Date Night

So we went to D&B's last night and their photo booth does the "see what your kids would look like" feature. We tried it (heated debate as to whether we selected boy or girl, so that's up in the air), check it out for some laughs:

Kenan beat the snot out of me at basketball (no surprise there) but I wiped the floor with him on the auto racing game :)

Happy Easter

After church yesterday Kenan and I loaded Madison up and headed to El Campo for a family dinner and Easter egg hunt. We had a great time - here are the pictures:

 Mom and Dad

 Me and my darling husband

 The kiddos looking for eggs - do you know how hard it is to get decent pictures of kids on the run?

 Aaron got Mom and Dad's help opening his eggs

 That look on his face is classic Kevin, so I had to include it

 Kenton looking for his eggs

Aaron taking a break with his "gun"

Happy Easter!

New Project

So Kenan has always wanted to buy a vintage Ford pickup and restore it himself (for the fun of it - it's a guy thing). He recently found pretty much exactly what he was looking for in Arkansas and went to get it this past weekend. Here it is, a 1952 Ford F1:

Here it is loaded up for the trip home

 Here it is in the shop! I got to be the first one to "drive" it (I steered while Kenan towed it into the shop with the tractor)

It will be a long-term project, so it's great fun for Kenan, he gets to decide exactly how he wants to restore it. More to come soon!

More Garden Progress

Our garden is taking off like gangbusters! Kenan keeps it on a drip irrigation system and weeds occasionally (we're lucky to not really be overrun by weeds) and it it looking great!

 This part is the herb garden, squash, watermelons and cantaloupes.

Everything is doing really well - check out how big our tomatoes are:

Our trees are also all healthy and thriving, even the one crepe myrtle that we thought was a goner:

I also have a few plants (roses!) out back to take care of. The roses are easy; it's a special variety that's much harder to kill, clearly developed for people like me!

A Joyous Occasion

It's my favorite hymn, so it's appropriate to use for Chase's baptism! We were delighted and honored to be there, and help document the whole thing! Here are a couple of pictures (I can't resist posting them):

 The beautiful family

Chase slept right through the actual water part (like someone else I know) and never cried at all. 

Then later I was supposed to be feeding him (which I did, eventually) but we were too busy flirting at first :)

Look at that gorgeous smile! This is my favorite picture with Chase ever!

Thanks for including us, Machicek/Friesenhahn family! We love you!

Happy Birthday Kenan!

Yesterday was Kenan's birthday, so we went out for steak to celebrate with our dearest friends. We had a great time:

 Birthday boy!

 Machicek family - look at those cheeks!

Almost ready for night-night :)

Happy Birthday, Kenan! I love you!

Another New Addition

There have been blessings all around - Brandon Gage Stewart was born April 6 to Chris and Bonnie and isn't he just gorgeous? It's a very lucky birthday if I do say so myself...

He's precious beyond words...one more family we're so lucky to have in our lives!

Happy Birthday to....ME

Yes, yesterday was the big 3-0 for me. I had a great day - ate all three meals with my husband, who took me out to lunch and dinner. BIG points for Kenan - he took me to my very favorite restaurant (The Lodge) and had flowers there for me, and THEN took me home to open my presents. 

Here we are at the Lodge

My pretty flowers

 Kenan bought me some boxing gloves that no one else would dare use :)

My present from Mom#2 - I haven't had a chance to spend anyone else's gifts yet! ;)

What a great day!

Family Visit

We were so fortunate this past weekend to get a visit from my Grandma, who came all the way from Iowa! We had a great time with our family - did lots of eating, of course:

Front row, left to right: me, Grandma Kramer, my sister Liz

Back row, left to right: Mom, Dad, Liz's husband Richard, Kenan, my Aunt Denise and her husband Gary

Annual ATV Trip

The boys went on their annual ATV trip (it is becoming a tradition!) Here are a couple of pictures from the trip:

Getting equipment ready

Goofing off (shocker)

It never ceases to amaze me how dirty they get. From left to right: Kenan, Rod, Clint and Bradley

New Landscaping

We decided to put in some trees and plants this year, and Kenan decided to do all of the work himself (yay for saving money!) Here are some pictures from the enormous amount of back-breaking effort he put into it. Everyone that drives by gives us compliments and people think it was professionally done.

Hauling one of the trees. We planted a mix: Cedar Elm, Chinese Pistachio, Crepe Myrtle. We focused on trees that thrive here and also change color with the seasons.

 Here Kenan is planting one of the trees - the ropes are to keep them upright and allow them to establish a healthy root system

On the tractor, digging - he laid several thousand feet of PVC in order to get a drip line straight to each individual tree. That way they thrive and we don't lose any.

Here are most of the trees in the front yard (blooming already and looking great!)

Kenan also hauled in tons (literally) of dirt and planted all of the landscaping himself. Here are a couple of pictures:

Garden Progress

Kenan planted a beautiful garden again this year! We changed up the mix of what we planted (um, less squash, more tomatoes) but the technique remains the same. He planted the entire thing himself and it's already growing beautifully! Here are some pictures:

Here it is after Kenan created the rows but before planting

 Here is what it already looked like Sunday - everything seems to be coming up already!

This was Madison and I's contribution (hey, I could have been reading about gardening - but I wasn't) 

We can't wait to can pickles again this year and especially make salsa entirely out of our own garden :)