Pool time

Darrell and Debbie's neighbors were so thoughtful to offer their pool to us & we definitely took them up on it. We weren't sure how Aubrey would take to the water seeing as how she hasn't been in a pool since she was 14 months old. She really enjoyed herself. I love the progression of her experience on the slide.

First she was unsure:

Then coerced into going down with her daddy:


Then she was strongly encouraged to go down on her own:


Then going head first all by herself! (Of course mom was always at the bottom of the slide to catch her)


It is amazing how fast kids will adapt. We had a wonderful time and glad Darrell could capture these precious moments. Here are a few more:

Little Allie is here!

Congratulations Drew and Charlotte on having a beautiful, healthy baby girl! Also, Congrats to the proud big sisters of Allie, Alyse & Alexa.

Allie Laurel Allen was born Monday, June 23rd, weighing 8lbs 6oz and was 19 1/2 in long.

We love our little niece and it is cousin #5 for Pete and Aubrey. Cousin #6 is due in August (Renee's Baby) and cousin #7 is due in January (Amy's Baby)
Pete did not get to be the youngest one for long but loves to chill with his little baby girl cousin already.
I love little Allie and can't wait to hold her again!

"Reunited & it feels so good..."

It has been 10 years since I walked down to receive my high school diploma. I attended Christian Heritage of Tyler along with my siblings. Drew (my twin) and I were there from 6th grade to 12th and had a great experience there. God and His handy-work were always emphasized in each subject matter; we were also surrounded by a good group of classmates (sometimes a little rowdy but all-in-all good people). Sports were a big part of our experience as well. Our volleyball team went to nationals twice and won 1st place in State (TCAL) and Nationals (NACA) in 98' (my sister was a part of those victories as well).
We had a wonderful group of friends there in which we maintain close relationships with to this day.
Six out of eleven people showed up to celebrate our 10 year reunion. Hopefully we will have more at our 20 year celebration.

Here are pictures from 1998 of the guys, then the girls from our graduating class:



Here is a picture just taken last weekend of me and the boys from the CHS class of 98'. All but one of the guys showed up and no girls except me made it. It was really great to see all of them (even though I hang out with most of them on a regular basis) and talk about old times, grill out, hang out with the spouses and swim. I just love and admire these guys and I am proud to be a part of their graduating class (it helps that one of them is my twin and one of them is my brother-in-law)
HERE'S TO CHS class of 98'

God bless the Mr. who come b/w me & my sister...

(this is a picture of my sister Amy & her daughter Evie)

Happy Birthday little sister!!

My beautiful, little sister turned 27 today! Gosh, that makes me a little older then, doesn't it? Amy is a wonderful mom to her two (soon to be three) kiddos and a devoted friend to me. We have had lots of laughs together and have gone through a lot together. I remember when we were in high school, we wrote notes back and forth almost every day. I don't even remember what we wrote but it was daily confirmation that we would rather write notes to each other than to our classmates. Now we share the common bond of motherhood which I feel bring us even closer.
She lives in Wyoming at the time but we hope she will move back to Texas real soon (I am pretty sure this is where she belongs).

LOVE YA BEEBLET!

One of the many great things about my sister is her ability to express herself through facial expressions. I took lessons from her one day 6 years ago. (I think we were waiting for someone while in a car so we were bored and had a camera with us). Just to show you, we always have fun when we are together.
Thought you would like to see the results:

Another tribute to dad

When we celebrated Bryan's first Father's Day, I took pictures of Aubrey wearing a series of shirts saying "I heart you dad;" check it out. We love you dad!!

Here are pictures of Pete in the same shirts for Bryan 2 years later:

In my father's eyes...

When I married Bryan, I knew he would be a wonderful dad someday but I didn't know to what extent. I have to say that I am/have been impressed with his ability to relate to Aubrey (and Pete, what little he can) and his devotion to being an awesome father in every way; this includes (but is not limited to) his ability to communicate with his children (mainly Aubrey), praying with them, having loads of fun with them (also an important part of parenting), instructing them, disciplining them (well, not Pete just yet) and the list goes on. I am grateful to have a wonderful parenting partner and I treasure Bryan.
Here are just a few of my favorite pictures of Bryan and our kids.

Adding cousins to the mix

This past weekend was pretty fun, not only because we celebrated (my niece) Alexa Allen's 1st birthday, but my kids, nieces and nephew got to be together. This is pretty rare seeing as how one of my nieces and my nephew is from Wyoming. It has been really great seeing Aubrey interact with the cousins. I know she will treasure the fact that she has so many of them close to her age.
As Bryan pointed out, it is pretty obvious that the dynamic of our get-togethers has changed. We use to hang out with my siblings and do whatever the heck we wanted at the spur of the moment (hang out, go bowling, out to eat, ect.). Now that we have kids, our rendezvous require a little more forethought and preparation. When will our kids eat? What will they eat? When are their nap times? Where will they sleep? What will we do to entertain them? Do we need to get a babysitter?
Anyway, I would like to update an old post I wrote last October about the cousins. I thought it would be crazy with 6 under 2 1/2 years of age. Now there will be 8 under 3 years and 2 months of age because my sister-in-law is due in 2 weeks and my sister is due in January. Pretty crazy don't you think? My mother has adjusted well and is a wonderful grammy; I am glad because soon she will have 8 grandkids! God has truly blessed us with having kids and healthy ones at that.
Here is a photo of the g-kids thus far. We consider it a great picture if we can keep all of the kids in the frame at the same time. I tell you, taking picture of 6 kids under 2 1/2 years of age is madness. Pete seems to be the only kid looking right at the camera.

My sister, sister-in-law and I took profile pictures when we were each pregnant with our first born; here is a profile picture of us now with me holding my second child and they are each now pregnant their 3rd one. My, my, how the tables have turned since February of 2006. I really do enjoy being on the front of the train better. I will keep you posted on the birth of my new niece due in two weeks.

Extended Family

The past few weeks have been pretty busy with family coming in, play dates to be had and daily activities to be done. We had a busy Memorial Day weekend with my sister-in-laws and their husbands in town, Bryan's Uncle Randy and Aunt Barbara and cousins, Allie, Melissa & Trevor, and his Great Uncle Bob. It was the first time for most of them to see Pete so needless to say he didn't get put down much. We really enjoyed getting to hang out with the family. It was so good to see everyone! Aubrey and Pete loved getting to hang out with their Uncles and Aunts as well.





























As you can see, Renee' (Bryan's sister) is pregnant and is due in August with a baby girl so we are excited about meeting the new addition to our family.


I really enjoy this last picture. I told Bryan I thought it looked like a progression picture because Bryan looks so much like his Uncle Randy and Pete looks a lot like Bryan's baby pictures.

Happy "BIG 30" V

Man, I am getting old when my friends are turning 30! HA

I just wanted to say happy birthday to my dear sweet friend. The first time I got to really know Vanessa is by going on a Letourneau spring break missions trip with her to Mexico. There, I really got to know what a true servant's heart she had. A couple of years later I was moving back to Longview from Corsica. Vanessa had just bought a house and needed some roommates - this is where my tight group of friends "The Redmon Gals" came into existence. (Vanessa, Beth & Laura)

Here's to 30 V - I look up to you and admire you.
Thanks for being YOU!

This is of us in the Redmon house. Here, Vanessa made me some type of gourmet coffee. Pretty delicious (note: the eagle brand mild in the background) - I think we went out and played football with a bunch of people after I drank this one summer; not a good combination. This is really what it was like in our bachelorette suit. Just chillin in our crib.