Happy Fall Y'all!

Sorry it's taken so long to update. It's not because we've been sitting still or don't have news. Football season and Thanksgiving have been lots of fun. But the best news is that Kevin and I will welcome a little one into our family in May. We're thrilled! It's wonderful to experience what happens when old-fashioned prayer and new-fangled medicine combine forces. So far the pregnancy has been uneventful which is a good thing. At this moment, we're going to have a delivery surprise...even I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do! Thanks to all who have supported and prayed for us during our journey. It feels like the end of one chapter and the next one will be fantastic. Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving tailgate. Kevin made 2 delicious fried turkeys. We had more food than we knew what to do with! Hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and are getting ready for a miraculous Christmas season.

Congratulations Graham and Jackie, aka Mr & Mrs Thurman!

We just got back from a trip to Breckenridge, CO to celebrate the wedding of Graham and Jackie. It was a fun wedding and great vacation for Kevin and me. We didn't know the wedding would coincide with Oktoberfest but Kevin was overjoyed to see all of the pork and sauerkraut. The city of Breckenridge should be applauded for their "green" efforts-there was forced recycling! Yeah! It's easy to see why they want to keep their area so perfect. Here are some of the pictures from our trip.

Other than that, we're in full-fall mode: back to teaching the 2nd and 3rd grade Sunday school class and Aggie football. Wish us luck in both pursuits!

Happy fall, y'all!

Happy Summer!

Dallas has gotten a bit of a weather break in the past few days-it hasn't hit 100 degrees for over a week! That's unheard of for mid-July. Kevin and I have enjoyed this by riding our bikes almost nightly. I wish I had pictures from White Rock Lake on Tuesday-yes, we made it but not all of the way around-it was so serene and gorgeous. We also blew up our kiddie pool and had a nice afternoon in the backyard to cool off. You can see from the pictures that it was fun. For better or worse, our neighbors thought it was great and said they'd join us next time. We had hoped to go camping but our plans fell through. No worries though. Kevin set up a tent in our living room. All 4 of us slept in a tent in our living room all night....okay, not a lot of sleeping since Dirk is a bedhog! It was too much fun.

Hope that your summer is going well also.

Happy (late) 4th of July!

Kevin and I had a very relaxing and fun 4th of July weekend. The best part is that we bought bikes for ourselves. This is almost monumental for me since I've not ridden a bike since 3rd grade! I have been terrified for years to get on one. It went very well; we rode for about 5 miles this afternoon. I'm looking forward to a trip around White Rock Lake soon....after a LOT more practice of course. I included pictures of us biking and one of little Olive who's not so little anymore! She continues to be a wonderful addition to our family. She and Dirk are getting much more used to each other.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. God bless you and God bless America!

Meet Olive Grace Gardner!!!

At least we think that's her name! She's adorable. I was worried that I wouldn't warm up to her right away because I had been so close with Mattie. One look at Miss Olive and all fears were gone. Ann Claire gave us her consent at our kitten choice. They bonded right away too! Olive was VERY scared of Dirk at first but I have a feeling they will be fast friend. Here are some pictures from the first night. More good times to come I'm sure.

Girls' Weekend in Fredericksburg

I got to escape last weekend and go with 4 girlfriends to Fredericksburg, TX. The town is known for shopping, cute bed and breakfasts, and wine-perfect! It was so gorgeous there. We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather and delicious food. It was our first girls trip in a LONG time. I'm hoping we can take another one soon. Here are a few pictures. They speak for themselves about what a perfect weekend it was.

I truly love these girls like family and don't know what I'd do without each one of them in my life. We talked about that a lot this weekend-how lucky we are to have met young, stayed in touch and have men in our lives who get along so that we can stay so tight.

Hope you're enjoying warm weather and cool drinks! Happy Summer.

Happy (early) 11th Birthday, Drew!

We kidnapped our nephew Drew from school on Friday and took him to his first Aggie baseball game. His birthday isn't until May 20th but regular season baseball is over by then so we had no choice but to ROADTRIP! Before the game, Kevin and Drew played pool at The Chicken, College Station's most famous bar. As we were leaving, Kevin had to finish his beer due to the open container laws. Drew shocked us by encouraging him with "Chug, chug." Needless to say, people were pretty impressed. Then it was on to Freebirds to stuff our faces with their giant burritos. While Kevin went to park at the baseball stadium, Drew and I walked across campus to burn off some Freebirds calories and see the sights. Sadly, our beloved Aggies lost the game but it was 11-10 so it certainly was NOT boring. The next morning, we went to Garpez, a family run burrito place inside of a Shell station. Since marrying Kevin, I have come to appreciate a LOT of new foods and several of them are found in rather surprising locations! Kevin got his tastebuds ready about 2 weeks ago for the breakfast tacos and they did not disappoint.

Now it's back to real life. Kevin's work is starting to slow down. My office had its first round of layoffs on Monday and Tuesday. Please join us in praying that those affected will find new and satisfying jobs soon.

Tomorrow we'll be rooting for our Dallas Mavericks as they begin Round 2 of the playoffs. Go Dirk Go!

Much love to all!

Happy End of Tax Season!

Hello all,

Kevin has finished the bulk of tax season work and has returned to the land of the living. He works very hard and it is much appreciated. To celebrate the end of tax season, I planned a little surprise for Kevin at Central Market. We ate dinner and had some fun beers and wine with our friends. I know I say it often but it's so great to have so many friends close by; we're very spoiled.

There has been one very sad update to our little family. Our cat Mattie had to go to Kitty Heaven 2 weeks ago after a diagnosis of complete kidney failure. It's still shocking to me that she's gone; I still look for her when I come home. Someday in the future maybe we'll get another cat but she'll have to work hard to be more loved that my Mattie!

Hope that Easter and spring are going well for you thus far.

Congratulations Aaron & Courtney!!!

Yesterday my younger brother tied the knot! It was a beautiful ceremony and a truly joyous occasion. The weather didn't exactly cooperate-it was very chilly-but we still had the wedding outside. There was enough warmth from our hearts to keep us from complaining. I'm not a big picture taker but I made up for that last night! I took 43 of them which is a LOT for me. I think the pictures will show how wonderful this night was. We're so happy to have Courtney and all of the Bell family with us officially now. She's a fun girl and a perfect match for Aaron. Congratualtions and best wishes to them!

Sunday School-2/15/09

Just wanted to add a few pictures from church today. Kevin and I begrudgingly agreed to teach the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd graders. It has actually turned out to be a lot more fun than I thought it could be. I took their pictures today. This was actually kind of difficult because they're all hams! In these pictures are Caitlin, Mark, Betsy and our niece Ann Claire. Today was Betsy's first day as an acolyte during the church service and she did a great job. We share teaching duties with 2 other people which has been great! I like teaching but I'm not sure I could do it EVERY Sunday!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you had a love-filled day! Kevin and I went to our good friends Jamie and David Dotson's house for dinner and game night. There were 4 couples total including Shea & Katie and Kelli & Rob. We played 2 games. Naturally, the girls won both! We ate lots of food-very little of it healthy! There was cheese fondue-d0ne in a crock pot, of course!, ribs, macaroni and cheese, corn souffle and chocolate covered everything for dessert! It was lots of fun-even the doggies had a good time. Kevin got me tickets to a concert that I really wanted to see and I gave him crabs! Well, I tried to anyway. Apparently I paid $14 for the crab shells only; there were no actual crabs inside!

Today, Kevin and I went to lunch at Hattie's in the Bishop Arts district. It was very good and we hope to go back. Afterwards we went into some of the kooky little shops in the area. Kevin got a fancy soda and I got 2 pins from the 60s like my great-grandma used to let me play with when I was little.

There are exactly 2 months left in tax season. Please pray/support/think good thoughts for Kevin! This is his worst time of year. Luckily in the middle of it-March 14th-my brother is getting married. I got their invitation yesterday; it's so fancy! Can't wait!

Hope this finds all of you well! Only a few more days until Lent and then Kevin and I will be giving up cheese-YIKES! This is going to be really difficult.

Happy New Year!

Here are some pictures of our night at the Great Wolf Lodge! It was so fun; Kevin and I might have had more fun than the kids! They had a good time too though. Drew was very excited about the Quest game and Ann Claire loved the water slides. I think we'll go again but it may take us a while to get back there. Hope your 2009 is off to a great start too!