Peaches Please

Today my mom, the kids and I packed up and took a little morning trip(I would say day trip but we left at 10am and were back by 1:30pm) to HAM ORCHARD. It's a few miles east of Terrell and has customers coming from miles and miles around. Ham orchard is known for it's peaches that are hand-picked daily...but also grows plums, blackberries, apricots, and nectarines. We started off with a burger straight off the grill at the burger pavilion. Rett mostly ate cheetoes and Ellie had peanut butter crackers. With our stomachs full we walked over to the blackberry patch to explore. Blackberry season is past now but we were still able to walk up and down the rows of plants. I don't know how people pick blackberries because the plants have huge thorns on them much like a rose bush. Next we *looked* over to the peach trees...but they don't actually let you pick the peaches you want...they pick them and you get to take em home. It was getting really hot really fast so we went inside the store to do some shopping. The LORING peach variety (a type of freestone peach) had just ripened. I bought a small bag of loring peaches and a frozen peach cobbler to bake here at home. Mom bought a bag of peaches too. Ham's also makes homemade soft-serve ice cream. You can choose from peach or strawberry so we bought one of each. The strawberry is the one to get....it tastes so fresh like you just made it in your own kitchen. When we were sitting out front eating our ice cream a man pulled up and bought an ice cream just for his dog. Rett thought that was so funny that he was feeding his dog an ice cream cone! After ice cream we packed up and headed home. I short trip...but it felt like we were miles away in the country. We all had a great time. I think I want to make this an annual summer trip. :)





The thorns on the blackberry plants:




The employees uncrating the peaches from the orchard and putting them in bags for the store:

Say it isn't so?

It's hard to believe it's really going to happen....but our dear friends Joe and Melissa Duffield are moving to Austin in 10 short days! Tonight we had a mexican pot luck going away party for them. Definetly the easiest party I have ever hosted. I didn't even have to serve anything(because it was at our house) and we still had plenty of food. The kids all played and the adults visited. I really, really wish Melissa and her girls were not moving 3.5 hours away. But that's the fact...we are already planning our first visit. :)

Here are a few pics that Wendy took tonight of the kids:

Swimming at Great-Grammy's

a BIG birthday present

This year we decided to get Rett and Ellie a BIG birthday present. One they will surely enjoy for years to come...what better to get them than a wooden playset??!! After looking at hundreds of playsets online and in catalogs we had exhausted our search and hadn't found "the one". All of the playsets we found were really long and would take up more than half of our backyard. Unhappy and exhausted we did a search for "custom wooden playsets" and found an individual who builds custom wooden playsets. We met with him and designed a "space saver" playset that fit our backyard. Since we designed it, we were able to choose which accessories we wanted on it. The final product has a 10 ft slide, 2 swings, a trapeze bar, a climbing wall with rapelling rope, a firemans pole and a decked and railed bottom floor in addition to the fort above. We plan on staining it...but the builder suggested we wait about a month for the wood to settle.

Here it is:
All of the pieces:


Partially Constructed


The finished product:

What a difference a year makes

I wanted to post this yesterday but I ran out of time with all the hustle and bustle of the birthday party. So, here it is a day late.

Look how much can change in one year.

This is right before I went to the hospital:


Right after she was born (still in recovery)


He seemed so BIG at the time...but looking back he was still so little


This sweet little baby is now walking and talking.

Happy 1st Birthday Miss Ellie

Today our sweet little Ellie June turned one year old. I have treasured this year, even though I’ve been exhausted for most of it. It has been absolutely incredible to watch Ellie discover the world around her and to discover the fact that she can interact with it. I’ve watched her go from a tiny, helpless infant to a determined girl with a mind of her own. I love her more and more everyday.

We had a family party this evening with BBQ Brisket, Baked Beans, Fruit Salad, Deviled Eggs, and Strawberry Cake with Homemade Ice Cream for dessert. Ellie had a great time playing with the big kids and shared all her new toys easily.

Here are a few pics from the party:

Wishin' for an endless night

Saturday night we went to a friends wedding. I knew the bride and groom from high school. I anticipated seeing lots of old high school friends many of whom I had not seen in at least five years, if not ten. I saw some of my old teachers, parents of friends and lots of familiar faces from long ago.
It was a beautiful wedding and the reception at the Filter building on White Rock Lake had stuning views of the lake. We danced and we drank and we (or rather I) talked and talked and talked. It was such a fun evening. We carpooled with my brother and his girlfriend (Lauren) who were also friends with the bride and groom. We went with them to the after party at Lauren's brother's house. Troy finally insisted that we call it a night at around 3:45AM! My feet were tired and my voice was getting hoarse but I didn't want to wrap it up. I likely won't see many of them again for a good, long while so it was hard to end the night.
Here are a few pics before the wedding.


Rett became really shy around all the "fancy" people:

5th Anniversary

Troy and I were married five years ago today. I keep asking myself in my head: "how could five years have already passed?". When Troy and I got married I had just finished my first year of teaching. Troy was working as an insurance adjuster. Kids were a far-off thought. Our life was all about happy hours and sleeping in. Now, I am a FULL-TIME homemaker and Troy works in pharmaceutical sales. We have two outstanding children(as well as a choc lab and calico cat) who bring us much pride and joy. We rarely sleep past 7:30am and haven't been to a happy hour in several years!

Our wedding was beautiful. So many family and friends gathered together in one place and so many wonderful memories. It still takes my breath away.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from July 2,2005:







The cake was just as delicious as beautiful:

There was lots and lots of dancing:


The favor's:

Red rose petals for tossing:

Off to the Gaylord Texan:

The next morning we were off to Kauai for a spectacular honeymoon!