Saturday, June 30, 2012

Family fun in the sun....2012!

Nothing says "fun in the sun" like a trip to the beach! We got away for a family vacation with my side of the family for 5 days in a beach house on the Bollivar Peninsula in Crystal Beach, Tx (30 miles from Galveston).

We were there with my parents and both my brothers...and their wives and children. There were 15 of us there. We had a 4 bedroom/ 3 bath house. We had the beach, bikes, golf carts, games, food, horse shoes and 7 amazing kiddos to keep us happy and busy! It was a wonderful trip and a much needed getaway for us all.

Below are some of the random pictures from the trip. Love my family so much!!!
My sweet Sadie Rose...happy to be on vacation.
The oldest 6 of the cousins...ready to go crab hunting at night. ( I love Mags mis-matched flip flops and one even on the wrong foot.) Crazy girl! We did in fact catch 4 crabs on the trip, 2 frogs and a few shrimp...not bad.
This picture cracks me up! Gigi and Papa had brought "crab hunting" glasses. HA!!!! So fun.

Gigi and Papa and all their girls...love this picture!


Maggie and Sadie...ready to go! They loved having their family around 24/7 for 5 days. 

While we were there we celebrated the June and July birthdays in my family. Here is their b-day cake. I love how it's in the middle of  the Joker game set up. We played tons of games while we were there. 

Here is the birthday crew...my Daddy, Sadie, Macy and brother Jason!

The cousins decided they would all sleep together in one room...pallets and blankets everywhere! A kids dream. It was wall to wall kiddos. Wouldn't have it any other way. ;)

A fun picture of the 7 kiddos...oldest to youngest. From 12 down to 2.
Morgan, Macy, Jerod, Jackson, Joshua, Maggie and Sadie.

Maggie Caroline ready to swim...
Sadie loved chasing the waves and running from the tide. So cute!

Todd really needed the getaway to veg and unwind. I love this picture of him getting his "relax" on!

Morgan, Maggie and Macy...the big girls of the group. Best pals and family, too!

They all 3 wrote their names in the sand!

Sisters...and sea weed. There was a TON of sea weed this year. We were all a little shocked by the amount. Last year, we were there at the same place at the exact same time and didn't hardly have any sea weed. We know this is just what you get with the Texas coast, and still made the most of it. A little sea weed never hurt anyone, ha.

Beautiful day for a play date at the beach.

My Dad and oldest brother Justin.

The boys...Jerod, Jackson and Joshua. They boogie boarded every day and were really good at it by the end of the trip. So fun to watch !
My mom and I...
Sadie loved riding the golf carts to and from the house. She also loved playing on them and messing with the key. She actually even lost one of the keys. AHH! Luckily there was an extra spare one. Little stinker...ha!

Jerod burying himself...

Maggie and Sadie got to sit on my Uncle Pepper's Harley Davidson. He and his wife and friends were in the area for the day and stopped by to say Hi! It was a fun surprise.

There is even an ice cream truck that comes by for visits every day. Yummo!



This was our beach site each day...it was perfect! What more could a beach bum ask for?
Well maybe a beach bum could ask for LESS sea weed! This was her pouty, sad..."I don't like all that stuff" face. Pitiful, huh?!?
The guys got to play a bit of horse shoes each day. Here is my Dad and brother Jason.
And Todd and my brother Justin...
Building sand castles with a moat...
One last longing stare at the sea...until next year!!!!


Love to all,
Leah

P.S After the beach trip, Todd and I and the girls headed to San Antonio for 3 days of Sea World and hotel fun. Post on that to follow soon!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Happy Birthday girls!!!

Happy Birthday Maggie and Sadie! On May 30th Maggie turned 5 and on June 29th Sadie will turn 2...so we decided to throw a combo party this year for the both of them. It was so much fun!


We decided to do a petting zoo/pony rides party since we have two serious animal lovers on our hands. We used a delightful little local company who came and set up in our front yard. We had 15 small barnyard animals and one pony for riding. It was the perfect activity for 2 and 5 year olds, alike.

We ended up having nearly 60 guests. It was a beautiful sunny day, with loads of our favorite people there. We had hot dogs, baked beans and potato salad...birthday cake and ice cream. We love to host a party and felt so blessed to have so many friends and family come to celebrate our sweet girls!

Some...okay Tons of pics from the day....
Gigi carried on her birthday cake legacy and made the cake for the party. They are so de-lish!!! She had asked Mags what she wanted the cake to look like...Maggie said pink and purple with ponies and sprinkles. Looks made to order to me!!!! Maggie and Sadie were both thrilled.

Mom even made cupcakes too. She made chocolate ones...which is not her norm, just for my Todd! He loves all things chocolate.
Happy Birthday girls!
We had a little picture collage of the girls from the past year...some of them individually and some of them together.
We had a little painting station (another one of my girls favorite things to do). We had little white ceramic barnyard animals. Each kiddo could pick one out and paint it to take home with them.
My Nana (the family artist) helped a ton at this station. Thanks Nana, you're the best.
Our nephew and niece Lincoln and Lucy painting...
Sweet friends Gracie and Cash see-sawing...
The star of the party arriving! Note the hot pink halter just for our girls.

My oldest brother Justin and his son Jerod...and my Daddy. Such handsome fellas!

Good friends Sabrina and Meghan...
Todd and his coworker and friend Steve.
Maggie was sooooo excited about the pony! She adores all things My little Pony right now.

Love her excited little face!
Meet our little barnyard friends...
Miss Sarah, Lucy, Faith, Maggie and Cora checking it all out.

Caleb, Clayton, Joshua, Jerod and Lincoln...
Cute nieces Macy and Morgan...

My little cowgirl Maggie and her new bestie!
Gracie meeting the chicken.
Caleb met the little pig.
Lincoln made friends with the bunny.
Pig whisperer Clayton!
Mags new pal, too.


Cousins Claire and Sadie! Cute little lady bug girls. Loved their little matching outfits...and the mommy's didn't even plan it.
Sadie got to ride (with a touch of help from Gigi) with her favorite little cowboy Owen! They are best pals. 

Our neighbor buddy Julian...
Nephew Jackson and the rooster.


The kids got to feed the animals, too.

Drew liked the squeal-ey pigs!
Sweet friends Clara and Madelyn painting...
Big boys Jerod and Clayton the artists...

Sadie got to meet the bunnies...
and loved them!
Niece Lucy did too!
Edmund the cowboy...
Sadie was having a blast! Love her little excited arms. 
Family... sis in law Melissa, Nana and Pawpaw, brothers Justin and Jason...
Darling church friends...the Jeffries family...
More family...Melissa, Clay, Jenny, Grandma (Raynell), Craig, Mandy, Davis and Claire.
Clayton the cowboy...
Nieces Morgan, Faith and Lucy.
Maggie making a wish....
and Sadie too!

This is what the girls got for their birthday. A Jr. size trampoline. As you can see they, and the cousins all liked it!

So sad I didn't get a pic of our little family of 4 together. I was too busy having fun and forgot to snap one!

What a great day of celebration! Our girls bless us, so!

Love to all,
Leah