Letter to Red Fox

I really appreciated a letter I just received from one of my dear friends (Red Fox). She is a fabulous girl and I just love her to pieces. She very kindly pointed out how I had misspelled "kudzu." Thanks a lot all you losers out there that let me misspell kudzu for...oh...the past year! Just kidding. I love you guys. : )

Anyhow...this won't be the first or last time I misspell a word. So. With that in mind. I am currently having a wholelotta fun coming up with new and fun ways to spell the word "kudzu" before I resign myself to spelling it correctly henceforth. This week we are using "sioux" to pay homage to Chad's ancestry. : )

To sum it up, this post is written to indicate how badly I feel about leading you poor lost souls in the misspelling of a truly annoying and prolific southern weed. It's also to state how good I feel that Red Fox is (quite possibly for the first time) reaping the benefits of her very pricey VTech Forestry degree. Ooooo. That was off sides Red! Thankfully Red is really good natured (and lives several states away). ; )

My Big Girl (quotes from Jules during the last couple months)

"This is just a beautiful movie. It's really just fabulous." (describing Barbie: Diamond Castle)


"That rarely happens."
(said to me when I asked her not to wrestle with Ava because "that's when people get hurt.")


"Moved away? Cinderella got married to the Prince and moved away? But...she will really miss her dad if she moves away. And he will really miss her. He will be so sad. (Jules is quiet for a moment) She just can't move away."
(said to me in a very concerned tone after I told her the Cinderella story before she went to sleep. How sweet is that?)

"The grass looks really nice Dad." (said as she danced around in the grass just after Chad mowed)

"Ava, you're too cute for your own good." : )

"Forty eight, forty nine...Fifty!" (over heard for the first time, Jules independently counting to fifty, by herself, in her room...I now have it documented in case it never happens again. ; )

"My name is not Julianna anymore. It's 'Lucy.' And she is not Ava. Her name is 'Snowflake.'"

Then as I give Ava's name at the pharmacy drive thru, I hear a voice screaming from the backseat, "Her name isn't Ava! IT'S SNOWFLAKE!"

"Tell me the story about Uncle Mike when he...

...put lipstick all over your favorite doll when he was supposed to be sleeping...

or

...used to climb on the roof of the house in Kentucky...

or

...when he took the canoe out into the lake when you lived in Florida and there were alligators in that lake...

or

....when he took a bite out of the big piece of cheese, threw it in your lap, and told you to go put it away...and that made you mad mommy...

or

...how Uncle Mike liked to dress as whatever character he was playing...like a fireman, or ninja turtle, or Johnny Appleseed...

or

...just tell me any of those Uncle Mike stories..." : )

(and I said to her, "How much time do you have?" : )

For Maddie, Isaiah & Lainey Grace

For Grandma

The Stockyards (also known as, "who's the chic in the tie-die not wearing a hat and boots?"

He took them hostage and then they posed for this nice photo.

Damsel Jess.

Cattle Drive.

The other Cattle Drive.

Lots of boots.

Them er' purty.

That's what I said.




Jackie: "I like the culture."

Jennifer: "What culture is that exactly?"

Jackie: "The cowboy culture."

Our names on mugs. Woo-hoo!

Nice hats ya'll!

: )

Local artist. Really neat to see.

Jess and Eduardo came to Fort Worth for a visit while we were in town. We stole away from the kids and went to the stockyards. It was tons of fun! We finished it off with a great steak dinner. : ) Yum!

Take Me Back To Texas!

Yay! We're in Texas!

The birthday card I got mom (because she's a Democrat) : ) She added her own artistic embellishments with a Sharpie marker...in any case, it's a pretty funny card.

Watching Calliou with Papa

Painting Jackie's nails

Mom and Mike (who loves to have pictures taken when he is sick)

I met up with Emily in Austin and we caught up on the last zillion years. She's just one of my dearest friends from high school! We also went to Ikea (as you can see here) but it was really hard to look because we just wanted to talk. We did manage a silly photo in the egg chairs, though! : )

Homemade garbage bag smock by Mormor

Jules doing some water play. Mom had the great idea to give her several containers of colored water. She had the best time mixing them and discovering how colors change when combined. : )

Mike in his Dallas office at Stagen.

Who duh man? You duh man Mike!

Mindy (another great friend from WL) and I had a FABULOUS lunch at Pappadeaux's. (Okay when you go, you MUST try their wood-smoked Tilapia. It's like heaven.) : )

Mom and Dad's Summer Travels

Mom and Dad

Morocco

Ephesus

Backyard of home in Norway

Living Room in Norway

View from front porch (see the rainbow?)

Norwegian fjord

scenes from a walk in the mountains

scenes from a walk in town

Bergen Harbor

Old house (can't remember the Norwegian name for it)

I think this is Bergen, too.

Mom and dad are always traveling somewhere. And just like last summer I am stealing some of their photos to put on the blog. They started with a trip to Rome, then a Mediterranean cruise, then Finland, and finally Norway. : ) After seeing the photos, I was ready to pack the girls up and head to the airport. : )

Mormor and Papa visit!

Right now we are visiting my parents in Texas (we miss you Chad!). The photos above are from a brief visit with my mom and dad a few weeks ago. Before we leave I am trying to load as many of mom's pics to the blog as possible. : ) It's really kind of fun to have someone else be the photographer for a bit. : ) It's usually me behind the lens. I love all of Julianna's subtle expressions in the shots above.