A surprise visit

A few weeks back I was having a particularly hard time with Michael being on a CRAZY trauma rotation and was quite homesick.  Especially since I had a new nephew I was dying to meet, so we decided (very last minute) to hop on a plane (with all 3 of my ducklings) to head down to Houston for some family time.  Crazy? Yes! But so worth it.

We were able to keep it a secret from my Dad and got to surprise him at the house when he got home from work. 

 We couldn't wait another minute to go meet Blake so we hopped in the car and headed down to see him the next morning!  

 Checking out his new little buddy

 Precious 

 and so in love...

Lisa and Noah rearranged their schedule to come too!

 We did a lot of swimming to keep cool

 Uncle Craig gave Luke a few engineering tips

Billy and the bike riders

 Two of my besties from high school, Morgan and Kelly, came over for a visit.  Love y'all!

Sisters and babies :)

And a lap full of grandkids

Mommy love :)  Val is such a natural!

 We were so glad we got some special time with Nana and Papa too

It was such a special trip home! 

Summer catch up

We've been keeping busy the rest of this summer and I felt the need to do a little catch up post....

We watched a whole lot of the Olympics and I'm thinking we may have a couple of future olympians in our house :)  

Maybe a cycler  

or a swimmer  ? 

and I'm afraid Langley Grace picked up a little something from Kayla Maroney.  She was not impressed with breakfast.   :)

We also took a little day trip to see our friends at Bethany Beach!  It was such a fun day.  Thanks, Bree and Al!!

That is a lot of darling little girls if I do say so myself :)

 and some handsome dudes

 And their mommas.  Between the six of these sweet friends there are 20 babies including those in bellies.  You do the math.  That's a lot of kids.  :)  

But when we haven't been practicing for the olympics or heading to the beach we've been just hanging around,

lovin' life,

and enjoying the fruits of our labor.   This girl loves her corn and her daddy sure knows how to grow it.  We've shucked, grilled and eaten our fair share lately

and we've been enjoying every last giggle from this girl

s

I can't forget, Michael and I got away for a night to go to the wedding of a sweet fellow residency couple in Peoria, IL. Luke is in the same class as Michael and I have gotten to know Shawnee over the past few years so it was so fun to go celebrate with them! 

us with the happy couple

2

Our sweet Langley Grace turned two on Saturday and we had a fun filled weekend celebrating one special girl!  

She woke up to a room filled with balloons 

and we went out for birthday donuts

 She is in love with all things Mickey and Minnie and for the last few weeks when asked about her birthday all she would say is "Mimmie" so what else could we do but throw her a "Mimmie" party? 

 a little pre-party candyland with Minnie, I mean Daddy.  

 Some sweet friends came to help us celebrate on Sunday!  

 with pizza

 and minnie cupcakes

 she wasn't so sure about all of the attention during the singing,

 but Luke was there to lend a hand

 and a hug when she got a little nervous :) 

A little help with the presents 

This has been one of our greatest purchases thus far in parenthood.  And if you could see Michael's face you could tell he was having as much fun as they were.  

She was one happy girl!  

It was a very happy birthday for one sweet and sassy girl!  You have got sugar and spiced all rolled up into the perfect package, you're the best big and little sister, and we couldn't imagine life with out you.  We love you, baby girl. 

Kristin and Adam's Wedding

Kristin and Adam's wedding rounded out our last stop of our Summer 2012 road trip and everything about it was absolutely perfect.  

The beautiful bride and Kendall at the rehearsal dinner.  

 Sisters

The bride and groom's first dance

Me and my man

 The whole gang minus the kiddos

 My sweet mom and dad

 The wedding was so much fun and kid friendly. They had childcare in a room right by the reception which was awesome and at the end of the night they brought out these light up glasses and glow sticks.  Our kids rallied and danced till midnight!  Crazy.

And some photo booth fun! ;)