That's a Wrap Summer 2018

Summer 2018 was a bittersweet one. Summer 2018 will forever be the summer that I became parentless. Gosh, that's a tough pill to swallow. But, it was a good summer. We closed off with our dentist appointments. All 4 of us at one time!! Ahhh! But, I just like to roar in and get it done! I adore these pictures of FaithAnn comforting Trent. We are all cavity free, whoohoo!

FaithAnn is such a gem. She is the best treasure of a daughter I could ever imagine. She has her own style, and she rocks it! She is girly yet sooooo tough. One of my friends calls her a "savage princess." Yes, that explains her perfectly. Love this girl too much!

We picked up this plate we painted a few weeks ago. We painted "Summer 2018" on it and the kids added their personalities to it. What a fun tradition it would be to paint a plate each summer?! And this drawing leaves me speechless. I found it under Trent's bed. He said "ya, that is Pardner in a wheelchair. You know, I don't miss him because I know he is happier in Heaven. But, I do miss him because he always held my hand and listened." AHHH! Look at the drawing of them holding hands. Trent is such a dear soul. He was the closest to my dad, and he misses him so much!

And Hunter!! That kid!!! He is obsessed with ninja. All things climbing! He tied for first place in a ninja competition. He finished 19 out of 20 obstacles. Amazing. He is so confident and calm while he competes...with a big smile! I love what ninja has done to my children. And especially Hunter has clinged onto the challenges, thrill and adventure that comes along with the ninja sport. He sure makes a momma proud!

And we ended summer with a bang!!! Aunt Macy and cousin Kinsley came to visit!!! These smiles say it all....they sure do love each other. So, goodbye Summer 2018. You were a hard one, yet such an amazing one!! As many chapters came to an end this summer...we welcome the story of our life ahead. Cheers!

My 35th Birthday and Marble Falls

Marble Falls family reunion for Scott's family is always a highlight of our year. We go to his Uncle Tommy's house, and we have a blast. Full of cousins, family and Scott's Mimi. He adores his grandmother Mimi, and we treasure our time with her.

Marble Falls is beautiful. Such an amazing lake and views. The kids had a great time in the pool and making up games with cousins. It was actually a really laid back weekend. Everyone just enjoyed each others company...lots of water, laughs, food and fun!

The kids favorite part of the weekend was taking the boat out. They love water sports and cruising. They are naturals at water sports. They have NO fear and want to go faster faster. They all did knee boarding for the first time. They all got up their very first try! Even FaithAnn! She looked like a pro! 

Faith Ann has molluscum...a skin "virus." It runs its course and is harmless, but it can spread. She has had it for months, so we headed to dermatologist before our trip. It's basically like "inflamed heat rash bumps." She only has 4 bumps on her neck, so doctor treated it with this blistering liquid that causes bumps to blister. Sounds gross! Well, she could NOT get her neck wet with lake water...good timing with Marble Falls! So, I kept bandaging her neck and it was super annoying. She did NOT like it! Lots of screaming every time I took bandage off. But, we got lots of smiles from her elsewhere. She had a blast!

And my 35th BIRTHDAY!!!! Scott surprised me with a day of zip-line wakeboarding! It was about an hour away from our house. A zip-line pulls me on a wakeboard. SO much fun! Way harder than you would think, but such an adventure. The zip-line pulls me right off this deck and makes a big circle around this little lake! The kids loved watching. They also had an inflatable water obstacle course. The kids played on it for hours. Cousin Ally came with us to keep an eye on the kids as they ran around this huge course. It was a day filled with new things and fun adventure. Best birthday with my amazing family!!!

Belize

Wow!! What an amazing trip! Scott and I went to Belize, kid free! To celebrate my upcoming 35th birthday and our 13th wedding anniversary. Scott's mom, Gigi, took over the kids while we were gone. She just moved to San Marcos (from California) so the kids crashed her house for the week.

We took a catamaran day trip to Cay Caulker. A small island neighboring Belize. It was tiny, colorful and full of culture. We swam with sharks and snorkeled along the way. The water was clear, the boat was a smooth ride. We really soaked up the R&R!

We killed some time by being goofy on the beach!! We played with perspective pictures to make it look like Scott was eating me! So funny! We laughed so hard, and just the way I wanted to celebrate our anniversary!

We stayed at a condo in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. It was right on the water. So we had a great front porch view. I sat on the porch for hours every early morning! Then, we had a day at Akbol. A section in San Pedro. It was so peaceful. Such a cool vibe. I took a yoga class, then we ate breakfast on the beach.

We spent the afternoon pool hopping which was adventurous! Some gorgeous pools! Lots of walking and exploring for us, which I LOVE! We stopped at hammocks, palm trees and drank from fresh coconuts. We really enjoyed our dinners! We rented a golf cart and drove the city and stopped at whatever beach hut caught our attention. It is a tiny city, but so glad we got to explore the culture. It is very third world, and amazing people fill that community. It was so special and memorable.

Then, Scott's favorite part of the trip...deep sea fishing! What an adventure!!! We took off early in the morning and went very deep sea! I felt fine for the first hour, then decided I needed to get off the boat! I didn't care what land...I just wanted land, and asap! I didn't want Scott's trip to end, so the captain told us about a nearby island. He headed that way, and I jumped off the boat. Never been so happy to see land!

The captain assured us that the island was safe and had a bar on it. I didn't care...I just wanted to be left alone to feel better! So, Scott headed back out on the boat and I enjoyed my silent time on a secluded island. It was magical! There was one bar, and I came across the bartender who set me up a hammock. It was so perfect, and literally a once in a lifetime experience.

Scott came back to rescue me, and we waded out to go spear fishing. That was a cool experience. Scott loved it and could have played for hours. They caught lots of fish and lobsters. So, we headed back to land to enjoy our lunch. Our captain cooked us what we caught....yummy! The MOST FRESH taste I have ever eaten. I can't even explain how good it was. Lobster, barracuda, and more fish. Vegetable and potato sides. And fresh tortillas. The most amazing anniversary meal in the world!

One more date night to close out our trip. We enjoyed the sunset and our time together. As much as we loved the time away...we loved getting back to our kids even more! Gigi met me half way (between Houston and San Marcos) to do the kid exchange! They had a great time, we had a great time....it was a week that I will forever be grateful for!