Fun in the "giant sandbox"

Matt decided to take us on a mini-vacation to the sandhills in Monahans. It's a nice state park, similar to White Sands in New Mexico. We had such a great time frolicking in the sand. Having kids makes it so much more fun- it just makes us do things we wouldn't normally. Morgan was rolling all in the sand, and we buried him a few times. Emma was smiling and saying "me-me" which is what she's saying lately for anything that makes her happy. Of course, they were both way too fascinated with the "sandbox" to look at the camera, but I took some pictures anyway.

Morgan Reads a Story

By sneaking up on Morgan on the potty, I was finally able to capture him reading aloud to himself. The story is Sheep in a Jeep, but before long, he expands it to include eating pizza and his own rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Enjoy!

Baseball and Fireworks

For the 4th, we took the kids to their first Rockhounds baseball game. We mostly went for the post-game fireworks. The weather was beautiful, not too hot. We watched the game for awhile, then let the kids play on the playground with pretty much every other kid in the entire city! Both playscapes were literally crawling with kids. But Morgan held his own and had so much fun.
It was after 10:00 when the fireworks started. Morgan enjoyed it; Emma jumped a lot and cried some. Both got less out of it than they would have if they weren't falling asleep in our arms. We finally got them to bed about 11:00.

Emma Rocking Her Baby

For quite awhile now Emma has been loving on her stuffed animals and baby dolls. But yesterday she showed her first concrete sign of maternal instinct when she began rocking her baby. Of course, we caught it on video for your enjoyment.

Big Week for the Sibs

There are a lot of exciting things happening in the lives of our younger siblings lately. Last Monday, Nathan left for Air Force OTS in Montgomery, Alabama. He will be there for 13 weeks, and then he'll go to another school specifically for Air Force meteorology.
And, on Saturday, Ryan proposed to Kate so they are now officially engaged. Now we can give Morgan the go ahead to say "Uncle Ryan". Not that our sanction matters to him though- he's been saying it ever since they visited a month ago. Anyway, Congratulations Kate! We've been praying a long time for this day.