August was BUSY!

What a fun and extremely busy August. The pictures are in reverse order for some reason, but we started out with their 4th birthday party at Noah's Ark. This was our 2nd year at this place and it was even better the 2nd time around. We all had a GREAT time with family and friends. Mark and Ella were very sad that the party actually had to end.

Next was their actual birthday at home. Ella loved her new Barbie house (about as much as mom does) and Mark is seriously hard to keep up with on his new bike. That kid is fast!

Finally was our 2nd annual trip to Galveston with the Trull family. Yet another fun trip for everyone. Our kids get along just as much as the adults! And this year, Valerie and Steve came down with their cousin CJ. More beach fun with CJ (who is a big fan of sand!) and even an afternoon at the train musuem. It doesn't get much better than that for Mark! If only it was 20 degrees cooler, we would have stayed longer. I don't recommend it at 4:00 in the afternoon in August!

Lots of Firsts...

So we've had a lot of "firsts" these last few months. Mark and Ella rode their 1st camel at the rodeo as well as riding their 1st roller coaster without Mom and Dad. They attended their 1st Astros game with their friend Cooper from school (it was in a suite, so that was a 1st for all 4 of us)! They flew on their 1st airplane to Colorado Springs!!! Such a fun trip. We rode with Michella, AJ, and Jack and were able to spend lots of time together while the hubbies worked. We had lots of 1st's in CO. First view of mountains, 1st smores, and many 1st animal experiences at the Cheyanne Mountain Zoo (feeding giraffes, seeing hippos, moose, gorilla, petting a baby wallaby, and many more)!

5 months....

....in summary form! I have no excuse for not updating this sooner, but here are the last several months in summary.

Halloween! Ella as a cat and Mark as a train *driver* (not to be confused with a conductor)

Riding the Polar Express

Merry Christmas!!! Mark and Ella enthusiastically helped with the decorations.

Ella in her favorite winter hat and Mark insisting on being in the picture as well.

Loving on sweet Oatmeal!