The Great Unveiling...

Now that our Christmas cards have gone out... Here are the pics we took for them! I just love the one of Sienna pointing at Santa- she's really got him all figured out doesn't she! Hah! And yes, that's a Smartie she's holding in her other hand- she wasn't too sure about Santa at first and thought she might want to cry like last year ;)

In honor of Halloween...

Okay, so I guess we have kept the pumpkin patches in business this fall! Here are some pics.....

Sienna and I at the Arboretum with her friend, Haley Schmidt


At the Arboretum

At the Argyle Pumpkin Patch with Grandma and cousins, Cale & Riley:

Finally got a decent family pic:

At a fall carnival at First Baptist Frisco:

My sweet friend Emily (aka Haley's Mom) invited us along:

At the Celina Pumpkin Patch:

Hay Ride!

Feeding the goats- before they STOLE our cup!! Sneaky little boogers...

This one is not our favorite ;)

More pics of Sienna in her costume and with our "Big Poppa" Pumpkin to come!!

Hill Country Livin'

A few weeks back we traveled down to Fredericksburg for Labor Day weekend. We stayed with my parents at their house there. We spent a day shopping in town and also made sure to hit the annual Doss Fish Fry. It is held by the community my Mom grew up in and supports the Volunteer Fire Department. It draws thousands of people and I am always shocked at the number of mouths they are able to feed. Good food and good times! We also made a trip down to some of our property so Sienna could play in the water and so my parents other guests, Betty and Don Hamilton, could take in the scenery!

My Mom and Sienna at Indian Cave:


Sienna and Stella catching some frogs:



We caught one:

Me and my girl, chillin' at Indian Cave:

She's a cutie...

On the hayride with cousins Lindsey and Christina at the Fish Fry:

Well, it really has frozen over...

Here's something we never thought we would be doing on our Saturday...waiting in line for over an hour for a picture with BARNEY!! Luckily, Daddy and our friends Robin and Caris were along to keep us company! Check out that grin on Daddy's face...he is loving every minute of it ;)

Goin' Back to Cali...

It's been almost 2 years since I was a resident of CA and I really do miss lots of things about it. Chief among them is the cool weather (especially given the 105 temps we have been having around here!)! Last week we were lucky enough to spend a week out there- splitting our time equally between Orange County and Santa Barbara. I was in my good friend Tracy's wedding in Orange County and so we spent our first 4.5 days there. We had a great time hanging out with the wedding party and reminiscing with our old friends Alexis and Aaron! While in Orange County we worked in some beach and pool time, an Angels vs. Rangers game, The Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach, as well as some shopping at H&M and some great seafood and frozen yogurt eating (yea Yogurtland!!). On our way from Orange County to Santa Barbara we also stopped at the Getty Center and checked out some art, as well as the gorgeous views! When we lived in Santa Barbara I was pregnant with Sienna for pretty much the entire time, and so while I have been out to the Santa Ynez Valley wine country multiple times with guests, I've never gotten to REALLY enjoy it! So our first day in SB was spent on a bike tour of the wine country. We went to 3 vineyards and biked a total of 10 miles. It was the most fabulous way to see the countryside and feel good doing it! I highly recommend! The last two days of our trip we mostly spent time eating at our favorite places, walking around enjoying the Fiesta festivities, hitting the beach, and just driving around looking at our favorite things and places! Of course, I also had to hit my favorite shopping spot for Sienna and she undoubtedly was the big winner as far as souvenirs from the trip ;) Our hearts were heavy leaving CA, but we were excited to get back and see our little stinker again! Here are some pics, in no particular order:

dinner at Zaytoon, in Santa Barbara

SB Mission

Kurt at our favorite beach in SB, Arroyo Burro

me on Arroyo Burro Beach

biking the wine country- River Bench vineyard

outside Foxen winery

at the Getty Center, LA

view atop the Getty Center

With Alexis and Aaron at the wedding

Lex, Trac and I at the wedding

Angels v. Rangers

Bluebonnets!

Okay, okay...I know it is the middle of summer, but we just got these pictures back from our photographer. Sienna was so cute in the bluebonnets this year! It was definitely her happiest photo session- probably because it was both only 15 minutes long and also outside! Enjoy! I am off to pack for Cal-i-forn-ia!! :)

What a Weekend!

Me and my little sparkler :)

Grandma playing Wii with the grandkids

Brunch!

Our little fam at Freedomfest (thanks for the pic Julie!)

Yesterday on the 3rd of July we celebrated with a trip down to Freedomfest in Frisco with some friends and their kiddos! It started off with a bang for us because after finally getting parked we realized we had forgotten the one essential element- the DIAPER BAG!! AAAHHH! This is where I carry Sienna's sippy cup, diapers, wipes, toys, snacks, camera, basically the kitchen sink as far as Sienna is concerned! I was panicked. Well, at least we were meeting friends and I knew we could borrow everything but snacks and sippy cups. We did at least have one diaper. So off we went! We had a great time taking in the sights and were about to get on a bounce house when we realized it was about to POUR! So we all headed down to Mattito's for dinner and snickered at all the other poor souls stuck in the rain! After dinner we headed home and put Sienna to bed and watched a few fireworks from our yard.

This morning, on the 4th, we went to church and afterward had Kurt's family over to our house for brunch. I swear- I haven't baked this much since Sienna was born! She can be pretty high maintenance and is definitely a Mommy's girl- so I am very thankful she is gaining some independence and allowing me to get a few things done! We had a sausage and egg casserole, blueberry scones, banana bread, fruit and dip, and spinach artichoke dip. Yum! We had a great time hanging out with everyone afterward up in the media and game rooms. Then to cap off the afternoon, Kurt and I made two batches of homemade ice cream (vanilla and chocolate) while Sienna was napping. Then we all went to the pool when she woke up! What a fun day!