Off to Dallas we go!

This past weekend Ray and I went to Dallas. We left Friday and drove down to Texarkana to drop the kids off at my parents house and then we kept going on to Dallas. We had a wonderful time! Ray had made plans for us to do events the entire weekend. First he planned for us to stay at Hotel ZaZa which is located in uptown Dallas. Friday night we arrived into town, we had time to refresh, unpack and go downstairs for drinks and dinner. After a fabulous dinner we went to House of Blues and watched Blue October perform. We weren't familiar with many of the songs, but the show was amazing, that band is very talented. After the concert we went back to the hotel for some drinks and a night together to sleep in late!! We were thinking we might actually sleep in but I still woke up at around 7:30 am. So we got ready and set off to shop. We decided to spend the morning shopping, and then Ray wanted to go to the Boat show to look at the boats. After the boat show we went back to the hotel to enjoy a couples massage (which was much needed), and then after went to the room to get ready for a night of sushi (my favorite)! drinks and music. We ended up at the Ritz drinking drinks and have great conversation with some couples that we met while we were there. They asked to come to there place for some drinks and to see there view of Dallas. Ray nor I had ever seen a view like we saw from there condo, it was amazing! We did not leave until 3:30! We were exhausted but it was well worth it! The next day we met up with some friends of Ray's from High School for lunch and then set out for nana and papa's house to pick up the kids!
The kids had a wonderful time - we are so greatful to my parents and my brother David for watching them over the weekend! We missed them so much - but as you all know all parents need a little time for themselves! Here are some pictures from the weekend that my mom took of David and Evan in the pool and of Evan's new golf club set. He has not put them down! All he runs around and says is golf ball, golf club and golf cart! Enjoy the pics!
God Bless, hope you all had a great weekend!
Michelle

More pictures around the house....

Maya's first birthday!

This past weekend we celebrated Maya Hatfield's first birthday. She is the daughter of some very good friends of ours, Chad and Monika Hatfield. They hosted the birthday party out at the lake on some friends of ours dock. They had Whole Hog cater and even Cold Stone Creamer was there. The kids had a blast eventhough it had to be one of the hottest days of the summer! My parents were also in town visiting. Evan loves it when his Nana and Papa come, he gets so excited and is tied to them both the entire time. We hung out at the lake all day Saturday, and Sunday we went out to the pool so they could watch how good Evan is in the water. He is not afraid of it at all. He jumps head first right in, and actually smiles more I think when you let him go all the way under. He is very comfortable in his life jacket in the lake and pool, but when we take it off we can tell that we have to practice with him to remind of his floating techniques along with reminding him that he doesn't float without the lifejacket on. He is becoming such a little ham... for instance he loves it when people take pictures of him, if you point the camera at him immediately he says cheese and gives you a big smile! He loves hugging and kissing everyone and waving hi and goodbye. His favorite thing to do when he gets home is ride the golf cart. As soon as we let him out of the car he goes straight to it and starts saying "peas, peas" that his please and "golf car, golf car" it's so cute you can't help but take him for a ride. He is also starting to speak so well. His vocabulary has grown so much since even last week. Parker has also had a lot of exciting things going on, he is now smiling so much! I love waking up in the morning and watch him just lay there and smile and giggle. We have been blessed so much by these two fabulous little boys. They make our day so much better just by smiling, giggling, and calling us momma and daddy. You so often take for granted the little things, but I try to remind myself that those are the things that make my day so much brighter! Anyway, back to Parker, he rolling over completely now, and getting strong enough to hold his weight up when we hold his arms. He is jumping around in the jump around, and sitting up a lot better in his bumbo. He is still not sleeping thru the night completely but I can't complain because he is only waking up about once a night and that is around 4 am. All-in-all we have been a busy little family, and so happy! I hope you enjoy the pictures I will try to post lots, because my mom and sister keep getting mad at me for not updating the blog enough! Love you!
God Bless,
MIchelle

Happy 4th of July!

Last weekend we spent most of our time out at the lake. My parents came up and kept the boys on July 3rd so that we could have an adult day out at the lake, and then on July 4th we all went to the lake and spent part of the day, and the rest we ended up down at the pool. We went over to some friends of ours home to watch the Bentonville fireworks and they were fantastic. Evan was not afraid of the fireworks at all, he became mezmorized by them... and Parker slept thru it all.. maybe next year! Either way, we had a wonderful long weekend celebrating the birth of our nation! God Bless America and Our Freedom!
God Bless,
Michelle

More at the Lake

Here are some random pics from the lake that I thought were cute! Parker Ray Smiles!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

On Ray's birthday we woke him up to his special birthday cake breakfast then we let him open his gifts. We let him choose what he wanted to do for the day, so we all got ready for a day at the lake, and then dinner at the house with family! The cutest part of the day is when Evan would sing Happy Birthday to Ray!
It would go a little like this... Happ Birth Day to U, Happ Birth Day to U, Happ Birth Day Daddy Happ Birth Day to U! But if anyone sang along with him he would stop! So Cute! We practiced for weeks up until his birthday, so I was so glad he did it!
We hope you had a wonderful birthday Ray!! I love you very much! Happy Birthday love Michelle, Evan and Parker!!

Pictures from the lake

Here are some pictures from us all on the boat out at the lake. Evan loves taking his dad's hat and sunglasses and pretending to be him... as you will see in the pictures. They both love being on the boat, and as soon as we stop Evan jumps immediately in the water and swims the entire time we are stopped. It amazes everyone that sees him, he is not afraid to be alone at all in the water. He kicks, swims, and jumps all day long. It is so funny to watch. While the boat is going he always insists upon being in his dads lap. It seems as if he started that way and thinks that is his spot. Parker enjoys the lake we think based on the fact that he falls asleep immediately when we ride around in the boat and usually when were stopped he is content to lay there and smile.
Enjoy these!