Sunday Funday

What a fun Sunday we had. It was actually last Sunday and I'm behind once again. Ooops. I'll have to work on that. I think I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

We got dressed up and went to church to start the day off right.

Then after lunch, this handsome little guy came over to visit. John Lee and his mommy and daddy (Erin and Clay) came over for an afternoon of visiting and baby playing. Don't you just want to eat him up he's so ADORABLE!?

Lena Kate gave Erin a test to see if she was ready for another one. She passed.

Lena Kate likes men....she enjoyed Clay!

Holding the baby

Kissing the baby-he wasn't too thrilled :)

Wanting to feed the baby an empty bottle

Finishing off the evening watching a movie with Daddy

Having a little dinner (yes, this was a different day-oh well)

I hope yall had has much fun as we did. God bless!

Moon Excitement

Lena Kate loves to find the moon in the evenings and I thought I'd share her enthusiam for such a simple pleasure. Make sure to pause the music at the bottom. I also love her "I don't know" hands up expression. She does this often.

Happenings

Well we had a great weekend and some special visitors! The Belew's (Lane's cousins) came down and we spent the day eating at Smolik's, followed by swimming at Mom and Dad's and then enjoying a steak dinner and visiting while the kids played. I managed to NOT take pictures-way to go Elaine! so I don't have any to post of Megan and Bill's precious children-Charles, Corley, and Minnie. Each of them are just a joy. Our time visiting with them is always too short, but we sure do thank them for coming to see us at the end of their San Antonio vacation. We REALLY enjoyed yall! Come back soon, please :) Saturday night Lane and I headed to town for a big dinner out..hehe. We went to the taqueria for some yummy Mexican food. Lena Kate stayed with Mimi and Papa so we could enjoy dinner. I know she had much more fun with them anyway. Sunday we went to church and just hung out.

Monday night we got to hear Spike Dikes (famed Texas Tech coach) speak at a Chamber of Commerce dinner in Alice. He was a speaker. You know someone is good when you remember every point. If you want to succeed you must have: Ambition, Believe, Commitment, Dare, Enthusiasm, Feeling. I also loved his point about telling those you love that you do so and believing in God. Both mean so much! This is nice to hear from a West Texas man. I think I could've listened to him talk for quite awhile. You can tell he is passionate about what he says and does and is very genuine. I'm an Aggie but can respect that Tech coach :)

I don't have many good pictures lately because Lena Kate now says, "Nooooo," and turns her head when I pull out the camera and ask her to say cheese. If she does oblige her mother I get her cheese face....such as this.

I get lots of these too. Cute-yes, but not what I was going for. I guess we all know who the boss is!

How about a little visual of Lena Kate taking her baby for a ride.

Camp Meeting

We spent the second half of our vacation at Bloys Camp Meeting. It was my first time and I am already hooked. Camp meeting has been going on since 1890 and it is basically a BUNCH of families that come together for a week of worship, family fun, eating, porch sitting and Christian fellowship. It is like a ton of family reunions at a laid back church camp. It was a great way to end our vacation, lots of renewal. We were in a beautiful setting in the Davis Mountains outside of Ft. Davis, TX. Chili and Carla, Lane's bff/cousin and his wife invited us to join them. Chili's family has been going for years and Lane had attended with them in the past. Nancy-my sis-in-law (via Lane's bro Trent) has also been going to camp meeting since she was a tot. It was wonderful to get to hang out with her as well. She is such a sweetie and even met us when we first got there to help clean up the cabin since we were the first to arrive. We love you Nancy!!! It is such an experience and not something you readily describe to someone who has never been. It isn't advertised or growth oriented, more maintaining the families that currently attend. I've never seen so many happy kids running around in quite some time. It is nice to know that they can still do that. Everybody watches out for each others' children-after all we are all God's children and he was watching out for us all. I met some really great people and look forward to next year. I also hope to attend more of the church services that I was able to make. A vibrant active 19 month old doesn't do well with sitting still or being quiet. There are 4 church services a day throughout the week-what an opportunity to grow your faith! I can also say that I was all beefed out. Every meal at the cookshed where we ate had at least 2 meat choices- NO YARDBIRD. We were in heaven, but I do like a little chicken break after a full week.

The view from the cabin porch. At night the stars were beautiful. We spent every night on the porch watching for falling stars.

Camp Cole - they have a great spot on the new side. The cabins are still spaced out and not one right on top of the other. It made for wonderful relaxation and fun. Lena Kate had a great time playing on the porch.

This little face stayed dirty the entire long weekend! She would sit and just play in the dirt. The other kids would be running and playing. Lena Kate would just sit and get dirty. At one point she ate a mouthful of dirt..they cried because she wasn't a fan of the gritty taste-silly girl! It took 2 baths to get her nails clean-she needed a GOOD soaking, and I love that. She isn't afraid to get dirty by any means.

This little girl LOVES her Uncle Chili. He is so good with her and will be a great father in the future.

Camp meeting will wear out any child, sometimes you might need to rest on a roping dummy. The guys spent lots of down time roping.
As good a pose as I could get

"SCHNACKS!" to get her through a little church. This is also the "SCHNEEZE" face. If someone sneezes you can bet you will hear LK say sneeze shortly there after. We are working on the bless you part.

A POOPED OUT GIRL! It is RARE that she will crawl in my lap and pass out like this.

Good Christian men-Carla and I are lucky!

Church-a great place to hang your hat!

Hurry Mama hurry!

Walking over to the old side for dinner.

Porch playing

Handsome Uncle Chili playing with his rope. I love this picture :)

Two of my favorite people.

The guys-together again :)

What a great vacation. An extended family sandwich with some alone time for our little family in the middle...it doesn't get much better as long as you love your family...and I do! May God bless you! I'm so thankful that he blessed my family with such fond memories from a week out west.

Vacation

This past week we packed up the Trailblazer and headed West. We vacationed in West Texas. The first stop was San Angelo to visit Lane's parent'. We had a great time just hanging out and eating yummy dinner with Lena Kate's Leelee and Grandpa. She is quite fond of both of them and proudly calls YeeYee by name...or close enough. We are still working on Grandpa but she still has him by the little finger-literally. She goes and gets him and pulls him to the door to take her outside. I'm pretty sure he doesn't mind. Thanks for having us Leslee and Gary, we always have a great time and only wish we could be there more often. We'll try, I promise. Lena Kate had a great time swimming in the pool Leelee got her for their house. That little girl loves the water.

Then we headed further west for a little getaway to The Gage Hotel in Marathon, TX. The hotel is pretty much all that is there, plus a few shops and diners. We ate breakfast next door, relaxed, swam and took a couple of day trips to Alpine and Marfa. Dinner at The Reata was a must and OH SO GOOD. We also really enjoyed dinner at The Gage. Lena Kate made it through all the meals without any major breakdowns...a few close moments, but overall she was a great traveler! I even a got a massage while Lane took over LK duties for me. It was wonderful because my back was killing me and I just got to lay down and relax for an hour. There are no TVs or phones in the rooms at The Gage and we didn't miss it. LK watched movies on the computer during rest time and Lane and I read some. The hotel is really cool, I highly recommend it. I love the Western/cowboy decor and Spanish Hacienda grounds. The flowers were beautiful-and drought resistant :)

Hold on to your pants-I know how excited you must be-here are some pictures!

The Gage Hotel in Marathon, TX is a great escape in the middle of nowhere. Lena Kate loved the fountain, of course!

The cutest one in town is all about sitting on her knees these days-especially while eating. No need for a highchair-she says she wants knees.

My view alot of the weekend and I couldn't ask for anything more!

She had to try on the boots. Mama kinda liked them too. I couldn't afford anything in this little shop, but wanted everything. I had to get out quickly.

Aren't they just precious?

LK's playground = tree stump.

Dinner at the Reata = enough said!

This little gal LOVES ice cream

Daddy LOVES this place. We could all spend a fortune here. Lane was finally able to get a belt to go with his C- belt buckle Chili gave him.

The view on the way to Alpine from Marathon.

Lena Kate found a friend. Maverick is the resident lobby dog at The Gage. He is soooo sweet. I loved how they were both sitting on the step.

Hugs for Maverick

Swimming at Leelee and Grandpa's. We didn't' bother with a suit, just the swim diaper. She prefers it that way if we are in the shade :)

Floating on her back

Cheesin it

More on the 2nd 1/2 of our trip tomorrow.....I know the suspense is killing you..hahaha.