Just Photos

Coming up with something elaborate, creative, or cute just isn't my thing and is part of the reason that I hesitate blogging. After all, isn't blogging really supposed to include some sort of write up? Ugh...I'm just not "quick on my feet" and I don't have hours to spend producing a sloppy copy and then a final copy for what I would like to say. I think that I'll leave that process up to the 5th grader :) So, with that said, I think I've done my job and "blogged." Now I will leave you with some fun pictures of the girls.

Elli Photo Shoot

As a practicing photographer, I decided to seize the opportunity to snap a few early morning shots of Miss Elli since she decided it was time to get up and play. Knowing that Easter Sunday would be a little hectic, since we were having Easter lunch at our house, I decided to get her "Easter pictures" a day early. Elli was a really great sport, but she sure was hard to catch smiling! I drug out this old antique chair (that I have plans to recover), thinking that it was perfectly appropriate for her dress and the occassion. Thankfully, she obliged and made good use of it :) We had a great time, but sure were wishing that her sister was around. I will post pictures of her in her beautiful Easter dress soon.

P.S. If any of you want prints, let me know which picture and what size. I just printed some 4x6's and they turned out great!

Finally....another blog entry

So, it's been awhile since my last blog entry-something like 5+ months! Everyone in my house is in bed so I decided to seize the opportunity. I'm sorry for all of you who have been patiently awaiting an update! I'm going to try to do better, but Im not making any promises! Since my last entry we've had Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and Valentine's Day along with a few other "banker's holidays." We had a nice Halloween celebrating Reba's birthday with her family, a nice Thanksgiving, and a good Christmas. New Year's and Valentine's Day are just good excuses to drink sparkling grape juice, eat lots of chocolate, and buy your wife flowers :)

The kids are growing like weeks and are keeping us plenty busy. Kailee is enjoying 5th grade and loves tumbling. She seems to be doing quite well in tumbling and can't wait to meet every Monday. She constantly practices and has progress quite rapidly from not even being able to do a cartwheel to almost doing a back handspring without a spotter. As for Elli, well, she is a mess! She has so much energy and personality that I just don't know what to do with her sometimes-she's such a blast and is constant entertainment! She goes ninety to nothing and is meeting new milestones as I wrote. She still loves to eat, loves to slide, tries to do front rolls, likes to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and " I Love You...." (The Barney Song), and talks a millions miles a minute saying things like "Daddy go" and "It's cold outside." She is so full of spunk and a bit of mischeviousness-you can't take your eyes off of her! We all lover her so much-especially her big sis. Here are a few pics from the past few months.

P.S. Joel got a couple of really nice deer this fall: 1 8pt and 1 12pt! Also, I finally did that run that I blogged about 6 or 7 months ago.....14k. I'm looking forward to more long distance runs in the future!

Kailee as Dorothy for Halloween.

Aunt Reba and Elli as a ladybug for Halloween.

Two Little Indians: My nephew, Keiryn, and Elli.

Elli on Thanksgiving Day.

Keiryn, Kailee, and Elli on the Polar Express.

Kailee and Elli on Christmas Eve.

Artistic Photo Shoot in November: Check out these models!!

Fun Family Photos

Just a few pics of Joel, Kailee, and Elli.

A Weekend with Family

Elli being silly:Elli teasing & laughing at Keiryn:
My sweet nephew, Keiryn:

A few weeks ago Elli and I made our first long distance trip alone. We went to Lubbock and had a very nice trip. We saw my nephew, Keiryn and my mom and sister, Misty. Until this visit Keiryn typically ignored Elli because he's always too busy playing with Kailee. During this visit though, Keiryn and Elli had tons of fun chasing each other around. Keiryn was thrilled with the fact that he was able to make someone laugh and Elli was glad to have someone to tease and someone to tease her. These are a few pics from our trip.

Our Last Night As a Life Group

At Mid Cities Community Church where my family attends, we have what we call Life Groups. Our life group gets together to "do life" every other week and has been doing so since 2005. We've had couples come and go but our "core" couples attended the majority of the time. This group has been so amazing and instrumental in healing addictions, marriages, and various other issues. Each of us have developed wonderful, deep relationships with one another and cannot imagine the group being separated. God, however, has called several couples to move on and be used as leaders of new life groups. I wish the new life groups good luck and am looking forward to getting back together with those of you who are still a part of Jami and Camron's group. Pictured above left to right: Jenna, Lana, Allie, Carrie, Me, Melody, Jami, and Crystal (missing: Bridget, Sheila, & Tiffany)

Illness Might Have Saved Me

Some of you may be wondering how my 10K went.....well, lets just say that I spent that morning in bed instead of attempting to conquer the 10K. I came down with some weird cold or something that caused all of the lymph nodes in my neck to swell. Needless to say, not only did I look like I had been taking steroids, but I was in some serious pain. I decided that it was a good enough excuse not to go kill myself in the run. I have continued running, but have not entered anymore races. I'll let you know when I do.