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:)

So Cute!

So, let me start this out by saying...I am not a crafty person. Taylor sucked it all out on her way out of the womb I do believe. I always have these great ideas in my head, then when I try them out, it looks like one of my first graders did it. However, I let Taylor talk me into it AND I DID IT!! (and it's not half bad)
It all started one cold, rainy night last week. We were at Karen's and saw the cutest little wreath made from burlap. We asked her about it and she said Kyla made it. So, Kyla being the wonderful woman that she is sent us the directions. She found it on another blog ( jonesdesigncompany.com ) and it just so happens that Taylor and I have become completely obsessed with this lady now!
It's just great how all this mess can turn into something cute! You can go to the above website for a tutorial...but basically you wrap the wreath, create a ruffle, glue it on, then add cute details.

Here are Taylor's Fall details up close. We got tons of different fabric to change along with the seasons.

My new wreath and it's new home! Taylor's is better than mine (of course) I had had some minor set backs, but for my first craft project EVER...I thought it turned out great!

A Day with Landry

Saturday we went to Loren and Michael's house to watch some football. That means we also got to spend the day with adorable Landry! We had so much fun and love them all so much! Thanks for having us!

My pride was dented when I found that she seemed to like Shrek more than me:(

Character Day 2010

These are from our annual character day. You may remember last year...The Three Little Pigs. This year first grade did It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Third grade did Magic School Bus, and Kinder did There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. So fun! PS Incase you don't see the resemblence, I'm Sally.

 

 

 

 

Busy, busy

School has started and I feel like I never stop! We have new curriculum this year and I feel like I am living at school! The thing I love about first grade is they are so honest...even when you don't want to hear it. Story of the first day:
(the names have been changed to protect the innocent)

We walk the kids to music the first day...

Teacher: Hi, I'm the new music teacher. I would like to introduce myself (bending to the children's level). I am Mr. Smith.

Student: Hi, but I would just like to tell you that your breath smells pretty bad, I mean...it's REALLY stinky!

Teacher: I'll have to work on that.

What do you do at that point???

Already August??

I can't believe August is here already! Now I am fast and furiously completing projects my last two weeks of summer that I told myself from the first day of summer I should be doing. Ugh! Ain't life grand:)
On a good note, Shane started football yesterday with his new job at Berkner High School coaching linebackers. Yea Shane!! He's having fun even though it is crazy hot!!