Destination Destin

My brother said it best: "My sister already said it well on her blog. 'My parents rented a nice 8 br house with a pool and hot tub. It was also right on a lake and right across the street from the beach. It was fun to see my parents and all of my siblings and for all 7 of the little cousins to get together. Aiden has 3 cousins that were born just within 2 months of him. Besides going to the beach and swimming in/relaxing by the pool, we did a little Easter Egg Hunt for all the kids, played on the playground, got pedicures, went to the Blue Angels air show, bowled, shopped at the outlets, ate way too much, played games every night, etc. Here is a picture overload:' "

On the road. Somewhere in Louisiana.

Charlotte

View from the balcony.

View from the other side of the balcony.

Candice.

Mother dear.

Dad - the one who pays for all our frivolities. Obviously it wears him out.

Teresa

No introduction needed.

Zoey.

Easter egg hunt.

The beach.

Blue Angels.

 Dad took some family pics for us. It was a cloudy windy day. I like this one. Sam's hair is awesome.

 All the cousins.

I wasn't joking about the picture overload. It was such a fun trip. I love my family. I'm grateful that my parents try so hard to get us all together.

After the car ride home, Dan and I need another vacation

Nine hours of this:

And only one hour of this:

Afton dancing

Don't worry, we haven't given her another pacifier. This was before we took hers away.

For my mom, mostly.

Lots of things in one post

First, our nephew Luke is doing much better. He is still in the ICU, but he gets better every day. He is able to move on his own, communicate, and do so many things. Now he just needs to start swallowing on his own and increase his muscle movement. Thank you all for your prayers on his behalf.

Afton turned 18 months a few weeks ago. She's 87% for weight (24.5 pounds or something), 82% for height (can't remember specifics), and 92% for head size. Of course. She isn't talking much, but has started to try more now that the pacifier is out of the picture. Speaking of, thanks to the pacifier's removal, her nap went from 3 hours down to about 1. But now that she's getting used to not having her pacifier, the naps are getting a little bit longer again. We love her.

 Before church bedhead.

Dan and I went on a date to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo again this year. If you'll recall, last year was hard to top. So we didn't. But we still had fun. We got great seats and loved the whole rodeo. We also stuffed our faces on the free food - burritos, nachos, sodas, skittles, m&m's, snickers, ice cream bars, etc. You know I stuffed my pockets, too.

 During the opening parade thing.

 This picture is for all of you who think I'm 100% supa glam all the time. As if there are any of you out there. Thanks, Dan, for capturing this side of me.

 Creeper in the back. I called him out on this one. I don't know why there's a weird shadow, either.

 His name is not Eli Young. It's Mike Young. I don't know who Eli is.

The band that night was the Eli Young bad. They were not very good. We also rode a fun carnival ride where I felt like I was getting tossed around like a rag doll and the guy next to me (not Dan - the guy on the other side) complained that he would be unable to father children. Nice. Dan thought it was just so-so. And he will still be able to father children. TMI?

Today I took the kids to the rodeo during the day. It was fun until the meltdowns. There always have to be meltdowns!

 On the shuttle.

In the petting zoo. Afton was fine with it until she came face-to-face with a goat. Then she flipped. Sam loved it, though.

 Eating lunch on a Texas bench.

I bought enough tickets for Sam to ride a few things. Here he is on a giant slide. I meant to put him on the smaller slide ride to the right, but I got confused. I'm surprised he did it!

I've taken a few more videos lately, so I'll put those up in the next few days, too.

Hair today

 Gone tomorrow.

When I went in for a cut, I decided to go ahead and donate eight inches. Still getting used to it!

18 months

Afton has hit 18 months. Dan mentioned that it seems like we've had her forever. We're lucky.

Afton is:

A-dorable
F-un
T-errific eater
O-verindulged (I carry her all the time, she gets her way a lot, etc.)
N-ever without her pacifier

She now has 4 teeth all the way in and is getting a molar. She whines a lot. She's got super cute chub. She has an awesome waddle walk and she's starting to figure out how to run. She loves her brother. She loves her parents. She loves her Aunt Gretchen. She'll try any food. She likes to dance.

To celebrate, we're clipping the tip off her pacifer. She's going to hate it. It's going to be a LLOOONNNNGGGG night!

Prayers for Luke

Our sweet little nephew, Luke, fell from the second story window of his house on Thursday afternoon while playing with his brothers. He is in critical condition in an ICU in Spokane. Please remember Luke and his family in your prayers.

 Luke this past summer.

A Lovely Valentine's Day

Valentine's started off wonderfully. Dan and I exchanged gifts. I got our engagement picture framed for him to take to his office. He got me a garden gnome. Love it.

I tried to take pictures of the kids similar to last year's. Remember these cute pics?

Man, they were little!

Anyway, I tried to take pictures again. One of the kids was being sweet and accomodating.

Afton wasn't really feeling it.

She cried when I tried to take out her pacifier.

Sam got me a sweet treat. He picked one out for himself, as well.

And I almost forgot to mention that the GE guy came and fixed our fridge! Yay! He also doubled charged me a $90 fee, but I go that taken care of. Now I'd like to turn the blog over to Dan to report on the remained of our day.

Last night, K&G babysat the kids so that Kristen and I could go out. I took my cues from the Bachelor and asked Kristen to go climb the rock wall with me at the gym. It had been about 15 years since I last climbed a rock wall, and Kristen never had.

We each climbed up the easiest wall, which was, not surprisingly, pretty easy. It was straight up, and there were lots of big "rocks" to grab onto. Then, we moved on to the second-easiest wall. I went first, and about half-way up the wall, there was a point where I had to hang on with my right hand and only the tips of two fingers on my left hand. I couldn't get past it, and eventually I came off the wall like an out-of-shape polar bear falling out of a tree.

 

I'm sure I looked around in embarrassment just like the bear.

 

Then, Kristen took a turn.  She sped up the wall like a caffeinated spider monkey.  It was amazing.  Frankly, I was too amazed to be ashamed that she outdid me.  I told her that it was her most amazing act of physical achievement ever, childbirth included.  I'm convinced that Kristen soon will have her profile inserted into this video:

I love you, squirrel baby!  Thanks for a hot Valentine's date!