Updates and more!

I just wanted to post that Kayla is fine. The tests came back and showed that she is very normal. Praise God! Thanks you so much for all of your prayers. I really appreciate them.

As some of you know, this is the time of year for the West Texas Fair and Rodeo. My MOPS group had a float in the parade and we won in the Theme Division. You can see by the pics that we had a wonderful time. It was a little hot but it was fun. I walked the route pulling Keeli and another little boy. Needless to say, I will be riding on the float next year! Whew!

Andy and I took the girls to the Fair and Rodeo last night. Andy thought that Keeli would just love the rodeo with all the animals. The rodeo starts at 7:30. We got to the grounds at 7:00. The plan was to get something to eat and get to the rodeo for some good seats. So we got our Aggie Fries ( who doesn't go to the fair to eat, come on!) and our Lemonade and head that way. When we get to the front door of the Collisium, there is a sign that says no outside food or drink. What? So we guzzle our drink and fries. Then we see others taking in their food so we stash our in the strooler and pretend we didn't have anything. Turns out that the sign is there for the other events that go on out there and we could take our stuff in. Stuffed ourselves for nothing! Just our luck!

So the rodeo starts and both girls are just very interested in all the horses. Keeli is squealling and jumping up and down. Kayla is waving at the horses and kicking her legs. It was good for a short while. The kids attention spans are not that long so they didn't watch for very long. Then we look them to the fair. Keeli had a blast. This is the first year that she has been old enough to really ride anything. I was so proud of her. She got on a roller coaster all by herself. The guy running it told us that it went a little fast and that he would stop it if she got scared. She hopped right on it and sat in the first seat. She takes after me in that way. I always want the front seat! The ride took off. It wasn't that it was fast but it was very rough. It was a two seater and she was in it alone. She had to brace herself with both arms out. She did well but didn't want to ride it again. From then on, she was a little more picky in her ride choices.

I saw lots of people that I haven't seen in a while. Old boyfriends, neighbors, friends. And I was so proud to show them my family. It was nice to be out with all of us. Yesterday was Andy's birthday. As I was writing in the card that I gave him, I was so thankful to him for working so hard so that I can be at home with the girls. Sometimes I get upset because he works all the time and is never around for the fun things that we do. So it makes it special when we can do things as a family. But I know that he has to work hard so that we can do fun things. I guess that I am just reminding myself of that.

Kayla

This has been the longest week in Kayla's life. The Lord has definitely been with us this week. He has kept me calm in this trying week. He was with Kayla and I when we had to stay up all night before Kayla's EEG test yesterday morning. And he was with us the rest of the day trying to recover from it. Let me just say, we both slept very well last night. I will not have the results from her test until Monday. I will post then.

The girls and I are very busy the next couple of weeks. I am volunteering with my MOPS group this year and we are now signing up Moms. It is very exciting. I can't wait to start the new year. Keeli starts Mother Day Out in two weeks. I am sad because summer is over. It funny because at the beginning, I was very over whelmed about it. Now, I will miss her being at home. But it is good for both of us. Kayla is still too young for mothers day out. But I plan for her to go next year.

I took this picture because Keeli loves to feed sister. And every time, she wants me to take a picture. I can't believe how big Kayla is. She is almost bigger than Keeli.

Our trip!

This is a story about 4 Moms, 2 twelve year olds, 8 kids under 5, and 3 vehicles. Us brave souls were planning an uneventful trip to New Braunfels for a three day vacation. Oh, what did God have in store for us! First off, one of the little boys on the trip got sick to his stomach two days before we were to leave. Then I took Kayla to the emergency room the week before and had to take her back to the doctor the Monday before our trip. I had the doctor check Keeli too because she had been running fever the weekend before. Well, Kayla was fine now but that is another story. And Keeli had an ear infection. Was God giving us a sign that we shouldn't go? It all turned out fine and we were all able to go.

Tuesday morning, we were set to leave at 12:15. Of course, with all of those people, it was obvious that we would not leave on time. And we should have also known that with 8 children, it was going to be a long drive. And it was. I think it took 6 hours to get there. But our spirits were good.

We were staying at one of the Moms in our group parent's "river house". Let me tell you, if I had a "river house" like this one, it would be called my home. The house was beautiful. We all fell in love with it. It was so nice and felt very homey(is that a word?). We didn't want to leave!

The plan was to get to the house and maybe let the Moms go down the river on Tuesday evening. Take the kids to Schlitterbahn Wednesday afternoon, and then maybe go to the park Thursday before we head home.

Well, they were letting the water out of the lake above the river so the river was flooded. So they weren't letting anyone on the river. There went that idea. So we just let the kids play and watch movies on the big screen tv. The next day, we were on our way to Schlitterbahn. My truck dies. So there we are, 3 cars, 8 kids, 2 teenagers, and 4 moms on the side of the road. Mind you, we were all in our bathing suits. Lovely, site huh? Thankfully, with the help of our husbands via cell phone and a nice man who stopped to help. We were able to get to the park. The kids had a wonderful time. It was nice to cool off and relax for a few hours. After we shut down the park, we headed back to our cars. The passeger side window was down on my truck. We thought someone had broken in. But no, one of the kids had rolled down the window in all the comotion to get everyone out of the truck in the first place. Luckily, nothing was stollen.

The next day, it was pouring rain. No going to the park to play. Oh well, we sat around and visited some more. When it was time to leave, we all sad. But it took us another 6 plus hours to get home. And still it was a great trip. I love these ladies. This trip was a gift from God. There were many things that happened along the way but I can say that they are great memories that will last a lifetime.