Warning! This Post is Rated PG-13 for Gore

I love having a dog for many reasons, my floor is quite clean despite the large amounts of food my kids discard onto the floor, if ever someone spit up/vomited on the floor, couch, my clothes, the dog always cleaned it up better than I ever could, we have a 24/7 burglar alarm. But probably the one thing I hate about our dog is his instinct.

Today we were having quite a pleasant afternoon, both the kids woke up happy and Brad and I had decided to go to the local water park for the evening as a family. We had a lot of fun!! After baths, we ate pizza around the table as a family. A few times, Brody kept pointing under the table saying, "Ball" which we didn't think much of. I guess Brad finally paid attention and looked and then said to me, "look at the ball under the table". So I looked, mind you I could have easily kicked this "ball" I was so close, and this is what I found.How do you clean up after this? How do you not throw up after seeing this? How do you not kill your dog after this? It's any wonder we made it through the moment of discovering this disgusting prize proudly displayed by our dog. So Brad took it out to the garbage while I basically Lysoled everything! We never found the back end to this rabbit so we hope we don't find another surprise somewhere...I did search to no avail and Brad couldn't find it in the backyard so my hope, as sick as it is, is that the dog ate it and it's not here.
So then, I layed all the toys out and Lysoled each one on both sides. This is something I was going to do after their illness and this just threw me over the edge as being "the night" to do it.

I love Dozer still, but I don't appreciate these prizes. He has killed 5 rabbits to count. Five! We are out of the beginner hunting stage and well into the advanced!

What is your lion sound?

Brody is starting to "talk" and is learning the sounds of the animals. His favorite is the lion and he has the funniest lion sound. I couldn't resist showing ya'll!

Six years can seem so short...

Today Brad and I celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary!! I can't believe it has been 6 years! I guess when you are truly enjoying the experience, time gets away from you and speeds along! We have been through a lot and there isn't anyone else I'd rather spend forever with than Brad! Six years of marriage and 2 kids later, I'm even more excited for what's up ahead and knowing you'll be by my side the whole way! I'm so grateful to be married to Brad! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BRAD!! You're the best!! Thanks for everything!!

Stay Away!!!...Not really!

This last week we have been given the challenge of having Hand Foot and Mouth disease. Friday, Brylie had a little bit of a fever but that morning, I noticed she had a cold sore/fever blister on her lip and some sores on her tongue that looked very ouchy! So we went to the doctor. I just mentioned the sores in her mouth and he immediately noticed sore on her hands. Later that day, I noticed some on her feet too. These aren't just little red bumps, they start out as bumps and then grow into blisters and can pop and heal or just go away. Brylie has had this for about 6 days now and is almost free of blisters...the little red bumps are fading and going away however, Brody is now to the blister stage and so is Brad. The doctor said most adults have been exposed to it so shouldn't worry about being near the kids. I, as usual, have seen no sign of anything despite my kissing all three of them and handling almost all contagious material. Ahh, the blessings of motherhood! So if we don't come over or seem to be hiding out, we are! And it's for everyone's benefit!!!

South-(ish) Texas Trip

This past Thursday we took a much anticipated trip down South to Austin and San Antonio. Even though Brad lived in Dallas for about seven years, he had never been to either historic Texas city.

Here's the story in pictures:

First stop was a drive-by of the Texas State Capitol Building in Austin:


The second stop was the "Taco Taco Cafe" in north San Antonio, which was named the Best Tacos in America by Bon Appetit magazine. After spending entirely too much for below average enchiladas and fajitas, Brad realized that we just went 3 hours to the best tacos in America, and we didn't even get tacos. Oops. Here's Brylie cheezing it up with the menu to prove we were there.


And from there it was off to the Alamo. Brad was kind of disappointed in how small it was after years of looking forward to seeing it.




After it the Alamo it was down the street to the beautiful San Antonio Riverwalk.


While we were waiting for someone to come by and take a picture, Brad took this picture of a statue of San Antonio (Spanish for Saint Antonio).


And the wait paid off with a family picture. Brody was nice enough to take a nap in the heat, and we learned that the Riverwalk is not terribly stroller-friendly, especially two-stroller-friendly.



It was a FUN trip, the kids were extremely well behaved for the 6+ hours in the car, and they were handsomely rewarded with a Taco Taco Cafe quesadilla (but not a taco). Now we know it's a trip worth taking!

Photo Shoot

This last weekend, we had a "photo shoot" with one of our friends from the ward who is quite an amazing photographer. Here is the sneak peek at the photos! I just love them!!! And my kiddos!

Were you afraid we fell off the face of the earth?

Well don't worry because we are alive and well! Just lazy! We did however, manage to go to the Fort Worth Zoo yesterday and capture many photos. What a blast it was to go with our kids and see their reaction to these creatures. My highlight was hearing the lion roar...it's very intimidating and so cool! We also saw the white tiger lunge at some kids who were taunting him. It was an awesome trip!!
The Rays met us there! Thanks guys! We had a great time!!!

Summer has begun in Texas!!!

And if you don't believe me, here are some summer fun photos to prove it! Thanks to the Workmans for letting us "slip and slide"! We had a blast!!


The great thing about swimming in Texas is the water is always warm! In fact, you can never get cold water out of the tap because of the heat!