Montana Trip

We made it back safely from our trip to Montana. We had a wonderful time visiting with Aaron's family, including his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. Most of our trip consisted of waking up early and heading out to Glacier Park, where we went on various small hikes with the kids, viewed many waterfalls, had picnic lunches, threw rocks into lakes, and fed ground squirrels. The Going to the Sun Road finally opened at the end of the week, so we were able to drive up there, see all of the snow still on the mountains, and do a little sledding.

The girls had the opportunity to see many animals that we don't have the chance to see here in Texas, including bighorn sheep, mountain goats, moose, and a black bear.

Aaron, his brother Nathan, and I (accompanied with our bear spray) headed out the middle of the week for a 6 mile hike into bear country for the guys to do some trout fishing. The 2 hour hike in, 5 hours of fishing, and 2 hours hiking out were a little exhausting, but the successful fishing made it worthwhile. Plus, we got to see a mother moose and her twins drinking water out of Cutbank Creek when we first started our hike-pretty amazing! I still can't believe that Aaron and I did that same hike twice, plus another longer hike all in the same week back in '05. It's amazing what a few years will do to your body!

I know Aaron is missing the mountains greatly, but hopefully, we will be able to make another trip with the girls in a few years. Thank you Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Smith for opening your house to all of us and putting up with a little chaos for 8 days. We miss you guys and feel so blessed to have spent time with you!

While Mommy is Away...

The girls will stay up late and have a movie night with daddy!

Happy Anniversary!

Most of my postings are child-centered, so I thought I would spend a moment posting about my husband. Aaron is an amazing husband and dad! He works so hard so that I am able to stay home with the girls and I am so grateful! It seems like our first encounter at Texas A&M was so long ago, but I will forever remember that day. I can recall conversations we had while dating of my intentions to never get married, but he stole my heart, and today we are celebrating 7 wonderful years of marriage. He is my best friend and I love him more than he'll ever know. Happy Anniversary Aaron!

Hanging out with the Torres Boys

My friend Stephanie invited the girls and I over for a play date last week. Her boys got a new swing set that is really nice so we had to go try it out! The kids had fun swinging, sliding, and climbing around. Ashton had the most fun playing in his splash pool. I think if we had a back porch area like Steph's, we would be outside most of the day, even in the heat...maybe one of these days.....

Having Fun

Despite the heat last week, the girls had fun playing outside with their babies. I had to post these pictures b/c the girls were actually staying still long enough for me to take them.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial weekend was a busy time for us. Aaron's birthday was on Friday, May 28th. Birthdays are not a big deal to him, but they are to me, so I at least wanted to have his favorite dessert for him when he got home. I was determined to get started early on his apple pie in case I ran into a disaster. I have only made it twice and there are a couple of reasons for that. First of all, it takes some serious concentration, which is hard with two young ones running around constantly needing something. Secondly, after rolling out the crust and then trying on a couple of occasions to unsuccessfully transfer it to the pie dish, I find myself wanting to throw the whole thing in the trash. However, I was determined to get the pie made, so I kept reminding myself that I was baking for my loving husband. I can't say it was the prettiest site to see, but I thought the pie tasted great and that was all that really mattered!
Aaron wanted to spend Saturday at the zoo, so we got up early and headed straight for the new "Giants of the Savanna" exhibit. I was really impressed with the new home for the elephants, cheetahs, lions, and giraffes. Aaron and the girls know my fascination with giraffes, so I was excited to see that you can now buy food and feed them. We didn't spend the money to do so, but a visitor was nice enough to hand over some of his surplus lettuce so the girls could. The girls also got to experience their first camel ride, which my big girl Makenzie decided she would do herself. She is so much more fearless than I was at her age. I am constantly amazed at what she will do with little trepidation. Later in the evening, we went to dinner at Pappadeaux's and then came home for more dessert.
Sunday we spent time with our friends the Clarksons and Renfros. Aaron grilled for all of us and the kiddos had fun playing in the bounce house, throwing the football with the adults, and loving on baby Malorie. It was hot outside, but we had a great time.
On Monday, the girls and I headed to my friend Brook's house so see Kylie ride her new big girl bike and to let the girls play while our husbands played basketball. We followed our outing with a pool visit and then had the Alcorns over for dinner later in the evening. The girls had fun playing dress up while Beck just sat back with his daddy and looked at books. Poor boys is so outnumbered when we get together. It will be fun to see how the dynamics change once he starts to crawl and then walk. Will the girls decide that cars and trucks are more interesting than baby dolls and dress up clothes? Only time will tell....

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend with family and friends!