Vacation

Since my last post things have been BUSY BUSY BUSY!!! I have attended parties, traveled, garage saled, and spent time with Ryne and the kids. I am currently enjoying some much needed time with my family. I can't wait to blog about my mothers day and our early fathers day and trips and everything in between, but for now, I am taking a little blog vacation and just enjoying my life. It is full, and it is busy, and it is WONDERFUL! Hope everyone is enjoying life as much as I am. See yall soon!

Fun with Friends

The group at Eva's Bridal Shower!


Steph, Ang and I went to Olive Garden for desert after a long day!

John and Ang

This is Angie, Alivia, and Joy (Angie's sister) There was a day in between their birthdays so they celebrated together in the middle. They even invited me to share in birthday icecream!

This week in the Education department they are giving out free snow cones. Angie and I headed up with the kids for a nice treat. They, of course, loved it!

A friend of mine in MSH is due to have baby #2 this summer. They are moving next week after graduation though. We had a big group of girls get together to celebrate with her and enjoy some fellowship.

Today I had the most fabulous lunch. I tried Little Thai House for the first time. I ate with some awesome ladies who have become great friends.

As you can see I am very blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. These past few weeks I have celebrated upcoming marriages, birthdays, friendships, and so many more things. Ryne and I each have 1 more final tomorrow and then we have a jam packed day of fun planned for tomorrow to celebrate the end of the semester.

Air Show

Wow! The Saturday before our last week of classes we all headed to our very first Air Show. It was really special because this was our very first family outing as a family of four. (that is if Wal-mart doesn't count) The kids did SO good. All morning we talked with Riley about how we were going to see the planes and she was so excited. I just loved watching Ryne's eyes light up like a kid in a candy store. He kept telling me all about the different planes or some of the tricks that we got to see. Riley and Sam loved to point at the planes and make noises. We left about 9:00 in the morning and didn't get home til right at bed time. The kids hardly made a fuss the whole day. It was just what our family needed. The last two weeks of school are pretty stressful around our house. With both of us finishing up end of semester projects, tests, and papers (not to mention finals following after) it was really nice for us to have some family time before the busy days ahead. I can't wait to take the kids again.

Friday Night Date

I have been so behind with finals I am majorly playing catch up but here is some of what has been going on lately....

Ryne and John (Angie's husband) both work most Friday nights. We hadn't planned it, but it just so happend that we have spent the past few weeks together every Friday night. It has been a great ending to a long week. This past Friday was especially great though because I got to meet Angie's dad!!! I love Angie so much I already loved her dad before meeting him. Our time was too short and we didn't get to visit for long but I thouroughly enjoyed getting to meet him and spend some time chatting. Angie and I had some errands to run and Angie's dad wanted some one-on-one with his granddaughter so we headed out. We went to Olive Garden and then gathered some things for Alivia's first birthday party!!! We had a great time. I sure do love our Friday night dates Ang!!!

Fun in the Sun

This afternoon was so beautiful. I was super excited when I saw our neighbors little boy playing with the water hose. I couldn't wait for Riley and Sam to get up from naps so we could play outside.
So, Maryanne and I were discussing camera's and how it isn't the camera but the person taking the picture... So she took a few pictures with my new camera to try out this theory. This one was one of my favorite.

Such concentration

I love how this one captured the water.

And a cheesy grin...

They loved filling up that bucket and then dumping it out.

"What do you mean we're going inside soon?"Sam's adorable, little, dirty feet

I don't know why, but I loved this one

Sam decided to get in on some of the action. However, after he got sprayed he turned right back around.

They were all waving goodbye to Josh.

I love this time of the year. I am so excited because in just a few short weeks I will have even more time to have some "fun in the sun" with the kids. Today was so nice. The sun was out but it wasn't super hot/humid. I am really looking forward to some more fun in the sun this weekend. We are taking the kids somewhere special!

On another note... my AMAZING sister Hannah started a new blog! I am so impressed with her heart and her writing. I hope you get a blessing from it like I do. (I guess that means.... Leah, it's your turn to start a blog tehee)

Sisters!

Grr! -I have been very behind in my blogging lately. (as you can tell) but I couldn't wait to document my wonderful weekend with my sisters. I finally set down to do so tonight and somehow I erased all the pictures on my camera!!! I had all the pictures from our fun sister weekend and from my grandmothers visit this past weekend and TONS of cute misc pics. Grr! However, on the bright side: since I don't have pictures, I am technically caught up :) haha
So, back to my wonderful sisters.... I stole this picture from my last post because I had to have a picture. (oh another bummer is that I was planning on using all my fun sister photo's to bring our sister blog back to life. But I guess there will be another day for that...)
I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!! Hannah and Leah, thank you SO much for coming and spending some time with me. I needed some sister lovin! We all had a great time on Friday night at our schools variety show called Hootenany. The best part of the night was when our dear friend Corey proposed to his (then) girlfriend. (now fiance :) I even got to be a part of the surprise! (By "be a part" I mean that I helped hold the "Patty will you marry me" sign) It was SO great and my sisters got to spend it with me. Saturday was tons of fun as well. That night we headed out for a girls night. Nothin like eating at Olive Garden with my favorite girls!
The evening was full of family swashbuckling fun. That right. We pulled out the kids swords and quoted the princess bride. We had waffles, we swapped stories, and we all piled into the same bed. IT WAS GREAT!
Hannah and Leah, I love you so much and I miss you more than ever! I can't wait for us to be together again in just a few short weeks.

Sushi and a Birthday

My birthday was a few weekends ago. As I mentioned before, we celebrated back home with my family and some of our dearest friends. When we got back home though we were excited to have some "mommy and daddy time" celebrating just the two of us.

My birthday wish was to try some sushi. Well, because I am a weenie and didn't have a clue as to what I was doing, I don't think I had "real" sushi. (and by real I mean nothing raw) My intentions were to try some of the "real" stuff but I had no idea where to start. However, I had some crunch rolls and Ryne had Texas rolls. They were GREAT! It was fun to try something a little different.
Here I am with my sushi!

And Ryne with his :)

Us

Afterwards we headed to Olive Garden for dessert. I just LOVE their Italian donuts. They come out warm and go great with some hot coffee.

Afterwards we stoped by Chik-fil-a so Ryne could pick something up. It just so happened to be family night and Happy the clown was there. We just had a grand ol time visiting while I waited on Ryne. (I know that is shocking) Happy gave me a flower balloon. He even gave me one for both Riley and Sam. (Which they LOVED. Riley is all about the balloons now) As it turns out, every Tuesday night they have family night at the Longview Chik-fil-a's. (meaning a free kids meal with adult purchase and free balloons :)

Here we are at my dear friend Angie's house after our night out. She is so sweet. She watched our kiddo's so we could go out.

I love having birthdays. I have been told that down the road I won't enjoy them as much but I sure hate to think so. I love living and I love how each new year brings its own joys, pains, and challenges. I most certainly have had some challenges these past few years. I wouldn't change them though. I look forward to getting older and living life to the fullest each and every day. I know that life will always have its challenges regardless of my age. However, this particular birthday seemed somewhat powerful. What I mean is I feel very accomplished. That is how I responded when asked about how I felt on my birthday. Accomplished.

Since graduating High School I have gotten married, had two beautiful children, worked a part time job, gone to school full time and completed 3 years of study. I have been a full time wife and mom, been a supporting sister and daughter, and a faithful church member. I have been a resident assistant to 36 apartments and their families and planned multiple events as well as a couple of baby showers. I have met people all over the world all from my small little campus. I have had the opportunity to love on and minister to multiple people, as well as them loving and ministering to me. I am not exactly where I thought I would be at 21 years old, but in some ways I am. I always wanted to do the things that I have listed above. and I have.

That is why this birthday was so special. Because it feels like a milestone. I have had so many amazing opportunities in such a short amount of time. I feel so blessed. Thank you so much to everyone who is a part of my life and for all of the sweet birthday wishes. I look forward to my next year of life and to all of the adventure that it brings as well.

Easter Trip

Leah, Hannah, and I shopping goofing around in the mall.

Riley and Sam playing in the Blue Bonnets.

Sam wanted to play with the new game too!

I am not sure what he was trying to do. :)

Hannah and my Dad won!

We make a good team!

Josh and Ryne looking "cool"

Saturday night Ryne, Hannah, Leah, and I headed up to White Horse Station to listen to some live music and get some coffee. (They even played Happy Birthday for me :) These young men are very talented. It was so nice.

Ryne and I at WHS.

Hannah, Leah, and I in our Easter Dresses. (We didn't even mean to coordinate. We are just cool like that)

Sam Man. Precious

My dad and Judd. It was there last Sunday before moving for his new job.

Mom, Beverly, and Dara.

Fun hunting Easter Eggs!

My mom got us some confetti eggs. We each had three eggs, one to break on each other person. Well, after Ryne hit us and we discovered that they hurt, we decided to all just gang up on him. (notice we all were standing like 2 yards away so we could hit him. haha)

We decided the kids were easy targets too.

Ryne decided to try and shoot his eggs. Haha

After we left my moms, we headed over to see Grandma and Grandpa. (Beba) They had Easter gifts waiting for them there too!

Bubbles and a kite!Even mom got a new shirt

A dress for Riley

Sam was pretty excited about all the goodies

One thing is for sure, after my bubble post, the kids have plenty of bubbles :)

They sure are loved...

I just loved this picture.

Wow, Easter already seems like it was so long ago. It worked out perfectly because we were able to celebrate mine and my dad's birthdays as well as Easter! Dara and her mom were even able to celebrate with us. I always enjoy seeing my sisters SO much. We had such a good time visiting too. For our birthday dinner we had some of the BEST hamburgers. (Thanks mom)

We loved being with you all and miss you so much. Can't wait to see you again!