Do you live in a sweaty city?!!

Here's the rank. Having seen this...I think I would optimumly choose to live in somewhere off the bottom of the list (or not ranked at all!) Corpus is #20(thanks AJ) so...use your imagination how damp our pits get here =)!!!

1. Phoenix, Ariz. (sorry De) 2. Las Vegas, Nev. 3. Tallahassee, Fla. 4. Tucson, Ariz. 5. Memphis, Tenn. 6. Miami, Fla. 7. Houston, Texas 8. Tampa, Fla. 9. Baton Rouge, La. 10. Fort Myers, Fla. 11. Huntsville, Ala. 12. New Orleans, La. 13. Birmingham, Ala. 14. Jacksonville, Fla. 15. West Palm Beach, Fla. 16. Montgomery, Ala. 17. Orlando, Fla. 18. Dallas, Texas 19. Little Rock, Ark. 20. Corpus Christi, Texas 21. El Paso, Texas 22. Waco, Texas 23. Austin, Texas 24. Columbia, S.C. 25. Mobile, Ala. 26. Jackson, Miss. 27. Nashville, Tenn. 28. San Antonio, Texas 29. Honolulu, Hawaii 30. Fresno, Calif. 31. Savannah, Ga. 32. Shreveport, La. 33. Charleston, S.C. 34. Chattanooga, Tenn. 35. Louisville, Ky. 36. Tulsa, Okla. 37. Raleigh, N.C. 38. St. Louis, Mo. 39. Salt Lake City, Utah 40. Kansas City, Mo. 41. Knoxville, Tenn. 42. Oklahoma City, Okla. 43. Atlanta, Ga. 44. Wichita, Kan. (TIE) Charlotte, N.C. (TIE) 46. Greensboro, N.C. 47. Evansville, Ind. 48. Washington, D.C. 49. Richmond, Va. 50. Norfolk, Va. 51. Albuquerque, N.M. 52. Springfield, Mo. 53. Roanoke, Va. 54. Lexington, Ky. 55. Omaha, Neb. 56. Reno, Nev. 57. Indianapolis, Ind. 58. Baltimore, Md. 59. Cincinnati, Ohio 60. Des Moines, Iowa 61. Charleston, W.Va. 62. Philadelphia, Pa. 63. Springfield, Ill. 64. Harrisburg, Pa. 65. Sacramento, Calif. 66. Cleveland, Ohio 67. Chicago, Ill. 68. New York, N.Y. 69. Dayton, Ohio 70. Asheville, N.C. 71. Los Angeles, Calif. 72. Columbus, Ohio 73. Toledo, Ohio 74. Detroit, Mich. 75. Grand Rapids, Mich. 76. South Bend, Ind. 77. Providence, R.I. 78. Hartford, Conn. 79. Minneapolis, Minn. 80. Boston, Mass. 81. Pittsburgh, Pa. 82. Denver, Colo. 83. Madison, Wis. 84. Milwaukee, Wis. 85. Buffalo, N.Y. 86. Rochester, N.Y. 87. Albany, N.Y. 88. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 89. Colorado Springs, Colo. 90. Flint, Mich. 91. Syracuse, N.Y. 92. San Diego, Calif. 93. Youngstown, Ohio 94. Green Bay, Wis. 95. Burlington, Vt. 96. Spokane, Wash. 97. Portland, Maine 98. Portland, Ore. 99. Seattle, Wash. 100. San Francisco, Calif.

Ups and Downs

Life is full of them, eh?! It seems we have times of great ups. And then, like everyone, we have more difficult times.
Having said that...here was my own personal revelation that helps sometimes:

Pres. Henry B. Eyring: "Because you are so valuable, some of your trials may be severe. You need never be discouraged or afraid. The way through difficulties has always been prepared for you, and you will find it if you exercise faith."
This was exactly what I needed to hear.Phew...

OUR BIG ANOUNCEMENT !!!

We've waited so long...............


it's amazing news for our future...............


it's the best father's day gift, just a week late................

.....Shane surfed his first wave !! That's my boy !!

(he only stood for a few seconds, but that's pretty good for a 2 year old and he totally did it without any coaching) -G

Sunday Appropriate...

If Shane could dress himself for church...it would be "Bob...a budder" "scrippers" "broba's tie" and "no shirt"....

Here's what the boring mom insists on...I know, I am cramping his style!

Happy Daddy's Day

"Train up a child in the way which he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" Proverbs 22:6

To those fathers, old and young, who continually influence our lives and the lives of our children...thank you! There is not a day that goes by that I do not thank my father in Heaven for the father of my children...if only every little boy could have a daddy like Gavin!! We are so blessed!

Happy Father's Day!

Done with...

FIRST grade...and baseball. Its that time of year. Christian finished 1st grade and played his last play-off baseball game all within a few weeks. I am continually amazed at how time flies. Do I really have a 2nd grader?! It's a good thing I started having babies at 21 or I would be getting OLD!

So... Christian had his 1st grade awards ceremony. Where he got a Citizenship Award, "A" Honor Roll, an AR book award...I can't think of what else! He had a great teacher and a great experience at a new school this year. I have to admit I am SOOOooo glad we don't have to transfer schools for 2 more years.

(Can you tell we were at the beach for 8 hours on Memorial Day before this pic? Poor eyes!)

Christian also finished up his baseball season. He did well...especially considering he was playing with kids 1-2 years older than him. He is already planning for his next season.

We had our end of the year pool party...it was lots of fun. It was a good excuse to get our pool and yard ready for the summer.

Summertime in South Texas...

So here we are, officially in the midst of summer. The kiddos have been out of school for a week now. And we've already done a bit and established some good routines:

Gym first thing in the AM

Swim lessons Wed-Sat (which usually means we stay at the pool for several more hours)

Summer Reading Club at the Library...this is my newest excitement...that my kid LIKES to read and reads for fun. When he has the option of reading or TV or even playing something else...he has actually been choosing a book. As one who didn't care to read as a kid, I am SOOO glad he likes it. It will make his school years so much easier. Especially since the expectation of reading is much more than when I was in school.

Beach, when its not too windy, and usually when Gav comes and can help the boys go "sursing".

So far...things are going great. I have to admit I was a bit exhausted by the end of last week. I am hoping it becomes more clockwork as the weeks go on. Already, it was a million times easier to get to the gym by 8:30 this morning!

muchas gracias...

To all those awesome, reliable friends who offered help...the shower went great. Funny, that pretty much everyone can't stand shower games YET still do them. Those darn traditions die hard!

Friends...HELP!!

SO I know I have some of the most creative friends and family out there...so help me. I have been to a fair share of baby showers in my time. I am in charge of GAMES/ENtertainment for a shower on Friday. And I have seen the generic measure the belly, word scrambles, taste the baby food, baby food in the diaper,bottle sucking.....does anyone have anything they've done or seen done that was so ingenius?? I am counting on all y'all for some out of the box ideas.... OR I'll be forced to smear prunes on a diaper for entertainment!!(sounds tasty, eh?!!)