4th of July

Happy late 4th of July to everyone! We had a fun weekend in East Texas. It first started with Gabriel's 6th birthday party on July 3. He had a Spongebob party and Kristina and Oscar were happy to host his party at their new house in Tyler. They moved to Tyler in mid-June and are getting settled in. It's going to be fun having them only 2 hours away instead of 5. On Saturday, Kristina threw Oscar a party to recognize his completion of his many years of cardiology training. He is now officially done with his training and will be starting with his practice next week.

Such a big boy, it's hard to believe he is 6 and will be starting Kindergarten in August.


Party time


He loves Star Wars


Annie going in for a hug


Sweet cousins


Luke got his first busted lip over the weekend. It was so swollen but looked much better the next day!


Jacob got the job of filling the pinata with candy. He was in heaven with his hands over all that candy!


Luke was helping-again with the silly pose


At Oscar's party- a rare photo of my dad and grandpa and all of his siblings together


Water balloon toss


Rhonda, Brian and Emily drove to Kilgore for the party. We were so glad they came.


Of course, we had to do sparklers. Surprisingly, Jacob was so excited about it!


My 'All American Boy'


My 'All American Boy'


Jacob loves making this silly face and Luke is trying to do it too. Too funny!


One last picture of Jacob at his summer camp last week. They had a little parade around the school and wore their homemade shirts.

17 months and summer camp

Luke is now 17 months old and doing so much. He is walking so fast he is almost running, it won't be long. He also likes to stand in one place and turn in circles, over and over. There is something kids like about feeling dizzy, I guess! He loves playing with his little push car and can now not only go backwards when sitting on it but can go forwards too. This is a big accomplishment since it's takes a lot of strength to move himself forward. He is still favoring his left hand with almost everything. I know this doesn't mean he will end up left handed but do think it's interesting and will watch and see if he starts favoring his right at all. He also is always walking around with "something" in his hand. The other day he was walking around with a bottle of cough medicine and then later was walking around with my lent brush. And he doesn't put these things down for anything so I stopped trying! :) He also got his 13th tooth, his first K-9 and the 14th one is about to break through. Fun times here with all the teething! He still loves to put stuff in the trash. The other day Jacob finished his popsicle and the stick was laying on the table and Luke got it and went and put it in the trash. Luckily now, "trash" is actually ending up in the trash can instead of toys and such. He continues to understand so much. The other day, I was holding him and someone said to him, "You have mommy's eyes." He turned to me and pointed at my eyes. It's so fun watching him connect the dots and learn so much. He can also point to many body parts, hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth etc. He and Jacob are really interacting more these days. It's fun to start to see them play and be together.

Jacob is having a great summer and has been going to a little summer fun camp at his school. His last day is tomorrow and last week their theme was the Olympics and this week it is 4th of July. He has been doing lots of games and art projects. I'm glad he has been able to go do something fun and creative while being with some of his friends. Yesterday they made t-shirts with their handprints for the parade tomorrow. We have also been swimming a lot with friends. He is loving the water and can't seem to get enough of it. It's hard to believe it's already July 1st, how fast the summer is going by but we are going to enjoy it as much as we can.

Bedtime snack


Luke does this new face now when he sees a camera...


This morning the boys were playing cars in the bathroom while I was getting ready. They were playing so well together and were going back and forth to the playroom getting more cars for "their car wash". There were cars lined up all over the counter. Whatever it takes, right! :)




Here is that face again...silly boy!

Lakeway Resort

Every year Edward Jones has a summer regional meeting for all the brokers and their family's. This year it was at the Lakeway Resort on Lake Travis in Austin. We went down on Thursday and got back on Sunday and had a great time. Jim of course had a few meetings but we had lots of time at the pool and at other functions. The pool was great and very kid friendly. The boys just loved the water so much that I'm going to enroll Jacob in swimming lessons after we get back from Yellowstone in a few weeks. I've debated on whether or not it would be worth it this summer, but after this weekend I think I will. Luke loved the water as well and had fun exploring the hotel room and everything that came his way.

The view from our hotel room- Lake Travis.


We were on the balcony and Jacob spotted a deer...


Jacob was brave in his lifejacket and went all over the pool




Jacob went down the slide twice, once with Jim and once with me. He hit his elbow on the slide when he was with me and was done after that. I have to admit, it was a little fast.


The infinity pool- adults only of course


I couldn't resist the sunset from our room- so pretty

Father's Day

Over the weekend, my parents and the Paniagua's spent the weekend here to celebrate Father's Day. On Saturday, we had the opportunity to go to the Texas Motor Speedway and watch my dad drive a Nascar. This all came about after my parents watched the movie, The Bucket List. They then talked about what was in their "bucket list". One of the things my Dad mentioned was wanting to drive a race car. So after a little research, we found a driving school through the Texas Motor Speedway that gave him a 8 minute ride around the speedway. (we gave him this as a surprise for his 60th birthday back in March and the race just happened to be Father's Day weekend.) He had to take a hour long class prior to the drive then he was on his way. He topped out at 150mph and had a blast. He did admit to having sweaty palms but said it was great!

Before the race, they had to wear flame retardant jumpers and a helmet


He was in the yellow and red car on the left


There he goes, he averaged about 50 seconds per lap


They had to get in and out of the car through the window, just like the pros




Telling us all about it


Standing in front of an Indy car


Jacob got the best view and also asked me when he could drive a race car like Grandpa!


We also went to a Frisco Roughriders game Saturday night. We sat in the out field on the lawn which was perfect so the kids could run around. That was the first time we had been to a Roughriders game and really liked it. Plus they won, so you can't beat that.


Luke is always smiling these days


The kiddos watching the game


Gracie girl


This picture says it all- story time for all. If only Grandma's lap were just a little bigger!


Happy Father's Day Dad- we love you!!

Another Birthday Girl

Our sweet niece, Annie also had a recent birthday. She turned 2 on June 7, just days after Emily's birthday. We had a party out at my parent's house last weekend and the kids enjoyed a Mickey Mouse themed party. My parents also recently bought a water slide that the kids had a blast playing with. They spent hours playing in the water and going down the slide, boy did they sleep good that night! Happy Birthday Annie!

Birthday girl


Enjoying her cupcake


Enjoying his cupcake


New water slide


A rare shot of Luke sitting still on the couch, long enough for a picture

Birthday girl

My sweet niece, Emily turns one today! It's hard to believe it's been a year already! She is so sweet and is walking all over. Between Emily, Jacob and Luke, it makes for a busy, fun time when we are all together! Her party was over the weekend...here are a few pictures.

She loved her cake




Luke and Emily are 4 months apart


Gift time


All 3 looking at the camera, amazing!

16 months old and Summer fun

Little Luke is 16 months old now. He is doing more and more and is loving being able to walk all around. He's getting faster and faster and I know running won't be too far away. Here are a few of his newest tricks...

*We always say our prayers before dinner and lately Luke has been putting his hands together to pray with us. He usually is the first one with his hands together ready and waiting for us! Too cute!
*If I ask Luke for a kiss, he opens his mouth as wide as possible and comes right at me with a big slobbery mouth.
*He can walk backwards
*He LOVES books. He will bring a book to me and back himself up to sit in my lap to read it.
*He loves to put stuff in the trash can, some trash, some not! I've dug out many toys from the trash lately.
*He now has 12 teeth.
*He has been initiating Peek-a-boo with me and loves covering his eyes to play.

We recently got a little inflatable pool for the boys and they have been having so much fun in it. Here are a few pictures...