Spring Break Fun!

We had a wonderful Spring Break! I am really sad it had to come to an end. The weather was perfect and we took advantage of a lot of outdoor activities.

On Monday, we got to help Simeon celebrate his 5th birthday with a fun race car party at his house. Birthday parties never get old! I think I will really miss those when the girls get old enough to go by themselves.

On Tuesday, Aaron, Janet, Mylen, and Aivlyn came up to our house. We all had lunch together and then Aaron took Wes to his chemo treatment. The rest of the afternoon was spent outside in our backyard riding in the Barbie car, riding bikes, playing on the playground set, drawing with chalk, blowing bubbles, and roller skating. The cousins always have such a fun time together, and it was great to visit with Janet.

Mylen taking Avery for a crazy ride. Aunt Katy, do you notice your name on the ground? Avery learned how to spell Katy and wrote it all over the ground and plaground set. Ha!


Does Aivlyn know what she has gotten herself into???

On Wednesday, the girls and I headed to Waterloo Lake for a picnic. We ate our lunch, fed the ducks, played on the playground, and went for a walk around part of the lake. We couldn't have asked for a better day. These pictures were taken on my cell phone. I was surprised how well they turned out.

Abby posing on the rock bench overlooking the lake.


Take a picture of me, mom!


Best friends! (OK, maybe not all the time.)

On Thursday, several of my friends from church and I took our kiddos to Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch. It is only about 35 minutes away. We had a blast there! There were all sorts of wild animals to pet and see.

Preslee, Kylee, Abby, and Avery petting the baby kangaroo.


Adrienne, Abby, Preslee, Avery, and Paislee going for a ride on the Safari Tram.


Paislee and Avery on tram with the camels behind them. All of the 15 or so camels were pregnant!


Petting the horses from the tram.


Avery's favorite camel.


Do any of you remember R.O.U.S.'s? Rodents of Unusaul Size from The Princess Bride.


Zebras and some sort of deer.


Getting ready to go for a ride on the Barrel Train. During the ride they played, "I Like to Move It, Move It!" The girls love that song!


Finishing up the ride on the Barrel Train. Avery and Abby are in the front barrel.


Abby was pretty cute while she was giving "high fives" to the lemur.


Abby is following the 10 day old donkey. She was so soft to pet.


They also had several large dogs to play with and pet.


The kiddos enjoying their lunches.


The adult table. Love ya ladies!


The whole gang! I love how Simeon held his baby sis. Too sweet!


Making funny faces!


We sure had a great time, didn't we girls?

On Friday, we joined our friends, Royce, Carrie, and Sybil at a large park in Sherman. The girls all brought their bikes and we walked alongside them. They have great sidewalk trails that are perfect for bike rides. We also enjoyed a picnic lunch and played on the playground.

On Saturday, Wes had a Daddy Daughter Date with girls. They decided to go swimming at the indoor pool in town. It was nice to see that they hadn't lost their braveness in the pool that they had acquired last summer.

On Sunday, Dad and Gina had their wedding shower at church. There was a good turn out and they got a lot of neat things. Showers are such a great tradition! Gina kept everyone entertained with her funny stories and remarks. She is a hoot! They get married on May 2nd. Yay!

This past week was Wes' last full week of chemo. Can we say, "Hallelujah"? We got great news about his CT scans this past week. His lymph node in his chest that was enlarged didn't show up, which likely means the chemo has done its job. His cancer blood markers are still back to normal, too. PRAISE GOD! This is such an answer to many prayers. This week has been a little harder than the others (which makes sense). Everyday got progressively harder. In the middle of the night, last night, he threw up a lot and didn't sleep well at all. Tonight he plans on popping some Tylenol PM to ensure a better night.

Two nights ago the Texoma area got hit with a bad storm. There was a thunderstorm warning as well as a tornado warning. A tornado hit a block away from us in December, so Wes and I did not want to take any chances. It was about 9:25 when we got a call from the city telling us to take cover. We woke up the girls and put them in their bath located in the middle of our house. Avery was totally out of it. Abby was in an adventurous mood. After she got all situated, she asked, "Now what are we going to do?" After we explained about the storm and why we needed to take cover, Avery asked, "Does this mean I won't have school tomorrow?" We told them we wanted to say a prayer, and Abby quickly volunteered to say it. (She is usually the one to volunteer at meal times, nap times, and before bed.) So, she said a sweet prayer that God would protect us and also thanked him for her friends. Not too long after we were all gathered in the bathroom, our neighbor from across the street, Betty, called. She has only been here since last summer. She wanted to invite us over to get in her storm cellar. We immediately grabbed the girls and ran across the street. We watched the weather on TV some more and then quickly went into her cellar. It was really a neat set up. Her cellar was under her garage, so we didn't have to go outside or anything. We really got to know sweet Betty and heard the loud storm pass over us. The hail was incredibly loud. We were thankful to God that we were all safe and had no real damage after it was all over. We will most likely still have our roof looked at, just in case. There were reports of softball size hail in the Texoma area.

Last night, the girls and I joined Carrie and Sybil for a "girls night out". We ate at Cici's (thanks to some gift certificates the girls got from their schools) and then headed to the Theater at Austin College to watch a children's performer, Eddie Coker. He was very interactive and entertaining. The girls all had a ball dancing, singing, and hitting beach balls that were hit all through out the audience. At one point Eddie even came down our row and danced with us. He even handed Avery the microphone to hold so he could really boogie with Sybil. I wish I had had my camera. I did take a few pictures on my cell phone.

Eddie, spinning the ball on his finger.


Abby, Sybil, and Avery ready for the show to start.

Before I finish this entry, I wanted to share a neat devotional book we have been using with the girls each night. It is called God and Me! 2 - Devotions for Girls and it is written by Diane Cory. It has a short story and then a few questions followed by a prayer. The girls have really enjoyed it. They make them for different ages. We are using the one for ages 6-9 and it really isn't over Abby's head. Thanks Adrienne for giving this to the girls for their birthday! We love it!