Machella is 11!

I can't believe Machella is 11 years old! We asked her what she wanted to do on her birthday and she told us that she wanted to go bowling, eat hot dogs for lunch, go swimming after lunch, eat BBQ pulled pork sandwiches for dinner, and then open presents and have an ice cream cake (chocolate cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream). Well, we did what she wanted to do and it was a really fun day. It was fun watching everyone bowl (especially Joshua and Elyssa). When we went swimming Joshua decided he wanted to try to swim without his floaties and he pretty much learned to swim in less than an hour. He is actually a pretty good swimmer now and can swim the width of the pool without stopping and he is great at taking breaths as he swims. Machella got a lot of fun presents and it was fun going shopping for her. I thought it was cute because she really wanted a crimper for her hair. I just smiled whenever I thought about that. I never had a crimper before but since her birthday she has crimped her hair quite a few times and it actually looks really cute. She is growing into such a wonderful young woman and I absolutely love being her mother and love how loving she is to me and our whole family.

Arena Football

Donnie took David and Joshua to an Arena Football game to watch the Dallas Vigilantes. They had a lot of fun. The game is a lot more fast paced than a regular game because they play inside at a basketball court (at least here in Dallas they play where the Dallas Mavericks usually play) and there is no out of bounds. Joshua always talks about being a football player when he grows up so he really enjoyed watching the game.

Our Trip to San Antonio

For Memorial Day Weekend we decided to take a trip to San Antonio. We left on Friday and it was about a 4 1/2 hour drive but we stopped in Austin on the way. We made a stop at the University of Texas at Austin where Donnie graduated. The kids liked walking around the campus and also going to the bookstore. We showed the kids where we had our first kiss (on a bench near the clock tower) and where Donnie had some of his classes.

(sitting on "our bench")

We then continued on to San Antonio and after we got settled in our hotel we drove to the San Antonio Temple. It was beautiful. It was hard to capture how beautiful it was in the pictures because the sun was really bright but we tried our best. The kids loved seeing it and the view from the top of the hill was great.

(in front of the fountain inside our hotel)

On Saturday, we went to Sea World. I had been there when I was probably 14 years old and it had changed a lot. They still have the fun shows, but now they have a huge waterpark and rides and a big Sesame Street area for the younger kids. It was tons of fun for everyone.

On Sunday, we spent time downtown and went to the Riverwalk and saw the Alamo. We then went down to El Mercado (the Marketplace) and Donnie and I loved eating the Mexican food from the street vendors and listening to the music being played in the streets. That was probably one of our favorite times on our trip. The food was amazing and the music and the atmosphere were so fun.

We came back Monday with wonderful memories and we are already trying to decide where we want to visit next in this great state of Texas (probably NASA in Houston and Galveston - stay tuned).

Also, we bought a Mexican dress for Elyssa when we were in San Antonio and she wore it to Church today. It definitely brings back memories of our trip and the fun we had.

Texas-Sized Hail

Two weeks ago we had a big hail storm and tornados. Luckily we only had some hail damage on Donnie's car because I know other places got it so much worse than we did. However, it was a big storm for us and what we are used to. After it was over we had the kids pick up the hail from our yard and we put it in the freezer. I have finally gotten around to posting about it and still can't believe how big the hail was.

Father/Son Campout

Last weekend Donnie took David and Joshua to a Father/Son Campout. They had a really good time. This was the first time that Joshua has ever gone camping and he loved being outdoors and sleeping in the tent. He was so excited to eat marshmallows.

Joshua also loved the chocolate bars that they brought for smores (as you can tell by the evidence on his face).

David and Joshua had a great time but I think they were ready to sleep the next night in their own beds.

First Swim of the Summer

We were so excited that it was warm last week and that our neighborhood pools were open. Everyone has been so excited for the first swim of the summer. The water was absolutely freezing cold but the kids didn't mind and had a great time.

Fun at the Zoo

I took Joshua and Elyssa to the Ft. Worth Zoo. It was lots of fun. It was one of my all time favorite zoos that I have ever visited. Joshua and Elyssa had a really good time and are already talking of wanting to go back.

On the way there all Elyssa could talk about was seeing the elephants. She had to have her picture in front of one (even though you can't see it very well).

Joshua loved that the zoo had a lot of robotic dinosaurs that moved and made noises.

They also had a place where birds flew in an enclosed space that you could go in. The fun part of it was that you could purchase a stick with bird seed stuck to it and when you held up the stick birds would fly up to you and land on the stick. Elyssa wanted nothing to do with it but Joshua tried it for a little bit until he had two birds on his one stick and they started fighting over the seeds.