Birthday Update

I had an absolute blast for my 30th! As I posted earlier, my husband surprised me with a weekend getaway to Hot Springs, Arkansas. The town is absolutely beautiful and I love all of the old bath houses, the architecture, and the neat little downtown shops. On Saturday we went sightseeing & shopping. Here are some pics...

This was our hotel. Very beautiful, historical building. The Arlington Hotel...

This is a hospital/rehabilitation facility...

These are a few of the bath houses for which the town became so famous...
I just loved this building...
There were so many neat stores on the main strip, but this is the store I will never forget. This is a real poodle that walks around the store and even greets the customers at the doorway. What a sweet, sweet dog! She even has her own facebook page where her fans can post pictures and keep up with her. Too funny!
On Sunday for my actual birthday we stopped in to visit a rock garden. I know that sounds strange, but there are so many rare and unusual rocks in that area and they are beautiful. I also had to stop here because Lily's latest fascination is with rocks. I had to buy her a souvenir from this massive rock garden :) This is just one of about 30 tables that were loaded down with these enormous rocks...After the rock garden we went to an amusement/water park. There were no lines and the weather was perfect. We rode every roller coaster and water slide in the park. We had such a blast. I would recommend this place to anyone... it would be great even for families with little ones. They had great kid areas! I didn't get pictures of the amusement park because we didn't want to risk breaking the camera or losing it on all the rides.

Later that evening Joel took me to a very nice dinner...


... and I had the best chocolate cake for dessert! I cannot even describe how amazing this cake tasted! The best part was that it was complimentary for my birthday :)
On the way back home we took a slight detour to Little Rock to visit the Clinton Library. We had never been to a Presidential Library, so we thought it would be interesting and informative. It was a neat experience, but I'm not sure it was worth the $7 per person to get in.They have different rooms set up inside that are made to look just like the rooms in the White House did during his presidency from the furniture, paint, rugs, and even decorations. Here is the Oval Office... (trying to refrain from any Monica Lewinsky jokes!)


And here is the Cabinet Room with Joel seated in the President's chair...
Thanks, honey, for an absolute fabulous, fun and unforgettable birthday trip. I love you!

Surprise Getaway

I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful, thoughtful hubby! Tomorrow is my 30th birthday and he wanted to surprise me with a weekend getaway! We were supposed to leave yesterday afternoon, but we both had a lot of things to get done before we left, so we didn't get to leave until after 9pm. We ended up in Hot Springs, Arkansas at 2 am this morning! We really love this neat little old town. The last time we came here it was a few months before I got pregnant with Zora. We always said we wanted to come again, and here we are!!! I love the history of this place and the scenery here is absolutely beautiful! It is so relaxing to be here and I've really been pampered today. We shopped all morning, took a 2 hour afternoon nap, had a delicious steak dinner, and then he treated me to a pedicure :) So far this weekend is looking pretty good! Tomorrow I think we're going to try an amusement/water park... should be fun. We miss our kiddos, but I have to admit that I needed some away time!

We took some really neat photos of today, but I forgot the cable that connects to my camera so I'll have to upload those when we get home this week. Check back soon for more updates!

Six Years Ago...

...I officially became a Mommy. Now, I have a beautiful little six-year-old!
Where has the time gone? When you are pregnant and your child is a newborn everyone tells you, "Enjoy every moment because they'll be grown before you know it." What a TRUE statement. Even though I am so blessed to be able to stay home with my girls they are growing so fast I feel like I'm missing it!

We had a birthday party for Zora this past Saturday and we had so much fun! Over 50 people showed up to celebrate with us, and the kids had an absolute blast :) I think the Jupiter Jump was a hit and I know for a fact that Lily loved the cake!Zora got some really, really cute things... lots of clothes, some fun toys, and lots of books!

Her big surprise at the end was a dollhouse. I was kind of bummed out because it didn't get here in time for the party, so I just wrapped a picture of it. By the look on her face she was excited anyway!

It actually arrived yesterday and I put it together while she was visiting her Mamma Dee. I was doing pretty well putting this huge thing together (it's over 4 feet tall!) until the very last step and the cross dowel nut and the screw that were left would NOT fit together. I twisted, turned, pulled, etc. until my hands hurt trying to make it work and it wouldn't budge! Very aggravated at this point I decided to go to the hardware store to find something else that would work. I get the part, come home, still won't budge! ARG! So I make another trip to the hardware store, get another part, get it in the dollhouse and it works but the screwhead is too big and looks kind of tacky, but I'm ready to roll with it because I'm exhausted. Then, Joel comes home from work, takes one hard twist on it and says, "Here, I fixed it for you!" WHAT?!?! I was very grateful because now it looks perfect, but I was also very aggrivated that I spent almost 2 hours on the LAST STEP of the assembly. So, after 4 hours of work and 2 trips to the hardware store we have a very cute dollhouse...This afternoon Zora celebrated with her good friend Aub. These three cuties just love playing together!
Tonight we celebrated at Incredible Pizza. We always love the food there...and both of the girls had their first experience playing miniature golf. They absolutely loved it!


And of course, we can't go to Incredible Pizza without riding a virtual roller coaster! What's so funny to me is that you'd think they were riding a real one. This is NOT a posed picture... these were their actual facial expressions during the "ride"!


My dear sweet Zora... Happy 6th Birthday beautiful girl. You are so funny and smart that you amaze me. You truly are our pride and joy and we love you more than you can ever, ever, ever imagine! Six years ago today you gave me the best gift ever...parenthood. I still remember the first time I ever held you and the tears of joy that streamed down my face, just as they are right now as I think about how big you've gotten and how much I love you. As you grow up and mature, here is some advice I'd like to give you: always be yourself, continue to be a leader, set high expectations for yourself, but most of all, LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS. We Love YOU!!!

Peaceful and Angelic

Is there anything more precious than watching your children sleep???

Goodbye Sweet Lillie Bea

My Granny Bea went on to be with her Savior today. I know she's singing praises up there in heaven right now with the angels. She's probably jumping and dancing too, because she hasn't been able to do that in more years than I can count. She's also hugging the necks of her mother, husband, and so many other loved ones who passed before her. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that she is worshipping her Lord, Savior, and best friend, Jesus Christ.

I'm so grateful for her godly example for all these years. What a blessing to have a grandmother who left such a wonderful legacy to a large family. She served others her entire life and more than anything she was a prayer warrior like I've never known. She was never able to shower us with gifts and other things grandmothers so often do for their children, but I know that she wrapped us in prayer every day and that is better than any earthly gift we could ever receive.

She will be greatly missed, yet we are rejoicing that she has a new body and that she is happy for all eternity. We'll see you again soon, Granny! When it's my time just meet me at the gates of heaven!

Zora's New Do

Zora begged all last weekend to get her haircut so we took her Monday morning. Love it!

Time for an Upgrade

I'm getting a new phone today but it is not intentionally. I dropped mine in my Pepsi last night. Bummer. It's completely dead. Dead as a doornail. Done. :(

So, hopefully I'll be able to recover everyone's numbers. If not, don't get offended if I don't call you because I probably won't be able to remember all the numbers. It's sad, but I rarely dial phone numbers anymore. It's just too easy to use my cell phone. You might just have to call me!

So, I'm off in search of my new phone!