Leaves Everywhere!!!

Sweets broke her collar bone right before Christmas so the #1 grandkids (me, Shane, and Tess:)) went to help her out. We raked A TON of leaves! 18 bags to be exact. Tess and I decided who needed the gym...it was quite a workout!!

Phone try...

This fall we took Sweets to look at all the fun pumpkins at the Arboretum. It was great!

Moutain Home

We had a fabulous time in Mt. Home visiting with family, eating LOTS as usual, and playing at the lake. Taylor and Tony got to come with us and JAMIE took some great engagement shots (as well as these). It was great to see her and the best part is...she's coming to the wedding too! It's getting close and will be **SO MUCH FUN**!!

Taylor's Shower

Kyla and Karen gave Taylor a wonderful dinner shower! We saw lots of good friends and had great food!


Her cute "love bird" platter!

Our Anniversary

We just celebrated our 8th anniversary! Sometimes I can't believe it and others I feel like it's been forever! We had a delicious dinner at Rick's!

I love him more everyday! I am so blessed to have a loving and patient husband:)

Guatemala

In early June we visited Laura in Guatemala. We stayed in a beautiful little house in Antigua. It was great seeing her and spending time together.
This is our first picture together when we got there. We were so excited to see each other and ready to go eat WONDERFUL food!!

Our first day was spent walking through town and visiting the bank. (Nothing like being greeted by two guards with oozies)

Cathedral in the middle of town

...then, we got stuck in a rain storm. Of course several had ponchos...but when we left the house it was sunny:) We visited the market and tried to speak our "spanglish" when Laura wasn't there to help. As we where winding our way through...Laura getting further out of sight, Angie and I had a small panic moment - We don't speak the language and nobody knows the name of the house where we were staying - EEK!
Poor Ang had a linen shirt on that did not take the rainwater well:) So we decided to take a before town and after town shot:)

One of our adventures was climbing the volcano Pacaya. It never entered any ones mind that it was going to be the HARDEST CLIMB OF OUR LIVES!!! After the first 10-15 minutes Angie and I were breathing so hard we both didn't know if we would make it the hour and a half we had left to the top!
It wasn't enough that we were trying to keep up, not trip on the rocks, and roll down the mountain...several guys were trying to sell a ride to the top on "taxis" which were horses. They sniffed out our weakness, following us every time we stopped to suck in air
"Taxi??" "Taxi??"
..."No, we WILL do this!" we told ourselves more than the men:)
We had a guide who was 76...we told ourselves if he can do it (hopping around like a young goat) we can do it!
Throughout the climb Laura was translating bits of information such as:
-This volcano erupted last May. WHAT???
-The volcano in the picture below they call Agua because it filled with water and when it erupted wiped out two villages. MAYBE I SHOULD STOP LISTENING TO THE TRANSLATIONS!
-This is where the reporter died because he got too close to the eruption MAYBE THIS WASN'T THE BEST IDEA EVER!?!?

As we were nearing the top (or furthest they let you climb) we came upon this danger sign. I took this picture for mom who was full of worry before we left. Only when we got back and I was showing Taylor the pictures did I actual read the sign...oh, dear!

We finally made it! Angie and I were so excited...now we just have to go down...we had no idea what was in store. More huge rocks to climb down...running down so you wouldn't slide and get cut...trying to stop your momentum so you don't fly off the edge...


Here is our little guide. He kept stopping so we could rest and to make sure we were okay, sad I know

It was an amazing thing to see! You walk through lush forest, then everything turns black and rocky from the lava. The power it took to blast the side of this is mind blowing!!

We came upon a HUGE crater. It was so hot you couldn't stand over it because it burnt your face. We had some marshmallows so we gave roasting them a try...20 seconds later we had crispy yummy marshmallows! One guy with us from England tried to make a grilled cheese:) As we were stuffing our face we did think, "maybe we should stop eating so many. Aren't there harmful gases coming from this???"

It's no secret we love to dance (actually we force Angie:). We went to this place...pretty funny! The lights were so intense it was like we were being beamed back to the mother ship! Laura and I went to use the bathroom and pretty sure the mirror was two-way...we each guarded the other:) Then a very interesting character came to dance...stomped repeatedly on our feet but taught us a new dance which has now become a new favorite:)

The beautiful black sand beaches. We stopped at a little shack on the beach and had the BEST fish tacos of our lives!!! At least according to me, I seemed to be more excited than most. We also found a sand volleyball court and thought it would be great to play a game; however, we could only stand on the sand for about 2.2 seconds because it was so SCORCHING HOT!!!

The waves were outrageous that day, so we found this great little pool and relaxing hammocks

and a rooftop balcony

We had a fabulous time (including a trip to the "emergency room" so Shane could get stitches) It made me miss Laura even more, but she's coming home soon!!!

Shane's Birthday

Another great night with the 4 Amigos! That's what we call ourselves these days:) We are so happy Tony is joining our family! We all love each other very much (which is good because we see each other EVERY SINGLE DAY!!) and have a blast together.
Shane's birthday was June 3rd. We ate at Bailey's in Allen...YU-MMY! Then went bowling and shuffle boarding at Strike.

Buddy Fun Day

Here we are...we make our mother so proud. The theme of Buddy Fun Day (our field day) this year was Groovin' Through the Decades. Our school turned 50 so it was the perfect theme!

This is Taylor and her team. Veronica and Amanda have been wonderful teammates to Taylor and they have had so much fun together. Bet you can't guess their decade:) When all three of them got together, it kind of hurt your eyes to look at them!

Me with my fabulous team, Stacey and Jessica.

What we've been up to...

Celebrating birthdays:


Catching up with old friends:

We missed five days of school this winter with snow! It was awesome:) We watched lots of movies, ate lots of soup, and found out that you're never too old to play in the snow!

But...you can play too hard in the snow! Tony and Shane were going together to pick up more speed and this is how it turned out:( OUCH!

Celebrating engagements:

Catching up with the girls (missed you lots La!):

Going to Six Flags:
Thanks for the season passess mom!!

Attending our first hockey game:



We've been busy, busy! 22 more days left of school, last two days of track for Shane...I see light at the end of the tunnel:)