Party Time

Riley loved "flying" the helicopter.

The Birthday Boy!

I just loved Sam's expressions while he was on the horse.

                                                                                  Riley too :)

It was so sweet to look over and see Sam on the train with Barney.

Sam would get pretty excited when tickets would come out of the game.

This past week the kids had a blast celebrating a birthday with a new friend. GG is only a couple of weeks older than Riley. GG's mom is my new and good friend Tammy. I have still yet to get an actual picture of the two of us. I only have a few  on my phone. We had a great time playing and celebrating this neat little guy. We are just starting the "party" season around here. We have about 5 parties over the next 2 1/2 weeks. It is going to be crazy!!

Thankful

It is hard to believe that so much time has passed between posts. I looked back at my Easter post and was amazed to see how much can happen in such a short ammount of time. These next few pictures are random in their order, and have no particular purpose other than to show a few of the things that have been going on around here lately...

This past week was spent preparing for Thanksgiving. The kids and I went down to see my Grandmother and the rest of the family trickled in as Thanksgiving drew nearer. I was so glad that I had the opportunity to take a break and enjoy visiting with my family. Ryne and I are so thankful for this time in our lives. This summer Ryne was hired as a flight instructer here at school. He is flying SO much and enjoys being in the air. I have also started a new job!! I graduate in about 3 weeks. An opportunity arose where I was able to finish up my graduation requirements and then started a new position as a 6th grade science teacher at the middle school where I student taught.

I am so thankful that prior to graduation, I already have a job! I am LOVING science and really enjoying this hectic time. I know that these next few weeks are just going to continue to be crammed packed. We have christmas parties coming up, birthday parties, a graduation, I will be finishing up school all while finishing up the 3rd 6 weeks at my new job, and we will be preparing for a family trip to Colorado, followed up by my trip to Israel!! I hope I can find the time to document these next few weeks because there are so many wonderful things that are going on in our lives right now.

I am thankful for Ryne, Riley and Sam.

I am thankful that Riley and Sam love each other SO much and that Ryne is such a good husband to me.

I am thankful for my new job.

I am thankful that Ryne's job allows him to be home for dinner more and that he is racking up flight hours while getting paid :)

I am thankful that I got a whole week off from school to unwind and prepare for these next few weeks.

I am thankful for so many things.

I am blessed.

Easter 2011

 This is our attempt at a group shot from the MSH Easter Egg hunt. I thought it went really well.

 Miss Riley

 Sam in action

 ~Love~

 Candid shots

Sam, Daddy, and Riley

With Mommy!

     I realize that Easter already seems like ages ago now, but I still wanted to share a few photos from our day! We were jammed packed with activities. We started the day off with a wonderful church service, followed by a potluck lunch back on campus. We were unable to head to see extended family for Easter because of finals and the end of school, but we really enjoyed the fellowship with other's on campus. After lunch, we had a little hunt for the kids. I was very proud of myself because the eggs were filled with all sorts of different fun things. There were some balloons, bouncy balls, stickers, and even some money in some. Don't worry, some had candy, but I am just not a big fan of 3lbs of candy per every 3 year old. The kids slept hard that afternoon and woke up to head to a cookout that the school was putting on for the community. We had a great day celebrating one of my very favorite holiday's! 

A Celebration!

The Guys

The Gals

I am always so impressed by their flipping, throwing, cutting, etc, talent!

We were all thrown a piece of meat in hopes of catching! Ryne did not catch this one :)

 

He said my flash distracted him

A group shot!

And for dessert, we had my new favorite cupcakes!

 

 

 

 

 

"Easter" at School

     This past week we had our very last day of "School" on Wednesday afternoons. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to work with and help plan for this each week. They had an "Easter" theme for our last time together. I was happy to get a jump start to our celebration of such an important time in our history! Riley and Sam had a blast!! I am looking forward to them going again in the Fall!

Israel

   I got some big news last week...

In December I am going to be going to Israel to study for a bible class! We will be gone for about 10 days. The opportunity presented itself earlier this semester. I have always wanted to travel but didn't think that day would come any time soon. Last year I had high hopes of going with LETU to Greece. There were so many things going against me. However, for this trip, everything seemed to fall into place perfectly. The timing, some of the funds, and even the availability. This is a picture of me in line to sign up. I was very excited because I got up there early and was #7 in line! The first 15 people received a small scholarship! Everyone will be hearing a lot more about the trip as the date nears but for now I am imagining what it will be like to travel to a new and different place. I am looking forward to how learning and studying in preparation and during this trip!

Weekend with Grandmother

Riley and Weston collecting eggs

Sam's turn!

She was very proud

So was Sam!

Silly Faces

And as close as we got to all three saying "cheese" at the same time.

Grandmother took me to this little hole in the wall for lunch after church. It was SO good. I was pleasantly surprised.

The kids and I played outside for quite a bit that afternoon. I just loved seeing them play where I have so many fond memories!

I tried out my Panorama setting on my camera. I was very pleased and will do it some more!

     I was so glad that I had time to stop by Grandmother Anne's house this semester! When people ask me where I am from I always mention where I spent my childhood, but I can't help say "East Texas" as well. I love being at her house and staying up late. While I was there I also got to visit my Aunt's school where she is a language therapist. She was AMAZING. The kids enjoyed the time to run around and I enjoyed a little break from the end of semester stress. Thanks for letting us visit Grandmother. I love you and miss you already!