Yard work

We spent almost all day Saturday working outside. I washed both cars while James worked in the yard. Now that the weather is cooling down, it's time to cut back the bushes, trim trees, and get the flower beds ready to plant with bulbs and pansies. We got lots of work done so next weekend we can do some planting! The kids helped, too, when they weren't riding scooters, skateboards, and bikes with all the neighbor kids. Hunter McGunter got sooo dirty! (He is only wearing a diaper in this picture because he had gotten purple slushy all over his shirt and shorts!)

Twilight

Wow! What a book! I just finished it and now I'm anxious to read the next in the series. Lots of my friends have recommended it and it was really good. I love that the author graduated from BYU, lives in Arizona, and has 3 little boys. I can't imagine how she found the time to write a bestselling first book! Now that's talent. So, if you are looking for a book that you just can't put down, this is it. Those of you that live in Texas, let me know if you want to borrow my copy!

Ducks and Feet

Emily was at museum school and Curren was at kindergarten, so it was just me and my Hunter baby all morning! He loves ducks and makes the baby sign for them whenever he sees a picture of one, so I thought it would be fun for just the two of us to go and feed some ducks together. So, after we met Emily's carpool, Hunter and I drove over to Bear Creek Park. Sure enough, there were plenty of ducks to feed and he had a ball. I was a little nervous that they were going to come after him, but they were good tempered and just wanted to try out my **homemade** wheat bread. Hunter had so much fun and it was really nice to spend time with just him.

I just love these little mary-janes of Emily's. She is going to outgrow them soon, so I wanted to make sure I had a picture of her wearing them. I love little girls in knee high socks. Too cute!

Nine Years

Tuesday was our anniversary! Even though it was a week night, we made the evening fun. I set the dining room table with our china and when James came home, I had him feed the kids and get them bathed. I ran out and picked up the food I ordered from Pei Wei and we got to eat all by ourselves while the kids watched a movie. I love the orange peel beef and I got the kung pao chicken for James. It was so yummy! And even though I told him not to get me anything, he brought home flowers--daisies--my favorite. He is the best! So, here a picture we took last year while we were taking family shots. I would post a wedding photo, but we were married before the age of digital photography.

San Antonio

The Riverwalk in San Antonio was so cool! It's like being at Disneyland. Super clean, tons of trees, flowers and greenery with lots of restaurants with patio seating. We loved just walking down the path under the city. Of course, we took a whole bunch of photos. Then we headed over to the Alamo. What an interesting story! Did you know that this is where Davy Crockett died? (Along with many other men). These guys didn't stand a chance against Santa Anna and his army of thousands, but they held them off for 13 days!

Austin

Since we were down in Austin for the race, we decided to stay another night and see the city and then head over to San Antonio. In Austin, we took the kids to the Texas state capitol building. It was fun taking pictures all over the place. We haven't done any sight seeing for a long time. It reminded us of when we lived on the east coast and visited all sorts of cities. Then we met up with the Wright's. We walked down Congress Ave. to a bridge where we would see millions of bats fly that night. But, before that we found an Amy's Ice Cream. They have the best ice cream. I think I've mentioned that Blue Bell has an awesome vanilla, but I think I like Amy's Mexican Vanilla even more. It's super creamy with a hint of almond flavor. Curren ordered the Darth Chocolate (of course) with Kit-Kats mixed in, like Cold Stone. It was a tasty treat!

Longhorn Triathlon

This weekend was a blast! James completed his first triathlon and actually beat his goal! He did it in 1 hour 27 minutes. We all drove down to Austin to cheer him on. It was warm and humid, but we went with lots of families in our ward, so it was tons of fun. The night before we all met at Pappasitos for dinner--at least 40 of us--and had the best food. Their fajitas were so yummy! Then in the morning, the guys got over to the race early and the moms and kids "caravanned" over in time for the start. We followed James around to each event, but he was fast! I almost missed getting a picture of him after the lake swim, because he caught up to the group ahead of his. Then we ran over to the bike finish and luckily he had a green shirt on. He was easy to pick out. He rang his bike bell as he rode by. Then we moved to the running turn-around and Hunter started crying when he just kept running by us! Finally, we got over to the finish and the kids were so excited to see him. He did great and we are so happy for him!