October Beach Trip

Finally.....I wanted to share our pictures from our October beach trip to Martinique (a neat little community right outside of Gulf Shores). The weather was beautiful and the company was great! We are hoping to do it again next year!

Kate hated the sand............. We had to lug a stroller everytime we went down to the beach!

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Happy Birthday, my love..... I love you so much and cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am to be your wife. God truly did bless me immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine when He gave me you. You are an amazing husband and daddy. I love you always!

Catching up......

OK..... Where do I start? How about at the end of summer?

At the end of July, my dad retired after working for Exxon for 36 years! We had a retirement dinner at Ralph and Kacoo's. Dad, thank you for teaching me about loyalty, honesty, and working hard. I love you!!!

Next, we went to Gatlinburg with Ryan's family to celebrate Ryan's parents 60th birthdays. The entire Metz crew was there. Ryan, Cole, Kate and I went to Chattanooga for a few days before meeting up with the rest of the family. We were able to do the Incline Railway, Ruby Falls, Rock City, and a train ride though the beautiful Tennesee countryside. We also ran out of gas there, but that is another story altogether :) While in Gatlinburg, we were able to enjoy Cade's Cove, Dollywood, Dixie Stampede, and Laurel Falls. Cole was even selected to chase the chickens at the Dixie Stampded. We had so much fun, especially all of the "girl talks" in the outside hot tub every evening. Oh yeah, we saw a few deer and a bear while in Cade's Cove!!!!

Next, it was time to get into the swing of things with the start of school... Cole started his first year in a five day a week K4 program in a school close to our house, and Kate started her two days a week Mother's Day Our program at a church close to home. Oh, they grow up too fast.

Then, at the end of August, we celebrated Kate's first birthday and my Grandmother's 100th birthday and Hurricane Gustav all in one weekend! How is that for some major milestones?

Kate is such a sweet baby. She started walking right after her first birthday. She has a big brother that she has to keep up with. She is also getting about 8 teeth all at once right now. She is a busy body. She loves to walk around the house and collect things (hangers, shoes, bubble bath). She is so proud of herself when she brings them to you. She doesn't like her naps. She likes to swing her arms and clap when music comes on. She LOVES pancakes, Ritz crackers, and fruit (and nursing)!!!! I am just now weaning her. She will NOT take formula, milk, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, or vanilla milk. We have tried everything. Happy 1st Birthday, bug! Mommy loves you so much!

Yes, it is a homemade cake. Don't laugh.

My grandmother was born in Iowa, Louisiana, on September 5, 1908. She still lives at home (with the help of sitters). Every day of the year, you will find her with a dress, slip, and hose on under a "mountain"of blankets in her chair. I guess she is "old school" Baptist that way. I have never seen her in anything but a dress. We celebrated her birthday at a local hotel with all of my aunts and uncles and cousins and most of their families. I was surprised at the turnout since most of my cousins live so far away and since there was a hurricane heading straight towards us. I love you, Ma Ma, and am blessed to have such a wonderful, loving grandmother.

Finally, Hurricane Gustav hit Lafayette on September 1st. We evacuated to Baton Rouge, but probably should have stayed in Lafayette. Baton Rouge was hit pretty hard. Jason lost 18 trees in his yard. We lost about 5 shingles at our house. I guess there are a few good things about not having trees :) We spend several weekends afterwards going back to Baton Rouge to help with the clean up.

I will have to catch you up on our great fall beach trip later! Bran and Jenn, I hope you are happy!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Happy Birthday, Jason! I hope you have a great day! You are a great uncle, and I love the fact that Cole and Kate think the world of you. Cole adores you, and Kate is fascinated by you. You are also a wonderful dad. Kyler is blessed to have you for his father. I know we do not always see eye to eye, but I always love you!

Happy Belated Birthday Jill!

Just wishing my precious sister-in-law a happy belated birthday! I am beyond blessed to have you in my life. If it were not for you, I would have never met my wonderful husband. You now get sole credit for the introduction, since we don't see the other guys anymore :) I am grateful not only to be your sister-in-law but also your friend. Hoping you had a wonderful day and hoping for an even better year! We are praying that great things will happen this year!

School Days.....

Wow! Where does time go. Yesterday, I sent my baby off to "big" school. Cole has started K4. We could not walk him to his room, so Ryan and I just dropped him off in the carpool line. Cole was so excited and just hopped out of the car without turning around to say goodbye. I was yelling, "Have a good day", and the sweet, old lady who helped him out of the car said, "You too, hun". It's not that I wanted him to cry and not want to go to school, but he could have acted like he might miss me a little :) He came home with a thank you note for a little gift we sent his teacher (no, I am not bribing the teacher yet). In her note, the teacher wrote that she and Cole "talked about about obedience being one of the only ways to honor God". Cole insists that she talked about this with everyone, not just with him. Lets hope and pray so! She also said that he is precious! With that, I will agree!

Fun at the Camp

I should call this the delayed 4th of July update, but I guess all of my blog posting title's would have to start with "delayed"..... One day I will be on top of things!! We went up to the lake for the 4th of July week. We had a wonderful time with family and friends. We had a family reunion with my mom's side of the family and my dad's side of the family. Cole and Kate loved playing with their cousins! We fished, boated, tubed, swam, and ATE. We were even able to celebrate my godson's 2nd birthday while we were at the lake. We had a wonderful time together and topped off our week with a 40 minute fireworks display overlooking the lake! As we finish one vacation with my family and look forward to our trip next month with Ryan's family, Ryan and I are truly grateful to be blessed by God with a such wonderful family and extended family that love one another and actually enjoy being around one another!

The Bathing Beauty

Ryan and Cole tubing

Cole, Kate, and Cousins

The Birthday Boy