Hud has always loved a good place to sleep!

Hud has always been a great sleeper! When he was still in a crib, he'd grab his blankie and go stand by it holding on to rails until I would come put him down for a nap.

He was so excited to see this bed in the Pottery Barn store!

A trip to the mall

We took the cousins to the mall one afternoon to avoid the heat. They have a really great little play area that the kids loved.

Fun day at the pool!

Hud and Russ

Here's my sister, Jana and niece, Kaylee.

Uncle Josh with the cousins.

We were in CA during a heat wave, so the pool always felt so good!!!! Hudson even learned to swim on this vacation!

My best friend Rachel

Rachel has been one of my dearest friends since our freshman year of college. She and a talk so much when we get together that our cheeks hurt!

Our Little Mermaid Princess

We did a lot of swimming on our vacation!

Coronado Beach

Remind you of Bay Watch?

We just returned from a great vacation to California. Our first stop was San Diego where we visited my best friend from college. We had a great, but too short visit with Rachel and her family. The best part was Coronado Beach!!!

The News We've Been Waiting For!!!!!

See our Adoption Blog

143,000,000

Vote for Bruce Brown!!!!

A great friend of ours, Bruce Brown, is running for District court judge. He's the best candidate in our opinion. He's, as he says, "firm, fair, experienced." We think he's must more than that.... wise, godly, great father, great husband, great Bible study leader... a man of integrity... one you want on the bench!!!

Please make it a point to vote for him in the August 5th primary, and tell all your friends to also!!!

www.brucebrownforjudge.com

Christmas Kisses

I came across some cute Christmas pics, and realized I hadn't blogged our Christmas. It was a bit crazy.... I worked the 26th and 27th, then we headed down to New Mexico. From there Russ and I went to Turkey for 10 days, and it took quite a while for me to catch up around the house after being gone for 3 weeks. Hence, my failure to document our celebration. Here's two of my favorite pics of the kids in front of the tree.

In case of a tornado....

Find shelter in the basement... in the middle of your home...away from windows....

Friday, forecasters were warning of a severe storm coming through with conditions that could produce many tornadoes. We were all downstairs watching the news and the kids were asking questions about safety. I explained that if the sirens went off, we'd go to the bathroom and wait until it was safe. Awhile later, I went in to find our shower ready in case of a crisis. This apparently, ladies and gentlemen, is the loot that Han decided she and Hud shouldn't live without. (Mostly trucks and toy horses)

The storm did produce over 30 tornadoes and we were blessed and grateful that none came our way.

Hud's the best!

I can always tell if Hud's made a trip to the bathroom by the way his pants look. Actually, the waistband of his undies usually make it over the shirt too! Poor guy, he's been sick since Wednesday with fevers and other unmentionable stuff. His temp got as high as 105. He contracted the nasty bug from Han, who has also been sick with the same thing. I've been trying to be the nurse, but I've been sick too. Needless to say, I've been thankful for cartoons this week!

Speaking of Horses

This pink horse is Han's absolute favorite toy. She named her Spawklewuks (Sparkleworks). Han loves horses so much she plays with horses instead of dolls. Have you noticed what Sparkleworks is doing? Yes, bweastfeeding the other animals!

Congrats are in order this week for Sparkleworks.... she got married!!! We found this brown sorrel horse at a garage sale and Han begged for it. I bought it so Sparkleworks could have a friend. "No," Han insisted, "He's her husband!!!" They wasted no time starting their family... just two garage sales away was a little one who is their baby (the peach one in the middle).

Finally Riding Horses!!!

" This is serious business," (or "I'm a little nervous.").

We're ready for the rodeo parade!!

Cowboy Will is taking the kids for a ride.

Han is as much of a cowgirl as she can possibly be. She longs to have her own horse some day and begs to go riding all the time. "When can we meet someone who has a horse," she'll ask.

A friend of ours was in town this week and brought his horses with him. Hud and Han were ecstatic to get the chance to ride.