Happy birthday David!

Happy birthday to my love, my best friend, and the leader of this family.We are so blessed to have you! We are who we are because of you. You mean everything to me and I love you more than words can ever express. I hope your birthday is amazing!

Cole is nine!

My precious Cole. You bring so much joy to my life!

I love your excitement for everything.

I love how you are always wanting to encourage others and help people.

I love how you know more trivia than anyone I know.

I love how you are getting all "Mat Hoffman" with your bike jumps ever since you watched a documentary on him. And I don't blame you that you like to keep the blood smears on your skin after you crash. You deserve that badge of honor.

I love how you are always telling me things are "overrated."

"Shoes are overrated."

"Vitamins are overrated."

"Washing fruit is overrated."

"Shirts are overrated."

I love that your birthday wish list includes things like bubble wrap and beef jerky.

And I love that Norman Regional Hospital cafeteria was a serious contender for you when trying to decide where you wanted to eat for your special birthday dinner (although I also love that it lost).

I think you are one of the coolest and most delightful kids ever. I hope you have a very happy 9th birthday. I love you.

You are so not overrated.

Happy Birthday!

Tyler,

Today you are a teenager. That is hard to believe!

I am so proud of who you are becoming. I love the little glimpses that God has given me lately. Under that fun and hilarious personality lies something big. You are destined for greatness and it's starting to peek through more and more as you mature and grow. Even though you are just starting your teen years, I can already see it. And I can't wait to see what God has in store for you.

Happy birthday Tyler. I love you so very much.

Our Beach Vacation 2011

We just got home from our vacation in Destin Florida, on Okaloosa Island. The most amazing and beautiful beach and ocean I've ever seen! The sand was literally like sugar. Flawless and beautiful. And the water was a transparent turquoise that I couldn't quit staring at! None of these pictures have any color editing at all, but they still don't do it justice.

Our days were lazy and unplanned. We slept in, ate breakfast overlooking the ocean, then went down to the beach. We chose our next move whenever the mood struck! We're all kinda fans of the no-schedule thing!

We woke up every morning to this view from our balcony.
And Cole was usually right here in our room, watching the waves and waiting for everyone else to wake up!

A few times we watched dolphins play from our balcony. So fun.

Destin Commons, a fun shopping area.



Family photos

Beach volleyball

We all went parasailing. Now I know what it feels like to be a bird. Ahhhhh, so peaceful and amazing!

Riley and David going up
Me and Cole about 400 feet in the air


Garrett and Tyler getting dipped in the ocean
A dolphin swam right up to the boat

Beach fun

For some reason the only time I touch the volleyball is when I'm serving. It's hard to run in sand. That's what I'm going with.

Kayaking in front of our condo!

When Garrett and Tyler were out there was a dolphin swimming with them. They got about 10 feet away and were trying to keep up with it. It had its head out of the water talking! They also went over a group of stingrays.

Shopping on the bay
Our goal was to choose restaurants where we could eat outside by the water. So, lots of seafood. David got everyone but me to try raw oysters.

Playoffs! We wore a lot of Thunderwear and tried to catch most of the games. Tyler got the live band at this place to yell "Go Thunder!"More pics around the condo

In our bed watching coverage of either the Thunder or the Oklahoma tornados that were going on back home.
From our balcony. The sand looked like snow from a distance.
David, Riley and Cole on the balcony.

Go Karts!
Night time crab hunting
I think they're called "ghost crabs."

On the way home we stayed at a Marriot resort on the shore of Alabama. It had all kinds of activities and was so beautiful. Like a huge southern plantation.




So thankful for this time away with my very favorite people making memories that we will always cherish!