Happy Easter!

I know I am a little late posting about our Easter weekend, but we have been extremely busy. Every night someone has ball practice, ballgames, or tumble. I usually can't get any posting done until I put them in bed and that has gotten real late lately. This year the kids have both moved into ages groups that play late (7:00 or 7:45). Dalton plays a 2 hour time limit and Caitlyn plays for 1 hr. 15 minutes. Most games aren't over until after nine, but this rain as brought us a nice relaxing weekend.

We had a fun, peaceful Easter this year. It started Saturday morning with the church Easter Egg Hunt at the Ranch. The kids always really enjoy going. Even Dalton got involved. All he talked about all week, was that he thought he was too old to hunt eggs this year. I guess that changed when we got there and all his friends were hunting eggs. Caitlyn never thinks about her age or any other excuses. She is just going to do anything to have fun. Of course, Denim had a ball and she had to look "Cool." For some reason that day she was attached to her sunglasses, but she looked adorable.

Later, that afternoon I got the kids all slicked up and we went to Granny's for Easter. She cooked a ham and we took the veggies. We had a wonderful evening. The kids hunted eggs in the backyard and Chad got to help his Granny get some stuff done around the house. She is recovering great from her knee replacement, but she is still a little restricted. We sat around and talked while the kids played. I hate that I didn't think about it as much in the past, but it means so much to me to spend time with Chad grandparents. All of our grandparents on my side have gone to Heaven and I want to do everything I can to make the ones we have left know how much We Love Them!

On Resurrection (Easter) Sunday, we, of course, went to church. Jesus Christ (our Daddy) and what he did for us; is what it is all really about anyway. Right? We had our yearly children's Easter Parade. It is so great to see all the children dressed up and smiling to celebrate our Saviour. The love and faith of a child can teach you forever.


After church, we had lunch with my family. Almost the whole group made it: My parents, my brother and his family, my aunt Colleen, my cousin Kathy and her family, my cousin Kevin and his family, and us. The meal was fantastic as it always is. For the Easter egg hunt, since it was still wet, the eggs were all hidden in the shop. It made for an unusually fun time and the kids loved cracking confetti eggs over everyone heads.

Despite some family members missing for the weekend, our Easter turned out to be one of the best. I think they get better every year. Hope you all had as good of a time as we did. Check out all the pics. Love you All.

GOOD NEWS!!!

I just have a few bits of good news that I wanted to share with everyone.

First, our Ladies Spring Conference was this weekend and it was amazing. The speakers were Terri Savelle-Foy and Vicki Burke. They are two anointed women of God and their messages were life changing.

Second, our friend Corey Ross did make it into the Top 5 of Austin Artists. Thanks to everyone who voted.

And...last, but not least! Granny got to go home Saturday. She told us she was only going to be there for three weeks, but the doctors kept saying longer. She proved them all wrong. The doctors are amazed by her quick recovery. We went over and saw her yesterday and she is doing great! Can't keep a good woman down! WE LOVE YOU GRANNY!!!!!!!

Most of you know our good friends, Ron and Sharon Ross. Well, their son Corey has a new album and one of his songs made the TOP 10 in the Austin area. The radio station will be announcing their TOP 5 positions on Monday. We are trying to get everyone we know to support Corey.

They are taking votes through Sunday night.

Cast your votes at http://www.theriver1023.com/

You can vote from every computer one time a day until Sunday.

Spring Break 2009!

I know! It has almost been a week since we have been home from our Spring Break Vacation and I am just now posting about it. The first two days back to work were kind of hard on me. I'm settling in again though.

Ski Cooper was great! I didn't know that we could have anymore fun than we did last year, but this trip far surpassed any other. Everyone had an amazing time. We did have a couple of problems with illness, but nothing we couldn't overcome and work around. It was nice and warm (35-45) everyday! Believe me...that is warm. It is a totally different cold up there. It was so warm that you really didn't need your coat, but you didn't want to take it off in case you got a little chilly at the top. We had the best time, we can't hardly wait to get next year's trip planned.

This year, because she was potty trained, Denim was able to go to the daycare. That made everything alot easier. She stayed two days for 4 hours. There was a sweet, little lady in there who just loved the kids and they were right there on the mountain with us. We could ski by and sneak a little peak in the window if we wanted to. I think she really liked it, especially the second day. She got to watch Mickey Mouse; so that makes everything better.

So...belong are some pictures of the trip. I didn't take as many this year. We were just having too much fun to stop and take pictures. We skied hard everyday. Also, there aren't alot of Denim and I of course. She was at daycare and I took most of the pictures. OH YEA!! There are a few of Chad and I that look like we are just laying around. Well the real story is that one of us decided to try a shortcut from the other side of the mountain back to the lodge. We ended up in the woods on a l--o--o--o--n--g nature ski/hike. Whatever you want to call it. We were lost for about two hours. We saw animal tracks, snow, trees, a creek (at the base, between two mountains), and a little cabin in the woods. Nothing else. We couldn't even hear the lifts, cars, or people. Chad did find an area that appeared to be fresh fall marks and maybe even blood. Pretty scary in the woods with no gun.

Well. Enjoy!

Happy St.Patrick's Day

Ours will definitely be happy! As you know our family we be on the slopes for St.Patrick's Day. That will actually be our last day of skiing, so I really don't want to think about it yet. We haven't decided what day we are heading out. It is either Friday afternoon/evening or 4:00 am Saturday morning. Either way we have a long drive ahead, but that is really part of the fun. Our first day on the slopes will be Sunday. So we will get 3 days of skiing (Sun., Mon., & Tues.). We plan on spending Wednesday around town. I think we are going to let the kids do some sledding and shopping and anything else we can find to do. That means we will start on our way home sometime Wednesday afternoon.

For our day to day life; Dalton and Caitlyn are starting baseball and softball now. Caitlyn hasn't had a practice yet, but she starts Thursday. Dalton has already practiced twice and of course they stuck him on the pitcher's mound the first night. I was really hoping for anything other than pitcher. But....I'm not the coach and I don't want Dalton to think I doubt him. I just don't like the pressure it put on him last time. We will think positive and make the best of it anyway. Chad and I both love to watch them play. It will be a lot of fun.

I wanted everyone to keep Chad's Granny in prayer. She had knee replacement surgery Tuesday. The doctor's were a little concerned about her heart and lungs handling the procedure and rehabilitation. She came through the surgery great! She will recover in the hospital for about a week and then she will be moved to the nursing home for rehab. The doctor told her to plan on being there a month. She said she was shooting for 3 weeks. I believe she can do it. We are praying for a quick and complete recovery. We love you Granny!

Everyone have a great Spring Break! I will post Ski Pictures as soon as we get back!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Well, we have had a long weekend full of excitement, sadness, rejoicing, happiness, and celebration.

Last week my dad told us all that my Granny (Edith Bruton) was going down hill and that the nurses at the nursing home said that it appeared she was in the final stages of the sickness that had attacked her body. He said that if we wanted to see her we probably should do it in the next week or so. Then on Thursday, the 19th, Dad went to see her. During his visit he told her that she didn't have to stay around for all of us. That if she wanted to go ahead and go to Heaven to see Jesus and Papaw, to go. Well, that was about 2:00 p.m. and not even 10 hours later, she went to sleep and gave that old body up for the Victory she has been waiting on her entire life. Eternity with her Savior Jesus Christ. Although we are all sad and miss her; we are rejoicing for her.

Meanwhile, a huge surprise birthday party was in the works for my Dad. On Friday, February 20th, he turned 60. My mom, along with others, had been planning for weeks (or months). In order to keep him from finding out, we had a family dinner at Kyoto's in Rockwall. This is a new Japanese Steak House. There were 20 of us in all and we had a great time. After eating and opening gifts we all headed back to the church. There, waiting on us, was most of our church family. Sitting in pretty much their normal Sunday morning places. As dad walked in he heard, "So you say its your birthday?" He was literally speechless. It was great! We watched videos, ate cake, and mingled. It was so much fun. We really pulled it off. He had no idea until he pulled into the parking lot. He was totally surprised. Even his grandkids knew and kept it a secret.

Daddy, I hope you had a great Birthday!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

Fast February

Ok! So I got a comment that a new post was long overdue. Yes, I agree. We've just been going, going, and going. The last few weeks have flown by.


Caitlyn's Birthday was February 5th and I haven't even got to post anything about it (sorry Caitlyn). Her celebration lasted for 3 days. Thursday the 5th, I took her shopping for a birthday outfit and to La Madeleine's for dinner. On Friday she had a couple of friends stay the night. We went out to eat and just had a girls night. Then on Friday was the real party. All of our family was there. I hope you enjoyed you birthday. We Love You!


And then....Happy Valentine's Day! The girls have been wanting for months to go to Firewheel and build-a-bear. So, for Valetine's that is what we did. Caitlyn built Cuddles the Bear, Denim built Kitty the Kitty Cat, and Dalton built Blackie the Karate Bear! (He wouldn't let me take his picture) They all had alot of fun, but I think it will be the last time I can talk Dalton into going with us.


That night, my parents kept the kids so that we could go out. We went over to Allen and ate at Ralph & Kacoo's. This is a seafood restaurant that I absolutely love. They only recently brought one to the DFW area. The first time I ate there was actually in Bossier City, years ago. We had to travel there for a funeral and the whole family stopped to eat afterwards and I have never forgotten how good it was. Anyway, Chad and I had a great, peaceful time alone. We really needed that. I don't think Chad really needed the speeding ticket he received on the way home, but we did not heed to the warnings we both received the two nights before. (HaHa) So I guess we deserved it.


Ok, so I hope this has filled everyone in because I am out of words. I will try to post sooner next time.