Almost time

Well we are down to the last few days.  Tres and I, with the help of a very energetic mother and helpful father, have our entire apartment packed and ready to be moved.  We have over taken my parents house for the next days.  Thursday morning we are picking up the truck and getting some help from a few good friends to load up.  Tres will be driving down Thursday to unload.  Ryker and I will be coming down Saturday to join him.  My wonderful Mom will be staying with us for a whole week!!  I am just thrilled about this.  If you know me at all I'm not exactly the stay on task organizer that she is.  That is a trait I unfortunately did not inherit from her.  I will post pics of the house once we're done and settled... hopefully early next week.  Wish us luck!!

Mandi Lou

Babies, Babies, Babies!

Well I just have to share the wonderful news that we received... No I am not pregnant with #2, but my sister is with #3!!!!!  This was a rather shocking announcement for EVERYONE.  That's including mother and father, but also very EXCITING!!  I just burst at the seams every time I hear about a friend or family member being pregnant.  Babies are one of the joys in life I have always loved.

Who wouldn't want another one of these sweet faces!!  I can't wait!


Mandi Lou

Family Pictures

We took family pictures today.  We went to a local park close to my parents house.  These pictures turned out fantastic!!  I have to plug Eric Lyons on the fantastic job he did!  It was a little hot and windy, but I think we did well of disguising that.  The boys were so good and did so much better then I could have dreamed. 

 Ryker was really enjoying the grass.  It was really soft.

 Here's my brother and sister-in-law.  Such a cute couple.

Sweet Micaiah

 Lolly and Pop with their three Grand-boys

 All the boys checking out how strong Pop is.

 My wonderful sister and sweet family!

Hope you enjoyed my family!  They are the best and I will miss being so close for the next few years. 

Mandi Lou

Happy Birthday JR!

Saturday we spent the day with family celebrating JR's first birthday!   We had a blast.  Here are pictures from the day.

Talsie made the cake and mom and I made the horse cupcakes you saw in my last blog.

The reins are long licorice I bought at a candy store.  Very hard to find.

 The heads are chocolate dipped circus peanuts and chocolate and vanilla wafers for the necks.

 Mom decorated some tins with cowboy stickers to hold peanuts.  She did a great job!

 Here's a view of almost all of the table.  Talsie used pie tins for plates.  Such a cute idea!

 Here's the birthday boy in his cowboy attire.

 Lolly and Pop with the downs boys.

 JR and Ryker crawling towards the sandbox.

 Opening gifts.

 Ryker ended the evening passed out in the swing on the back porch.

We had a great day with family and a few church friends!  Such a fun party.  Next we're on to Tres' graduation party!! What fun parties have you been to lately??

Mandi Lou

Giddy-Up!!

Yesterday my youngest nephew turned 1!!!  Tomorrow we are having a cowboy themed party.  My mom and I spent the better part of the afternoon and evening making him special cupcakes, and working on a few other surprises for him.  Here are the first few cupcakes we made.

Aren't these just the cutest cupcakes!!!  They were frustrating and fun to make.  I'll post pictures from his party after tomorrow.   

Happy Birthday Baby J!  

Mandi Lou

So much going on...

I haven't posted in quite awhile.  We have had a lot on our plates lately.  Tres and I are both getting to the end of our school year which tends to be fairly busy by itself.  On top of that we are trying to get everything together for our move.  We spent this past weekend in Tyler looking at houses and spending what little spare time we had with our family there, and trying to get all of Tres' paper work for residency finished in the same weekend.  I don't know what we would do without them there.  They are helping to ease this big transition.  If all goes well we found a house!!  We are very excited and still a little on edge.  Inspections are happening tomorrow and we'll be able to breathe a lot easier if those come out clean.  I'll post pictures if everything works out!  Wish us luck and say a little prayer.

Mandi Lou

Match Day

I'm sure most people have already heard since it's been a couple of weeks, but for those of you who haven't it looks like Tres, Ryker and I are moving to Tyler.  The initial shock of it all has faded and we've been getting down to the nitty gritty.  Tres' been on the phone here and there figuring out paper work for him to start, talking to realtors about housing, and other must dos before we move.  We're trying to plan it so we move somewhere in the first or second week of June.

Match Day

Everyone got a prescription pad that had on the first page where you were going.

Very cute way of telling.

Although we will be sad to leave our friends and family for the next three years, we are getting prepared and a little excited about what's to come.  It will be a growing experience for us and our family.  

Mandi Lou