Grateful Sunday

Snapped this shot at the Dallas Temple Friday morning. A beautiful place to start the day!

Today, I am grateful for:

• a fun, friendly ward. I hope that people who move here like it as much as we do! We feel so blessed to know and associate with all of the lovely folks here in Keller. It is a nice change of pace to get to know more adults now that I am not in primary anymore. But also sad; I miss the kids!
• a nice date night with Neal on Saturday night in Fort Worth. It's always nice to walk hand-in-hand in the rain in a fun city together!
• a rainy weekend! Baseball games were cancelled and yard work was out of the question. We had really good excuses to lay low and be bums.
• Miles' response to his antibiotics last week. Three days of fever was taking it out of him; I was so grateful when the medicine seemed to start working and he could go back to school. He was itching to get back! And how great are antibiotics. Seriously.
• Elliott, for always sending me temple names when I ask for them! Thanks, Elliott.
• good books. I have been spending time with several this month. I listen to one in my car all the time now (since I'm alone, sniff). Lately, I've read or listened to Wildwood, The Book Thief, The Woman in White, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? and Of Mice and Men. Working my way through A Light Between Oceans, which is lovely.

The Week

Miles came down with strep earlier this week and ended up missing three days of school. He was so anxious to get back, and bounded out the door Friday morning, though I am pretty sure he was still in recovery mode.

Us at the doctor with Bear.

Miles' teacher sent me an email during the day on Friday. She said, "Collin came to me and said, 'I bet you don't know what these are!' Of course I didn't! He and Miles informed me these are names of Ninjago characters!" They had used their Word Work time to create these. Silly dudes.

On Friday night, Neal took the boys and their buddy, Bowan, to the Rangers game. It is one of the last regular season games and they had a great time.

Audrey and I took the opportunity to go out to dinner and to the bookstore together. 

Fun times!

Grateful Sunday

Sunset last Sunday. It was amazing.

I haven't blogged for a bit, and Steph seems to have noticed. Sorry, Steph! :) Today, I am grateful for:

• the time we were able to spend with my parents last week. We had a lot of fun while they were here, chatting and enjoying the kids. I love it when people come to see us!
• a night away in Weatherford last night. We haven't seen Daddy Jeff and Gail in a few months (at least the kids and I haven't). It was good to see Daddy recovering from his recent surgery and to spend time in their peaceful, quiet home. Looking forward to going back for General Conference weekend.
• the time I have while the kids are at school. Though I am spending a lot of time AT school volunteering (and sneaking hugs from my boys), I am enjoying some time to myself: taking walks, going to Institute and the temple, planning meals and keeping up with the housework. It's nice to be a housewife for a while!
• our health and safety. I am so grateful that my family can go about our daily life without the worries of sickness, disease or discomfort. We are so blessed.

Fall Ball

Both of our boys are playing baseball during the Fall season. It is the only sport that has caught their attention so far, and we aren't complaining. They are both really talented and are having a lot of fun! Parker is on a team that he was invited to join, called The Smokin' Horns. They are named after the coach's competitive BBQ team, which is awesome. They don't have their uniforms yet, so when they do, more photos will be posted! Parker is playing first base most of the time, and he is doing great. Below, they were practicing on a really hot afternoon, sweating it out and working hard. Texas kids have to be really tough.

Miles is on the Giants this season. We are all making new friends and Miles is doing well, as usual. Getting big hits and making outs, which is exciting stuff for teeball! The Giants had their second game this morning. Miles was ready to go!

 Here he is in his shades, getting his fielding assignment.

Recovering in the dugout after the second inning.

Playing catch at Daddy Jeff's house.

A Visit

Mom and Dad came to visit for a Macy's meeting and some hugs (from us and Mitt)! We were happy to have them, as usual.

Mom felt like barbeque on Saturday night, so we went up to Rudy's in Denton. Oh so yummy!

Which is more tiring? Seven hours of kindergarten or a day in the life of Pa? It is totally a toss-up. These guys needed a break.

Flag Day 2012

Every year, during the beginning of September, our elementary school has a patriotic Flag Day celebration. They invite members of the military, active and non, police and firemen, the high school football team (?) and parents to come join in the event. It is always really moving, actually, especially since it always occurs near September 11. I love going, it is beautiful! Each grade sings a different patriotic song, and then everyone gets to climb all over the fire truck.

 Because Parker is a fourth grader (oldest kids at school) and a Boy Scout, he got to be involved in the flag-raising.

Here he is, looking solemn and handsome with some fellow scouts.

Parker and some of his long-time friends, Reed, Max and Tyler.

Miles and his long-time buddy, Collin, in the Kindergarten Section.

Party Time

Miles' sixth birthday was back in August, but for a few reasons, we put off his party until after school started.

We held it yesterday at the local trampoline park, and we had a blast!

Miles had his buddies Simon, Austin, Dillon, Collin, Regan, Ellis and Samuel in attendance.

Great boys who are all so sweet and fun!

Happy Birthday Miles!

Arizona

Since Spirit Airlines started flying to Mesa earlier this year, we have been wanting to take advantage of their low fares and hop over to see our Court cousins.

An overnight flight or two and a few hundred dollars beats an 18 hour drive anytime!

We had so much fun, and were there just in time for Oliver's birthday and baptism!

Miles, David, Elliot, Audrey and Stella, enjoying the nice weather.

Oliver and Parker spent a lot of time on the pogo stick (in the street).

 Audrey and Mabel worked on a puzzle book that Brama had brought along.
Looks like Audrey was taking over (sorry, Mabel)!

 On Saturday evening, Mike baptized Oliver and we all were so proud.
Oliver is a great little boy and made a wonderful choice to be baptized!

Party at the Courts' after the baptism!

 German pancakes for breakfast Sunday morning

We flew home overnight and took Monday to recover. It threw us all of pretty well!

We had such a fun trip. Thank you for hosting us, Mike and Steph!

Grateful Sunday

I snapped this photo on a walk with Trooper, at the end of our street the other day, after it had been raining all morning. It was lovely!

Ok, so the sad truth of the matter is that now that all of my kids are at school for seven hours a day, my life is very un-blog-worthy! And un-instagram-worthy! Just another stepping stone in life, I guess, but it is awfully strange and really hard to get used to. Not in a bad way! But, really, I did have a nice week, and, of course, spent some time at the school checking on Miles and helping his teacher. (Kindergarten teachers need a LOT of stuff cut out and hole punched and copied and glued.) I figure that if I can take some of those tasks off her hands, she will be happier and have an easier day, and the kids will have a better day, too. She deserves that for spending her life as a Kindergarten teacher. God bless her (and all the others)!

Today, I am grateful for:

• the end of summer, which should get here any week now. I am ready for cooler temperatures! We have had a few sneak peeks of it here and there, but it is still consistently between 95 and 103 every day. Ugh.
• the beautiful song and card and hugs I received from the Primary kids today. The new presidency asked us to come into Primary at the end of church, where the kids sang beautiful songs for us and gave us all sweet cards. I wanted to hug them all, they were so sweet. And the moment I stood up, they lined up to hug me (us). It was amazing, I love those kids!
• Neal, for helping the kids get their church clothes out while I indulged a headache this morning and laid down after breakfast. It was a long day at church for him, but it was so nice of him to think of me before he was off.
• a holiday tomorrow. All we have is baseball practice; it should be a fun day.