the rest of the story -

we did lots of things while we were in austin. here are just a few of them:

we visited my friend ashley and baby ellie! isn't she the cutest little peanut? and mommy is looking soo great too!

allie showed us that she is completely ready to be a mommy by taking ellie out of her swing and carrying her across the room while we were out of the room. after my heart attack, i apoligized profusely to ashley and have started devising a plan to work with our sweet daughter on boundries and their benefit!
our little man is sick again. we'll be taking him back to the doctor this week. the crazy thing about riley is that even when he is sick... he is so great! notice the red nose... always a sign of the looming ear infections.
dinner with our friend becca at CHUYS! yummy! thanks for enduring our crazy family becca... it sure was fun to see you!
the sun came out on saturday and the kids spied a cool park... why not??
riley was grateful to be out and about!
(note: allie refused to be in pictures on this day)

reunion is sweet!

lance is home from his trip and all is well in our world! HA! the kids went with me to the airport with their "welcome home, daddy" signs. allie teared up when she threw her arms around his neck.

this picture was taken when we got home... if you can't tell it was WAY past nap time and everyone was grumpy! good thing that daddy came bearing gifts! :)

allie got this adorable pink and white hammock that was promptly hung under her loft bed.

and caleb was pretty excited about his Guatemalan soccer jersey!

he brought momma a little something too... so thoughtful! i got some coffee (yummy), a way cute purse, and some candy. they really know how to make good candy!

but the best gift of all is being together! we missed you babe!

lovin' me some bartlesville

last week was hiring week at pine cove. it is one of the hardest times for me because lance is here, but he pulls long hours and his mind is completely spinning with so many things. it has only taken me five years to realize that it would probably be a blessing to all involved if we left town.

so we packed up the van and made a six hour drive to bartlesville to visit grammie, poppy, and many other friends! i don't have time to discuss the drive... it was wild, but i learned some good lessons!

we took tons of pictures...

helped poppy decorate the christmas tree...

visited family: this is lance's cousin, stacey - who is like a sister to me! we wished we lived closer! (sorry about the blurry pic... she has a better one here).

played dress up with cousin mackenzie

and decorated a gingerbread train!

thanks for the great time grammie and poppy... we can't wait to come for christmas!