Grandparents come to Visit

Saturday Ashlyn had a busy day. Early Saturday morning Candace our neighbor came over to visit.

As she was leaving, Grma and Grpa K pulled in. They took us to Olive Garden! YUM! Ashlyn shared Grma's soup and bread.

Shortly after we came home Ashlyn gave her hugs and kisses goodbye, and went to bed. She woke up later that afternoon to find Grma and Grpa W had come over too! She played with her toys and shared her carton of Teddy Grahams (which Grpa W. always brings her!) with all of us.

It sure is nice of each of them to drive such a long way to come spend time with us. Ashlyn sure appreciates it, and talks about their visit for days.

Baby "Ah-Gators"

One of Johnathan's coworkers raises baby alligators. He goes and captures eggs from the local alligator's nests. Then brings them back to his place, where he incubates them until they are ready to hatch.

He called us and invited us to bring out the kids and experience baby alligators hatching.

It was truly an incredible experience. Ashlyn got to touch them. (The don't bite at this age.)

It was alot messier than I had ever imagined. Of course the messier things are...the more fascinated kids are with it!

Visit with Great Grandpa K

While we were in Iowa we stopped in as often as we could to see my Grandpa K.

Ashlyn loved putting stickers all over him, and dancing for him.

Ashlyn got so excited to see the stickers she would put on him, still there the next day.

It took her a while, but by the last day, she gave Grandpa a great big Kiss.

Aunt Kaye and Uncle Mark

While Ash and I were in Iowa, we got to visit with my Aunt Kaye and Uncle Mark. They came over to help my Mom tear down some stuff in my grandparent's backyard. After they worked for many long hours they ordered pizza. Ashlyn enjoyed both Kaye and Mark very much. Ashlyn kept insisting that Kaye put her in a box and drag her around the house!
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Ashlyn has a slumber party

Carey and Maddie stayed the night with Ashlyn.



Carey's mom had a little baby boy during the night.


The girls had a great time.

Children's Museum with Carey

Stefany and I took Carey and Ashlyn to the Children's Museum. The girls' had a great time. It got really crowded so we decided to call it a day. We headed over to Free Birds for lunch, and then the hour drive home!

Ashlyn Rides Brody's Horse

Brody took Ashlyn for a Horse Ride on Dori, his Clydesdale. She was all smiles and giggles. I have a short video of her on my digital camera. I only wish I knew how to upload that to this blog!

Water Slide Reappears

Since Ashlyn's party the ground has been too wet from all the rain to bring out Ashlyn's Water Slide.

Finally we got a couple of dry days, so we pulled it out and invited some of our college buddies (who also have kids) over to entertain.

It is a toss-up whether the kids had more fun....or the "BIG" kids had more fun! Here is a collection of pictures taken from that day!

Burning Energy at Chick Fil A

Courtni, the kids, and I met Stefany and Carey at Chick Fil A, for a morning of fun. We all ate breakfast and then paraded into the play area. After the kids started "running low on fuel" we left and went our house. Stefany had a parachute for them to play with. (The kind you used in elementary school.) We all had a good time with that.

College Friends Move to Texas

James and Courtni, and their two kids, Alexander, going on 4, and Madeline 2, are staying with us while they search for a home. It will be hard when they leave, because Ashlyn has gotten quite accustomed to Maddie and Alexander always being around to play with. They get along great together...(of course they have their moments...but don't they all!) I am thrilled to have my best-friend close to me again. (They have been living out of state for the past 5 years.)

Ashlyn and Carey at Chuck E Cheese

Stefany and I took the girls to Chuck E Cheese. Carey's favorite thing was the merry-g0-round, and Ashlyn's was the toddler basketball game. When it started filling up with older kids...we left and enjoyed pizza at Mazzio's.

Kendall Spends the Night

Our old neighbors, Jim and Mary Elizabeth were in town for a wedding. One of their daughters, Kendall, who is 9 months older than Ashlyn, stayed the night with us. The girls had a blast. For dinner they had pizza, and stayed up late playing. For breakfast they each enjoyed a cinnamon roll covered in lots of icing. Ashlyn still talks about Kendall sleeping in her "mommy's bed". (There is a twin mattress in Ashlyn's room, the one we will use when we finish building her "big girl bed", which I occasionally sleep on if she is having a rough night or isn't feeling well.) I am looking forward to her having many more slumber parties!

Our Neighbor Candace

Ashlyn loves our neighbor Candace and her dog Molly. Just about every night... Candace either comes over to pick Ashlyn up to go on a golf cart ride with her, or we walk over to her house where Ashlyn raids her M & M jar. (Candace gets a kick out of our code name for M&M's.... L & L's are what we call them. You can't spell them like ice-cream... and you can't use the next letter in the alphabet either... so we chose L & L's)

Dinner and Swimming at Grandma and Grandpa W.'s

Ashlyn's Birthday Party

Ashlyn had a great time during her party! Thank you to all the family and friends that made it!

Daddy and Mommy Buy Ashlyn a Water Slide

We Bought Ashlyn a Huge Waterslide for her Birthday!


It is Great Fun for Everyone!



It was a Huge Hit at her Party!!!



And the "Big Kids" could Play on it too!!!



It will Entertain the Entire Neighborhood for the Remaining Summer!!!

Eleni Comes to Visit

Eleni came over to help entertain Ashlyn while I got some things around the house done. Only a little bit more to do before we are ready for Ash's party!

Happy Father's Day

I made Johnathan a Photo Book for Father's Day. It was really neat, and I know he really liked it. I chose pictures of Ashlyn and him, or her by herself. If you are interested in making one for yourself with your own pictures, here is the link. Kodak Gallery. You can make a "mini" a "classic" or a "deluxe". I chose the classic and was thrilled with the results! Next time you see Johnathan, ask to see it. If you want to see the images that I chose for the book, simply email me and I will give you the link and password to view the file. (Again...don't want to divulge too much info on Internet!)

Ashlyn's Birthday Party

Ashlyn's Party is Sat. June 24th, from 2:00pm till ????. If you can make it, call me or email me with how many will be attending!!! It should be a lot of fun! Ash is so excited about her party. She keeps talking about the balloons that will be there!

Sam Rayburn with Friends

Our Neighbors invited us to go to Sam Rayburn with them for the day. We had a great time. I was extremely impressed with how beautiful it is up there. White beaches, no seaweed, a lot less people, and clean too! Ashlyn absolutely loves Abby. (Our neighbor who is 11 years old.) She tried to do everything Abby would do. There was also a little boy there who was 3. He shared his toys with her, and they played for quite sometime!

Sea World

Johnathan got a few days off of work.

He took us to Sea World in San Antonio.

We stayed at a Brand New Hotel.

If you ask Ashlyn about her trip, she will tell you all about the birds, the dolphins, the sea lions, fat max, the balloon she left in the hotel, and swimming.

Ashlyn's Party

We are currently planning Ashlyn's 2nd Birthday Party.

I am having oodles of trouble with the invitations.

It will be on Saturday, June 24th.

I don't want to post too much info as anyone can read this.

Call me and get the details.

We hope to see you there!

Morning with Carey

Stefany and I took the girls to Breakfast at Chick Fil A. (It got Ash and I out of the house while Johnathan was recovering from work last night.) Then we went to the park to let the girls play in the water. It started to get crowded so we headed to Chuck-E-Cheese for Lunch. Needless to say the girls were wiped out when we were all finished. Ashlyn was literally begging for a nap.

Park with Carey