The Skinner Family

Christmas Pictures 2011

2011-12-15T11:15:00.005-06:00

These were just a few of my favorites!

At the Deer Lease 2011

2011-11-08T09:11:00.002-06:00

Opening weekend, our family always goes to our deer lease near Timpson, Tx. Saturday morning, I went out and came back with this! The boys loved it, they wanted to take their picture with it. It was really foggy that morning so some of the pictures are hard to see.

The rest of the weekend, we just played around in the cabin!

It was a fun weekend!

Trunk or Treat

2011-11-04T13:31:00.003-05:00

On Sunday night, we met Mimi and Papa at their church and had trunk or treat. Matthew's sister was also there with her two kids. They were so cute! Holli was a little tinker bell and Colton was the cutest little pirate ever!

Playing the fishing game

putt-putt with Daddy

He was so excited that he was going to get to go into the fire truck!

He always plays in Matthew's trooper car, but he has never been in a fire truck before. He loved it!

This was Jonah, telling them how he was stuck in the belly of a whale for the 3 days!

Hunting for pennies!

Nathan and Aunt Jamie

They got lots of good candy!

Fall Festivals 2011

2011-11-04T13:23:00.000-05:00

For the second year in row, my sister and I have been at separate schools. Luckily, our fall festivals have fallen on different nights, so we were able to do both. This was Rozlynn's first Halloween, so I was thankful that I got to see her in her ladybug costume.

She was the cutest little ladybug I have ever seen!

Nathan has a Halloween phobia, and WILL NOT wear a costume, he totally freaks out. He is SOO scared to wear one. So we just wore jeans and Halloween t-shirt! He was still cute :)

Playing the fishing game

Making a sucker ghost

His ghost face :)

Gammy and PawPaw with all three grand kids

Look at that little face :)

Reese doing the bungee run!

My little man

Getting stickers

Rozlynn had so much fun, she passed out..lol!

Nathan on PawPaw's shoulders.

On Saturday night, Stacy's family came to our fall festival. Gammy and PawPaw had a funeral so they weren't able to come to ours. I really wanted Nathan to dress up as something, but knew he wouldn't wear a "costume" When Reese was little, he dressed up as Steve from blue's clue's. I thought he might dress up as that, since it wasn't really a costume. I was right, I couldn't dare call it a costume, but we just got dressed for the fall festival and he was so cute in it!

He even had his "handy dandy notebook!"

They all had turns at showing off their costumes...

Then it was off to the games.

I love him so much!!!

He was so cute waiting in lines, and giving his tickets at each booth.

Reese won some crazy glasses!

Nathan and aunt Stacy

Of course we saw all his friends. I didn't get a picture of all of them, but I did get a picture of some of his favorites.

He loved this light up necklace, he used it as a sword!

I'm not sure why we waited until the end of the night to get a picture of all three of them, but I think it turned out cute! It was a fun night, full of activities!

Basketball Halloween Party....

2011-11-04T12:34:00.000-05:00

This year our team Halloween party was at Taylor's house. He had our annual weenie roast and pumpkin painting contest!

Nathan and Haily

Nathan adores all the girls!

I love how they include him.

He had his very own pumpkin to paint :)

When he was done, he decided that some of the girls needed a little help painting their pumpkins.

Cassidy and Ashton

He painted "smiley faces" on their hands :)

Kelsey and Taylor

dog pile

Meagan and Chey

Haily and Meagan

Kenzie and Brianne

The next day at school, they all dressed up as nerds. It was too cute :)

Halloween at Gammy's

2011-11-04T12:19:00.000-05:00

The weekend before Halloween, we spent Saturday at my mom's house. She had several things planned for the kids to enjoy. Then we watched the Rangers in the World Series. It was a fun filled day.

The first thing we did was spider painting

Nathan always concentrates so hard when he does anything.

Reese getting started on his

Gammy helping the boys

Nathan didn't want to smile, just wanted to show off his work.... :)

Later, we had monster cupcakes to decorate..

The finished products

After the cupcakes, it was time for some monster punch...

It was great!

Lastly, we carved/decorated pumpkins.

Nathan kept re-arranging the pumpkin face, here is his pumpkin and my mickey mouse pumpkin.

All the adults participated...

It was a great day and we did lots of fun things...thanks gammy for having us.

Pumpkin Painting! :)

2011-10-23T17:38:00.001-05:00

He had a good time painting his pumpkins...

I love his concentration....

He is a little artist!

I love you so much Nathan Lee!!

Nathan with his girls....

2011-10-23T17:27:00.002-05:00

Nathan and I were at the house last Saturday night and we heard the back garage door open. When we looked up, we saw Madi and Haily. They came over to suprise us and to play with Nathan. I enjoyed there company, even though it was really Nathan's company, because when Matthew is on nights, it gets really lonely sometimes. Nathan was so excited to see them. He got his Halloween costume and started trying to scare them. Note: he won't actually put it on :)

Here he is scaring Madi....that is his girlfriend he says.

I think he got her!

Then it was Haily's turn!

Haily put it on and started chasing him around the house! :)

They were having so much fun!

Then they gave the T-Rex a drink, because he was thirsty after all that playing :)

I'm so thankful Nathan has people in his life (other than family of course) who love him and make time to spend with him.

State Fair of Texas

2011-10-23T17:13:00.000-05:00

Saturday, October 16, we went to the state fair of Texas! Nathan had so much fun riding all the rides.

Nathan with his two cousins, Holli and Colton!

He even rode the "roller coaster" with his aunt Kelly.

He was then ready for some lunch...when you go to the fair, you have to have something fried....we chose fried cheese sticks! :)

"Mommy, that's a BIG man!" -Nathan

The family with Big Tex

Then we went into the air conditioning to look at some cool cars!

Then it was back to more rides....

Nathan fell asleep while walking to the parking lot...

It was a great day of fun at the state fair!

Tuck the Turtle

2011-10-14T11:17:00.000-05:00

We took Tuck outside to play this week for a while, then we cleaned his lagoon out and put him back in it and he went crazy!! We videoed it with my phone, its a little blurry, but you can see him going crazy!! :)

today...

2011-10-13T15:25:00.002-05:00

Today I felt....
discouraged
hurt
upset
what's the use
why do I even try
hopeless
bitter
anger
struggle
revenge
dejected
weak
disappointed
fail
suffering
tears running down my face

Then I stopped and said a prayer....

Suddenly I felt:

thankfulness
gratitude
comfort
compassion
faith
grace
peace
freedom
unity
salvation
hope
love
the cross
happiness
joy
obedience

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Epeshians 5:1-2

This is so hard sometimes.

Be there for someone.....

2011-10-11T11:01:00.000-05:00

I love this!

Nathan's First Pet! :)

2011-10-05T20:19:00.001-05:00

This weekend Nathan got his first pet....a red-eared turtle! He has been wanting a pet turtle for a long time now. You may remember me posting about hatching turtle eggs, but they didn't survive. Ever since then, we have been on the hunt for the perfect pet turtle.

We found this one at first monday in Canton.

Meet Tuck the turtle!!!

Nathan thought that Tuck needed to go outside and needed a play mate, so he brought Tuck and his fake turtle outside.

He then decided to lay with the turtles...LOL!

Tuck!!

Nathan sure does love this little turtle!!

School has started.....

2011-10-03T12:32:00.000-05:00

Well, its been about a month since I have blogged. School is in full swing and so is junior high basketball. Since our school does not have volleyball, we play fall junior high basketball. Our first game was the first week of school, so I have been busy busy busy! My team this year is so awesome, they are a GREAT group of girls and are very fun to be around. Our record so far is 10-1, and we have won 2 tournaments. Here are some pictures of them after winning their second tournament this past weekend.

Dinner Play Mates!!

2011-08-28T20:18:00.000-05:00

This weekend, we were supposed to go to the deer lease with my family. The girls just pretty much hang out while the boys work on all the stands and start getting things ready for deer season. We were going to leave Saturday morning due to a class matthew was in late Friday night. About 7:30 on Friday evening, Nathan started throwing up. Needless to say, we had to stay home this weekend. We were really sad that we had to miss seeing the family, but had to get Nathan well. Mom and Dad came down Sunday night so they could see Nathan and eat dinner with us. Nathan was so excited to see them :)

I don't think him and Gammy stopped playing for 5 minutes.

He enjoyed playing with someone besides us I think.

Thank for coming Gammy and PawPaw, we love you!

We will miss you Jojo :)

2011-08-28T20:07:00.000-05:00

Last week, we had to say good bye to one of our very favorite people, Joanna! She left for college this week, and boy are we going to miss seeing her everyday. She is so special to us and always will be.

Nathan absolutely adores her as you can see!

We feel very blessed to have been a part of her life so far and look forward to seeing her play basketball at the next level this year. We love you Jojo!!

A revelation....

2011-08-12T19:08:00.000-05:00

The Lord has spoken to me in many different ways this summer and I am just trying to figure it all out. Seems like I just can't quite get all the pieces to the puzzle together yet, but I am still working on it. One thing for sure that I know of is, this verse is my new lifestyle. I am going to try and live by this 100%

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

¹¹ and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, ¹² so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

This verse just stood out to me like a sore thumb while reading this summer. Pray for me as I try to totally live by this and try to figure the rest of the stuff out that HE is trying to tell me.

I'm in the Lord's Army....

2011-08-11T17:16:00.000-05:00

Fun in the Sun...

2011-08-10T20:52:00.000-05:00

To celebrate (more like its coming rather I like it or not) my last week of summer with Nathan, we decided to have all his cousins and friends over to play with us. We set up all his toys and rented a water slide for the day. I think all the kids had a great time, and I sure enjoyed visiting with all the adults and watching the kids have so much fun!

Nathan and Colton playing at the sand table

Reese, Holli, and Riley getting ready to go down

Kolbi going down

Reese having a blast!

Braleigh's turn :)

Reese again!

Gatlin playing in the fort

Nathan at the sand table still...he loves that thing!

Holli and Colton doing bubbles on the trampoline

Kolbi, Nathan, and Riley

Holli!

Braleigh!

Gatlin!

Holli and Colton taking a turn with the blue sand!

Holli, Nathan, Riley, Reese, Ty, Gatlin and Kolbi!

How many can fit on one mini-trampoline???

Nathan enjoying his popsickle!

The adults!

Nathan playing in his fort

Lunch time!!

We had a pick-nick!! 22 corn dogs were eaten!!

Nathan was scared to do the slide when all his friends were over, but as soon as daddy got home from work, they had a lot of fun on it!

I sure do love my two boys!

We had a great time and this may just have to be a tradition every year before school starts back!

The Smurfs!!!

2011-08-10T20:24:00.000-05:00

Monday we met Gammy, Aunt Stacy, Reese, and Rozlynn in Tyler to do some back to school shopping and to watch the smurfs. The movie was so cute :) We also went to Newk's to eat, which was great! We had a fun day!

Taylor and Jay's Wedding

2011-08-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday night, we celebrated Taylor and Jay's wedding. Taylor is special to us in SOOO many ways. She was the point guard of my first team to win a state championship as an assistant coach. She was the one who jumped into my arms after the final buzzer went off. Her family is so precious to us. They have been more that parents of students. They have invited us into their home many times, we have gone to eat with them many times, and when Nathan came along, they have HELPED unselfishly!! I always know that no matter what, I can call them at ANY time (day or night) and they would come running to help us in whatever way we needed them. Last year, when Nathan's babysitter went on maternity leave, guess who stepped up and said don't worry at all, we will keep Nathan! This year Taylor is actually going to be his full time babysitter and Nathan is so excited! He loves his Tay Tay (well he loves all the Daniel's) and I can't blame him, because I love them all too!

Here is Nathan with the beautiful bride Taylor! He had to "kiss the bride"

Nathan and Madi

Waiting in line for the money dance!

Money dance with Taylor!

He sure does love her

He asked the flower girl to dance...

And they were ADORABLE

Just look at them go!

Nathan and Londyn!

I would be ok with this one day :)

Then it was Mollie's turn..

Jay and Rozlynn dancing!

They Happy Couple playing a funny game :)

Nathan had a BLAST!

Matthew and I with the bride

More Dancing

Nathan had some serious moves, and he NEVER left the dance floor (except to walk to the back and get a drink, but he was dancing the WHOLE way)

"jump, jump, jump around"

Y-M-C-A

showing more of his moves....

He was a hit on the dance floor!!

He made all sorts of new friends

Hello....we have had too much sugar!!

crazy cousins dancing all over the place :)

Nathan with Jojo

hugs for Tay Tay

Matthew dancing with Rozlynn, she was smiling so big!

This is a boy on a sugar high! 3 trips to the candy buffet and some cake :)

Me and my crazy boy!

Allie singing to Nathan

Dancing with Mommy! It was finally my turn!!

All the beautiful Daniel Girls!

Thanks for letting us be a part of your lives!

dAlLaS zOo.......

2011-08-04T21:01:00.001-05:00

A very fun day!

Fun Times...

2011-08-04T20:08:00.000-05:00

A couple of weekend ago, we went to spend the night with Danny and Kelly. We all had a blast staying with them. We don't get to see them very often with everyone's busy schedule, so it was nice to visit with them

Nathan really enjoyed playing with their dog, Jasper. Here they are waiting on Kelly to come back upstairs!

It was too cute :)

We decided that we would go to the new grapevine sea life aquarium. (Note: Purchase your tickets online ahead time so you don't have to wait FOREVER to get in!)

Nathan loves all sorts of animals so he had a blast looking at them all. They wouldn't let us use a flash inside, so the pictures didn't turn out to great, but we still had fun!

They had 360 degree tunnel to walk through and a shark walk!

Checking out the sharks!

After the aquarium, we took Nathan to the Magic Time Machine! We had to wait a little bit so Nathan enjoyed playing with aunt kelly!

His bubbly potion drink. He saw all the smoke and said "whew, its hot!" The drink was ice cold! Nathan really thought that was cool!

We even had superman as our waiter :)

It was a great time!

That night, Nathan enjoyed playing in aunt kelly's big bathtub with his new turtle!

He is showing us how is works. That thing really swims fast!

Play time before bed!

We had a great time staying with Uncle Danny and Aunt Kelly!!

Jesus loves the little Children....

2011-07-22T11:16:00.000-05:00

I love listening to Nathan sing in the car. This video may be a little shaky but I was driving and videoing him at the same time, so I just held my phone behind me in hopes that it would get him on film!

Friends

2011-07-22T09:48:00.000-05:00

Friends in Action

Marybeth Whalen
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (NIV)

What makes a good friend? Someone who runs errands for you when you’re sick? Who takes your kids off your hands when you need a break? Who sits with you over a cup of coffee and listens? Someone you can count on to see the latest chick flicks with you? Someone who challenges you to be a better wife, mother, and follower of God?

In each of these examples, we see friendship taking an active form. As I have studied the Bible, I see three instances of friendship in action. Job 2:11-13 shows us how Job’s friends came to help him as he faced hardship. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar dropped everything to go comfort their friend — even if it was just to sit silently beside him. They knew that just their presence and willingness to listen would comfort him.

Acts 28:15 gives us a glimpse into how just the sight of trusted friends can encourage us. Paul’s friends heard he was coming so they traveled a great distance to greet him. For Paul this was a huge blessing. Sometimes just knowing someone is willing to make an effort on your behalf will put wind in your sails. I love that Paul first thanked God for his friends. I want to remember, like he did, that friends are a gift from God.

Acts 12:12-19 tells us how Peter’s friends couldn’t be with him because he was imprisoned. But that didn’t stop them from doing what they could. They gathered together to pray. The King James Version of Acts 12:5 says that they were literally praying “without ceasing.” These friends knew that corporate prayer was an action they could take on behalf of their friend who needed them.

Whether we physically go to our friend’s side or spiritually partner with them in prayer, we can look to these examples from the Bible as to how to be friends in action.

In a society that is more and more driven to social media, texting, and emailing as a way to stay connected, we cannot overlook what taking physical action in real time can mean. We can be active in faith, in love, in joy, in kindness. We choose to act because we understand that we are God’s hands and feet to those He puts in our lives. Yes, it takes extra effort, time, and even money to be an active friend. But the blessings outweigh the effort as we live according to the examples God has given us.
Dear Lord, help me to be a friend who takes action. When You lay someone on my heart, help me to feel a sense of urgency to move on their behalf. Help me to follow these Biblical examples and be a friend in action, not just in thought. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Most of you probably get these daily devotionals from Proverbs 31 ministries, but when I read this today, I couldn't help but be thankful for the friends in my life and I could only hope that I am there for them like God wants me to. It's hard to find true friends that aren't family, but I am lucky to have a few here where we live (where God put us). Friends are a blessing.

Our turtles didn't survive....

2011-07-19T10:55:00.000-05:00

On the 4th of July, we found turtle eggs at my parents house. They had washed up from the water on the water slide. We couldn't bear just throwing them out, so my dad re-buried in this tub in hopes they would survive. Nathan loves turtles, so we took them home. We watered a little everyday. There was a total of 4 eggs.

Last week, one egg surfaced and it was cracked. You could see the little turtle in there that didnt survive.

We still had hopes that the other 3 would make it.

This morning we woke up and noticed all of them had hatched, but the turtles didn't make it. It was sad.

Look at that little shell. :(

I knew it was a very little chance that they would survive, but I was hoping they would. Nathan was excited about having a turtle. Looks like we will be making a trip to pet smart in the near future.

Bragging Rights....

2011-07-17T19:37:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I know that I brag on my little Nathan all the time, but he continues to impress me daily. Today we were coloring with markers and he drew three pictures all by himself. I was so proud of him. They were really good. I didn't get any pictures of him actually drawing because he was in my lap and I was helping open and close the markers, but I did get pictures of the finished product! Here they are....be ready to be amazed, ha!

Drawing #1: Snakes

Look at the detail: several colors and each one has its own head

Drawing #2: A Face

Look at the detail: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and hair

Drawing #3: Volcano

Look at the detail: A few boiling bubbles at the top left, hot colored lava, the mountain is outlined in black and colored brown

He kept saying "hot lava" while he was drawing this one

Ok, so he may not be Picasso, but for a not even 2 1/2 year old, I would say it is pretty good and I was one impressed mommy!

Note: I did not help him at all, he told me which colors he wanted to use and what he was drawing as he was drawing :)

One of our favorite things this summer.....

2011-07-15T11:44:00.000-05:00

Is going to the water park! Nathan absolutely loves it and I love watching him have so much fun. The children's part is probably the best one I have ever seen at a water park as far as so much to do and how clean it stays. We go at least once a week, sometimes more. The best part is Nathan is free!!!

The bucket cracks him up....

He even does the slides by himself!

belly time!

Going up to the big yellow slides!

He is just precious!

We love our days at the water park!

Playing with a goldfish....

2011-07-12T17:34:00.002-05:00

My 27th!

2011-07-06T09:27:00.000-05:00

For my birthday this year, Matthew took off and we spent the day together as a family! It started with Nathan bringing me breakfast in bed! Then we went to Fire Mountain Amusements to have a little fun!!

Nathan and Me waiting to ride the bumper boats!

Here we go....

It was so much fun, but we got soaked!!

Matthew and Nathan waiting in line for the go carts

He wanted to ride with mommy :)

Then we went inside to cool off and play some games!

Nathan hit the jack pot on one game and got 1000 tickets!!!!

Of course we had to play a little basketball!

Nathan with all of his tickets!

He picked out some good prizes!

A huge hammer, a shark, an alligator, an airplane, and a ring pop!

He played with his new toys all the way home!

That night, Matthew and I went to eat at Four Winds Steakhouse. They have the best steak we have ever tasted. We love going there. If you ever get a chance, you need to go eat some of their steak. Totally Delicious!!!

When we got back, the boys had a special cheesecake for me and sang happy birthday.

It was the best birthday a girl could ask for!!

Spending the night with Meme and Paw!!

2011-07-06T09:03:00.000-05:00

Sunday night, July 3rd, we spent the night with Meme and Paw. I remember this was one of my favorite things to do when I was little so I wanted Nathan to get to experience it. We got there a little late do to all the 4th festivities, but we still had a blast. Nathan and Meme played with the animal puzzle. If you anything about Nathan, you know he LOVES animals!

Then he played with the see and say with Paw.

Bath Time!!

He loved playing on the organ.

Then we turned on his cartonns and winded down for night night time!

The next morning, Paw made pancakes and bacon! Nathan ate some but was more interested in playing. Meme got a dinosaur book out for him. He thought is was so funny when she would growl and act like a dinosaur to him.

He had to show Paw!

He loved it!

We had a great time!

4th of July!

2011-07-06T08:41:00.000-05:00

HaPpY 4tH oF jUlY!!

This year we went to Quitman for two days, spending one with Matthew's side of the family, and the other with my side. The Skinner's had a pool and a slip-n-slide set up. Nathan loves playing in the water and as soon as we got there, that is what he wanted to do!

He has so much fun playing in the water :)

After all the playing, it was time for some snack!

I think Nathan likes watermelon as much as me :)

Me and Jamie

Colton and Sharon

Ethan was pretending to be a muddy monster, Holli and Nathan were loving it.

After all the water play, we came inside and Mimi had 4th of July goodie bags for the kids.

Nathan was excited

The next morning, I opened some presents for my birthday before we left.

I got some nice things!

Nathan picked out silly hats for all his cousins, so right before we left, we snapped a few pictures.

Colton didn't want in the picture

We then headed to my parents house and gave Reese his silly hat, and Rozlynn a bow!

They are so cute :)

My mom had a birthday cake for me, it was one of my favorite kinds!!

Nathan enjoyed licking the candles!

I got to open a few more presents before we went out and played on the water slides!

Reese drew this sweet card for me. It is his and Rozlynn's hand in the shape of I love you :)

Nathan loves playing with Travis :)

Water slide time!

More watermelon :)

Nathan was following Aunt Wawa (Laura) around all day!

We had a great time at both houses!

We headed back home to unpack, then we went to town to meet Matthew (who had to work all weekend :/ ) to watch some fireworks.

We met up with some friends to watch the show!

Nathan thought it was so cool to see all the colors in the sky!

Happy 4th everyone!

Beaver's Bend Day 4/5

2011-07-01T15:25:00.000-05:00

On day four, we went rock hunting on the river. The water was so cold, but we had fun looking through all the rocks.

Nathan and Matthew filling up Nathan's bag

My little Family!

After all the rock hunting, we went and road the paddle boats to cool off!

Then we enjoyed snow balls!

On the way back to cabin, we stopped off and road some go carts!

Nathan wanted to ride with his aunt Stacy, so me and Matthew had cars to ourselves.

Nathan absolutely loved it!

His head barely showed! It was so cute :)

Day five was just loading up and coming home.

It was a great trip and we did not want to leave!

Beaver's Bend Day 3

2011-07-01T14:27:00.000-05:00

Day Three was full of fun stuff!

We started by riding the train around part of the park. The boys were so excited to ride it. Nathan kept singing, "All aboard the choo choo train, all aboard the choo choo train"

They wanted to ride together...

But as soon as it started, Nathan crawled back in between Mommy and Daddy!

We saw three deer. I couldn't really get a good picture, but you can see it here.

Nathan really enjoyed it and loved looking for the animals that we could see!

We went to the candy/ice cream shop afterwards.

Reese picked cotton candy!

Nathan picked a big sucker!

Later that day we went to Janet's treasure chest because they had an animal land. We did build a buddy.

Nathan picked a black dog. Here he is pushing the button to stuff his dog.

Kissing the heart!

All finished :)

Reese picked a raccoon.

OOPS! A little too much stuffing :) We had white stuff everywhere!

All finished :)

Reese named his Bandit and Nathan named his Lucy.

We then went to a few more souvenir shops and took some more pictures of the cute kids!

After shopping, we decided to get in the hot tub....we turned the heater down for the boys so it was like a little swimming pool.

Nathan is the master splasher!!

After dinner, the boys went fishing and the girls and kids played a little putt-putt!

They were so cute playing.

He didn't understand why it took his ball at the end. He kept going back and checking for it.

We all had such a good time playing!

Beaver's Bend Day 2

2011-07-01T13:20:00.000-05:00

Day Two, we woke up and went to the bumper boats! Reese had been wanting to go for weeks before we got there! Nathan loved it too!!

We left the bumper boats and headed to the swimming area. We didn't get any pictures because we were all in the water. Nathan thought it was cool to swim in the lake, he kept saying how big it was :)

That night we went to one of the local Mexican food restaurants and just hung out around the cabin.

Beaver's Bend Day 1

2011-07-01T13:06:00.000-05:00

For our vacation this year, we headed to Beaver's Bend Oklahoma to stay for five days in a very nice cabin with the rest of my family. We had so much fun, and I took way too many pictures. I am going to have to break it down by days so don't overload the uploader!

It was so nice to just get away and go camping. Beaver's Bend State Park is just beautiful, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Here we are loaded and leaving the house!

When we got there, Gammy gave Nathan his very own DS! He was excited because that's all that Reese plays and he likes to do the same things as his big cousin. She bought him a wonder pets game so it was age appropriate :) Thanks Gammy!

Baby Rozlynn is always looking so cute in her big bows!

We put a kiddie pool on the deck by the hot tub for the boys to splash in...

And by splash I mean that Nathan will completely soak you with all of his splashing!

Then it was time to go inside and play some DS!

Me and Rozlynn

We then went for some coffee at the local shop but when we got there, they were already closed, so we just took pictures of the kids at the pond near by!

We ended the first day with snow cones for the boys, then headed back to the cabin and watched the guys fry us some fresh fish!!

BIg Boy Underwear :)

2011-06-28T13:16:00.000-05:00

We are by no means potty trained yet, but we are working hard at it! Nathan has so much interest in it some days, and other days, he would just rather go in his diaper! I try not to get frustrated and just encourage him.

None the Less, he is ADORABLE in his big boy underwear!!!

We did make one outing in his underwear for about an hour and he had no accidents!!! I hope he gets this down soon. Diapers are expensive! :)

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-28T12:54:00.000-05:00

On Saturday of Father's Day weekend, Dan and Jan came up for lunch. We had a good time with them before they had to go to Forney.

On Sunday, we woke up early and made pancakes for Daddy! Nathan loves to help me cook!

He was did such a good job :)

Him and his daddy enjoyed them!

We then went to see my dad!

Uncle Chris and Reese

Matthew

Paw

We had a great day and are thankful for all of the wonderful father's in our lives. We love you all and especially you Matthew. I couldn't ask for a better daddy to our son!

High 5 to the Sky 5K!

2011-06-28T12:40:00.000-05:00

On June 11th, we participated in the "High 5 To The Sky 5K" in honor of our Uncle Kip. He went to be with the Lord right about a year ago. He was a runner and it was something that he enjoyed with his kids, so in his memory, they put on a 5K in his name. It was great! Several people came out and helped support a great cause. This was Matthew and Nathan's first 5K with me!

Reading all the signs made me tear up....

This is all of the family that was there participating

My friend Alice came too!

Nathan was excited that his aunt stay-say, was going to push him!

He making sure everything was just right with his stroller :)

About to start...

I just finished H52S!

Then Matthew finished!

I went back and helped Stacy, so we could all run through the finish line together!

Nathan was so excited to be "running"

My family!!

My sister, aunt Laura, and cousin Travis came. It was really special to me that came and honor a man that I deeply loved! (it wasn't on there side of the family) I really appreciate that!

My sister/best friend!

My Sister ~~in law~~, Jamie!

The Skinner family that participated! We missed you Danny, Kelly, and Kyle!

Sweet Cousins!

Me and Traci, the girl who put it all together....GREAT JOB!! Your dad would be so proud of you!!

Me and sweet Aunt Vicki! It was a great day with some great people!!

Memorial Day 2011

2011-06-01T17:00:00.001-05:00

Memorial Day was spent with Gammy and Pawpaw. The boys had a great time :)

Almost Summer.....

2011-05-31T17:05:00.001-05:00

Well it is the weekend before summer starts...and we can't wait!

Last year Judy gave Nathan this pool at the end of the summer. We didn't get a chance to blow it up then, but this past weekend we tried it out! Nathan had a blast! It is the perfect size for him and he doesn't have to wear floaties (which he hates)!

He was so tired after playing that he told me he was ready to take a nap! I think we will be playing with this a lot in the summer!!!

Holding Rozlynn.....

2011-05-31T16:47:00.001-05:00

Nathan's girlfriends!

2011-05-31T16:41:00.000-05:00

Two very special girls came over to play with Nathan, ~~they~~ (Nathan) had so much fun!

Mother's Day

2011-05-19T12:35:00.000-05:00

This year we spent Saturday with my mom and got to have lunch Sunday with Matthew's mom.

It was a great Mother's Day!

I LOVE being a mom to this little guy!!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Family Pictures

2011-05-10T12:31:00.000-05:00

For mother's day, we had a sweet friend, Kathryn, take our pictures. She did a great job! I loved the way they turned out. It's not easy taking our pictures because Nathan does not stay still for longer than 5 seconds.

Thanks Kathryn, we love them!

Reese's 1st T-ball game

2011-05-08T18:38:00.000-05:00

Way to go Reese!