L-O-V-E

4th of July 2011

I hope every family enjoyed their 4th of July celebrations as much as we did this summer! The 4th is one of my favorite holidays, although it's usually so hot you can't see straight, it's also the biggest celebration of the summer and I just look forward to it every year. This year we spent the 4th in Broken Bow with my family. Lindall's shift fell on that weekend so we made him a little 4th of July gift to show him how much we would miss him while we were gone. Although I'm sure he would much rather been with us....he did love his flag made from his little "mini me's" hands and feet.

Our friends Janna, Asher, and Abram came over to paint with us! They are some of our very best friends in the world!

Tristan is such a hard little worker!

This is a picture of the boys from last 4th of July....

...and one of them on the same bench from this 4th of July....I can not believe how fast they grow!

4th of July

Dalton and I ready to hit the lake! Papa T and KK had reserved an awesome boat for us for the weekend in Broken Bow....we all LOVED it! Mama (that would be me speaking in the third person) even got caught up on a little slalom skiing and attemps at wakeboarding, but you will find no evidence of that here! Oh no no no no....you will not!

The boys love helping Papa T feed on the Ranger...and of course Josie has to make every trip with them. She's such a sweet girl!

Dalton didn't bother to wake up once we got to the marina...he just kept on snoozin'! That boat ride put him fast asleep!

Summer Fun!!!

Dalton has so much fun with his cousin T!

We love him very much!

More from the South

I finally got my video camera pics uploaded from our Savannah/Charleston trip and had to share!

We were on the beach at Tybee Island- Dalton's first trip to the beach!!!

We saw several jellyfish that had washed ashore....not sure what happened to the pics though.

Dalton thought the water rushing up around him was pretty neat!

After our stroll on the beach we thought we'd let Dalton air out with his diaper change...

and the fresh ocean breeze got the best of him!

Memorial Day Weekend

Yay!!! The first big holiday weekend of the summer is here! We have had a great Memorial Day weekend! We've gotten a lil bit of everything in....

the most adorable bulldog puppy at the BBQ Cookoff....

lil football with Dalton's buddy at the Blues and Jazz Festival...

lil bit of a tribute to the Blues Brothers....:)

lil bit of dirt work....

and a lil bit of some fire truck training! (visiting Daddy at work)

But most of all we were grateful to those that have fought and died to defend our freedom so that we can enjoy such luxuries as these! Thank you all! May God have His hand on our country!

The South

Our family recently returned from a trip to Savannah, GA and Charleston, SC. I cannot say enough how in love I am with the true South. My mother-in-law lives in Tennessee and she is who we went to visit. Usually we go visit her in Tennessee, but this time we met in Greenville, SC and from there took a road trip to Savannah and Charleston. Savannah was just the most charming and beautiful town. I loved all of the gigantic Live Oak trees with all the Spanish Moss (which is neither Spanish or moss, I learned) hanging from their endless limbs. The architecture was amazing and the history even more intriguing. I can't wait to go back! Oh and dare I not mention the food! The food was just down my alley. It reminded me of my late grandma's cooking that I still crave today! Greens, black-eyed peas, cobblers, cornbread, fried chicken, and ofcourse sweet tea! Mmmmm....gettin' hungry!

Forsyth Park Fountain-Savannah

Pineapple Fountain - Charleston

Magnolia Plantation- Charleston

The Lady & Sons (Paula Deen's Restaurant)- Chicken Pot Pie

Pretty Please....with sugar on top!

I want my hubby to make this coffee table for me :)

I got the idea from shanty-2-chic....except hers was a "I did this without my hubby" project. I'm not sure I trust myself that much with power tools! Maybe I'll have Lindall show me how use those. He seriously can do anything! I'm so proud of my lil handy man.

Oh blackberry cobbler, how I LOVE thee!

Blackberry cobbler is one of my favorite desserts! I go to a blackberry patch outside of town every year, at least a couple of times and load up on these yummy berries! I love eating them with a little whipped cream, in cobblers, on icecream, in smoothies, and I also love love love making jelly out of them. Can't wait 'til its pickin' season again! It won't be long. This pic is from SouthernLiving.com and they have 100 berry recipes posted....check it out!

How great is our God!

I am so thankful for all of the blessings that God has given me and my family! Yesterday I was completely overwhelmed and humbled at God's goodness when my husband was baptized. Lindall has been a faithful Christian for several years now, but he never had gotten baptized. With Lindall's baptism yesterday I was reminded of what an awesome God we serve! His goodness and faithfulness NEVER leaves us. When we allow our lives to get too busy and we let other things take priority over Him...He never changes. He is always loving us and showing His underserved mercy and grace to us. God YOU ARE so good! Thank you for such a wonderful husband who is leading our family in Your ways! He is so precious to me.

Papa T

Dalton loves him some Papa T!!!

OKC Zoo

Grandma "D", Aunt Kristin, Lindall, and I took Dalton to the OKC Zoo for the 1st time this year. Okay, so technically they all took Dalton and I to the zoo for the 1st time....but who cares to know about my deprivation of the zoo as a young child? Nobody, okay.

I didn't realize what I was missin'! The zoo is soooo much fun! (Providing it has no interruption on naptime.) We've been 3 weeks in a row and plan to make it as much as possible this year before it gets miserably hot. We went back with my sister and nephew and the boys LOVED the children's zoo and water park. Great way to end the hot day with tired kiddos! We wore those boys down! And thanks to Grandma "D" we have a season pass...so those monkeys will know us by name!

It was so neat to see this bear so close. His claws were CRAZY! They were so big! It looked like they may have filed them...I'm not sure if they do or not....but if they had, I cant imagine what they would've looked like if they hadn't been. YIKES!

Angel Fire, NM 2011

This February Lindall and I took our first trip together without Dalton to Angel Fire, NM to go snow skiing. We missed him ALOT but he was happy while we were gone so we were able to enjoy ourselves. We went with a few other firefighter families and had a great time! The skiing conditions couldn't have been better!!