Part 2! Oh how I just LOVE my family!

Some more pictures of our BEAWESOME vacation with Val, Perry, and the kids! Seriously, it was the most fun I've had in SO LONG! I miss them so much!!

Claire, Val and I! We are pretty cute. Just sayin! Well atleast Claire is, there is NO denying that!

Again Claire is so adorable! And looks just like her Daddy! He was focused on a video game I think!

My sister is SO SASSY!! I totally LOVE it!! Not to mention how totally HOT she is ;)

Oh my Ruby-doo... I love her so much! She has a little leap frog laptop she brought to our house and she accidentally left it here. You can plug it into a real laptop and leave her "emails", and it knows her name so everytime you push the letter R it says "R, thats the first letter of YOUR name Ruby!" Its so cute, and I'm totally lame and miss her so much so I play with it now and then... It will be a sad day when I mail it back to her!

I know its a little dark, but this picture is really amazing! I just love her! She is such a doll!

I CANNOT get enough of my family! I feel so lucky that they came and visited us! I hope hope hope that MORE of our family will be able to make a trip sometime soon!!

EXTREME FAMILY OUTING... Part 1!

Val and Perry came down to visit us in Texas for 4 FULL DAYS! It was so awesome! We played on the playground, explored Carlsbad Caverns and Kens rig, and stayed up late playing video games together! The girls were absolute troopers! We spent a lot of time in the car and they were great the whole way! They are so adorable! I was pretty devastated to see them go!

Its pretty much tradition to get a picture on the massive horse when someone comes to Texas :)

Ruby, Ken, and I. Seriously, how ADORABLE is this little girl??!! You can't see it, but Ruby was wearing a bow in her hair and wanted me to as well, so I have one of her little pink bows gracing my ponytail ;)

The Big Texan in Amarillo! Home of the FREE 72oz steak! IF you can finish it, a salad, a baked potato, and 2 rolls...

Oh Val and Perry... I LOVE THEM!

This picture actually has nothing to do with Val and Perry's visit, but I threw it in anyway. :) It was our Christmas Card picture and the latest nice picture we have as a family. :) Aren't we cute!

Having family here was so amazing! I already miss them so much! There will be plenty more pictures to come, my computer is slow at adding them, so day by day I'll add a few more!

ENJOY!

DAYS OFF!

I LOVE DAYS OFF!!! Today was the first of Ken's 7 days off. I had to work ALL day, but there is no better feeling than coming home to him! And tomorrow my seester and her family will be here! Oh this is going to be a SUPERFANTASTIC week off!!

Whoops!

So my dogs are super sweet and super handsome... MOST of the time. Yesterday was NOT one of those times! My sister and her family are coming to town so I spent my day off yesterday at the laundry mat washing all our bedding. BORING. So when everything finally finished,one of the King sized blankets was still a little damp, but it was a beautiful WARM day so I figured I would just hang it up outside for a few hours and let it dry. BAD IDEA! I figured I would be keeping the dogs inside from that time on so I wouldn't have to worry about it getting shredded... Well I totally FORGOT about the blanket and let the dogs out to go potty before going to bed. Well after I put everyone to bed and was closing up the house I remembered I needed to bring in the blanket... OR NOT. I went outside and and it pretty much looked like it had snowed outside (which DOES NOT happen in West Texas very often). After only 20 MINUTES of being outside they had COMPLETELY destroyed that blanket. WHOOPS my bad. Good thing I didn't really care for it :) Such is my life... And I love it!

3 MORE WAKE UPS!!

Only 3 more wake ups until Val, Big P, Ruby-doo and Claire get here!! I’m so excited I can’t stand it! They will be here for 4 full days and its going to be a blast!! You can expect a few sweet posts after this extreme Family Outing!!! :)

The little things...

Once in a while, being so far away from old friends and family really gets me down. So with this being the start of a new year and all I've been trying to be better at taking stock of the "little things" in my life that bring me joy. Here are a few...

1. My husband - This man is amazing. He makes me smile and laugh. He works harder than any man I know, and sacrifices so much for our little family. Every morning he tells me (or texts me if he's at work :) that he loves me and that I'm the most beautiful girl in the world. Some days I honestly don't know what I would do without that.

2. My dogs - Ya most days they are just HUGE, SMELLY, MOSTERS... But every once in a while they sit at my feet and look at me with their big brown eyes and I can just tell they love me no matter what. Even if I do kick 'em outside because I can't stand them in my little house most of the time.

3. The Sunshine - I really take this for granted here in Texas! It is sunny ALL THE TIME! I miss the snow and the cold, but its a beautiful thing to walk outside and feel the sun on your skin pretty much everyday!

Last but NOT least...

4. Modern Technology - ESPECIALLY Skype! I can always SEE my family and my little nieces and nephews anytime I want because of this technology, and I'm so grateful for it! They are growing up so fast and I hate missing it!

When you're feeling down and out, just remember the "little things"

7 months later...

Yes we are still alive, and yes I'm sorry I've been so horrible at keeping this updated! Here is my super short recap of the last 7 months.... I started working at American State Bank in August. Its been a really great way for me to get know people in our community and make friends! Ken is still working out in the fields and loving every minute of it! His boss has come to him with offers of a raise and promotion as soon as a spot opens up and we are so excited and anxiously awaiting that day! Texas is still being kind to us, although we deeply miss the snow! Christmas just wasn't the same without it! However we were very lucky to have Kens brother with us for a few weeks over Christmas break! We were pretty sad about not being able to go north and visit our families, so having a visitor here was a real "pick-me-up"!! Ken received a new tool box and a few new toys (power tools) for Christmas and is ready to start building! He just hasn't decided on what to build yet :) I was blessed with a few new kitchen appliances (including an awesome mixer!) and I can't wait to start baking! (Don't die of shock... :) It has been a crazy year, full of change and adventure, for our tiny family! We miss our families and friends but we are enjoying this exciting chapter of our lives! We have more family coming to visit soon and can't wait to show them around our small area of the country! We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, and wish the very best for all in the coming year!