GIVING THANKS FOR OUR BLESSINGS...

"Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from Him" Psalm127:3

Monday, August 27, 2012

Friends for life

We are so blessed to have such great friends.  Our friends celebrate with each other, support each other in tough times, and most of all just love each other.  Our friends are like family.  There are friends that can be away from each other for a year or so, and then pick right up as if we were never apart.  Our friends are like that.  I thank God for them every day. 
 The 3 of us have been friends for 14 years... Love these girls
 Some things never change...
 Our gang helped us "stock our bar" at our new house.  Love all these girls.
 The guys... doing their thing
 The two cute prego girls... toasting their water.
 These 3 just get better with age...
Our kids (the morning after).  5 under the age of 5.  So priceless!!!  

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Avery's 3rd Birthday!

In the midst of all the craziness with us moving into our new house, Avery turned 3 on Sunday!  We celebrated her birthday with a Dora party at a gymnastics place (just as she requested!) with lots of family and friends.  She had an absolute blast!!!!  We cannot believe we already have a 3 year old.  She is turning into just the sweetest, smartest, most fun little girl.  What a blessing she has been these 3 years!  We look forward to many many more birthdays...
 Avery at 5lbs 12oz, 1 month early
 1 year
 2 years
 3 years... our pretty little girl
 Party time!
 The kids had such a great time!
 Happy Birthday Avery!!
 This girl had the best time at her party!
 On Sunday, NaNa and PaPa suprised Avery with her jeep!
 Taking it for a little spin after church
Taking Sissy for a little ride, so much fun!!!
Can you imagine all the trouble these girls are going to get into in 13 years when this is a real jeep?!?!?  haha... 


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Life on the Farm

It's been 3 weeks since we moved out of our old house and moved in with my parents while our new house is being completed.  They graciously took us in, kids, dog, stuff, and all!  Besides the commute back and forth, our stay there has really been pretty nice.  We have been there during their busiest time of the year, corn harvest, but they have still made time to take great care of us all.  The girls and us have really been quite spoiled while staying there.  We are anxious to get into our new home, but I'm sure there are plenty of things we are going to miss.  From home cooked meals to time spent with family, rides on the gator, cousins laughing and playing together in the pool and sandbox, visiting on the back patio, and help with the girls.  It has been much better than we could have ever expected.  I think we all will be a little sad to go when it comes to an end this weekend.  Cooper has become quite the country dog, the girls will miss their NaNa and Papa and cousins, and I know we will miss all the home cooked meals and help with the girls.... Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful stay, we will never forget it! 
 Bath time is much more fun with cousins!
 Courtney is such a good Big Cousin!
 Papa and Avery
 Avery will make a beautiful bride some day!
 Poor NaNa isn't going to have any flowers left! 
 These 2 are inseparable!
 They spent an entire day together and had the BEST time!
 Playing in the sand
 Nat and Peyton... little twins!
 Garrett took Avery on a little drive to show her "farm stuff."  Love this cute little picture!
Checking out the combine
Showing her how to drive the tractor
Taking the jeep for a spin
She looks so tiny on this giant tractor
It's not hard to miss God's great creation when you live out on a farm.  From the beautiful sunsets, to the cool evening breeze, to the birds chirping, horses talking...

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A crazy couple of months!

Wow.... Have we been busy or what?!?!  I haven't blogged in almost 2 months.  Yikes!  It has been crazy around here, plus we haven't had internet connection at home, so that makes blogging a little challenging.  Will try to do a quick recap of the past 2 months.  The first weekend in June, we took at trip to Port A with our group of awesome friends.  This was Avery's 2nd trip to the beach (she absolutely LOVED it) and Natalie's 1st (she tolerated it haha). 
Natalie's first look at the beach
Daddy and Avery
Avery had the best time with all her little friends!
Avery is was a fish... she loved the water!
Natalie turned 1 on June 6.  She got a special delivery from NaNa.  She now has her own special chair like Avery!
That weekend, we celebrated her Birthday out at my parents house with family.  The big kids got to play on this awesome water slide and pool.
Natalie and Peyton enjoyed some time on the blanket and baby pool.
She wasn't so sure about the cake at first, but finally dug in!
Happy 1st Birthday sweet Girl!!!  Looking forward to celebrating many more birthdays!
 We ended June with a trip to Kansas to visit all the family there.  This was Avery and Natalie's first trip there, so they finally got to meet all the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins.  We stayed at a really neat cabin with a lake and hunting grounds.
 Daddy and Avery enjoying a little fishing together.
 Natalie had plenty of corn on the cob!
 Avery enjoyed plenty of watermelon!
 Fun times with all the cousins!
 Rogers Family Reunion
 Several of the Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren with Grandma Rogers
Smith Family Reunion
 We finally got to meet our new little Nephew Cooper!
 Our 4 babies!  Cooper 3 months, Tanner 9 months, Avery almost 3 yrs, and Natalie 1 yr
Fun times in the bathtub!
 We got home in time for 4th of July parade in Belton.  Poor Natalie had suffered with an ear infection while we were in Kansas, so we got her into the doctor and taken care of. 
 The girls
The girls and Truett, so fun!
Ted hadn't been feeling well for a week, but didn't really know what was wrong.  After the parade and a day at the lake with friends, he really started to feel bad.  The following day, we ended up in the hospital with a perforated appendix.  Fortunately, he only had to stay for about 24 hours.  Surgery went well and he recovered at home over the next week.  Oh... never a dull moment around here!!!
 We had to be out of our house by mid July so our renters could move in, so in the midst of all our excitement with Ted, we got all packed up, got the house cleaned, painted, shined and polished...  Thankfully, we had some help from our parents and a moving crew.  Unfortunately, the new place isn't ready... so our stuff is literally everywhere at this point.  We are living with my parents for a few weeks until it is done. 
 We enjoyed our last few days in our house of 9 years...
 Lots of great memories there with our girls.
We are looking forward to moving into our new home in just a couple of weeks and are very excited about making new memories with the girls there.