Summer 2008

My favorite picture of Quinn from last summer. 
Keller loves the water!
So does Creston!
Love brother moments!

It was really hot this summer, so we spent a lot of time playing in water.  We went the the Saginaw Aquatic Center, neighborhood pools, drug out our backyard pool, and played in the sprinklers.  The boys had a lot of fun!

This is our house!
The living room. 
My sanctuary - this is where I create.........scrapbooks and blogs. 
Our bedroom. 
The guest room.......and where Quinn slept for 7 months. 
Keller's room.   Update: his racecar has been moved out and there are bunkbeds in its place.  I'll post those later. 
Creston's room at the time of this picture, but now it's finally  Quinn's room!

The front entryway.  Notice the barrel ceilings with rope lighting - I just love that design feature!

The dining area. 
Love this kitchen!

I thought you all might like to see pictures of our house, since most of you have not made it out here.  We took these pictures May 2008, when we put our house on the market.  Some changes have been made - I'll post updated pictures later, when I get this blog current!

Mother's Day

My boys brought me breakfast in bed - on a Sunday!  I love Keller's hair and Creston's expression - "I wonder if she'd miss one of those strawberries!"

I post this awful picture of myself so you can get a laugh, as I did, as these elements of this picture. 
Precious baby!
An hour later, we're cleaned up, with combed hair, and are ready for church.

I have the sweetest husband, truly I do.  He and the boys made me a yummy breakfast and woke me up with it.  I got to eat it slowly, savor it, in bed, and then get dressed, by myself.  Then, after church, they surprised me something I've been wanting for years.  Something every chef needs - a Kitchen Aid mixer!  I think I screamed and made Quinn cry.  Anyway, it was a great Mother's Day. 

Quinn's first Rangers game

AND HE'S OUT!!!
Loving the excitement.
Go Rangers!

We took Quinn to his first Rangers game in May 2008.  Before you go thinking we're mean parents for only taking one of our children, Jeremy was give 2 free tickets by a patient.  We looked at it as a night out, got a babysitter for the big boys, and took Quinn with us, since I was still breastfeeding.  Plus, he had the perfect outfit to wear!

Little buckaroos

Lil' Cowboy
Creston's John Wayne impression. 
Ready for ropin'.
The Sheriff and his Deputy.
Three little buckaroos.

My boys have transitioned well to being Texans.  They not only have all the western wear, but they parade around the house in it, riding their invisible horses, Jet and Slinky.  They have truly embraced the culture and have now demanded that their baby brother be a part of this new culture, too. 

Fabulous Las Vegas

Kate and I having coffee on the patio in the morning. 
Keller and Creston loving playing with Uncle Josh.  He is younger and more gullible than their Daddy and will run around like this for hours with them.  Note: he and Kate are having their first baby in the spring, so we'll see if this changes. 
Smile for the family picture!
One more time!

You can probably tell by looking, but this is Red Rock Canyon. 
It feels so nice to be up here all alone.  Do you think they'd notice if we slipped off the back and took a hike around the canyon?

Nana and Pa in Grandparent bliss.
The Strip!
The Bellagio water show.
Inside the Bellagio.  Those birds are done in flowers!
Flower snail - amazing!

We took a trip to Las Vegas in April to visit Jeremy's parents.  They moved out there in the summer of 2006 and love it.  They have a beautiful home and Martha has done a great job decorating it.  Josh and Kate also met us over there (Jeremy's brother and wife) and we all stayed for a long weekend.  We saw a show while we were there - Cirque de Soleil.  It was phenomenal!  The strip was just like in the movies and on CSI - loud, flashy, and sights you wouldn't see anywhere else.  We also went to Red Rock Canyon, which was really beautiful to see - it is a smaller version of the Grand Canyon.  The Bellagio was also really cool to see - we loved the water show and there was so much to see inside as you can see from the pictures.  We did not gamble, but we watched a bunch of other suckers lose a bunch of money!  We can't wait to go back!

The faith of a child

We're so excited it snowed!  You can tell by Creston's outerwear that we don't have much opportunity to play in snow.  The only waterproof jacket we could find was a raincoat!
Our friend, the snowman. 
The big boys had a snowball fight. 
Introducing Quinn to the snow. 

Keller starting asking around October when it was going to snow.  After a couple of days, I suggested he talk to God about sending some snow to Texas.  It is against the laws of nature for Texas to have snow, so God is the only one who could make it happen.  I heard him praying about it one day, and when he was finished, he said, "God said yes Mommy.  He's going to make it snow."  I thought to myself, "Great, my plan to have him talk to God has backfired.  Now, because he asked God for it to snow, he is expecting it to happen.  How am I supposed explain it to him when God doesn't send snow to Texas?"  Fast forward 5 months to March.  Winter is over, we have started to see the early signs of spring, and I'm putting off having that talk with Keller. When all of a sudden, in mid-March, it starts snowing.  I was in complete disbelief.  I picked up Keller from school an hour later and it was still snowing.  He was beside himself with excitement. He said, "Mommy, did you see it snowing?"  I said, "Yes, Keller I see the snow!  Can you believe it?"  He said, "Yes I can, Mommy.  I told you God was going to send us some snow."  He knocked the breath out of me with those words.  I had a lesson in faith that day.  Keller never doubted that God would answer his prayer.  I did because God had taken so long to answer.  But maybe that's why God waited until spring to send the snow - to remind me to have faith like a child.  Like my child.  We had an absolute blast playing in the snow.  We made a snowmen, snowangels, and had a snowball fight.  We pushed loads of it around in dump trucks. We made bootprints in it, we ate it, and finally watched it melt.  Thank you God for such a fun day in the snow and for using Keller to give me a lesson in faith. 

Visiting Grandparents

Nana loves little boys!
Very relaxed in Pa's arms. 
Quinn smiling at Pa. 

Nana and Pa came for a visit in February, when Quinn was 2 months old.  They had so much fun playing with the big boys and getting to know the little one. 

Mom's 60th Birthday Party

The birthday girl in her beautiful new apron. 

Friends who helped us celebrate. 
Mom's irish twin brother, Wayne and Creston 

"So, the important thing to remember is that we have only begun to scratch the surface in the field of nanotechnology. 
Mom's baby sister, Cheryl reading to the boys. 
The birthday girl is 60 years young!

Christmas 2007

Papa reading the Christmas story to his boys. 
   All the Cress cousins. 
Christmas Day.
Lindsey and I with our cousins. 
Making Great-Grandma's famous Christmas cookies. 

We traveled home to Jackson for Christmas that year.  Quinn was 3 weeks old.  We loved showing him off to our family and friends.