Who needs a pool?

I gotta brag for a minute on Mr. Mark. Grandma bought us this little Webber grill a few weeks ago and Mark has really gotten into grilling. So far we've had burgers, chicken, pork chops and fish and I'm pretty sure steak is next. To some of you this may seem like no big deal but to those of you who know Mark well this is HUGE! I love him dearly but the only thing he has ever cooked in our 10 years of marriage is a mean grilled cheese sandwich, so I am giddy:-). Not only is he enjoying the grill-the food is fantastic!!!! Thank you for this little gift Norma. It has been very well received.

The whole family enjoys smelling the coals, and getting soaked by the water hose while Daddy's a grillin' and a chillin'. :-)

These are the moments as a mother and wife that I treasure the most. Everyone's having fun and enjoying being a member of our little family. Such J-O-Y!!!

Of course you know that I would love a pool but for now we're going to keep pretending that we live in Twin Rivers:-) (Just a little joke for all you Wednesday morning swimmers...we're invited guests I promise)

Surprise Austin Trip! (take 2)

That's right we took the Wood 4-pack to Barton Creek Resort for a few days of fun in the sun! I am incredibly thankful that Mark is SO spontaneous. We were thinking about taking a little family trip in August, but on Saturday, Mark suggested that we just go right now, and that's exactly what we did. I am much more of a planner so sometimes that's just what I need. Our conversation was at 11:00 and by 12:45 we were on the road! So nice...except I forgot my CAMERA:(. I love my iPhone but the pictures are not so hot. I apologize in advance but the phone pics were better than nothin'.

On the way to Austin we stopped at Golfsmith looking for some Jr. Clubs for Ryan. My kids thought this place was awesome! I think Daddy did too:-). We played a lot but did not find the right clubs.

"Hey Ryan Smile for me." So of course he held his breath. Ladies and gentlemen, this 5 1/2 year old keeps me on my toes. It's a good thing he's so cute.

We're here! Ahhh, I just LOVE this place. This was our second trip here and hopefully we'll be back again next summer. The resort has amazing rooms, putt-putt, an incredible workout facility, indoor basketball, golf, family movie nights, smores, food and swimming. What more do you need?? I highly recommend it.

The sleeping arrangements (thank you Grandma for this perfect Princess sleeping bag!)

Fun at the pool

They have rocking chairs everywhere so we rocked out a lot!

On Sunday night we were VERY bold in our decision to take the kids to Eddie V's seafood and steakhouse. The food was incredible but you know you're in for a long night when there's no kid menu! Oh the memories!

A little glimpse of our night! This restaurant was one of the best we've ever been to and for the most part the kids did great. It was nice to end our weekend with a little adventure.

We really did have a wonderful time. We'll see ya next year Barton Creek.

Stacey's 4th Birthday Party

This past weekend we celebrated Stacey's 4th birthday with a Cars extravaganza! Here's the perfect invitaion that Caryn sent out. (He took this picture in Disney World, isn't it SO cute!)

Some of the Decorations

His party was at The Little Gym in Plano and it was fantastic. I am all for having someone else clean up the fun!!! Stacey was far too busy to stop and smile for any pictures (as were most of the kids) so I have a lot of "cool" action schots:-).

Thank you Honey for helping

The parachute

Singing Happy Birthday to III


Ally loves her some Honey and GP

Ryan did this about 1,000 times!

Ally tried to jump too...

Ally and Lightning McQueen

My little family

Sisters:-). Caryn you did a fantastic job on this one!

The exhausted cousins

Oh thank you Wyatt for smiling!!!

My Beautiful China Doll

My parents got Lila and Ally these authentic Chinese PJ's. Ally LOVES them and when she wears them, she says that she is a beautiful China Doll. (She's just so modest!) I am so thankful that my parents are back and their trip was successful. Thanks Honey and GP for these precious PJ's.

Cousin Lovin'

This summer has been so FUN. We have seen my sisters and their children once a week and I absolutely love it. The cousins have a blast when they're together and I feel so blessed that we have been able to hang so much this summer. Stacey III and Wyatt spend a couple of nights at our house last week and Kacey and I took all 5 knuckleheads to the mall on Friday for lunch. As we were loading up I couldn't find Ryan. Turns out he was kidding from me IN THE COUCH!! I caught a very satisfied smile:-).

At the mall "playground" The TV is a huge hit with these Lovin' Cousins

I could just sit and stare at Wyatt Purdy Smith all day, he cracks me up!!

This was the shot right before Stacey and Ryan both jumped like airplanes off this apple. Stacey had a slight injury immediately after, he hurt his little foot/ankle and was limping the rest of the weekend poor little guy. (Caryn I hope he is walking better).

Lila in all her preciousness

We took this picture for my mom and dad to see in Hong Kong. They loved it. And they are back safely in the USA-YAY.

III and sweet Lila


We are ready to see you again this weekend!

Love me...

In college around Tri-Delt rush time there were always 100s of pictures of girls with their hands on their faces asking you to please 'love me!' This became a running joke with my bestie Megan and I, and we have many photos of us re-enacting rush pics. (Megan one day I am going to post some of those beauties.) While we were at the lake Ally was giving us some great 'love me' pictures. I mean how can you not just LOVE this little one? So, so sweet.

BU Biddie Ball Camp

Last week Ryan got to attend the BU Scott Drew Biddie Ball camp, and he had the time of his life. Baylor really puts on a great clinic for these young campers. This was his second year to go to camp so he knew what to expect a little more this year. He was really excited because his friends Jake and Landon were also attending camp this year. Here are 2 of the little hoopsters...or should I say future b-ball stars:-).

The camp is only 2 hours a day and they are divided into different groups that are led by current BU players and coaches. Ryan has really improved a lot in his ball handling this year and he rocked the drills!

Here is Ryan and his coach for the week-Coach Clifton. He was SO great and patient with his group and Ryan learned a lot from him.

His fan club: Grandma, Daddy and Ally.

Ryan and Coach Drew

Fun, fun week! We will be going again next year.

4th of July at LBJ

I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating our nation's Independence! We spent Thursday-Sunday at my favorite place in Texas, Lake LBJ. We had a blast as usual but my parents were missed! I never really realized just how much they do: cook, clean, drive the boat, entertain the kids etc., until they are not there. In spite of a break-in(before we arrived-nothing was taken SO WEIRD!), a boat repair, a broken AC and general craziness, we still had so much fun. I enjoy every second spent with my sisters and bro-in-laws. I have no pictures of the 6 grownups but I promise we were there. I'll do better next time:-)Here are my kids on the new boat lovin' life!

These water guns were a huge hit

And of course they all loved baby pool with the slide.

Aunt Cary had a really fun 4th of July edible craft that they kids LOVED. I think Ally ate about 50 marshmellows in one sitting.

Ryan jumping off the lower dock. This was quite a weekend for firsts. Stacey III and Ryan both jumped off the high dock several times. Bravo boys!! Click here to see an AWESOME video that Stacey made of the boys jumping

These two were smiling the entire time

Getting ready for the fireworks.

Little Miss Firecracker

After one of the most amazing fireworks we have ever seen we let Ryan and Stacey shoot off some of Uncle Josh's fireworks. These little tanks were a favorite.

I am already ready to head back down-any takers?