I heart Jesus

This is my all-time favorite video from a church in Kansas (I think). It makes me tear up every time I watch it.

Our family is blessed to have a wonderful church to worship every weekend, and even more fortunate that we can raise Carson with the love of Jesus!

Here is a link to our fabulous church: www.newhopechurch.tv If you don't have a relationship with God and would like to, this is a FABULOUS place to be introduced (or re-introduced)!

Flabbergasted

Okay, I love my husband and the many fabulous things he brings to our relationship, but surprises have never been his strong point. I don't think in the seven years of us being a couple he has ever truly surprised me, not because he can't be sweet and romantic, but because he just can't keep fun secrets to himself.

Yesterday was our four year wedding anniversary, and I must say, the BEST one so far! Joni watched Carson so that Brian & I could celebrate. Brian made us reservations at my favorite restaurant: Melting Pot. Melting Pot has the yummiest food that is prepared at your table fondue style. Our reservation was at 8:15 pm last night, giving us time to get ready after work, especially me b/c our school had Park Day yesterday & I was a sweaty, dirty mess.

We had a fabulous dinner, as always, and our waiter was especially entertaining throughout the meal with funny jokes and details about our meal. He started off the meal suggesting the best drink (which I am holding in the pic above) called the Yen & Yang. I wanted something fru-fru last night and this drink was so cute & tasty, it definitely did the trick! He helped us decide our cheese & chocolate fondue as well, and they were equally satisfying. By the time our meal was over we were hurting.

Brian drove us home while I cursed myself for eating so much. We were on the street behind our neighborhood, which is especially narrow & has really deep ditches that run along side it, when Brian pulled out his phone to make a call. His driving scares me enough without deep ditches and cell phones being involved, so I asked him to wait until we pulled into our neighborhood to call work.

The call went something like this:

"How's it going?"

"Are you still busy?"

"Okay, bye."

By this time we had pulled on our street and I could see a truck parked outside our house. I looked at Brian confused not knowing what was going on...as he looked back at me smiling, saying "Happy Anniversary".

All week long I had been telling Brian that I wanted him to call about getting our carpet cleaned and how I wanted to spend the first week of summer doing the heavy-duty cleaning to our house that had been neglected because work has been so crazy. So, while we were dining at my favorite place, my sweet husband had scheduled someone come clean our house and another person to steam our carpet!! How sweet is that!?! I walked from room to room tearing up at the sight of our gleaming house and the fact that Brian had given me my first surprise in seven years!

I'll have to keep him around!

Memorial Weekend

Grapeland has to be one the most peaceful places on earth! It is so nice to be able to drive a couple of hours outside of Houston and be out in 166 acres of "country." My parents retired out on the property that has been in our family for at least 4 generations last year. Brian's parents have never been, so it was so nice to hang out with them out there too!

My dad took us on quite an adventure in this '68 Jeepster Commando
(spiders, bumps and creaky bridges)

Carson somehow convinced Pops to get him 3 drinks...he thought it was hilarious!


The boys wrestling with PawPaw

It took all four "boys" to catch this lizard

Meme took Jakob & Carson butterfly hunting

Our favorite destination in Grapeland is the animal safari!

Haha, the buffalo was licking his chops!

Grandma & Carson calling the llama

Later in the day we decided to take the boys fishing at my aunt & uncles pond. They didn't have any luck the first day, so PawPaw & Pops took the boys back for another try. Jakob caught a bunch, and Carson had fun just playing with the minnows...

Jakob looks so proud in this one!

Company Picnic

Brian's dad's company picnic was couple of weekends ago. Brian had to work, but Carson and I went with Gerald, Kollette, Jakob, and Gerald's mother. I love company picnics and their free food, games, rides, and bingo! Kollette won $50 at bingo, making it her 2 year winning streak! It was also nice to enjoy the beautiful weather outside before it gets too hot and we can only view it from the inside of our air conditioned house!

Carson & Jakob had a blast as you can see by the pictures.

Carson getting batman painted on his face.

Modeling his batman face painting, while bravely taking on the bull!

Jakob rode the bull too!


Carson was a fan of the ponies as well.

This picture is my favorite of the day!

They look so excited going through the obstacle course

(even if it was the 2nd time so I could get the pic just right...)

Too Funny Not to Share

A few months ago I stumbled upon the most entertaining blog; I now frequent it on a daily basis for a good chuckle: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

The name of the blog pretty much sums it up: Cake Wrecks. The website is dedicated to PROFESSIONAL bakers and their "wrecks." People around the country email the blogger pictures of horrific cakes that were either made for them or that are being displayed, many times at grocery stores, and then she just compiles the pics on her blog with humorous commentary. I will let some of the pictures speak for themselves.


This is the picture that baker was working with:

This is the outcome:




The next picture was put on display during Easter, so we are going to assume this was intended to be an Easter Bunny (haha):

It kinda looks like a Gremlin, minus the green color...

The next two were also Easter Bunnies:

Both are so depressing!

I'm sure all of you know what Sponge Bob should look like, this is definitely NOT him:

Possibly a distant cousin?

And finally, an attempt at a cute pregnancy cake gone VERY wrong:

Really, was the stomach line necessary??

I now cannot go into a grocery store without stopping by the bakery section in search of wreck material that I can email my new favorite website...

Reason #563,782,976 why we LOVE our city:

The PARKS!!!


Pearland has so many fabulous parks that we can go to a different one almost every week during the summer without repeating. They just completed a new "splash park" near our house that we will definitely be frequenting this summer. And what is extra nice is that it is so close to our house we can ride our bikes there, plus it's FREE!


We tried it out on Sunday after church, and Carson definitely approves. When we pulled into the parking lot his jaw dropped and he was like "I get to play here??" He had so much fun running through the sprinklers and fountains, and when he was done there, we changed his clothes and walked to the regular park next to it to play some more.

Galveston

Last Saturday was the first time in a while that our family didn't have anything going on. So, we decided to spend some quality time down in Galveston. We hadn't been down to Galveston since before Hurricane Ike hit last year, so we were curious to see how it looked...and to our surprise, it was the nicest we could remember it!

We started off at Rainforest Cafe for lunch. Carson had so much fun just checking the place out, but was a little cautious when the "storm" hit. For those of you who have never been, every 30 minutes the lights turn down and the animals start going crazy, then the restaurant is filled with sounds of loud thunder booming and rain. Brian said that he has heard that the owner believes that if the thunder doesn't scare a few kids it isn't loud enough!

We all had hamburgers and ordered a dessert (you will see below) and our bill came out at the whopping cost of $65! We definitely paid for atmosphere, but it was a nice treat!
(*I couldn't find the charger for my new camera, so we had to make do with the old one...the pictures are a little fuzzy b/c of this...)

Outside the restaurant

Carson wanted to pose on the frog as well

Carson's reaction when the "storm" hit, I obviously was not phased...


Our $16 Volcano dessert -
when they bring it to your table all the waiters yell "V-O-L-C-A-N-O!!" Great marketing, b/c it seemed like most the tables ordered one!

As we were leaving, Carson saw this giant mask and wanted a picture by him too.

After lunch we ran across the street to the beach. They must have brought sand in because it was so clean and fresh. Brian had to talk Carson into putting his feet in the water, and of course when he did, a huge wave came and soaked him!

We were planning to go to the Sylvan Beach Festival afterwards, but Carson had plans of his own. He was so impressed with the sand that he decided to throw his wet, clothed body on the ground and make "sand angels." Here is the result:


His next adventure was to try and catch the seagulls out on the beach. Luckily no birds were caught and no one was injured!

Luckily, this sweet little girl convinced Carson it was much more fun to feed the birds instead of chasing them. She was even nice enough to share her food with him. This last picture is my favorite, he looks like the happiest kid in the world: