Kensley's 4th Birthday

So it's only 4 months late.... Kensley had a GREAT 4th birthday. She invited her friends from her MDO class- they hadn't seen eachother all summer so they all enjoyed it! I was pleased with all the decorations and was just glad the kids all had fun! I love how she got Ben and Kent to join in..... and Kyle loved the fact he was filming- so he didn't have to go play!

Visit from Nonnie, Poppy & Ging

We love visits from family! My parents and grandmother came last weekend for my birthday :) I always enjoy my birthday love I get from them - they are always so good about making us feel special, no matter how old we are. I will admit though, the older I get, the less I really care it's my birthday- the more I care about just getting to see my mom/dad/ging/whoever. Anyways, my mom and I did some speed shopping- and by speed, I mean SPEED! We didn't have much time- but I was able to find some cute tops. We ate cake when we got home and then ended the evening at Rosa's. Yummy!

New home

We are moved in! Yea!!! We are trying to get into a routine now. It's so nice to be together again. Here are a few pictures I've managed to snap. I need to upload the ones from my phone, too.

1st morning at their new home. Kallie loved the stairs.


She also liked the boxes in our bedroom. So Kensley kept shutting her in them.


I happened to have my camera and snapped this picture. We were testing out the sprinkler system and I came out to see this. How sweet!


Playing outside last night. They did NOT want to come in! Can you tell it's H-O-T. Heck, we're in Texas!



Tomorrow is our first play date. We get to meet about 7 other moms. Kensley is so excited!

Beating the heat

We have been trying to stay cool (outside) in all this heat. Luckily we have the pool to fill up and sprinkler to turn on. As usual. :)





The girls also enjoy just going outside and play with Roxy. She's Grumpy & Nana's cat.


She is rough!



It's monkey see - monkey do around here these days :)

iPhone pictures galore!

I was going through my phone looking at pictures I've taken--- but never uploaded to the internet. I don't really need these to print- I'd just like to have them somewhere for future reference. :)

So here's a little bit of everything....

Sunny days

Well, yesterday was nice and hot again so we headed outside after naps. I called a neighbor and she brought her girls over too. We had a nice time! :)





This was Kallie's first time to play with the water table. She loved it!


While it was a beautiful day here---- storms were quickly brewing down in Texas where our family is. My mom called about 9 and jokingly said she was calling to say I love you - just in case their electricity and stuff went out and what-not. My dad was outside looking at the weather- there were some crazy pictures posted on Facebook of the sky. It looked scary. Well, I put Kensley down and laid with her until she fell asleep. I woke up and looked at the clock. 10:30. AHH! I had fallen asleep for a while in her bed and now I had to get the house picked up and start editing pictures. I looked at my phone to see a few missed calls and texts from Kent and my mom. The voicemail from my mom said "we've called 911!". My heart dropped. Tears rushed in my eyes. I called her and she said the lake house (where my brother lives) had caved in. My brother had called her to tell her he was trapped. By the time 911 got out there, he was able to crawl out. It was dark out, so they couldn't really tell the full extent of damage until this morning. Luckily my brother's truck was still ok, so he drove into town to my parents' house. He was a mess. I can't even imagine what he was feeling. Everything he owned had been destroyed by, what we think could have been, a tornado. Devastating. He talked my dad and Uncle Jimmy into going back out there to recover some things. My dad said it was a mess. It was hard to describe what it all looked like.

I woke up this morning wanting to call my mom (but it was only 6 at her house, so I knew everyone was still asleep). When they all got up, they went back out to the house to assess the damage. She said it was unbelievable. Whether it was straight line wind or tornado--- it was crazy. The only place in the house that was still intact was the closet- where Kevin was. His pillows still in there. A huge tree branch on his bed. Half of the house looked like it was lifted up and moved over a few feet. There were certain areas in the house that were left untouched. Amazing. His dog that was outside- in her pen. Perfectly fine. The pen didn't move. The back porch completely ripped off the house- I'm not sure they even know where it is? And the most amazing part of all of this----- no one else at the lake (to our knowledge) had this extent of damage done. On the drive out there, the roads were fine; no debris. Nothing.

Amazing, huh? What is God trying to tell us? Kevin was spared his life. Again. God has a purpose for Kevin, I know. He could have easily been crushed in that house. But he wasn't. He had no injuries. What is God trying to show us? My mom and I talked and I told her maybe God was clearing off that lot so they could build out there? ;) The lot next door is for sale too. Hmmm........ who knows. All we can do is pray. For some sort of direction. For Kevin to develop child-like faith through all of this. To know that God is going to take care of him and his needs. And for my parents- my mom is one of the strongest people I know. She has gone through a lot... and her faith in God has never changed. Just one of the many things I love about her. I know they'll be ok. And I thank God that he kept my family safe through the storm. Material things can be obtained again-- I'm just thankful to have my family. I can't wait to get to Texas soon and see everyone.

So if you are reading this and are a praying person, please send prayers to my family. There is power in prayer.

<3





We'll have to try some family pictures when KENT is in town! I hated that he's not in these :(