One of the Best Weekends Ever!

Okay, so I am sure most of you have a few of your "best" times ever... well, over this past weekend Mark and I just shared our fourth "best" time ever!! The previous three, in no particular order, are: Wedding Day, My College Graduation Day and the Births of Tatum and Linkin. Well... on Saturday Mark Graduated!!!! He finished up Chiropractic School and received his Doctorate Degree! I am so proud of him. These past three years have gone by so fast and there were many changes in our lives. Parker School of Chiropractic is not an easy school by any means, the schedule and classes are very demanding and many students drop out after the first trimester (yes, his school goes by trimesters, not semesters)so this is such an amazing accomplishment! CONGRATS to MARK, what an Outstanding Achievement!! (Pictures will come shortly)

Playing with our Cousins!!

This past weekend Tatum, Linkin and I went out to Kristen and Gmo's house to spend the night. Tatum and Linkin had so much fun playing with their cousins, Tate and Brooklynn. I enjoyed having some adult interaction and seeing how much fun all the cousins had together! Here are a few pictures that were took.

Brooklynn and Linkin ready to get to the park

Tatum, Linkin and Brooklynn wanting to get out of the wagon and play

Tate giving me his biggest smile!

Tatum is having so much fun in her own swing

I love this picture! Linkin is so happy playing outside

Tate was so cute, he wanted to push Tatum and Linkin in the swings

Brooklynn loved the swing, she just sat back and relaxed!

Bath time with everyone! Cute boys!!

Love this picture of Brooklynn, she is soooo cute!

House update: The house is coming along great, my mom and I are almost done painting. As soon as we are I will post some pictures. Until then... be happy you are not painting every wall in your house!!

Move Update

Tatum, Linkin and I are now in Surprise, AZ. Mark had to stay back to finish up school, but will come here for Thanksgiving and then head back to TX again for two weeks and then be back for good. We are slowly getting everything settled in... unpacking and painting. I wanted to post some pictures of the house for you to see, but I have tried three times, it says that they are done and uploaded to the blog, but they never come up... any ideas?

A month gone already???

This month has gone by so fast! We have been super busy lately and I have neglected our blog, so before all the pictures of the babies... a brief update of this crazy month. Mark's mom, Sheri, came to visit at the beginning of October, then Mark's dad and his wife, Suzie, came two weeks later. The day they showed up we received a great offer on our house here, so we sold our home (well kinda, closing is not until Nov 7th) So, every night once the babies are in bed Mark and I pack and pack and pack. Our house looks so bare with all the decorations gone, but I am liking the look because it means AZ is just around the corner. My mom will be coming out next week to help finish up the packing and then we will fly back to AZ with the babies Nov 8th leaving Mark behind. Mark will drive out for Thanksgiving, but it will be a long two weeks without him. So, that is what has been going on over here... below are just pictures of the babies from the past month. (I don't know why they are so big, I chose medium size like always... sorry)

Tatum waiting to get in the car for our nature walk

Linkin waiting patiently too

Mark left a pack of Ritz crackers on the couch and this is what happened to them

Wanting to play outside in the rain

Please mom... I think she really wants to go outside, what do you think?

We went to a Pumpkin Patch while Mark's dad and Suzie were here

Linkin wasn't sure if he liked the feel of grass on his feet

This pumpkin was almost bigger than Tatum

I thought this picture was cute. Linkin gets this face when he gets excited and flexes his body... you can see all his teeth!

Another year older.... wiser too?

For those of you who don't know, Mark's and my birthday are a day apart. His is today and mine was yesterday. So, we get to have a couple of fun days. I will admit that it is completely different with two nine month olds. Before, we would just hop in the car and go to dinner and be back whenever. Yesterday I got to choose where we were to go... which means pick a restaurant that if the babies are loud it won't bother anyone and where service is pretty quick to make sure we get home for baths and bedtime. So, we went to this restaurant called "Love and War". It is super yummy! Mark would rather have a meal at home than wrestle with the kids so he wants me to make stuffed shells. Another yummy meal. So....

Happy Birthday to the love of my life!

Mark wanted Funfetti Cupcakes, which I made into a cake

Mark made me an ice cream/brownie cake.

It was excellent!

Time goes by way too fast!

8 1/2 months have gone by so fast. There have been so many changes and milestones reached with Tatum and Linkin, but we know the next 8 months are going to be more eventful. We have a lot going on right now and we are hoping it will all settle down shortly. We are currently trying to sell our home, which is taking a lot longer than we thought. Mark is finishing up his last few months of school. He graduates mid December and let me tell you how excited I am. He has done so well these past three years, but I know he is ready for the classes to come to an end. We are, also, building a home in Surprise, AZ. We thought it was going to be done in Dec when we move back, but we just found out that it is going to be done before Halloween. Figures!! If we were in a rush to move in, the house would have taken forever, but NO! It's like they have every construction worker in the city out there! But we are way excited because it is in a neighborhood where they are building an elementary school right across the street, so we plan on being there for a while. These next few months are going to be huge changes for the babies. I am sure they will start walking, talking, eating regular food, gaining even more crazier personalities and much more. They are so much fun! I can't express enough how lucky I am to be able to stay home with them everyday. So, here are a few pictures of the joys of our life:

Such a pretty girl with such a loud voice!

Linkin was a little confused between his hat and his shorts!

Crawling to the camera

Can you see his teeth? Looks like she is thinking hard about something!

What an innocent face!

7 Years Already

Can you believe it has been 7 years since the 9/11 attack? It is weird for me to think our kids will read about this event in their history book, yet we lived it. Remember how the entire nation came together and helped one another, what happened to all that? I can still remember where I was when I heard the horrible news... I was living in a Mesa Apartment with Heather (Kinneberg) Fogelson. I just woke up and was about to get in the shower to get ready to go to work and Heather was at the sink curling her hair and said that we were under attack. I thought she was saying that we (her and I) were under attack and I said "whatever" then she pointed to the TV and I froze. Can you remember what you were doing the exact moment you heard or saw the life changing news?

August Fun

I know I have not updated in a couple weeks, so here are some pictures that were taken throughout the month! We can't believe how big they are getting! It really is true how fast they grow and change... almost makes me want two more... key word: ALMOST!!

Having fun at the park

Daddy and his little princess

Linkin showing off his new hat

I love this picture of the two of them! Linkin is already trying to be just like dad...wearing the same brand hat!

Pretty Tatum, I love this color on her!

Cute babes! They just love posing for pictures.

Getting comfy in Daddy's arms

I love this picture! This was today, right before church. I can't believe how grown up Linkin looks! What a handsome little man!

Only in Texas... and Birthday Shout Outs!

So, one day Mark, Tatum, Linkin and I went for a drive. We were driving through an older part of town and came upon a neighborhood that was a little run down. We were commenting on some of the homes and how people can really let their yards go astray and the things they leave out on their front lawn. You wouldn't believe all the items we saw! Well, anyway... we kept going on about the things we wanted to do to the yard at the house we are building in Surprise, AZ.... then we stopped the car in disbelief. What? How Could? Why? We didn't have our camera or our phones with us, so we decided to drive back and take a picture. So... whada ya think? You like?

Yup, only in Texas will you find a Purple house with Pink polk-a-dots and yellow shutters!

Happy, Happy Birthday to you... From Me!

Happy Birthday Jo! (Aug 17th) Hope you had a great day!

Happy Birthday Sheri (Mark's mom) Next year we will be there to celebrate with you!

Happy Birthday Launa! How old are you again... I keep forgetting :)

Posing For Pictures and Being Big Helpers!

Here are a few recent pictures of Tatum and Linkin. They are both so active now. Crawling all over the place and now they are both pulling themselves up on everything! These next pictures Tatum and Linkin were "Big Helpers" I made a strawberry pie for some friends and the babies wanted to help clean up...

Round Rock, Texas

My brother, Bret, came to Texas to play a baseball game against a team in Round Rock (about 2 1/2 hours from us), so we decided to take a trip down to see him. Bret had not seen the babies yet because he has been gone with baseball the whole time, so it was fun to see him. This was Tatum and Linkin's first baseball game ever and they did really well for a 7:00 PM start (which is when we feed them last and put them to bed). We had a lot of fun and wish we could have stayed longer. We think Uncle Bret had fun too!

Chillin' in my own chair It was a little hot out, can you tell????This is what they are paid to do??? Bret was called in to clean up another player's mess. 1 out and bases loaded! He did great and got the save!