the love of my life....

Yesterday, Lance and I celebrated our 7th anniversary together. It is amazing how quickly the years seem to fly by. We decided to spend the whole day together. We had paid for an extra day at our sitters so the girls went there during the day. Our day looked like this:

We got up early and did a little jean shopping for Lance;

then watched the new James Bond movie with one of our couple friends;

next, we ran to the grocery store;

we picked up the girls and hung out with them for a little bit;

then, my brother's wonderful girlfriend, Brittany, came and stayed with the girls;

Lance and I headed to Texas de Brazil (a fancy restaurant with a great salad bar and lots of meat);

after totally stuffing ourselves, we headed to Northpart Mall to walk around;

we bought Lance a new wedding band (his first one had 2 places that were broken);

lastly, we grabbed cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory!!!

Our day was absolutely perfect!!

I must say every single year keeps getting better and better. We joke about how our first couple of years were pretty rough (more from Lance's end ;)!!!) We both knew to make it better we would have to change and really listen to eachother. God couldn't have placed a better man in my life. I am so thankful for the leader that he is, the father that he is, the friend that he is to me. So, this blog is for Lance and how great he is to me and our girls! I love you.

a chance to give.....

A friend of mine, Melissa, and I go to a MOPS group together. At our last meeting, they discussed everyone putting some things together for Operation Christmas Child. Basically, it is a Christian organization that takes Christmas presents to children in need as well as tell them about the love of Jesus. It really is a wonderful program that I know really ministers to these children in poverty. Melissa and I decided it would be a great thing to start doing with our girls each year. They are both 3 and we want them to learn how to be givers to others in need, especially this time of year. The other night, we took them to the store to pick out some things we could send to another little girl about their age.

The girls totally loved picking things out that they liked so we knew those were the perfect things to put in our box for our special girl. We picked out a baby and an outfit, crayons and a color book, a slinky, some of our favorite hard candy, gum, a tooth brush and tooth paste, a brush, some hair things, and a ball.

We know the girls had such a great time doing this together and we hope to continue to teach them about giving to others in need. We want them to know how rewarding it is. Melissa and I hope that as they get older this will be something that they do on their own initiative. Take some time this season and give to someone in need.

it is finished...

Here's our tree all finished. I thought this was such a sweet picture with the girls in their matching pj's looking closely at our tree. Really they are the reason we enjoy the holidays so much more. They both get so excited to wake up in the mornings and see it there.

I have to say that it was so much fun putting it up. As Lance was pulling everything out of the attic, I was telling him that I needed to go get a tree skirt. I haven't ever had one and thought I would get one finallly. Anyways, as we are unloading the boxes, Lance pulls one out that I had bought last year after Christmas. I had totally forgot and was so excited that I had one. Then, this gets even better!! I was looking at our ornaments and things and started telling Lance that I was really tired of the same ones we have used for 5 years and that maybe we should get some new ones. Suddenly, Lance started pulling out some bags from the attic that had new ornaments in it. I had forgotten that I had found them after Christmas for a fourth of the price and decided to load up for this year!!!!! Again, I was so excited and totally love our new color scheme. Yea for planning ahead!!!

in the spirit.....

Yes, that is a Christmas tree you see. Yes I realize it is only November 11th. But, if you know my husband, you know that he is a huge believer in Christmas. He just LOVES this time of year. We had quite a busy weekend with my dad's birthday on Friday night and then a dinner with some old friends from Katy on Saturday night. We got in really late so we ended up skipping church. We had a very nice, relaxing morning. Lance and I were sitting on the couch, drinking our coffee and watching the girls play when he says, "Let's put up our tree." A little hesitant, I agreed. We actually had alot of fun and the girls really enjoyed it too. It is not decorated yet because we had loaned out our lights, so as soon as we get those back, we will finish it. Yeah for Christmas!!!!

thoughtfulness....

That is what my husband is. He came home last night with these beautiful roses. When asked why, he just said, "I just wanted to!!" So sweet. I sure appreciate his thoughtfulness. The girls and I are so blessed to have such a good man!! (Shout out to the ones that raised him)

a night to remember.....

Our halloween started off with pictures at Papa and Mimi's house. Here's Cali as a ballerina fairy, Keziah as a lady bug and London is a strawberry. So cute..

Next we have a family picture of my sister and her joker husband, Scott with the little ladybug.

Then, we went to one of our halloween party. Chris and Cara had everyone over for soup, salad, and desserts. She had the kids make their own pizzas shaped like a pumpkin. They they got to frost and decorate a cupcake. The kids had lots of fun and so did the adults. Here is the picture of all the kids together. They are a great looking bunch!!!

These were all the girls that were dressed as a princess of some sort. Cali has the greatest friends!!

Here they are, crowding around a door for candy. They would all yell trick-or-treat before they even rang the door bell. It was really funny.



Our last stop was at Grammy and Pops house to get a quick picture in. It was alot of fun.