I once thought of this blog as a story being told and while it’s been at least 6 years since I typed a letter in this space time stands still for no one. There have been days full of all the joy my heart could handle and days where I thought my heart would never heal and plenty of doses of ordinary sprinkled heavily in between! Somewhere along the way Carter turned into the most precious 17 year old, Emme greeted 13 with her perfect one dimpled smile and Cash became a tornado of joy at 8! They are a living reminder of this great big love that I feel from God and I am so proud that, through His grace, Nate and I get to walk them through life. 

Our calendar is full and to support and cheer and show up is very much the order of each day. Sometimes I wake up so tired and foggy from the goodness of it all it’s a bit like a hangover from life! 

I feel the urge to get back to recording…storytelling…but maybe more than that the challenge of acknowledging and showing gratitude for it all. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks…and there is much that the Lord has done within the walls of our home and the depths of my heart. My mouth feels ready to speak again…or at least try to type a few words to remember as we go. 

Rodeo Queen

This blog is bustin' (no pun intended) out of retirement!  Our sweet little Emme had a big weekend and it's blog worthy for sure so here you go.

About a month ago I realized I had once again failed to enter Emerson last Fall for a chance at a highly coveted spot in our local Rodeo's Mutton Bustin' line up.  She has asked to do it for years and at age 7 this was the last time she'd be eligible.  They had already filled every spot but the final three and those were reserved for contestants drawn on separate weekends in January.  We had already missed the first opportunity, and while it seemed like a long shot to say the least, we loaded up the fam on a Saturday morning and headed off to HEB to enter her.  After dropping her name in the bucket we decided to grab lunch and come back for the actual drawing.  I honestly prayed for favor for her all morning...I'm pretty sure the Lord has nothing against a Mom doing that! ;)  Low and behold that HEB manager drew her name right out of the box!  She did a little (read a lot) of screaming and we were all so pumped for her...

So fast forward a week...Emme's best buddy Claire decided to try her luck and enter the last drawing hoping she could land a spot too.  Honestly I thought the chances are one in a million but what do I know because low and behold they drew her name for the final spot!  The girls were thrilled and so were we!

When the big night finally arrived my little firecracker was ready with bows on...

All of her favorite people were there to cheer her on...

 Bustin' with our besties!

After a pretty intense safety talk these tough little girls were ready to ride...

So proud of these brave little Cowgirls...

They headed down without us and I could tell Emme was pretty nervous.  I honestly felt like it could go either way...as in maybe she'd have the ride of her life or maybe she'd refuse all together.  The second she came out of the chute it was pretty obvious she was going for the ride of her life scenario...



I honestly lost my mind!  It was so fun to watch! She turned in a 90 point ride...the highest in mutton button history! She also took home a shiny new belt buckle...



And I think her dad was very happy to hear she has zero interest in calling a boyfriend!



Soaking it in...

We were so proud of our little Rodeo Queen...

And so grateful for our sweet friends who screamed and cheered with us!

She wrapped up her big night by signing a few autographs...


And sat next to the kindest Cowboy who politely reminded people who might have overlooked getting an autograph from Emme, "You skipped her"...

 

 I think it's safe to say it was a night she'll never forget!

She kept that belt buckle nice and close the rest of the weekend... 

And headed off to school this morning with new visions of becoming a barrel racer in her head! 

Emme~You are so much fun!!  Thank you for giving us a reason to cheer and for being such a go getter!  I'm not sure you even know what a tough, competitive and remarkable little person you are yet, but we see it so clearly.  You have big things in your future I'm certain of it!  We couldn't be more excited to have a front row seat to see where you go...we'll always be your biggest fans! XOXO Mom

Moving On

Well if at first you don't succeed try try again...or something like that! Truth is I catch Emme and Carter looking through this blog often and I'm bound and determined not to let it die...so playing catch up once again with the best of intentions!

Let's start with...We're Moving!

 

All our bags (and boxes and boxes and boxes) are packed...not to mention these three little cuties...

 

And we've said our last goodbyes to the cozy little house that has held so many sweet memories over the past few years...

 

All that's left of what once felt like "home" are empty spaces...

 

 

But not to worry!! We've got a plan and some new dreams we're chasing...

 
 

And while at times progress has been slow moving and a bit tough...

 

Things are slowly but surely beginning to take shape...

 

 

And while we may at this very moment be without a house it is true that "home" is really right where these five people are...

 

I'm currently reading Looking for Lovely and have been inspired to adopt that mindset for what we have optimistically titled our "Summer of Fun!" Hoping our mantra will go a little like this...

Back to School...And then there were two!!

After months of anticipation the moment Emme had been waiting for all Summer finally arrived!  It was the night (or day) before Kindergarten and a little beauty prep was in order...

She wasn't the only one excited about a new school year...4th grade (sigh) stop growing already!!

Outfits were picked...

A good nights rest was had...

And Breakfast bright and early was served...

I could hardly believe there were two backpacks to capture...

Two smiling faces standing in front of the school...

Time has a way of catching me off guard lately...My sweet little Emme...

And I can hardly believe there's only two years left of elementary school for this little lady...

Once the big sisters were safely delivered to school Cash and I set off to enjoy a little quality time...

And spent the morning with his buddy MT...

I have to admit I was counting down the minutes until 2:30...hoping Emme would have loved her class.  I was so relieved to see this little smile...

We had a few rough mornings and there may or may not have been some bribing going on but by the time Friday rolled around everyone was settling into the routine and dare I say beginning to enjoy school!  Whew!  I had promised the girls we'd join them for lunch and it was so nice to meet some of their new friends...

And there's no better reward for making it through a long first week of school than the opening season Football game for the Wildcats...

And let us not forget this handsome little 10 month old...

Not to be left out he started spending a couple of days hanging with some buddies at Mother's Day Out!  In spite of boycotting his nap it sounds like so far he is quite the little charmer...

Looking forward to a Fall full of fun and adventure with these three...