Tanya came to visit us!!

She came to town for Charity's orthodontist appt. so some of us met her at Chuck E Cheese's for dinner where the kids could play and we could visit! It was chaos, but we enjoyed seeing them!! We miss them so much.

Summer comes to an end :(

We took one last trip to the waterpark before it shuts down for the year! Then more rain came, but faithful as He is, God sent the most beautiful rainbows we've ever seen to our yard!! Then, next day the kids started school. Tristan wanted so bad to be going with them! They are loving it.

Annual Girls Night Out

As we do at the end of every summer, Autumn and I took off Sat. for our day/night together. We started at the stables where she signed up for Sat. riding club which she is really excited about. Then we ate lunch and shopped till we dropped!! (literally all day) Once we retired at the hotel, we went for a work out in the pool- she beat me almost every race! Then we came back, fixed ourselves up, painted our nails, and had a fashion show. We ended the night around 11:30 with some reading. All her favorite things rolled into one day w/o boys!! It was great!

Vanson turns 5!!!

Its so hard to believe that our sweet little Vanson is already 5 and going off to kindergarten soon!! Man, the time sure flies when you're having kids! He wants to be a doctor when he grows up "so he can wear Daddy's doctor clothes" so we got him some of his own. He couldn't wait to put them on and "get to work". He had a party at Young Champions where they bounced, jumped and threw balls for hours and then ate the Speed Racer cake he'd picked out.

Week of fun and other stuff in Dallas, TX

For Greg's second week of vacation, we headed to the DFW area. The first day Greg took Shannen & Autumn to the Kimball Art Museum in Ft. Worth. I got to stay and spend the day visiting with my great friend Tanya!! That was so fun since we hadn't seen one another since her move there!! Then, she graciously kept the kids so we could take Shannen to Dallas for his surgery. That was Wed. at Scottish Rite which was a fabulous place for kids- they took such great care of him!! When he was released, we picked up the other 3 and went to Addison for the annual Kaboomtown they do each year on July 3rd. It was phenomenal this year!! While there, we also visited the Galleria to have lunch at the American Girl Bistro and took the kids to see the AG Kit movie just out. Friday we ended up staying in Dallas again at the Renaissance Hotel, which has a rooftop pool... the kids loved that!! (everyone but Shannen who could not get wet) That night, there were 30+ firework displays visible around the city from the roof, too... very cool. Sat. am we arrived just in time for the Nasher Sculpture Center to open and toured that before heading back to the our beloved Waco. There is a photo of one of our favorites. We had a great time, but its always so nice to get back home to your own bed!!

Rockport Vacation

We've spent the last week vacationing in Rockport, TX. We had a ball this year. The first few days at the beach were our best ever- the water was so calm and clear you could see the bottom! The kids enjoyed finding hermit crabs crawling around under their shells. I enjoyed lounging on my float and throwing the occasional football or frisbee with Greg. Our condo was nice this year, with an upstairs for the kids- that was a big treat! And the pool there was awesome. We went there at least once a day as well. So, lots of water and beautiful sunny days all week! What more could we ask for??

We got to eat at our favorite restaurant two different nights- the Boiling Pot- Oh so good... if you ever make to rockport, you have to go there!! Delicious boiled shrimp, crab, etc. poured right out on the table. Right before we went, Vanson and Tristan both finished two weeks of swim lessons. They are doing great- we've never had a 3 yr. old swimmer before- he even learned to turn back and front flips this week!! No fear!... not always a good thing :) Anyway, here's a few photos from the week.

One day we took an afernoon trip over to Port Aransas and did some beach shopping and rented a cart to cruise the beach. That was fun.

Best Dam Run in Waco

This past Saturday was a family event for us. We all headed out to the dam at 7:00am, which meant waking sleeping children-- there is definitely something wrong with that!! Then, at 7:45 Greg took off with Autumn and Shannen doing the one mile run. Autumn ran her best ever, never stopping!! She finished strong. Greg and Shannen were right behind her, feet off the ground! This was their first race and they did a great job!! Then, they all cheered me on as I did my 3rd 5K this year. I did my best time yet, but felt like I was going to pass out when I crossed that line! I think I'm done for the summer... even 8:15 got too hot!!

Summer is here! Let the fun begin....

Shannen graduated from Kindergarten- he was excited!!

Once everyone was out of school, we started playing in the water. These were taken Memorial Day Weekend- Greg worked almost non-stop for 4 days, so we entertained ourselves outside. Autumn was home too, but for some reason she escaped the camera :)

Some of my favorite pictures this year....

ok, I made this cute little video, but can't seem to get it to play on here... so view it at this link if you'd like :)

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z284/newmanfamily6/?action=view&current=05a6a780.pbr

Mothers Day 2008

This Mother's Day was kind of unique b/c we split the family in half... My mom was visiting her mother in TX, so I took Autumn and Tristan (the bookends) and went to East TX to see them. Greg had promised "the books" a camping trip, so he took Vanson & Shannen and headed to Lake Belton for a camp out, then they went on to his Mom's in Austin to visit with her and a few of his siblings before coming home. We all had a great weekend, but I think we got the better weather :)

Here are a few photos we each took on our own, and then one of me with all the kids after we got back home! I feel so blessed!!