brother's family. It was a much shorter trip to get to the beach this time. The house was in a neighborhood and all we had to do was walk across the street to get to the beach access.The girls had to check out the beach right when we got there on Friday night.
All three girls shared a room while Carter slept in the room with us (in his pack 'n play) the first night...until we decided that everyone would sleep better if he was in the bathroom the rest of the week :-) He did enjoy one morning of hanging out in bed with Mommy and Daddy before the rest of the house woke up.

The men set up these tents so we didn't have to spend all of our beach time in the direct sun.
Aubrey spent the first two days at the beach under the tents because she was terrified of the water.After a morning at the beach, we came home, had lunch and everyone napped. Then MIMI got out the play dough to be played with only outside on the porch.
We spent a lot of the week finding ways to entertain 6 kiddos under 5 years of age. PawPaw went and bought a couple of kites because it was perfect kite-flying weather. The kite was a huge hit and we didn't lose one!
Another day spent under the tent playing in the sand.
Carter isn't sure what to think of the water?!?!?!
Snack Time
More kite flying but this time on the beach.
Mike is trying to teach Lily how to throw a frisbee.
The beach house had access to a pool that was located in a condo complex next door. One evening we decided to go swimming and enjoy dinner by the pool. The pool had this fun waterfall feature so all six of us took advantage of a great photo opportunity. This particular morning we decided to hang around the house and relax a little. Graham got a hold of a barbie and a tutu. I guess both little boys are used to having lots of "girl" stuff around with having older sisters.

MIMI had fun fixing the girls' hair......and painting their toenails.
Eating and throwing ice out of the coolers on the porch became a favorite pastime.
A couple of evenings were spent playing under the house and taking walks on the beach. The guys found these horseshoes at the house.
MIMI brought along plenty of chalk and bubbles. She even drew hopscotch and taught them how to play.
The Hall Children

Galveston 2010
The boys getting a wagon ride on the beach.We decided the quickest and easiest way to do bathtime was girls in one tub...
...and boys in the other.

After the first two days the weather took a change for the worse as a tropical storm was approaching the coast. We decided to take the kids to the Aquarium for something different to do.The kids LOVED looking at all the fish, especially Carter. He yelled "Shark" as loud as he could and pointed to whatever he saw the whole time we were there.

Looking at the sea urchins.

Emery was one of the few brave enough to touch them. When you put your finger on their 'belly' their 'legs' would gently wrap around your finger. It was very interesting.

Carter just wanted to play in the water.

The Hall family at the Galveston Aquarium.
The kids were given a booklet that you went around to all the exhibits and collected stamps of different fish. The girls had a great time collecting as many stamps as they could find.
Wow, that is a big shark!

Carter checking out the shark cage.

MIMI with her grandchildren

Conveniently there was a great place to eat lunch right inside the Aquarium.

Another fun pastime - feeding the birds. Unfortunately there weren't many birds and it was super windy so some of the bread just ended up back on the porch...

...but that was okay for Carter because if the birds weren't going to eat the bread he would!
There is nothing better than snuggling in bed watching a movie on a rainy day.

On the last day we were there the rain finally slowed down and the water was much safer to go into. There still wasn't much beach to walk on because the tide was so high but that didn't stop us.

Aubrey finally got over her fear of the water and had a blast splashing around with her sisters and brother.

Check out Lily's serious running in the water face!

Emery thought the sand felt pretty good all over her legs.
Carter was doing some diggin'.Here is the whole group the morning we headed home. We had a wonderful week and made many memories.

Saying "Good-bye."