Going for a Ride...

What would a trip to the farm be without a ride on horseback?

We headed over to get the horses saddled and ready to go and wouldn't you, we had some impatient riders,

but not to worry they have one loving Nini, who knew just what to do!

Now on this particular day we had the odds working against with the humidity topping the charts, crabby horses, pesky dogs and Ginormous horseflies! Man they were bad, they were drawing some serious blood! All in all no one was hurt and the horses made it back in record time, though some of us ended up walking home, HA! Thanks for keeping Auntie company girls.

This also happened to be -A- first ride on a horse and he seemed to enjoy himself, even though a short trip for pictures, no more, no less.

With the Use of Water...

This handsome Baby boy was baptized in Christ today, as his Godparents it is our priveledge to help guide him to live a life filled with Christ, and what a priviledge it is!

And would you believe that this sweet little one slept through a portion of his own baptism?

Well in his defense, it was longer than any we've ever been too, the Deacon was so excited about this sacrament, and it showed.

The Farm...

Hubby's family lives in Illinois. When most hear that we are going to Illinois to visit family they immediately think of Chicago. Though that is where we used to live, and where his sister & co. and Grandmother currently reside it is not our main destination.

In 2004, his brother & co. relocated from Springfield, IL to be closer to "The FARM" and are now an hour north and his parents relocated in 2005 from Chicago, directly to "The Farm". So though we would be making a trip to Chicago this visit, our main stay would be in Southern Illinois at the "The Farm".

We started our vacation yesterday driving, followed by more driving and then some more.

In the big city of Dallas we were greeted with traffic, FUN! As I enjoyed beared the stop and go that goes with traffic, I saw things I would much rather be doing like this,

and soon after 2 hours of anxiety inducing traffic, we made it through the city and were on our way once again. The kids were great through our travels, and slept through most of it, since we drove all night, -N- was asleep by 6:15pm and woke up around 10pm and fell back under nod's spell some time around midnight, -A- took a while to give into sleeping and held out until 9pm.

We arrived at the farm bright and early at 6am this morning,

stopping to pick up Papa, so we could continue our journey to the Windy City for our nephew's baptism...

Before we could continue our journey however we needed to make sure the animals were fed. So we put on our boots and headed out in the truck...

Up first were the horses...-N- hasn't been around them in such a long time that he was frightened overjoyed to see them again and -A- was too little to remember the last time, so this was his first real experience and he was intrigued to say the least.

Introducing Lad, Sugar & Silver were there too. Lad was even kind enough to greet me by spitting up on my foot, thank goodness for BOOTS!

Once we fed the horses we ventured over to Uncle Bill's house to feed his horses,

the chickens & roosters...

and lastly we went over and fed the cows.

What an exciting morning!

We finished up, cleaned up and loaded back into the van to travel the last leg of the trip to Chicago.

Once You Start...

You never stop! Little Man is Walking, and man has he mastered it! The hardest part of him walking is catching it on tape, he is getting quite fast these days, though he has been doing it for a couple of weeks now, this is the first time he has been captured on film, enjoy!

"And We...

{JUMP}

Jump


~JuMp~

in the puddles, while the rain goes pittery PAT!"

While Nini and Papa were in town, it rained and hard, and very seldomly does it do that WITHOUT a little thunder and lightning to go with it, so when we get a fluke like today, -N- loves to play in the rain, and I LOVE to let him!

Baptized in Christ...

With friends and family in attendance, -A- was baptized in Christ today!


Two of our dear friends from high school flew out to not only witness, but be the Godparents to this amazing little boy.


This seemingly took much longer to get in order and scheduled than one would have thought, but after juggling both a police officer's and a teacher's schedule, they arrived safely to stand by his side and guide him through his first of many years filled with the love of Christ. The day after his first birthday.

ONE...

I can hardly believe but one year ago today this little boy was born at 8:05p! A mere moments before, he was busy kicking and growing and we were so eager to meet him and see what he looked like.

He arrived a bouncing baby boy with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes... now he is a walking, talking, playing, laughing...30 & 3/4 inches tall and weighing in at 19 lbs 7 oz... one fit throwing, patient, opinionated, and loving boy & younger brother, leaving this year of infancy behind and emerging into the world as a toddler. Welcome sweet boy, though we'll miss this stage of life, we only look forward to and embrace the next one...

A Birthday Dinner of favorites, hot dogs, baked beans and Mac n' Cheese, yum!

before...

{AFTER}

Happy Birthday little one,

we love you and always will,

you are an amazing addition to this family, one we couldn't imagine being without,

you fit perfectly into this family of four!

Surrounded by friends and family we celebrated your big day, with more guests on the way!

Thank you Nini and Papa for joining us as we celebrate!

I Got a Job to Do...

Forever this little man is talking about the many jobs he has to do.

This particular day that JOB was trimming the branches on our weeping willow tree in the backyard, using...another branch from the weeping willow.

His little mind is in constant motion and if you aren't careful you'll miss something, but not to worry he will definitely let you know when he is up to something, announcing, "I Got a Job to Do!"

Happy 4th of July...

Today is Independence Day, and we are very thankful to all those men and women in the armed forces both past and present for their service to this country.

Happy Independence day USA!!!

We spent the day swimming and eating and just plain enjoying our family.

Then tonight we sat on my parents deck and watched the firworks all along the horizon. It was a wonderful day and very relaxing too.