So Tyler turned 16... you know that THAT means!

Yes, my baby boy is 16 now and has a license to drive.  He had been saving for a truck and we kept telling him to keep saving and he'd be able to afford something, but he didn't believe us.  So Johnny brought this truck home and we kept it from Tyler all weekend.  It was a big surprise and absolutely worth it!

 Those are R2D2 socks he's rocking, by the way...

Here's the video of us pulling into the driveway when he first sees the truck.  (We had a little girl with us that we were babysitting, and you might hear Hayden talking to her.  We have no new addition to tell you about.)

VACATION!!!

Summer vacation time.  We cleared all the kids busy schedules, and we both took off for a week to just hang out in Dallas and then visit Kelly and Treasa in Hallsville.  We had adventure, fun, sun and relaxation.  Everything you could ask for!

 First day.... Texas Rangers versus the Houston Astros.  Sad sad game....

BUT... the all you can eat seats made it a little bit better.  And our family got our money's worth!!

Day two was a big surprise for the kids at  IFly Frisco Indoor Skydiving.

 Don't they look precious?  The pictures aren't great.  It was tricky to get pictures, but they each flew twice in the indoor skydiving tunnel.  The air pushes your body up and you literally fly.  The instructor keeps you from getting too far up, but on the final flight, you both are pushed up high into the tower.  The kids and Johnny said it was a blast.  And you know, someone had to stay on the ground and take pictures.  :)

 Tyler

 Aerin 

 Hayden

and Johnny

 That evening we made plans to eat at Gas Monkey Bar N Grill.  We are big fans of the Gas Monkey Garage tv show, and we really enjoyed the restaurant.  The food was out of this world!  Not a run of the mill burger joint.  It was definitely worth the trip!

The rest of the week, we hung out at Johnny's brother, Kelly's place.  Their home is beautiful and we got to hang out with Grandma and Alyssa too.  Kelly has a gorgeous pontoon boat, and he told us to go out and enjoy... and so we did!  These are all pictures from the Lake O' the Pines.  So beautiful!!

 Grandma was such a trooper.  She's probably still sore!

Fritch Fire

Just in case you've heard about all of the fires in Fritch, I just wanted to let you know that our house was not burned - by the absolute grace of God.  You'll see in the pictures, the fire took homes across from us and behind us.  We were evacuated on Sunday and just this morning (Wednesday) we were allowed to go back into the subdivision and get some of our things.  Excel Energy has been working non stop to get power back on, and hopefully they will have the water turned on soon too.  Right now, we are staying at my mother-in-law's house until the insurance adjuster can come and access the smoke damage in our home.  I don't think any pictures could ever do justice to how devastating the fire has been to our neighborhood.  100's of structures and thousands of acres were burned.  We are beyond blessed that our home was spared, and thank you to everyone who was praying for our safety.  

This picture is from my mother-in-law's house looking back toward our neighborhood Sunday afternoon.

 The two pictures above are of the only things that caught fire on our property.  Its in our vacant lot, and it was only a tree and a power pole.  

The picture below is one that Johnny took and sent to me on Monday.  He hiked into the subdivision because we had been told by several people our home was gone.  He came up over the hill and took this picture... the most beautiful picture I've ever seen.  You can see the smoke just behind it.  There were still fires everywhere, including every house that's behind ours across the street from us.  We have smoke damage, but that is nothing compared to the devastation that surrounds us.  Please pray for our neighbors, the boys' classmates and teachers, and our friends who have lost their homes.

National Honor Society

Tyler was inducted into the National Honor Society last Friday.  

Right now, he is tied for 1st in his class.  Pretty awesome.

Happiest Mother's Day

I know its a little early, but I wanted to share what a wonderful gift my husband gave me for Mother's Day.  About a month ago, I mentioned to Johnny and the kids that all I wanted for Mother's Day was for they kids to have pictures made.  Well, life happened, and keeps happening, and I didn't really think it was going to work out.  But Johnny did, and he planned for my mom and his mom to round up the kids while we were in Houston, and they had their pictures made.  The pictures are an amazing gift, but my husband's thoughtfulness means so much more.  Thank you honey.