4th of July

Austin, TX visiting with friends
Love these guys! Missy and Greg, little boys Kayden and Eli. We had a blast! Greg is interning there for the summer, but luckily these guys are coming back to Lubbock soon (unlike the Burches, bummer!)

Fun in the sun

It is hot there, I guess it's the humidity that gets you (being from AZ never thought I'd complain about less than 100 degree weather... The kids of course loved this game of getting wet. Not as much as Greg loved wielding the power-sprayer, though!

Town Lake, Austin
You could see turtles here all over in the water, Sydney freaked out when one charged toward her in the canoe

Missy and I snuck out to watch The Proposal while the Dad's took the toddlers canoeing... Our babies slept fine in our arms - good, funny movie!!

Outlet Malls
My friend Elizabeth told me, "Exit 200 on the 35!! Best advice I can give you." She was right - super outlet malls there between San Antonio and Austin. We stopped for lunch on our way to San Antonio...

Syd thought Johnny Rockets was too loud when the waiters sang and danced the way they do... Too funny! :)

Eli - Darling little guy!

Kayden, Syd' playmate :) Sweet kid!

Side note: Drew's hair is starting to curl in the front and back - I totally dig it

In Front of the Alamo

BFF's! Syd & Kayden, they love to play together! :)

Riverwalk & Rainforest Cafe

This was super fun, aside from the smothering humidity/heat of San Antonio in July... :) We totally sweated like crazy but it was well worth it!

Cool bridges, bardges, people, shops... The Riverwalk!

Definitely not stroller friendly...

Kayden's Birthday dinner at Rainforest Cafe
Sydney was completely tripping about all the animals. Not in a good way. We thought she dlove it, oh no she was terrified! "Tiger! Scared! Gorilla, Crocodile! Whhaaa!" Clung to us. But as soon as we left she was all brave, "Ooh tiger! RAAAWWR!" Crocodile, Gorilla! Cool!" We asked her if she wanted to go back and she just fowned, shock her head and said no... Ha, that's my girl :)

Ahuh Ahuh Baby - don't know where this came from but I love it

Driving Home

The kids traveled really well, by the way, barely made a peep either one of them. We were really grateful! And look what we spotted about every mile for 30 miles between 2 small towns about 2 hours from our home... YUCK! All over the road out there!! Pace says we are NOT camping here. Yeah, no way, not even getting out of the car here.. Welcome to TX!

Oh they give me the creeps! I had one in my bed when we lived out at the base of the mountain in the city which must not be named :) ha, seriously though YUCK!

Time Flies - June

Here's what we've been up to the last month and a half:

Sydney started Parents Day Out (Lubbock's beginners preschool). She loves it! It's just 2 days a week but she's there for 6 hours. Amazingly enough she does really well for being away so long! Loves her friends... In fact now that she's started to pray on her own (she shews Dad away if he tries to coach her, she gave him a dirty look the other night like, be quiet I'm praying!) she prays for the dinosaur, fishies, turtles, friends, airplane... all the things important to her. It's so cute to witness!! At least she prays from her heart! As long as she keeps that up I guess we won't worry too much about her not sitting still, ever, in Sacrament meeting. :)

All dressed up and ready to go to "school"!

Happy Father's Day, Pace!
I found them matching ties, thanks Ashleigh! :)

Drew is still super chunk, happy as ever! We love this kid!!!

He isn't crawling yet but his two front teeth are about to come in, any day now Drewby! He's 7.5 months old :) Sweet baby!!


Summer school is great - Pace got the highest score on his Commercial Law mid term out of the entire class! Ninety out of a hundred! I am so happy for him!! Proud, he's working really hard. He's externing for a judge here in Lubbock too and is loving the experience. He watches the kids for me two hours a day, every day so I can take my classes. So far it's a tight schedule but it's working! Thank heavens!! ...Calculus just started for me today. Wish me luck.

I also started working, just 10-15 hours a week, from home for a financial advising firm here in Lubbock. So far its really cool!! So glad I have the opportunity to continue learning and keep my resume fresh! Money is good too you know :) So, yeah, life is busy (hence the lack of posting). Same excuse, different day I know :)

At the end of June we took an overnight trip to see our friends in Amarillo Just an hour and 45 mins away
So fun!! Here we are at Cadillac Ranch

The cars are buried in the ground, covered in layers of spray paint. Interesting but cool! :)


Amarillo has a free zoo! You know the kids loved that

We are in Texas... :)

Bye Bye Burches :(

Not really... The Burches are our good friends here in Lubbock. Must be a combination of their Louisiana accent, they're southern hospitality, fun sense of humor, and delicious BBQ that make them so darned endearing to us (and so many others)!! How bummed are we that they are in now LA for a month, then will live across town (Lubbock's across town is like 15 mins away - ha, not a big deal), but come August they may be gone for good back to LA. SAD!!!! I found it appropriate to blog about the last big bash we had at their house, in March while my family was here visiting. :) Enjoy it! We sure did :)

Right: Luke Burch tips in to say hi... :) (We're drinking root beer, guys!)

Crystal Burch - sweet face - love that girl!!!

Brandon Baker takes the stage for Wii's American Idol

The funniest clip - Jeff is a hoot on the microphone!!!


Here's Jeff Nicholas with his beauties :)
Karris (cool girl, love her!!) Baby Hanna is Drew's little bud


Above: Amy & Brandon Baker with Leslie on the mic :) Fun friends!

Peter had fun chillin' (on right)

So did Mom and Ash!

We all had a blast!

As a parting gift, the Burches did let us buy their awesome swing set... Sydney loves this so much!! She always hated leaving their house, partly because of this awesome outside attraction!! Dad has loved spending time with Syd lately, turned our backyard into a little water theme park... Go Daddy!!

I've decided Pace puts her suit on backwards on purpose :)
He likes to hear me smile, "Honey... really??"

Crystal & Luke, thank you again!! Come home soon, though!!
We miss you already... :(

One Month Later...

I'm playing catch up again with 4 special events to blog about:

1. Sydney's 3rd Birthday Party!

8 little friends

+ One Butterfly Pinata

Makes one sweet little mess

Notice the fake eyeballs in the loot... Sydney picked those out, wouldn't leave the store without them. She just laughed as she'd hold them up to my closed eyelids and say, "Eyes!" Sweet, a little morbid but fun to remember :)

What started out timid...

Soon made the crowd go wild as the bigger boys busted it open
(I can't believe I deleted the video of it actually breaking!! You get the picture though)


Happy, Happy Birthday Sydney Dear!

2. Drew cut his first two teeth!
I tried taking a picture of them, but this is all I got

He's now 6 months old, weighs over 25 lbs (was 22 at his 4 month appt), wears size 12-18 month clothing; 87 percentile for height and 97 percentile for weight, he's huge! And adorable! We just love him!

The T-shirt should say Linebacker wanted... :)

Sydney has a blast making him laugh lately...



He's not a thumb sucker but he'd be a cute one if he were!

3. Pace finished his 1st year in law school!
What a triumph! And his grades aren't too shabby! :) Good job, Honey!! Who says you can't do it with a family?? :) jk Pace, we know it takes a LOT of hard work and effort! We love you!!

4. Trip to AZ

What a fun, but tiresome trip! :) As soon as Pace was done on Friday the 9th we took off for Mesa. No sooner than we left Lubbock Syd got car sick (I learned the hard way, no books for her in the car!) She was fine once we got to AZ (13 hours later) so we played and played!!

First in Michele and Dave's pool...

Isn't he the sweetest little kid?? I love that face! Christian :)
Grandma Mona chillin' poolside

Syd spots a teasing Uncle Anthon...

Ahh! Run Syd!

Whew! That was close :)

Ha! Love you Uncle Anthon!
She's not been happy in the water lately :(

But baby Roman seems to be getting there already :)
Good work Nash!

Thank goodness for water toys - she loved cruising in this with Taylor
(another cutie of Dave and Michele's!!)

Drew and Roman got more acquainted indoors...


Then we played with the Rawlins!




Ahh this is the life, little cousin Brynn floats along





Dad worked all week doing pest control so this was a welcomed, cool break


Yeah, we had a great time :) Sun, family, and fun, but it's great to be home again!