Private Island Pics

Time and again, the fabulous Amber Walters of A.Leigh Photography perfectly captures the heart-warming smiles and personalities of each of our children. We ventured down to the Island for some fun outdoors for the twins' 9 month photo shoot. With a vintage Radio Flyer wagon (thank you Walkers!), Hudson's lawn mower, and an antique rocking chair in tow, we cruised over the bridge to the serene little island...it was perfectly perfect!!!...and thank you to Meme for tagging along to help out!

 My mischievous little munchkins!

Miss Sophia Elizabeth

Miss Isabelle Cecilia...the daredevil

 My handsome Hudson Michael!!!

The antique rocking chair that has been in my family for generations....and the girls in their baptism dresses

One big happy family....so abundantly blessed!!!

A Family of 7!

It is official....a family of 7!!! We always knew that we would get another dog....someday....oh how we still miss our precious little Dexter. Well, these sweet little doggies found us, or rather my dad on one of his early morning walks. My dad brought them home. My mom took them to the vet to get checked out and unfortunately no microchip, no missing dog posters, no postings on the Comal County Lost & Found site, no luck in finding owners. The vet said they appeared to have been wandering for quite some time. The conclusion on these cuties---most likely unwanted by someone undeserving anyway, dumped to find a new home. They are young, about 1 year old, and believe it or not, from the same litter!

So, we a proud to introduce our newest little additions...Miss Thelma & Louise!!! They are absolutely precious, oh so sweet, and love my little Birds. Hudson is such a big helper and loves to go on walks with the doggies.

He always holds Thelma's leash....she won him over immediately. Here they are on the lookout!

Little Louise has eyes just like Dexter's and stole my heart.

Their new favorite spot...they love feeding time for the twins:)

Aside from wanting to play with the baby toys and the babies wanting to play with the doggie toys, they are perfect....they follow at my feet all day and fit right into our crazy life, and then once children are asleep, amidst the brief calmness, they snuggle with us or each other. It is lovely to hear the pitter patter of 2 (soon to be 6) little feet and 8 little paws. We are blessed they found us and know that they will bring lots of joy into our already wonderful world!

A Living Legend

Last night we were fortunate enough to attend the New Braunfels Living Legends Dinner where they honored a truly amazing man....Coach Bud Dallmann!!! An honest, hard-working, kind-hearted, man of faith who has devoted his entire life to what he loves....God, family, and swimming. He has been involved in every aspect of the sport from competition to coaching and officiating. Bud has touched the lives of countless people, including my own, and has made many strive to be "better today than yesterday and better tomorrow than today". For 14 years under his instruction, I competed, and I am a better person because of him. I was always greeted with a big hug and a "top of the morning to you"....and always with a smile! Whenever anyone asks how he is doing, his response..."better than deserved!" He has given so much to the sport, to the community, to his family, and to all of those lucky enough to have been coached by him. So here's to you, Coach....thank you for your dedication to swimming and coaching, thank you for pushing me to always try harder and swim faster, thank you for leading by example, thank you for your unmatched acts of kindness, thank you for your love and support over the past 26 years...may we all be able to work to pay it forward. If only there were more Bud Dallmanns of the world, it would be a far more wonderful place!

Coach Bud....we love you!!!

Bring on the RAIN!!!

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!!! FINALLY, we got some much needed rain and oh how we loved the storm that came with it. We were actually playing over at YaYa and GoGo's house because of the construction at our house and had the most spectacular view of the storm. Thunder, lightning, the works...the kids and Henry didn't seem to mind any of it.

Ok, well, Sophia wasn't too sure about the thunder.

Isabelle, however, couldn't get enough of it....doing her little rain dance!

What storm? I found the M&Ms!

Playing so nicely together

And now...mischief!

A Breakfast Date

Unlike most of the world, Hudson loves Monday mornings! Why? Well because he gets to go on a breakfast date with his YaYa. She takes him to Naegelins for some sweet treats. They sit outside to eat them and to watch all the cars drive past and around the plaza. On extra special days they even go to the park! So with construction and lots of loud noises at the house this week, we have had to make ourselves scarce on more than one occasion. The most recent of these was the other morning just as the kids were waking up. Normally we would head out for a run and then stop at the coffeehouse for some Mr. Wille cinnamon rolls, a latte, and some tractor time in the courtyard; however, I decided to surprise my little man with a breakfast date. So with three little Birds in tow, we ventured to the Naegelins and had a lovely, and somewhat relaxing, morning...

 Yummmmmmmmy....bear claws and chocolate doughnuts...what kid wouldn't be in heaven?

The twins loved chilling in BOB checking out the cars and people. They ate their yummy fruit while eyeing the pastries....just wishing Hudson would sneak them a bite of his scrumptious, sugar-filled breakfast goodies.