CUTRER CHRONICLES

2010-08-25T16:05:00.003-05:00

Here we go....well, it's been nearly a year since I have blogged anything,,,so, I guess I better catch up. Here's a shot of Bill and me on my birthday. The last year has been a bit nutty with Bill finishing fellowship and our big move to Nashville. But, we are all doing well on this new adventure and enjoying all the new things God is teaching us. I'll work on getting some photos together of the girls and our new home and post them soon. Stay tuned! :-)

Fall Festival

2009-10-16T21:04:00.002-05:00

What could be better than: cotton candy, face paint, inflatable ball pits, snowcones, and test-driving a police car!? That's what we got to do last Saturday when my good friend Amie (Deacon) was down visiting from Ft. Worth--she asked us to meet her in Sugarland for a little fall festival put on by a hospital in Sugarland. The girls had a blast and I really enjoyed catching up with my sweet friend.

Pumpkin Fun!

2009-10-13T20:31:00.002-05:00

Got invited to a cute pumpkin-carving party for a co-worker of Bill's--Dr. Keila who was also having a birthday! The girls had a blast digging out the "goop" from their pumpkins. Mommy and Daddy did the actual carving.

The finished products. Not bad, huh? We did a pretty good job, I'd say!

Wicked!!!!

2009-10-13T20:24:00.002-05:00

For my birthday, my dear BFF Diana gave me a ticket to go see the musical Wicked with her. Notice that I sat in seat number 133...and I turned 33 this year! Perfect! Anyway, the musical was fabulous and we had a truly wonderful time.

(side note: when Di and I went to NYC last October, we stood in line in the freezing cold two separate times to try to "win" tickets in the Wicked lottery. Our names were not chosen even though we had decoys with us who promised their tix to us if their names were called. We saw Gypsy instead which was fine, but it was a triumph to get to finally see Wicked now!)

September at the Beach

2009-10-13T20:15:00.003-05:00

So, we don't have changing leaves, but one of the best parts of living in such a warm climate is the good old autumn beach trip. The weather was just right, so we piled in the car and drove to Galveston with our good friends. The water was clean, cool, and lovely (can you believe it was Galveston!?)--the kids had a blast in the sand (as usual) and it was pretty much a perfect fall trip.

Abbey does her own mud bath.

Lexi enjoying the cool sand.

Daddy dug a big hole for Lexi to stand in.

Alexis, "little Abby" and Alex play together.

Looks like Zach is supervising "big Abbey's" work. :)

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

2009-10-13T19:44:00.002-05:00

Abigail's first day of FIRST GRADE! She looked super cute in her uniform and did very well walking right into her classroom after giving me a big hug and telling me to have a good day! :-) She's growing up so much!

Lexi wouldn't stand still for her picture. She is in the "Cubs" class at her school called A Children's Village. It's like pre-pre-Kindergarden. She's a big girl though and doing great! The cutest thing was seeing everyone's "about me" sheets on the wall outside the classroom. Several kids put Alexis down for "best friend" or "i like to play with" or "I am thankful for." ! Isn't that sweet! She must be such a caring girl towards her friends at school!

Colorado my home, sweet home...

2009-09-12T22:23:00.003-05:00

That's a line from a song in the musical "Unsinkable Molly Brown." Awesome flick. Anyway, I was born in colorful Colorado and Bill and I were blessed to get to take a trip there this summer with the girls. It was lovely to escape the Houston heat for a while and enjoy the cool, dry, Denver air. We saw some dear friends, spent quality time with various family members and took lots (and lots) of pictures. It was a delightful getaway for our family--a much-needed vacation!
Enjoy the pix!--go ahead and click on "older posts" at the bottom--there's a lot of new pictures--even on the next "page." So, keep going!

Belinda!

2009-09-12T22:18:00.003-05:00

My sweet BFF, Belinda offered to pick us up from the airport. We had a yummy dinner at their house with her husband Rick and the kids, and got to spend one night with them. We had a blast just talking and hanging out and watching the kids play! Good times. Miss them!

RJ and Alexis: born 3 days apart...

Belinda and Elisabeth: friends since 3rd grade!!!

3 nutty girls! (Kailey, Abbey, and Lexi sporting their matching shirts.)

Gampy's house

2009-09-12T22:10:00.001-05:00

We arrived at Gampy's for a quick lunch with him and Brad before we all jumped in the car to drive up to Vail.

Vail!!!

2009-09-12T21:51:00.002-05:00

Some dear friends of my dad's, own a condo in Vail. They have generously allowed us to go up and stay there--several summers and winters when I was a child and then again, this past August. I loved getting to show Bill and the girls all around town and share my childhood memories with them.

This might as well be Jonathan and me since we used to play Monopoly on the carpet in that very spot--but it's not--it's Abigail and Alexis on some sort of stuffed raindeer: a requirement for Colorado condos I guess.

Bill just hangin' out. The condo has had a face-lift since I was last there (16 years ago!), but everything is in the exact same spot!

Their building is called The Edelweiss--like from Sound of Music! Here are the girls posing with Gampy!

Right away, we walked over to "Pirate Park." This place was awesome when I was a kid, but now, it's totally re-done and has even more "Piratitude" than before! Arrr! Here's Abigail posing at the front of the ship.

It's a beautiful day for a gondola ride!

2009-09-12T21:41:00.002-05:00

We set off for Lion's Head to ride the gondola to Eagle's Nest.

Drinkin' starbucks while waiting for the gondola to open.

Up, up and away...

Sisters love the ride!

Once on top of the mountain, we hiked a little and then Alexis got to ride a pony!

Abbey got to jump on a super-trampoline!

After a yummy lunch on top of the mountain, we finally headed back to Vail--on the walk back, Alexis decided to take a break and listen to a story some kid was reading.

Down by the river

2009-09-12T21:32:00.002-05:00

One of our favorite pastimes during our Vail visit was, of course, wading in the creek that runs through town. The water was freezing (as always), but, the girls still waded in to skip rocks and cool off their toes. Good times had by all!

Clowning around town

2009-09-12T21:21:00.003-05:00

Two smart dudes chatting.

Lexi's new puppy taking a pit-stop

Elisabeth--kisses a frog--she already found her prince!

The Golden Bear store--another Vail classic.

Me and my sweet girls!

Last day in Vail...

2009-09-12T21:12:00.002-05:00

Me posing on a rock that I undoubtedly posed on when I was 9 or 10.

One last visit to the awesome Pirate Park/Creek.

Classic photo-stop--with Main Street of Vail Village and mountains in the background--Bill and Abigail say "cheese."

Bye bye Miss American Pie...(heard that song a time or two in Vail). Here I am waving goodbye from our beloved balcony. (It was from this same balcony, that I dropped my brother's Game-Boy when I was 9 or 10--it didn't break.) What a great time we had on this visit back to a village filled with memories!

Painting Rocks--a Gampy tradition

2009-09-12T21:07:00.002-05:00

Something "Gampy" has done with Abigail since she was old enough to hold a paintbrush, is paint rocks. There are rocks everywhere in Colorado (thus the name: Rocky Mountains). So, Abigail picks them up wherever we go. Gampy came up with the brilliant idea of painting little designs on them. So, we fit in a rock-painting session just before Gampy and Brad had to leave for France.

Lexi is now old enough to get in on the rock-painting action!

Family Visit

2009-09-12T20:58:00.002-05:00

Near the end of the week, we got to go visit my cousin Aaron and his lovely new wife Chantee plus, his two boys and my Aunt Linda! It was a great time with family. We all just picked up where we left off! Aaron grilled for us, Aunt Linda made Grandma's potato salad (a favorite of mine and Aaron's) and she also made Chocolate Cheesecake!!! (another favorite!) Chantee showed me her wedding dress (stunning!) and the kids played very well together.

The family: Bill holding Alexis, Elisabeth holding Abigail, Aunt Linda, Qiyar, Aaron, Chantee holding baby Kyvon.

Me, Chantee, Aunt Linda

Me with John Elway (LOL!)

last denver days

2009-09-12T20:52:00.005-05:00

One of our last days in Denver, I got to go out shopping while Bill hung out with the girls--it was lovely and I spent all my birthday money! After a calm, kid-free shopping spree, Bill and the girls met me at Ben and Jerry's for some icecream! (This day sounds amazing doesn't it!?) Then, we all walked over to the fountains to let the girls play.

Here comes my sweet husband and two adoreable daughters!

Elisabeth turns thirty-something...

2009-09-12T20:30:00.004-05:00

On the day before my birthday, my sweet, wonderful, amazing husband, and two of our bestest friends planned a little surprise celebration at Miller Outdoor Theatre--Shakespeare In the Park! Plus, a lovely picnic dinner complete with fancy cups, flowers in a vase, and six different cheeses on a cutting board! I felt so spoiled and special. The play was awesome, the night was cool for Houston in August and it was another cherished evening with the Petersons!

Here I am holding my flowers and my gift (inside the box is a ticket to go see Wicked!!!)

Steve and Diana

On my actual birthday, (08/08!) our whole family headed to the Astro's game! Papa and Yaya took us to dinner and William and Victoria (as part of a church choir) sang the National Anthem for the opening of the game! It was a fun way to spend my birthday evening with the fam!
Cute girls with the birthday-mommy in the middle. (don't I look tan!?)

Pretty much, I'm a nut.

NASA

2009-08-25T16:34:00.004-05:00

We drove down to NASA with our good friends the Stoltes. We all piled in their mini-van for a nice drive down--(and a fairly whiney drive back.)

This fun trip down to the Space Center did not actually take place in August (as all of our other fun things did.) However, I thought you might want to see pix--so, here we go.Alexis, "little Abby" and Abigail lay down to fly the space shuttle.

Alexis at the controls.

Abigail--making a face because of the low oxygen on Mars, or because she is being tortured by all the fun at the Space Center...we are not sure which.

There was a really cool Star Wars exhibit there and we got to see C3PO and R2D2!!! Very exciting (even though Alexis and Little Abby do not even know who these guys are!)

Galveston! (summer 2009)

2009-08-25T16:24:00.002-05:00

One of our fun activities in August (there were many!) was a trip down to Galveston to go to the beach! It was hot and muggy (Elisabeth was already sunburned from her trip down the River the day before), but, it was still super fun to watch the girls enjoy the sand and the waves! And actually, the water was surprisingly cool-ish (still brown, but cooler than usual!) We even saw some dolphins swimming pretty close by! After a picnic and snow cones, we all agreed it had been a wonderful beach day!

Summer Fun...

2009-08-17T22:39:00.003-05:00

Bill was "on-service" in June and July--meaning: he worked 13 hours a day 6 days a week for those 8 weeks straight. That doesn't exactly feel like summer vacation. So, we crammed our summer into the 1st 3 weeks in August!
Below are a few pix of some things the girls and I did during June and July--and whenever I find another moment to blog, I'll add the REALLY fun pictures and stories from the last 3 weeks...including: NASA, Galveston Beach, my birthday celebration(s!), and our family trip to Colorado! So, check back soon!
Love,
Elisabeth for all of us.

New bed!

2009-08-17T22:14:00.002-05:00

Abigail was excited and honored to receive a "new" bed from her Aunt Victoria. It is really tall off of the ground and has a trundle underneath! She loves it! Can't you tell!?

Naama

2009-08-17T22:10:00.002-05:00

Abigail's friend from kindergarden (Naama) came over for a sleep-over this summer. It was Naama's first time to spend the night away from home and she did great! They giggled and had a really fun night! Abigail was a sweet hostess and Naama was a delightful guest! We will be sad if she moves back to Israel next year as her family is planning to do. But, maybe they'll be in first grade together!

Crazy for Beads!

2009-08-17T22:06:00.002-05:00

Bought a bucket full of assorted beads and some stretchy string and found fun for hours! The girls loved stringing all kinds of colors and shapes. (I even made a bracelet!) So, thank you to Hobby Lobby for fun, cheap entertainment. It's a big help when one lives in a city where it's 100 degrees outside! One must find fun indoor activities!!!

Laundry day

2009-08-17T22:02:00.002-05:00

These goofy sisters still like to stuff themselves into the laundry basket. Aren't they adoreable!?

Where's Lexi??

2009-07-12T13:42:00.003-05:00

As I've been posting these pictures the past several weeks, I've noticed that we seem to be all about Abigail at our house...Actually, we do love both of our daughters. :-) One is just a tad camera shy and the other one definitely is not. Abigail is active in a lot of "stuff" and loves to pose for pictures. Alexis tags along and also does some of her own cute stuff, but will NOT pause for a photo. She is getting better about it, but the reason it seems to be the Abigail Show is that Lexi prefers it that way....for now. So, without a photo of my sweet baby, let me tell you that she is the cutest little thing you have ever seen! I love the way her brown eyes twinkle when she tells me some exciting fact like: "Mommy, we are on earth!" Good to know Lexi! Those her know her well, know that her BFF (other than her big sis) is Baby Steve (named for our good friend Dr. Steve who shares a special bond with Lexi--he taught her how to jump!) Alexis also loves her little stuffed dog named: B-Dog. B-Dog and Baby Steve and her little green blankie called "Lovey" are with her much of the time wherever she goes. Alexis has tons of energy, loves to play babies and is becoming such a big girl! So, I just wanted to let everyone know that we do actually love girl number 2--it's just that girl number 1 is a bit of a camera hog. :-)

Summer Stock 2009

2009-07-12T13:35:00.002-05:00

Our church does an annual Summer Musical called Summer Stock. This year was the show was called: Sun-Seekers Nation Vacation. Abigail sang in the back-up choir and did all the dances and motions along with the music. She said that she was too shy to have a speaking part. :-) She did a great job and had a lot of fun. The performance was really cute and funny!

Abbey posing with some of her props from the musical.

Abbey with friend and fellow performer: Zach discussing how they did in the show. He actually gave her one of his pom-poms because she didn't get one. Very sweet!

Abigail chops her locks

2009-07-12T13:25:00.004-05:00

Yep, Abigail asked for a hair cut. Last August, she got it cut post Hurricane Ike because we had no power (and no air conditioning) for 2 weeks--so, long hair was HOT. This time, it was a combo of the heat of the summer AND a desire to look a little more like one of her high school friends: "Miss Kimberley" who is recently sporting a similar bob. And also to look like her cousin Emily who has short hair. So, our dear friend and hair stylist extraordinaire: Diana agreed to a home hair cut. I think it's super cute, but I also loved it long...good thing it will grow!~ :-)

Before...

Bye bye too all that gorgeous hair...

After! Sporting a head band and thanking the stylist: "Aunti Di"

SISTER DAY!

2009-07-08T13:18:00.003-05:00

Shortly after mother's day and father's day, the girls asked me: "when is kids day!?" I told them every day is kids day! They were not amused. So, we quickly established "Sister Day" in the Cutrer house. On sister day, they get breakfast of their choice and maybe breakfast in bed. They also secretly buy one another a gift. Abigail bought Lexi sunglasses and her very own Little Mermain pens. Lexi bought Abbey some bubble bath and shimmer lotion. They wrapped the gifts themselves. (very cute--lots of tape.) For this first annual "Sister Day" mommy and daddy decided to get them a gift--Big Sister and Little Sister necklaces from James Avery. It was a lovely day. The girls were (mostly) sweet to each other all day--saying things like "Happy Sister Day Sissy." I am glad we've established this tradition and I hope that the girls will always celebrate Sister Day together. :-)

Ooo! A gift from mom and dad!

Look, Lexi, it says: Little Sister!

BIG SISTER!

We love each other!!!

Told ya!

2009-07-05T22:40:00.003-05:00

Well, I promised to do a few more posts...so, here they are! Now, I am all up to date! Amazing! I don't know what to do with myself now. Guess I'll have to spend more time on Facebook or something. ha! Well, I hope you enjoy some more family photos. We sure do feel blessed when we look through these pictures. I would tell you that I'll be more regular about posting pictures now,,,but it's a strong possibility that I won't post again 'til October or something. ;-) (I hope that's not true!)--but, you know how it goes. Life is busy--and sometimes, I need to LIVE it, not just document it.

Happy 4th!

2009-07-05T22:29:00.004-05:00

We put on our red, white, and blue for a fun day out at the Rutledge resort for the 4th. We swam, ate delicious burgers, corn on the cob, and potato salad too. Then, we did sparklers and Uncle William lit some pretty amazing BIGTIME fireworks! Ours actually rivaled the "professional" show at the near-by soccer fields. (We got to watch those too from the comfort of the front porch.) Anyway, Aunt Victoria took some amazing pix of us "writing" in the air with sparklers. Aside from the 104 degree heat, it was a super-fun night for all of us!

Gorgeous girls.

Lexi lounging on the hill waiting for more fire works.

Abbey sparkles.

The girls were a little frightened of the "poppers" at first, but soon loved throwing them down with gusto!

Daddy actually had the day off--so, he got in on the spakler fun too!

Painting fun

2009-07-05T22:21:00.002-05:00

Part of the fun of summer is just doing fun things at home! On this day, we got out the easle and the girls became little artists.

This paiting (for Ya Ya) actually turned out quite beautifuly. I wish you could really see her color choices--this picture definitely does not capture her artistic genius!

Lexi just likes to try out each different color in a different spot. We had fun!

We are fam-il-ee...

2009-07-05T22:17:00.002-05:00

Kelly successfully entertaining her peeps as we wait for a table at Yia Yia Mary's for lunch.

In spite of my jazz hand and William's thug impression, this was the best shot I got on my camera. It was fun seeing all of us "kids" all grown up.

Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Kelly come to town

2009-07-05T22:11:00.002-05:00

We've been looking forward to this visit from Jonathan and Kelly for a long time! They are visiting from New York and we had a blast catching up with them.

Getting the girls to pose with them was tricky.

We have this tradition where they each read to one of the girls at bed time.

Lexi takes story-time seriously.

J and K doing some trampoline tricks.

Sisters

2009-07-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

The girls showing off their matching dresses from Grandma.

GOOFY CLOWN GIRL

2009-07-05T21:42:00.003-05:00

No doubt about it, Abigail is our little performer. She loves to get all dressed up and be silly and say: "take my picture." Her little sister is not as camera hungry, although she is equally as goofy--but somehow, when the camera points her way, she RUNS away. But, not Abigail. She's a ham! (BTW, that's a grass skirt on her head with a circus hat to top it off.)

Seriously

2009-07-05T21:33:00.003-05:00

The girls and I arrived home one evening to see a giant water slide in our neighbor's front yard. Now these are the world's most fun neighbors--we have a lot of great stories about them and their two fun boys. (Many of the stories include dogs, motor cycles, chain saws, parachutes, and woodworking--in no particular order.) Anyway, the Olivers are super-fun people and will do just about anything for anyone. We love them! It's a good thing we are on good terms with them because we got invited over (with some other neighbor children) to partake in some front-yard water park fun!

Note: top of slide is as tall as house.

Abigail posing on her way up to the big slide.

All the kids pause for a quick picture. (Alexis chose to watch the fun as she is a little timid about giant things in people's front yards.)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

2009-07-05T21:25:00.002-05:00

The girls enjoyed showering Daddy with cards (the talking kind) and kisses (the sweet, melt your heart kind) for Father's Day. We gave him some new clothes and a framed set of pictures from his Triathlon. It's always great to get to celebrate such an excellent father! Here he is with his two adoring daughters. He may be in scrubs a lot and he may have to leave before they wake up in the mornings six days a week, but he is so faithful to set time aside for them (Saturday mornings they have "Daddy-two-daughter-dates" where they go in their PJ's to eat junkie breakfast food while mommy sleeps in. (it's a win-win situation!) He always has energy for them and he always cares enough to know what is going on in their lives. He's truly an amazing father to them.

Good Old Friends

2009-07-05T21:12:00.003-05:00

Our dear friends from College: Mike and Kristen Lewis (and their two adoreable children: Carter and Evyn) made the treck all the way from Lubbock down to Houston just to hang out with us for a few days! We had a lovely time just sitting, eating, talking, playing, and laughing. It was so precious to rekindle friendships that began in college, but will continue into eternity.

Lexi gets ready to bop Carter in the head with a pool toy while the adults say: "Cheese!"

Had to get a group photo of our off-spring, so we sat them all on the counter. Lexi is saying cheese, but looking at something on the floor, Carter is sad that they are actually about to leave, Evyn is enjoying sitting in the "Bumbo" chair, because, really, who wouldn't want to sit in something called "Bumbo"?! And Abigail is posing and protecting Evyn which is a great combo.

I had to include one picture of Mike rocking out to Guitar Hero--I mean, the guy is a stud. This was his first time to play said video game and he was better than all of us after about 2 songs. Yep, he killed it. He pretty much rocks. Kristen was actually pretty good as well which puts me to shame because I am completely terrible at it--I get up there and forget my colors and how to move my fingers and usually get booed off the stage. Sad for me. But, I'm glad everyone else loves this game!

Playing catch-up on the Blog (again!)

2009-07-04T14:26:00.002-05:00

For some reason, I just can't seem to get it together to download my pictures off the camera and then up-load them onto our blog on any sort of regular basis. That means that when I do find some time, I end up posting several month's worth of family photo fun.

What is sad is that I just spent like 2 hours posting the next several posts (make sure you go to archives on the next few pages to see all the pix) and I am still going to be behind!!!

So, here's a teaser...if I do have some time tomorrow, I will put on pix from our visit with our college friends the Lewises, and then Father's Day, our neighbor's water park in their front yard (I am not kidding...you'll see!), and my goofy clown girl, plus some cute pix of the girls in matching dresses and then our visit with my brother Jonathan and sister-in-law Kelly who are actually here this weekend (July 4!)

So, now you have those to look forward to...if I find the time... :-)

For now, go ahead and keep scrolling to find "Party Girl" that's the first post I did of several today.

Play Time

2009-07-04T14:19:00.002-05:00

So far, summer has been a lot of fun! Here are our good friends Abby and Zach hanging out in our little inflatable pool with Lexi and Abbey.

Zach and Abby have this adorable little baby brother named Alex. He has a special bond with his "aunt" Elisabeth.

This is an action shot of some awesome swinging being done by Zach and Alexis and Big Abbey.

Craft Camp

2009-07-04T14:05:00.003-05:00

Our sweet friends the Stolte's have a 3 year old daughter named Abby. (she's "Little Abby" and my Abbey is "Big Abbey")--anyway, Abby's big brother Zach got to go to cub scout camp every evening one week. Little Abby was upset by this and demanded that her mom organize "craft camp" for her. My girls were the only other members of said "Craft Camp" and they had a blast. Abby's mom (Julie) went all out--organizing some very cute (and educational) art projects for the 3 girls. They also got to have a snack and a short swim. Abby was satisfied and we were glad to be members of such cute summer fun!

Little Abby, Big Abbey, and Lexi post swim at Craft Camp.

The girls holding up their beautiful collages. (I have already forgotten the name of the famous artist we were highlighting that first night of craft camp! sorry!)

TEN YEARS!!!

2009-07-04T13:49:00.003-05:00

June 5th, 1999--two College Sweethearts got married in Houston, TX--after Honeymooning in Nantucket, they set out for Lexington, KY so that Bill could attend Medical School at the Unviersity of Kentucky (Go Cats!) After three fun-filled years doing whatever the heck they wanted, they were delighted never-the-less to welcome their first daughter: Abigail Brianna into their happy home. After a move back down to Houston for Bill to begin his residency, they enjoyed their new house and their new baby girl. A few years later, girl number two: Alexis Bella joined the party. Bill stayed in Houston to continue his medical training by begining a Critical Care Fellowship at Texas Children's. Elisabeth continues her part-time job at their church and enjoys her full-time job as mother of two ADORABLE daughters. Ten years, and two kids later, those College sweethearts are still madly in love and thanking the Lord for His powerful hand in their marriage.

~~~

To celebrate our ten year anniversary, Bill took me on a 10-part date which included Ten Top-10 lists of things having to do with our relationship: Top 10 movies, Top 10 songs, Top 10 dates, Top 10 restaurants, Top 10 kisses etc. etc. It was one of the best dates ever! (Topping the charts!) We enjoyed a wonderful meal (at 3 different places) as we reminisced about all the fun times we've shared over the last ten years. We are truly blessed!

Together Forever!

True love's kiss.

Documenting the lovely bouquet Bill gave me.

cute moment caught on camera

2009-07-04T13:45:00.002-05:00

I glanced out the window to check on the girls in the back yard and saw Abigail sweetly painting Lexi's toe-nails. Granted, they did not ask for the nail polish--but, I love it when they do cute little things like this.

Vacation Bible School: Family Night

2009-07-04T13:33:00.002-05:00

Near the end of VBS week, they had a family night up in the church parking lot. We blocked off one of the streets, set up our band for some live music and had a dunking booth (for the pastor and children's minister to sit in!) and free ice cream from a (reputable) ice cream truck. What more could you want!?

The youth band rocking out.

Friends Abigail and Kate Davidson posing whilst listening to the band.

Abigail shows off her SpongeBob ice cream.

Lexi shows off her ice cream which is shaped like the head of Dora the Explorer. Yum!

Here is Roger, our pastor awaiting his fate in the dunking booth.

Sea World (part 2)

2009-07-04T13:24:00.003-05:00

Splashing around. On day 2 of our Sea World trip, we did the water park. There are very few pictures of that time since we were in the water most of the time and didn't have a water proof camera. Here are the girls in one of the splash areas.

Daddy daughter water fun.

Abigail shows off her missing tooth AND her new whale-tail necklace. (Which she bought with her own money!)

Equally as fun as Sea World itself was our hotel room--jumping on the bed and watching the Disney channel--two things we don't get to do at home. :-)

Sea World

2009-07-04T13:07:00.002-05:00

Abigail with her new pal: Shamoo. (Alexis did not want to get too close to this giant stuffed whale.)

The whole fam--a great time was had by all!

Our favorite show of the trip was "Viva" with the beluga whales and dolphins and acrobats and divers and swings and splashes! It was very fun to watch and very well-done.

This was the best thing we saw Shamoo do. Unfortunately at the time we were there, it was mating season--so, the male whale didn't care one bit about doing tricks for the crowd--he just wanted to get back to the female whale who was being kept at the back of the Shamoo stadium. He didn't do many tricks, so it was rather a lame show which is why we liked the "Viva" show a little better. However, it's a giant killer whale and the girls enjoyed watching him swim. We still had a blast over all at Sea World!

Another great perk: feeding dolphins! Very cool! Bill did pet one, but the girls (and me!) were too scared to touch them even though they could have easily reached out and done so. They were content to just throw little fish into the dolphin's gaping mouth. Good times.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL

2009-07-04T12:07:00.002-05:00

Class picnic.

Friends: Angela, Ashley, and Mary.

Posing with Naama.

Last day of school mentality: I can do anything I want!

Abigail had a great first year of school. She enjoyed Kindergarden and had a fantastic teacher. I can't believe that the year is over already. Time for summer fun!

Lost Tooth

2009-07-04T12:01:00.002-05:00

Abigail lost her very first tooth on May 27th--just before school ended. She lost it while she was in school, so the school nurse gave her this nifty little tooth-shaped case to carry it in. She was very excited! It's a fun mile-stone. The tooth fairy brought two dollars that night! This tooth-losing business could get a bit expensive. :-) (Update: since I am posting old pictures, you should know that she lost that other bottom tooth about a month later...this time the tooth fairy only brought one dollar, but she also left a TINY little note. We were all very excited!)

Francesca Battistelli

2009-07-04T11:55:00.002-05:00

Chic-Fil-A does these free Christian concerts called "Brown-bags." One evening back in May, the artist was Francesca Battistelli. Bill likes a lot of her music, so we decided to go. We got to see her up close doing a radio interview inside Chic Fil A (then, she got in line and ordered her own food...) The nice Chic-Fil-A people hand out these fans shaped like cow heads (what else!?)--so, here you see Bill and the girls waiting in the heat for the concert to begin. It was well worth it! She did a fantastic job and now we are all Francesca fans!

Brat-Fest 2009

2009-07-04T11:48:00.002-05:00

Every year on Memorial Day weekend, our good friends Steve and Diana hold a "Bratwurst Festival" (aka: Brat-Fest). This year, they made like 80 Brats. (That's a lot of sausage people!) They invite all their friends and we swim and the kids run around a play and we eat!!! It's crazy fun!

Memorial Day

2009-07-04T11:42:00.002-05:00

We had a relaxing Memorial Day with the fam. We swam, ate yummy food outside, and relaxed on the porch swing. Oh! And Abigail caught a tiny little frog--she named it Timothy. (Get it, "tiny Tim!")

Party Girl

2009-07-04T11:28:00.002-05:00

Abigail's sweet friend Mary invited her to her birthday party--they swam, ate pizza up ontop of the swing set and beat the crud out of a pinata. What could be better!?

Pizza Face!

Goggle girls--this is Abigail with her good friend from school: Naama.

"I want CANDY..." Abigail is showing off her loot from the pinata!

Smart Kid

2009-06-13T21:51:00.005-05:00

Abigail's Dinosaur project on T-Rex was chosen with one other kindergardener from her school to be included in a Gifted and Talented Expo held at Rice University. We are so excited that our little girl has already presented a poster at Rice--the Ivy League of the South!

The "other Kindergardener" was none other than her good friend Zach--here they are posing in front of the Rice Memorial Center where the GT Expo was held.

Here is Abigai with her T-Rex poster. Good work!

Triathlon King

2009-06-13T21:44:00.002-05:00

SWIM, BIKE, RUN!

Bill competed in his first (more to come, I am sure) mini-triathlon back on May 17th. Swim a quarter of a mile, then bike 10 miles, then run 3 miles....He did great!

He even paused to pose for a picture on his way out to the bike portion.

Our friend Steve talked Bill into doing the triathlon. Here they are being studs together.

The whole family came out to cheer him on! Woo hoo!

Mother's Day

2009-06-13T21:37:00.002-05:00

(Alexis didn't really want to take this picture, but it's okay of the rest of us.)

Here I am with the angels who made me a mother!

Fun day at Discovery Green

2009-06-13T21:26:00.003-05:00

Houston has this cool new park downtown called Discovery Green. We went with the Macicek girls, Reiley and Reese. I think I told them to say "Ahh" in this picture.

RA-RA

(Reiley, Abigail, Reese, Alexis)

and now introducing....BABY REAGAN!

Reese and Alexis boogy in the fountains.

Abigail and Reiley strike a pose. (scary, I know.)

Fiesta!

2009-06-13T21:20:00.003-05:00

The Kindergardeners did a little program for the end of the year--the theme was "Fiesta" (this is Houston--land of Tex-Mex, you know!) Sorry the photo is blurry--you can tell it is Abigail talking to the mini-conquistador. The kids sang La Bamba (I'm not kidding.)

Here's Abbey with Mrs. Senske on Fiesta Day--O-Lay!

LEMONADE ANYONE?

2009-06-13T21:16:00.001-05:00

Abigail had a blast selling lemonade when we had our yard sale a few months ago. She made $20!!!

Just hangin' around

2009-06-13T21:10:00.005-05:00

This was just a great moment when I looked out the kitchen window and noticed the girls were both in red that day matching the red swings on the swingset--it was picture-perfect, so...I took a picture! :-) Aren't they adorable!?

Reiley's 6th Birthday

2009-06-13T21:04:00.001-05:00

Abigail's BFF Reiley turned 6 in April and the girls had a blast at her party at the Pink Polkadot Room in the Heights. Very cute and very fun! Here's Reiley covered in boas of course.

Alexis and Reese--the little sisters...giggling as usual.

Children's Museum

2009-06-13T20:54:00.002-05:00

One rainy evening, Bill and I decided to take the girls to the Children's Museum--it has some brand new areas and was really fun for the girls--and for us too! :-)

Here is Lexi pretending to be a veterinarian. She's putting the kitty back in the cage.

They have this cool new Diner where parents can sit at the cafe tables and kids bring them trays of fake food. Yum!

Abigail bringing us our food--she was a good little waitress. Bill got the burger with one chip, and I got the burrito with a do-nut on the side--great combo!

Abilene Zoo

2009-06-13T20:46:00.002-05:00

On our way back from Lubbock (when we went up to see our dearest friends from College), we stopped thru Abilene to let the girls run and stretch their legs (it's a 10-hour car ride from Houston to Lubbock). Anyway, we stopped at the Abilene zoo which has this really fun playground and a sign letting you know that you are at teh ZOO!

Lexi, wishing she could fly back to Houston instead of getting back in the car.

Abigail--giving rock-climbing a try.

Off-spring

2009-06-13T20:36:00.002-05:00

I had this roommate, Amy, who was small and very funny. We always giggled together and were so thankful to be friends. (Funny story: her last name was Potts, my last name was John--we were "the sewer sisters" hee hee!)

Anyway, here are our oldest daughters (we both have two girls). So fun to see them together...maybe they'll grow up and be roommates! Meaghan on the left with Abigail. Their last names both start with "C"--but aren't quite as interesting as Potts and John!

Field Day

2009-06-13T20:30:00.003-05:00

Abigail had a really fun field day at school (back in April...I'm just now posting pix!) She was a champ at all the activities and had a lot of fun. She loved her kindergarden teacher: Mrs. Senske who was an excellent teacher. One of the most fun activities was a scooter relay--Abigail smoked everyone on that because she was the only one who would give a giant push with her legs and go sailing down the line (the other kids just walked their legs inching ahead as best they could). Abigail would then slam her feet down to stop at the turn and do the same thing to make it all the way around the square. Very funny to watch. Everyone cheered each other on--it was sweet!

A tisket and tasket...

2009-05-19T22:05:00.003-05:00

It's egg hunt time--well, at least, it was about a month ago...I am always slow to post pictures. Sorry! Anyway, here's the girls with empty baskets headed to the egg hunt at our church. We had a lovely time as it was a gorgeous day!

Alexis and little Abby load up their baskets.

Abigail races the other big kids to pick up lots of eggs.

More Texas Fun

2009-05-19T21:53:00.003-05:00

If you are going to live in Texas, you have to go to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo! We took our new friends who moved here from New Jersey. It was important for them to experience a good ol' Rodeo! We rode the rides at the fair, ate yummy (bad-for-you) food, and we all had a great time watching people get thrown off bulls and ride horses around barrels (who invented this stuff!?)

Gotta wear a cowboy hat to the rodeo (pink is for girls)!

Abigail poses with her NJ friend Zach. Alexis is oblivious to the "bull" around her. "Little Abby" is brave enough to pick his nose.

Texas Cuties

2009-05-15T20:44:00.009-05:00

Our good friends, Mike and Deb Turner (MDTurnerphotography.com) met us in Brenham to do an awesome photoshoot of some gorgeous girls in some gorgeous flowers! Gotta love a field of Texas bluebonnets! Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Here we go! (again)

2009-05-08T17:05:00.001-05:00

After many frustrating tries at recovering our old blog photos and journaling, we have not been able to pull it back out of cyber space. So, the last 3+ years of blogging is essentially lost. We still have all the photos on our computer--but we've just lost all of our clever posts and creative captions written about each photo. We know you are sad with us.

But, we are starting fresh.

We'll try to post at least once a month to catch you up on our crazy lives. For now, here's a fun shot of the girls being GOOFY!