August 2017 Recap

Wow - so going back to the pictures from this month has been awesome.  I hate that I didn't keep up with my posts - but looking back I can see why it became more and more difficult!  We were busy living!  And I do mean living!!  We were busy but boy did we make some great memories and have some fun!!! 


Now please keep in mind ladies - that I updated this a year after it happened, and didn't keep good notes, but I will recap what I can with the pictures we took!  Trust me...we had some fun!!!


We kicked off the month of August with more Astros!  These guys are killing it out there and we are loving every minute of it. 

 

 I spent my first 9/80 of August doing some craft work.  I made lots of shirts with Ceci and some new vinyl stickers and a couple gifts! Finally getting some use from my clearance shirt buys!

 

I took Makaila to her JRC Interview and was so proud of her.  She did great and I sat out there waiting on her - didn't embarrass her at all....WIN for us both! LOL

Sergio had a birthday party to celebrate Brianna this month and we had fun at her Stitch Luau party!

Makaila spent the entire second week in August busy with Flight school.  She has a lot on her plate with being the VP of Student Counsel and we were floored to find out that instead of having to buy a spot - the Principal gift her and Jennely his spots right in front of the school!!  How awesome is that!!!   

I am so excited for this being her senior year!!  I even proudly displayed my SENIOR yard sign!!

I loved how this shirt turned out so I wore it to work....probably not very professional of me....but too late....I wore it and wore it proudly!

 

 

I worked on invites and tags for Lexie's baby shower!  I love babies!!

We had some low key days that included waffle breakfast!  Love us some waffles.

 

On the weekend of the 12th we had Lexie's baby shower.  it was so freaking hot - but I got there a few hours early to help set-up and my sister did a fantastic job.  I set up the photo area and the thank you gifts and the party got started.  She had a great turn out despite the heat!  Great set-up, turn out 

 

 

 

 

The weeks were filled with lots of dance, school work since Makaila took some summer classes, laundry and more laundry.  My baby had to go take her driving test to get her permit and her sister was scared for her.  She was so cute and such a  worry wart.  We drove Makaila over to the driving school, and when she left Izzy asked if we could pray for her safety and God to help her do good.  I had to take a picture of her because it was a moment I wanted you girls to be able to look back on and appreciate!!!  Her driving portion took all of ten minutes and she passed with flying colors.  We took our sealed envelope over to the DPS an stood in the crazy line and an hour or so later...we walked out with  licensed driver!!  See that smile!!!  It fades away soon enough when the requests for drives start happening! LOL But in this moment you were super happy to be a driver!

We wrapped up our Destin packing and headed out for our annual trip!  We love us some Destin fun time and this year the Ramirez's joined us!  We made our first pit stop to check out Chronic Tacos in Alabama.  It was ok...just another place to check off our list.  It did give us a good view of the Alabama shores - something to look into!

 

 We made it to Destin and kicked off our stay with our Bruster's stop!  We love Brusters!!!

 

 You'd think all we do is eat...since all my photos to start were of food places....Bruster's, Hungry Howie's, Krispy Kreme, the Donut Hole, etc!  We do love food! (it's partly true- we travel first and foremost for the food!)

 

 After our bellies were full - we hit the beach! 

 

FOLLOWED BY MORE FOOD!

 

Thor in some crazy antics (at this point Makaila is walking away embarrassed by her mother and sister....OMG...YOU GUYS ARE SO EMBARRASING!!)

 

We hit the Baytown Wharf for some candy, carousel and people watching...not to mention great pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Our Destin trips usually involve nothing more than beach time, and eating....can you tell.  But these are some of our most favorite memories. This year we rented boats, the kids rented paddle boats and did a banana boat ride, and a whole lot of eating and enjoying the beach! 

 

 

 

We took our annual sunset pictures too.  Danny hates this part of the trip but he is a trooper ad participates unwillingly! LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Another successful Destin trip under our belts, we came back to more laundry, and some getting ready for school! 

We found a Nicki Bella action figure in Florida and watching Isabella open it when she got home was in and of itself...a moment to remember!  The joy this action figure brought my baby is unreal! 

 

 

SHE IS WWE OBSESSED!!

We got back in town on the 20th and by the 21st - Makaila nd Jennely had just about finished painting their President and Vice President parking spots at school.  How cool is that???

On Aug 24th we went to meet Isabellas new teacher for the school year, since school was scheduled to start in just a couple days!  I think we are really going to like her! 

Little did we know what mother nature had in store for us!!!  Hurricane Harvey hit Houston and it was a nightmare!  There was massive flooding, road closures, people being rescued constantly...

When they started making warning announcements we naively figured it was just n exaggeration, but I don't think anyone was prepared for what Harvey brought.  it was utter devastation.  Thank God almighty that we were relatively unaffected.  There was flooding and closures all around us.  Homes under 15ft of water, boat rescues, and helicopter rescues all around us.  It was unbelievable.  It was being covered as national news because the raining didn't stop for 4 or 5 days.  Our workplaces all shut down and everyone was in survival mode.

 We spent the majority of our time playing board games and watching the news, for updates in case we too needed to evacuate!

 Eventually by Tuesday things lightened up a bit - and we were able to leave the house and go help out at our church.  There were still people being pounded by rain storms and evacuations taking place all around us.  The stress of watching it on the tv for three consecutive days was too much, so we loaded up everything we could and headed to the church to help.  There were people coming in non stop and others bringing supplies, and organizing.  It was so beautiful.  Seeing so many people work together and help one another in this scary situation was God's love in motion!  I am so grateful that we were safe and that my family was able to help in this.  But the hardest part was seeing the families come in soaked - with a trash bag filled with the only belongings they had left was so hard!! Fear, pain, confusion, angst doesn't even begin to describe what these were feeling!

 On the evening of the 29th - my sister called me at about 1 am to let me know Lexie was in labor and they couldn't get to a hospital.  The one closest to them that they could reach was under water (Baytown), and they couldn't make it in their vehicle to another hospital.  She was in a panic.  I started making calls and suggested she post her need on Facebook (because at this time social media was all we had - most phone lines were down, power was out, and people were asking for rescue via social media apps!!) and it worked.  She posted about her situation, it was shared about 20 times in a matter of minutes and within 30 minutes from her posting , a guy from about 20 miles away showed up to pick her and Lexie up in his lifted pick up to drive them to the hospital!!!  Thank you Jesus for answered prayers.  They made it safely and were admitted.  While it was a stressful and scary situation, and the hospital was short staffed and under powered due to the weather conditions, she was able to safely deliver a beautiful baby girl!!  There were some crazy complications and extremely high stress levels all around - but in the end the baby was healthy and momma was too!  Oh my goodness...her birth story is definitely one for the books. 






Makaila and I waited a few more days for waters to start to recede and roads to open.  Routes were extremely limited and everyone was still advised to stay in their homes,  but we made it safely (against Danny's protest) to meet Baby Analeah!!  She was precious!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 We were still pretty limited to what we could and couldn't do - the entire city of Houston was shut down and so we made the best of the situation by being patient with each other and counting our blessings! 

As a mother - I was freaking out.  I think I am pretty calm in most situations, but Hurricane Harvey was no joke.  it scared the bejeezus out of me.  I was confident for the girls, but boy did it take my prayer life to the next level!  My faith is what kept me calm for the girls, and I am so so grateful for Danny being our rock! 

We were still on Harvey lock down when Isabella turned the big 1-0!  but we didn't let that stop us from celebrating her!  Cole came over to play and enjoy ice cream with the birthday girl, we decorated the house and she opened gifts from her sister and us....that is all from just us....talk about spoiled!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This hurricane business was one of the scariest moments in our lives and I want to end this post just reminding you both that while we are blessed beyond measure in so many areas of life the most important things we have on this earth is each other.  Our safety and health is above all else, and our faith in God is what gets us through the rest!!  I've said it a million times and I'll say it again.....you will only have one sister in this lifetime....LOVE HER!  I love you both more than you will ever know and going through this hurricane ordeal was so scary and eye opening that I want you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is nothing your dad and I wouldn't do to make sure that you are safe!!! NOTHING!!!

July 2017 Memories

Our July started infused with Joy. I spent Saturday the first with my sisters, celebrating Makaila's recent birthday, and shopping and laughing.

They brought Makaila gifts and then we shared cupcakes.  Sunday morning Erica and Sam and Emily came to our church with us for service!  That made me happier than words can portray! After the game they went home and we went out to lunch, and then home to watch the Astros game, then to Costco, and then my in-laws to play loteria!



We were off work for 4th of July and spent our day at Ernie's in the pool.  Isabella made jello deserts and Makaila and I started back up on Season 7 of Blue Bloods!

 The rest of the week went by in a flash.  Had bible study, Makaila babysat & did her English work, Izzy had dance, and work, and laundry like usual.  Thursday Lanice brought me a Brusters Ice Cream cake to work....and it was beautiful..I took it home to celebrate my birthday over the weekend!  

On Sunday I turned 37!  Thank you Jesus that I am healthy, I have a beautiful family and I am your daughter and growing in you and your word more and more each day!  I am excited for what you have in store for me for I know they are plans to prosper me and bring me joy!  Danny and the girls gave me cute cards and gift cards and some workout clothes and pj's.  we headed to church and lunch at Los Compadres in Huffman.  We watched the game then headed to my in-laws to play.  My MIL was once again dishing out the ugly...but I didn't let her win...I prayed for her instead of cursing her and still had a good time and won a few games of loteria!  I took my birthday cake to share and called it a night.  

The next week was All Star week so we spent our evenings watching the home run derby, the All Star game and our usual weekday to do's.


Later the next week we went to a farewell dinner to celebrate Aubrey.  She has been Isabella's best friend for years and while it breaks our hearts to see her go we are super excited about what Arizona has in store for her and her family. 


We bid them farewell at Cracker Barrel with a big group of their friends, and Makaila was even sweet enough to make them a farewell video of their friendship....it was beautiful and had us all in tears!

 

 

This dinner was so special and it had us all in tears especially Izzy who is already missing her best friend like you couldn't even imagine!  We will be praying for the Campbell's and hoping to see them all often! 

This year I was celebrated A LOT! We met Teresea for dinner to celebrate both Makaila and I's birthday's since we hadn't seen her in awhile.  She was a sweetheart and brought us a delicious cake!  Then my bible study group took me to lunch for my birthday to Torchy's in Kingwood and then to the movies!  They brought me gifts and cake and celebrated me and I am so so grateful for these people.  They love me and I love them back!  Life is good!!

 

 

I got to work on Monday July 17th only to be told that I was not allowed to enter the building.  Scary - but once I asked a few questions to security and woke a few people up (since it wasn't even 6 am), I found out that our building had a leak and was flooded therefore no one could enter.  I lingered around until about 9 am when they told us all to head home for instructions.  It turned out to be  a GIANT flood that caused the building to be shut down for a week in order to relocate us all and do damage control.  Talk about some craziness!  I am grateful for my job, their preparedness and flexibility.  So for that entire week, I did all my work from home...and caught up on laundry too!

On the 17th Danny scored free tickets to the Astros game - so we went and enjoyed it!  We love us some Houston Astros!!!

 This week was a tad hectic with the building flooding and all the chaos but we made it...and had plans to go to the River - and relax...and that's just what we did!


We loaded up our river stuff and headed out on Saturday morning!  We spent the entire day enjoying the sun, good friends, and good food.  We were joined by Ceci and her family, Sergio and his family, Johnny and his family, Juan De La Cruz and his family, John and his family, and lots of other people.....it was so much fun! We floated down the river, jumped off the ropes (well at least Izzy did), and drank and ate to our hearts content! 

 On Sunday we headed home early because we had a few pit stops planned.  I love that Danny is such a foodie and takes us wherever just to try food places he has read about!  We stopped over in Driftwood for lunch at the Salt Lick - which is always a favorite!  It never disappoints.  The atmosphere and the food are always GREAT! 

 

 Once we got our fill of BBQ, we headed into Austin to try a place he read about called Gourdough's.  It was a deluxe donut eatery...and it was Fantastic! 

 We ordered several donuts and ate them in the rain!  It started to sprinkle while we were out there - but these things were so good - a little rain didn't stop us.  We tried several of them, and then drove around and took some pictures by some of the Austin graffiti walls and signs....too cute!!!

Back at work - we relocated to another floor and tried to get back to business!  They got that under control quick and it was like we never skipped a beat! 

I went to the main campus church with Chanda on Friday night to see the Case for Christ movie - and I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be.  I think it moved too fast through the story for me - but I would still recommend it if it will teach someone anything about Jesus! 

Since we have been to several Astros games and collected several Plucker's coupons - we took a big group of 15 to Plucker's and cashed some in followed by shaved ice in China town!

 

 

 

It was a busy month - but a great month!  Summer went by so fast but it was a blast!  We spent it making great memories and eating some good food!!! Hope you enjoyed it and will come back for some more great memories!  Girls - you are loved more than you could ever imagine, blessed beyond measure and I hope that you know - not everyone lives like this - so be grateful!! 

A year later...Im back!!

Well since it has been a year since my last post - I am grateful I left off making no promises.

This past year has been a whirlwind!!  I stopped posting because life got the best of me and I enjoyed every single moment.  I will be coming back to make updates of the last twelve months over the next few weeks in hopes of catching up.  Be prepared...it was a crazy year packed with birthdays, vacations, graduation, milestones and blessings out the wazooo!!  I'll kick off this week with July and August of last year and go from there.....Love ya!!