Thursday night we headed to our family Y to join in their festival.

Both girls played the cake walk and both ended up winning, yummy stuff with way too much icing.

Friday night the girls school had a fall festival, we of course went.  The girls got to dress up in their Halloween costumes and Monica’s parents were able to come and join us.

Katie Lynn with her bestie.

Karyn with her bestie! Both in yellow.

Grams helping Katie Lynn make a scary hand with candy corn and popcorn.

Granddad and Katie Lynn.  Karyn is not very into pictures right now, she runs from the camera.

Saturday night Tom and I went to a Halloween party, Steve Jobs and an Apple.

Sunday the girls had a birthday party to attend, they had so much fun!

Monday night rounds out our weekend, we took the girls trick-or-treating and Tom’s parents were able to join us.

The girls started off a little slow and unsure but after they got the hang of it, they were off! Katie Lynn would look at us while waiting for Karyn and some friends, “Come on! We need to get candy”.  There was also a house with no lights so we told Katie Lynn that no one was home and that we needed to go to the next house, she says “we just need to knock on the door” Silly girl.

Down the street there is a huge spider we drive by, last year Katie Lynn wouldn’t even walk up to the spider, this year both girls went up to it.  They were sad when the spider went away till next year.

We had a great Halloween and I think the girls enjoyed trick-or-treating the most.

Monica and the girls went over to visit Great-Grammy Rose.

Looking up at the moon.

Monica took the girls over to her folks on the 4th and poor Tom had to work.

Granddad showing the girls how to make a splash!

Happy 4th as get ready to enter into August…..at least I posted in July

Sunday: We started off the week by going to Lauren and Madison’s birthday party.  It was at Pump-it-up and everyone had a great time.

Monday: First day of VBC, here is Katie Lynn in front of her class for the week and another one of her finding her place during the big celebration time.

Tuesday: Day 2, it is crazy hair day and t-shirt day.  I got to stay for a minute today and watch Katie Lynn do some dancing during the songs.

Moving, dancing and singing!

Craft of the day: Panda Ears

We took the girls out to get some shaved ice, something cool to do in this hot hot weather.

I think Karyn ended up with more on her than in her.

Wednesday: Day 3, Backwards day.

Tonight we went out to meet up with some of Tom’s family.  Tom’s Great Aunt Fran was in town to visit so we were able to go and meet her for dinner.

Love this picture of Miss Lauren!

Thursday: Day 4..guess it was a slow day.

Friday: Day 5, crazy sock day!

Someone was very tired…Katie Lynn said “mommy, I want to go home and take a nap” (9:00am)

The end of a wonderful week!

Saturday: The girls had a play date with their friends.  The girls got to play outside while the adults got to catch up

My little butterfly…

To end the week, Monica got to get away and go to a friends wedding shower and catch up with one of her good friends, Michelle.  Congrats to Jennifer and her fiancee, can’t wait till the wedding.

We had another busy week and we are looking forward to a much slower paced week this week.

We left Friday afternoon right after Monica got out of work and headed to Amarillo.  We made excellent time.

It was up early on Saturday morning, we were packed and on the road by 5am.  The girls slept for a couple more hours and we were able to make it almost through New Mexico before they woke up.  Must say, we hit the Colorado boarder and the speed limit went to 75, LOVED IT!  The views were fabulous and the rest of the trip was good.  We made it to our hotel around noon and had about an hour to get ready to head to the party.  Monica’s family was having a big celebration for their 3 kids.  A big congrats to Brandon, Trevor and Michaela.  Brandon graduated from College (has a job now), Trevor graduated from High School (going to Aviator school) and Michaela is entering middle school.  A new adventure for each of them and we are so proud them!

At the party. (sorry for a lack of photos, Monica needed to do a better job)

Not the first picture we have of her going for the good stuff…

trouble for sure.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with our family and catching up.

The next morning, the girls of course were up early so what else was there to do?  We went swimming!

Karyn is looking first….

checking it out still…

sitting next to Daddy, not so bad.

Finally! The girls loved it once they warmed up.

Looks like a good conversation to be had.

After a good swim it was time to head over to Uncle Fred and Aunt Norma’s place.  We went and spent the rest of the day with them.  It was so much fun to just hang out and enjoy catching up.  Here are some photos from the afternoon.

Of course we had to take time to get some family shots in.

Happy 7th Anniversary

We finished our trip on Monday by making the straight shot back home since we both had to be back at work on Tuesday.  Our trip took 13.5 hours to get home, 2 stops for fuel and 1 stop for lunch.  Not bad! We hope to make a trip back to Colorado were we can stay a little longer.

Several weeks ago our Church had a family picnic and an egg hunt.  We sat with some families from our Sunday school class and enjoyed our time in the very windy beautiful day.

Karyn waiting on lunch…

Big sister Katie Lynn helping Karyn get a drink.

Karyn wanting to make sure she didn’t leave any apple sauce in her pouch.

After lunch the girls went on an egg hunt.

Katie Lynn was all about getting the eggs, she was fast!

Karyn on the other hand….this is how interested she was…

This past weekend we celebrated Easter and we were lucky enough to have some family join us for church, an egg hunt and some lunch. 

Before church the girls got to take a look at their Easter baskets.

Karyn found the bath squirters right away.

All smiles from Katie Lynn.

Hi Karyn…I just love this picture.

We headed to church and enjoyed the service and songs.  Always a good time.  When we got back home the girls got to go and look for eggs.  The girls did a great job.  Karyn was interested in finding eggs this time and every time  Katie Lynn found a pink egg, she would run and put it in Karyn’s basket.  She would then tell Karyn “this is your egg”

So sweet.

All the eggs have been found….

all smiles.

Karyn in front of her Easter tree.  We planted this last spring in honor of Karyn’s 1st Easter.

Katie Lynn then wanted to stand by a tree too.

The girls with Heypa and Grandma.

The girls with Granddad and Grams.

The girls with Great Grammy Rose or as th girls say, GiGi.

The girls with Daddy and Mommy.

After the lunch the girls got to open a few things from their grandparents. The girls go mini pillow pets and baskets from Grandma and Heypa.

Karyn decided her basket would make a better hat.  She is so silly and was cracking us up.

Katie Lynn liked Karyn’s hat so much that she had to wear hers as a hat too.

The girls each got a recorded book from Granddad and Grams. 

We had such a wonderful weekend and enjoyed celebrating with our family.

Saturday morning we headed out and took some pictures in the down town McKinney area.  You can go here to check out some of the photos… http://www.sepperphotography.com/downtown-mckinney/ . 

Sunday was spent going to church and then out to dinner to celebrate Tom’s Moms birthday.

Monday the girls went to daycare and I spent the day with my mom finishing Karyn’s new bedroom.  Good-bye to the frog, tree and other critters…

…check back later for the finished project.

Monday evening we got to go out to dinner with a good friend of Toms.  It was nice to get out for a few hours.

Tuesday was another full day.  My Grandma Rose moved into a new place so my Mom and I took the girls over to visit and check out her new place.  The girls had a great time and enjoyed time with their Great-Grammy. (sorry, no pictures…forgot the camera)

Wednesday was a nice quiet day at home, just me and my girls.  The girls enjoyed playing with ice and water, they also enjoyed chasing each other around the kitchen.

Thursday the girls got to spend the day at school with their friends while Mommy and her Mom had a nice day out shopping and having a good time.

Friday started off great, made a trip to Wal-mart with both girls and back home to get some fruit ready for a BBQ luncheon we were invited to then there were other plans.  Karyn fell from the 3rd step of the stairs, tumbled, gouged the back of her head and busted her lip.  I had been watching her on the stairs and picked her up right after she fell.  I then realized she was bleeding, yelled to Tom we were headed to the ER.  He was off the phone faster then I could find a towel to stop the bleeding.  We got in the car and headed over to the ER, we were in and out in about an hour.  Karyn ended up with about a half inch gouge and 1 staple in her head. 

The rest of Friday turned out to be much more low key…dinner at home and a restful night sleep.

To bring the week to a close we spent Saturday morning at a dog show.  My parents were showing Moses up in McKinney so we thought it would be fun to go cheer Moses on.

The girls loved watching the other dogs run through the course.

Karyn LOVES animals, she sees them and just points and starts talking up a storm.

This other little girl shows dogs, her and Katie Lynn were playing a game.

Dad, Mom and Moses.

What a fun day!! Karyn came home and took a wonderful nap and Katie Lynn got to go to a birthday party.  This evening was a beautiful very full moon.

Here is to a restful Sunday…maybe

Monica’s sister Amanda made a surprise last minute visit.  We had a good evening and enjoyed catching up.

Aunt Amanda hooked Karyn up with some new gold shoes.

Sisters & Sisters

with Chris.

Next we had Christmas with Monica’s family.  Monica’s Mom, Dad, Grandma Rose and Grandma Beth traveled to our house so we could all celebrate together.  It was a lot of fun and the girls loved having so many grandparents around to give them so much attention.

Christmas Eve Morning family photo.

Grams & Granddad making Karyn laugh.

Great Grammy Rose holding up her cross.

Mommy & her 2 girls.

Great Grammy Beth reading a story.

Katie Lynn got a train set and everyone jumped in to help.  Great Grammy Beth helping.

Granddad putting the town pieces together.

Getting ready for church and Karyn takes a minute to dance with Frosty.

Family photo, I love that we have have 2 sets of 4 generations in this photo.

We made it to Church. The Great Grammies with their Great Granddaughters.

What a wonderful way to spend Christmas Eve Day.  Fun with Monica’s family, a nice lunch and a beautiful Church service.  Now we move on to our Christmas Eve traditions.

I am not really sure how our Christmas Eve traditions started. Our first Christmas Eve as a family was spent in the hospital but ever one since then has been spent going to dinner, driving around to look at lights and then home to open 1 gift and read a story.  We have really enjoyed this and look forward to this every year.

Out to dinner.

We drove around and the girls just loved the lights!!

Next it was home to open a gift.

PJs from Mommy!!!

Wonder what this one is…

a book from Daddy!!! The Night Before Christmas.  (I wonder when they will catch on its the same book every year?)

Then we leave our cookies and milk for Santa…..the picture sure is not as easy as last year….both girls were done.

Next everyone headed to bed and Santa was on his way.

The next morning was so much fun.  The girls slept till about 8 and then we had some breakfast.  Next it was time to see if Santa had come. He sure did and by the looks of things, the girls had been very good all year!!!

Santa brought the girls a dancing Mickey, oh my, how fun!! They loved it! (video to follow soon)

Santa also brought them each their own Baby Doll.  Katie Lynn had been talking about him bringing them one since she “visited” with him the week before.

Another family tradition continues.  Growing up Santa would always bring Tom’s family a game to play.  This year Santa continued and brought games for the girls.  Daddy beat Katie Lynn in her first game of Candy Land.

Mommy & Karyn.

Daddy & Mommy with their new camera.

Daddy & Katie Lynn.

We had a great day celebrating Jesus’ birthday.  We enjoyed a nice fire in the fireplace, lunch, a round of Candy Land and a quiet evening with just the 4 of us. 

To end out the weekend of celebrations we headed to Tom’s parents house to celebrate with his family.

Grandma & Heypa

Uncle Ryan, Aunt Kim, Madison & Lauren

Daddy & his two girls

Grandma and the Christmas box.  This box has been passed around Tom’s family since his mom was a kid. This year Grandma received the box and she will pass it to someone else next year.

The older girls went on to play with some toys…

Karyn on the other hand….she is trouble

After gifts we enjoyed the day of games and family time.  Here Katie Lynn is helping with the dressing.

We made sure to get  a new family photo.

We had such a wonderful time with family and we are so blessed in many ways.

Then it was off to something new and different.  Monica’s folks got a new puppy back in the fall and he is an Australian Shepherd from award winning parents.  So needless to say, Wes and Gayle have ventured into the world of Dog Shows.  This weekend they entered Moses into the Heart of Texas Austrialian Shepherd Club show.  There are several shows through out the weekend and Moses won his group last night and came in 3rd in his group this morning.  We headed out to go and watch Moses in the competition this afternoon.  There was lots to see and do.

Started off the afternoon with a snack for the girlies.

Our Ice Cream Princess

Hanging out before the show.

Next it was time to get Moses ready for his age group showing.  Karyn loved petting Moses.

Pose with Daddy, she has some of the funniest faces.

Then it was time for Dad/Wes to take Moses onto the show floor.  There the dogs had to “stack” (a way to stand and pose for the judge), trot around next to their trainers, then the Judge checked their muscles and builds, then a walk down the runway and another trip around the circle.  The judge placed Moses to go first on the last go around and as Dad and Moses came around the Judge announced that Moses was first.  We were all very proud of Moses and he got a blue ribbon.  Moses will also get to compete a little later against all the first places winners towards the end of the show. 

After this we had about 30 minutes before Moses would go on again so we took this time to take a break and were able to get a mini photo shoot in.  We got some great pictures!!

Then we tried to get pictures of the girls with Moses: Fail

We did manage to get one of Katie Lynn with Moses.

To end the day we all went back in to watch Dad and Moses with all the male winners for the day.  Not sure how many dogs there were but there were a lot, and I had asked a lady, who has shown dogs for years, how Moses was doing and she said well but that puppies never win this event or come close.  Well the dogs did their thing and then the Judge announced the winner, not Moses.  We all clapped and were proud of Moses, then the Judge announced 2nd place……MOSES!!! We were all shocked and so excited.  Moses won Reserve Winner Dog and got a really cool purple/white ribbon.  Everyone came up to Dad, Mom and Moses to say congrats.  Here is a picture of the proud Papa with his prize winning dog. 

We had lots of fun and we are sure there will be lots more ribbons for Moses in the future. 

We finished our Saturday night off by going to a soccer game for one of Monica’s former students.

Needless to say, fun was had by all and everyone will sleep well tonight.