Together Again

The four kiddos were finally reunited this morning. Abby absolutely loved seeing her cousins and hasn’t stopped talking about them since. She wasn’t happy about leaving them today as she still doesn’t believe that they live in Dallas instead of Oregon. I don’t blame her, I barely believe the news myself!

Here’s what they looked like the last time they were in the same room (March 2008):

And today (August 2009):

They are all simply bigger and more beautiful than they were a year and a half ago.

I’m pretty certain the four of them will gang up on us soon. But it’ll be worth it.

The Graduate

I went to Oregon for a very specific reason- to watch my brother graduate from law school.

It’s no secret that I look up to Dean. I’m an almost 30 year old wife and mother and I’m still in awe of my big brother. When I was little I thought he could do anything… and 36 years later he still hasn’t proven me wrong.

He and Amanda are one of the most perfectly matched couples I’ve met. I love watching them together.

Other than seeing Dean walk the stage, I spent a lot of my time snuggling with the little ones that I hadn’t seen in a year. I can not wait to see Abby play with these three- they all have such unique, fun personalities. And I’m pretty certain we only have about 6 years before Georgia, Abby, and Autumn join together and give us all a run for our money!

Ashe ran a jog-a-thon while I was there. Basically, he ran 4.25 miles in 1 hour. That’s pretty dang far for an almost 3rd grader!

This is his “I’m a serious runner” face:

And this is his “Why am I the only one still running?” look:

And this is his “I’m just as serious when on a scooter” face:

Georgia, being a 5 year old girl, is much less serious.

Gum seems to be an easy way to make her happy.

And Baby Autumn is not much of a baby these days.

Her curls are completely natural and I’m jealous.

I love watching my brother and his girls. Especially when they all manage to look so serious. (And that’s the rear end of Autumn’s toy rat on Dean’s shoulder.)

My Big Brother

just got a little bit older. Too bad… 35 seemed to suit him well.
I love you Bub.

The good news on the following video is Abby isn’t singing out of the side of her mouth.
The bad news is she still shows no signs of tune or rhythm.

Happy Birthday Uncle Deek!

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Memory

so i’m driving along today and all of a sudden a college memory pops in my head. i don’t want to forget it again, so i’m putting it into print.

let me set the scene: once upon a time, april 2000 to be exact, my best friend and roommate keri and i had decided to move from our home at denton north apartments. denton north was lovely; 1000+ square feet for about $550 a month. however it did have issues: breaking and entering was a common problem as were bugs, creepy neighbors, creepy maintenance people, and strange smells. i digress. we had decided to move it on up in the world and to do so, we needed a truck. enter my amazingly wonderful albeit too trusting older brother. keri and i drove to his place of employment, went inside and chatted for a few minutes, exchanged keys and left with a promise to return the truck on sunday.

the beloved memory: keri and i arrive at the little blue truck. i unlock the doors. we both get in. seatbelts buckled. i look down. i look at keri. keri looks at me. keri looks down. keri looks back at me. “um, do you happen to know how to drive a stick shift?” i ask innocently. “nope” she says. i look back down. “well, okay. lets get going then” i say. and with quite a few stalls and several really loud screams from both the truck and us, we eventually make it back to denton.

my brother- clueless until sunday when i returned his truck. i mention that i got pulled over for running a red light. “why’d you run it?” he asks. “too scared i’d stall if i stopped” i reply. “oh” he says as understanding crosses his face and he looks around me to make sure the truck is still in one piece.

thanks again to both dean and keri for putting up with me.