My Cousin's Wedding

My cousin Callie Morris got married to Evan Harris on July 17th in Abilene. My family was honored to be included in all the events and we had a wonderful weekend with lots of family and friends. I was a bridesmaid, Casey was an usher, and Avery was the prettiest flower girl I have ever seen (not that I'm partial or anything). Whew - we were tired by the end of the weekend. Congrats to the new couple and welcome to the family "Eban."

Bridesmaid brunch
Rehearsal dinner - Avery was so kind to "write" down her marriage advice to Callie and Evan.

Playing with her Uncle David

Taos and Aunt Karla at the Rehearsal dinner

The groom and bride plus her sisters Betsy and Sarah

Hugs for the bride-to-be

Sorry Lance (my brother) but I couldn't resist posting this... yes, those are white shorty socks that he wore to the church with his tux. No, we did not allow him to usher anyone down the isle in these - good thing my mom brought him some black socks!

Did I mention that she was the most beautiful flower girl ever!

Casey, Lance, and Evan before the wedding

Avery was very interested in all the girls getting ready in the bridal suite

This picture melts my heart :)Me and Aves

My cousin Betsy, Casey, Avery, Me, Lance, his wife Kallie, and my cousin Sarah

My whole family after the wedding

The wedding party

3 year/3 month Pictures

Earlier this week I got Avery and Taos' pictures taken in Borger by a photographer named Andreia Rice. I was determined not to miss Taos' 3 month mark for pictures as it seems things like that with the second child are harder to get accomplished. His baby book is not as detailed, there are less video tapes of him, and no professional pictures yet... Andreia was so sweet and patient with my 3-year-old and 3-month old. I was sweating from head to toe by the end of the photo shoot from frantically trying to keep everyone happy, smiling, and looking in the general direction of the camera. I was thrilled to see the pictures and now just have to decide which ones to order! Here is the link to Andreia's blog with a sample of a few of the pictures she took. I am so excited to have good pictures capturing this sweet time in my children's lives. I love them more and more everyday!

http://studioandreiaphotography.blogspot.com/2010/07/avery-taos-borger-tx-children.html

Battle in the Saddle

This past weekend we loaded up again and went to Oklahoma City for a ranch horse competition at an event called "Battle in the Saddle." The ranch horse competition that Casey participates in involves "showing his horse" to score points and obviously the person with the most points wins. There are several elements of the performance (which lasts about 6 minutes per horse) including changing leads, stopping, spinning, cutting a cow, roping, and dragging. Casey took a young horse that he has just started training to show at competitions like this. He did great and was very pleased with how his horse performed. We had a blast tagging along and taking in Oklahoma City. Casey's parents, sister, and niece and nephew also came with us. And, just because I know you will notice.... our nephew Boone has a black eye and swollen cheek because he got hit with a golf club in the face! Yes, OUCH. It is actually looking much better, but you will still notice it in the pictures.

Finished and walking his horse out of the arena - I didn't get many pics of the actual horse show because I was video tapping.

Taos is more interested in the cow hanging from his stroller than the horse show at this point.

Sitting with Casey's mom - Posey.

Boone, Avery, and Dandad

Helping hold the reins

Avery and Boone in front of Casey's stall

Grandparents holding Taos

Ready to swim at the hotel!

Boone and Bella are ready too.

Taos' first time in the pool - not too sure how he feels about it??

Casey with Aves and Bella

We also got a chance to go down to Bricktown in Oklahoma City where they have a little riverwalk, ballpark, and places to eat. We ate at Toby Keith's and it was excellent food and a super fun atmosphere. Somehow I didn't end up with any pictures from that evening so I wanted to add that.

Summer

This summer has already been going by way too fast! I am just now catching up with blogging our past few weeks because we have been so busy. There are several new posts, so keep looking down the page. We have been enjoying being outside as much as possible and traveling some too. Here are a few summer pics.

I made a strawberry cake to take over to some friends' house. The remaining half was on the counter the next day and I walked into the kitchen to find this - a little munchkin on the counter with a fork digging in! Yum!
Happy Father's Day! My husband is the best dad every and his kids adore him. We love you Casey.

Ready for the pool

He is also ready for the pool, but slept the whole time this day....

Aves loves the water.

And he slept this whole trip to the pool too - makes it easier for me to play with Aves.

Yes, I did actually get in a swimsuit and in the pool - scary, but hey it's summer and so hot!

Me, Aves (and her goggles) and my cousin Betsy at the Abilene Country Club pool

Bets and a tired munchkin

Don't foget to keep looking down for vacation and birthday blogs!!!

Santa Fe

Summer vacation has begun! Casey and I took a long weekend trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had to take the little man along since he is... well, attached to me for the next few months. Avery went to Colorado with Nona and Papa so she was in good hands. We stayed at a resort on a golf course and it was a blast.

Casey and Taos in the resort lobby
Hotel pool - even though it was a little cool for swimming to us... looks like fun
Catching up on some sleep - and no, Taos doesn't sleep with us. His pack and play was set up right next to our bed. After I fed him, he fell back asleep and I laid him down by Casey while I got ready.

Me and Taos at the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe.

Native Americans lined up to sell their handmade art. The jewelry was beautiful!

The miraculous Lorenzo staircase in an old church downtown - very beautiful and interesting.

Sweet baby is getting so big

Camel Rock

Morning golf

Beautiful Towa golfcourse

This is how little man rode along with us - he did awesome and it wasn't too hot at all. Yes, I did play too, but am awful so there are no pictures of me golfing!

On our last night there, we ate supper at a nice restaurant. It was such a fun trip and went by way too fast.