Dan and Traci's going away party

Our dear friends Dan and Traci are moving to Indianapolis to be closer to family and because of Dan's job. They have been in a few home groups from church so we all decided to get together and have a going away party for them last night. A few girls had a cake made and Dawn brought a beautiful fruit salad. I made them a collage of all the memories that they had made at Pinnacle Hills. It is really going to be sad to see them go but I know it is what is best for their family. We will miss you!

Landscaping in Progress

Dan worked all weekend on the landscaping and got tons done! It is looking so awesome! Caleb helped him haul the dirt from the dirt pile to all the beds. I can't tell you how many times he got rinsed off this weekend because he got so dirty! We are getting closer to being done on the house!! Can't believe we are so close...after 4 and a half years!

More Catching Up!

Not sure what happened earlier but my Internet was running really slow for some reason so I decided to post what I had and then start over. Plus we had our home group meeting tonight at the park so I wouldn't have been able to finish anyway.

I'm crawling to ya mommy!

We're Trapped!...We broke out the baby gate the other day since we have stairs that go down into our dining room and Caleb's room. Caleb cared more about it than she did of course because he can't get to the back patio or his room as easy.

Summer Time Knees... Caleb has been the king for skinning his knees here lately. As soon as we get one healed, he falls and scrapes it again. I bet those knees will be glad when jean season comes along!

Helping Daddy Paint...Dan had just taken the roller away from Caleb when I took this shot...I know it's not the best. It was taken through our utility room window.

Getting Brave!...Ariel made it to the stairs the other day. Look out world she is REALLY on the move!

Canna's...Dan and I planted some canna's back in the spring and they finally bloomed this past week. They are so pretty. We had no idea what color they would be and I absolutely love the orange and yellow together.

Catching Up

I haven't posted in a while but I have still been taking pictures. Here are some pictures that I have taken since the last time that I posted.

Got Milk?...Here is Caleb and Ariel enjoying their milk after a nap

Fort for Caleb and Olivia...I had Bunco about a week and a half ago and I brought my friend Libby with me but she had nobody to watch her daughter Olivia for her. Dan offered to keep her so that she could have a girls night with me. This is the fort that he built for them!

Yummy!... Here is Ariel enjoying one of her favorite things to do...EAT!

Gettin' Clean...after a hard day of playing!

The List...Dan and I were making one of our last list for completing the house last weekend and Caleb said that he wanted a list too. These are the things that he wanted to put on his!

It's Bright... These were taken as the sun was going down.


Ariel's new favorite toy...she will just sing and dance to it and stand there for at least 5 minutes straight!

Ariel is 9 months old today!

I took these pictures of her today at Bogle Park

She is crawling around now and is starting to get into things. She completely hates baby food and will only eat what we eat. For breakfast she will eat a whole waffle and at least a half of a banana..sometimes a whole one. For lunch I usually give her some turkey from the deli that we use on our sandwiches, cheese, and a fruit (these past few days it's been cantaloupe and honey dew) and for dinner she will eat a 4 oz container of carrots or sweet peas (whole...not baby food) and whatever else we are having. She still has no teeth so I had to buy a mini hand chopper in order for her to get the pieces small enough to swallow. She is the best eater ever!!

I had to take her to the doctor when I got back in town from Dallas. She has an outie belly button and here within the past month it has turned blue when she is moving around. It looked to me like it was herniated and low and behold it was. The doctor said it was nothing to be concerned about and that is should grow together within the next few years. She weighed 17 lbs, 3 oz at the doctor.

4th of July

Allison, Dan, the kids and I all went to Harrison for the day. Allison and I went to the farm and we were able to ride on the 4 wheelers. She had never been on one before nor had she ever driven one but we broke her in! We rode around for nearly 2 hours and she got to see the many sites of the farm. We then went home for lunch and left the guys at the farm to finish up their work. Once they got home, Dan, Allison and I went to the Buffalo and went canoeing while Rita (Dan's mom) watched the kids. It was so nice to have the break and the weather was beautiful. As we were leaving town that night we got to see the last of the fireworks show in Harrison.

SUNDAY...July 1

Allison had decided that she wanted to go home with me for a couple days and I was so delighted to have her! We went to my annual family reunioin in Beaton, AR together. It was a 4 hour trip there and she was so much help with the kids. Once we got there, we visited with family and ate lunch. It started to rain so we all ended up leaving a little sooner than normal. Dan and my mom drove down from Bentonville together and I was able to ride with my mom on the way home. It was nearly a 4 hour drive home. Dan, Allison and kids rode together in the Van. When we got home, I saw all the work that Dan did on the house when I was gone and I was completely amazed. He layed tile in the dining room, refinished all the hardwood floors, stained all the trim in the living room, finished the columns, and did a lot of touch up paint. One more step to being done.

SATURDAY...June 30

We went shopping once again at Grapevine Mills. We wanted to go check out a store that we had missed the first day that we went. It is called Steve and Barry's and it is a great store. Got tons of clothes for fall for very little money. Debbie took Caleb on the carousel and we had lunch at Chili's.

FRIDAY...June 29

Debbie, Allison, the kids and I met Becky (good friend from college) and her daughter Ava at the Ft. Worth Zoo. It was a prefect day...a little cooler than normal and there was NO RAIN!!! We had a great time getting to see all the animals.

Allison and I

Debbie, Allison and I
Ava, Caleb and Ariel
Ava and Caleb looking at the monkeys
My favorite...the white tiger
Ava and Caleb looking at the dessert monster

Handsome

THURSDAY...June 28

We went to Grapevine Mills and went shopping and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. We sat right in front of the big Gorillas and Ariel didn't even cry. She just looked at them with a funny look on her face. There was a guy that came by and made Caleb a balloon animal...the guy asked him what animal he wanted and he said pig and then aske him what color and Caleb said red...he is a true Hog fan!

This is a picture of Caleb and the tree frog.

WEDNESDAY...June 27

We went to the Dallas World Aquarium and I was so surprised at how expensive it was. It was $16.95 for each adult. We had fun but I don't know if it was really worth the amount we paid. We did end up buying some souvenirs for the kids though...I bought Caleb a wooden magnetic fishing puzzle and I bought Ariel a stuffed pink and green sea turtle...that she loves!!

This was taken in the main rain forest area (waterfall to the right)

This was taken in front of the waterfall

Ariel and Debbie looking at the ducks (Ariel loved the ducks!)Jelly Fish
I couldn't see this sea creature at first because he blended into the plants so well

Aquarium Tunnel
Pink Flamingos (Allison's Favorite!)
This is after the aquarium when we were at home. Ariel is almost crawling!

TUESDAY...June 26

We went to Grandma's house and had lunch with her. She lives in a retirement community and eats lunch with all of her friends everyday and she wanted to show the family off to her friends. We had chicken fried chicken, fries, corn and orange cake and strawberry ice cream for dessert. Caleb ate pretty well. We went to the mall afterwards and shopped for a while.

This is Allison and Caleb playing the piano at Grandma's

MONDAY...June 25

This was the pool day. We went to the local city pool and it was an amazing place to play. They had a kid pool that had water guns, sprinklers, water slides, foutains and it even had a huge barrel that sat on top of one of the towers that would fill up with water and then when it got full it would spill all over the kids area. We packed a picnic lunch and even though there were clouds in the sky we decided to go anyway. We were there for only 30 min or so and then the sky grew extremely dark and it started pouring on all of us. Debbie scooped Ariel into her arms and took cover while Allison and I tried to get all our belongings into the stroller and placed Caleb on top. We all ran for cover in the entrance area which wasn't very big...especially when you have a hundred or so people in there with you. Alot of the people that were in the entrance area left and we decided to wait and see if it would clear off so we could go back in a swim. A girl said that we could leave and come back after the rain had stopped so we went to a covered park and ate our lunch there and then we were able to swim again. Caleb loved shooting the waterguns and going down the water slide. We did it non stop for about two hours.

Ariel and Debbie poolside

waiting for the rain to stop

shooting waterguns (he is in the red shorts)

going down the water slide

After the pool we came home, put the kids down for a nap and then took showers. My cousin Laura has been a manager at The Blackeyed Pea for nearly ten years so she invited us and Grandma to come and join us for dinner.

The kids and I

The girl cousins (Laura, Allison and I)

Family shot