Our Annual Honeymoon

Almost every summer since moving to Amarillo the kids have spent time in Shreveport with their 3 sets of grandparents and their uncles and aunts. James and I call it "Our Annual Honeymoon".  This summer they went for 12 days and their meme refers to her house as "the land of no rules." She calls before they come and gets their grocery store and dinner requests. I know meatloaf and soup made the list this year!

 While they were they, they went to the movies, swam almost every day

Played on a giant slip and slide 

Went "hunting" on the family land in Arkansas.

Played with all their cousins 

And were no doubt spoiled by everyone there

I know when they are adults, they will look back on these summers and hold dear to the memories they make!

What did James and I do?!

Well, we meet my mom and aunt in Dallas for a kid swap and had lunch at Rain forest Cafe

We went shopping and took in a Rangers  game!

We saw a movie almost every day, we ate quiet dinners in restaurants, had friends over for the 4th of July, spent quality time with friends from church and for our last Hooray we went to Oklahoma City.

We played at Dave and Busters....

and had an amazing date night in Bricktown and finished our trip with some awesome shopping!

We had an great time on our annual honeymoon and we are so grateful for this time together every summer and our kids are so blessed to be able to be spoiled and loved every summer by all thier grandparents.

Red River, NM

In the last year James has become involved with the Amarillo Fly Guys, a chapter of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, you can find out information on this amazing organization here http://www.projecthealingwaters.org/.
   For Father's Day this year the kids and I surprised him with a weekend fishing trip in the mountains. We had a great time. There were alot of laughs shared and memories made.The town of Red River is like something on a postcard or a scene from a movie, the views are spectacular. It is hard to believe that it is only a few short hours away.

 

 

 

We all did some fishing and James made the mistake of telling the kids whoever caught the biggest fish would get $20.00. Well, Makayla won and to our surprise she turned out to be quite the fisherman, she had her pole in the water more than anyone else.

 

 

 

James walked the river and fished, he said it was really peaceful. I love these pictures.

 

We went on a hike up into the mountains.

 

 

We stayed at a cute little lodge, with a fishing pond and access to the River. We played board games, sat on the porch and watched the kids play and spent a weekend together "un-plugged".

On the way home we stopped for a little adventure. We saw a sign for a volcano and national park and decided it sounded like fun. We were able to actually climb down into the volcano to the eruption point, it was really neat and the views were amazing!

We had a great time and I think this may become a yearly get-away for us!

A big milestone!

When I first set out on my weight loss journey, I had a number in my head. My goal was to lose 60 pounds. This morning I hit that number!! Since it was a special occasion I decided to pull out my "Jared Jeans". Yes, I named them after the Subway guy!

   Next week is my six month post-op mark. What has changed? Everything! I still to this day have not had a sip of caffeine. I eat very little sugar and carbs, my diet is all protein based. I also have become a gym junkie. I never thought I would say that, but I do love it. I love the sense of power it gives me and I love to see the changes, no matter how small it makes in my body. I also love working out with James and that it gives us one more thing to do together. My general health is so much better, I have only been sick once and it was a sinus infection. I sleep so much better and have tons of energy. I secretly love the fact that my husband carries me around and can literally throw me across the bed when we have WWE matches with the boys.
 I have to confess, I had my ah-ha moment a few weeks bathing suit shopping, and it happened in the dressing room in Dillard's. Yes, I sat in the dressing room and cried like a baby, it was my moment when I realized how far I had come.
   In the last six months I have encountered different types of people, people who did not know me before and can't believe I was ever morbidly obese. People who have supported me, lifted me up and answered my questions. Then there are the people who are surgery critics, I have never for a second regretted my decision no matter how drastic some people find it to be, it was the right choice for me and my walk. Let's not forget the people who's cousin's sister's babies momma had the surgery and gained all their weight back! Aw, I love this group of people! I view this surgery as a tool not a cure-all. You absolutely can not have surgery and then sit on your bum and eat whatever you want! Surgery is a jump start tool. My diet has changed 100 percent, my lifestyle has changed I am very active now and gym time is a part of my schedule.  I still see my doctor and nutritionist and will see them for the rest of my life. My diet and gym time will not change just because I met my goal weight,I still strive to be healthy and the truth is, my body is still losing weight. I will be on my vitamin and protein regime for life. With any healthy lifestyle and diet no matter what it is, it has to be a full-time commitment. OK, enough of my rambling and surgery defense!
     I am so thankful for a second chance at life. I am blessed to be experiencing things I never thought I would be able to do in my previous body. I thank God daily for my husband and best friend, the person who has loved me through thick and thin, supported me and lifted me up, no matter what size jeans I was wearing.

    

 

School's Out For Summer!

Wow! What a busy last few weeks of school we had!
First was the kids awards program at school,
Christopher had the 3rd highest GPA in his class! Whoop!

He also got awards for Straight A Honor Roll, and for having Diligence as an outstanding character trait, as well as perfect attendance.

Makayla got awards for perfect attendance, B Honor Roll and having responsibility as an outstanding character trait.

We are really blessed by our smarties!

 

 

We took lots of field trips the last few weeks of school including going to the movies to see Epic, going bowling, going to Wildcat Bluff Nature Center

                          Going to Paramount's game room for Makayla's end of the year party

He totally reaps the benefits of having to tag-a-long!

 

We celebrated Christopher's summer birthday with his class.

 

 

 

There were end of the year gifts to make..

"We hope you have S'more and S'more fun this summer"


 

Makayla had her end of the year dance recital at Amarillo Little Theater, the theme was "Disco Fever"

 

 

Have I mentioned in the middle of all this there was a stormy night that involved me waking the kids out of a dead sleep and driving to the tornado shelter?! That storm produced this hail!! It was a crazy night but we were just thankful to be safe.

 

School got out for summer vacation yesterday afternoon and it was bittersweet. We have been so blessed these last few months with the teachers and staff at Vista Academy. They really helped our kids adjust quickly. Our kids made friends fast and really love it. We were blessed with two wonderful teachers. Makayla's teacher wrote a note to her class saying one thing each kid had taught her this year and beside Makayla's name was written "taught me to acknowledge my own flaws before blaming others"     Talk about cry! First, I am so proud of our daughter and that at 11 years old she taught a grown up this wonderful lesson. Second, because her teacher took the time to write all this out and we are very excited that she is moving up with the kids next year to teach 6th grade!

How did we celebrate the start of summer?? With summer haircuts of course!

Yes, this haircut rocks!!


 

and dinner with my dad for his 66th birthday

 

We are looking forward to all the trips and fun things we have scheduled this summer. We will be having a blast and making some memories!