10 & 30

" I have now been married ten years.  I know what it is to live entirely for and with what I love best on earth.  I hold myself supremely blest - blest beyond what language can express; because I am my husband's life as fully as he is mine.  No woman was ever nearer to her mate than I am:  ever more absolutely bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.  I know no weariness of my { Bobby' } society:  he knows none of mine... "
-Jane Eyre

Nothing more needs to be said.  Bobby & I have now been married for 10 years and I cannot imagine any one else in this world that I would rather be with.  It is truly a joy and an honor to be Bobby's wife.  I most definitely am supremely blest. 

-Heather-
. . . . . . . . . .

On the 22nd I turned 30.  It was such a sweet day full of fun.  Bobby & the kids let me sleep late.  Then we headed to OSP for my surprise birthday party.  I knew we were going to be grilling out with my parents & my sister but I didn't know Bobby had planned a party!
June, who has made all of Hannah's birthday cakes, made a cake for my special day.  It was beautiful and so delicious!
I want to thank all of my family & friends who joined us to celebrate.

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from my party.

Opening presents...the kids really wanted to help.

Panama City - Conclusion

I've got a lot of catching up to do so this is going to be really brief.

The last few days of our beach trip were spent doctoring Sammy {who got a cold & fever} and celebrating our 10th anniversary.  Because we had been on two trips and had one more to go, Bobby & I decided to postpone going out for our anniversary.  We did, however, return to the Candy Maker for more truffles.  

Our trip was so fun and we were so sad to return home.  Hannah is already planning for us to go back next year!

   

Is there anything better than chocolate?

Panama City Beach - Part 2

Here are more pictures of our adventures in Panama City.  We have free wireless access in our hotel and it's super fast.  I'm going to take advantage of it and get all of our pictures posted before we head home!

We've spent most of our time in the pool.  It's so much easier than going down to the beach (which I love to look at from a distance but the sand getting every where is bugging the neat freak within!). 

Sam walks right up to the edge of the pool and jumps right in!

Silly Sammy Slick goes splash!

 He also enjoys Bobby throwing him into the air.

 Let's not forget Hannah...while wearing goggles she'll put her face under the water and swim around.

 

 We have been to the beach a few times.  It's just so windy, which in turn makes it too cold to get in the water too much.  We've been down three or four times to make sand castles and look for shells.

We've made some new friends.  Madison is 5 y/o like Hannah and they have really enjoyed playing together.  Her mom, Kim, and I have enjoyed chatting while the kids are playing.  This evening Bobby had some school work to do, so Kim & I took the kids to the 'Candy Maker' for a sweet treat.  There is a huge shopping center here with every store you can imagine!  We spent the most time in the Candy Maker {with four girls you can imagine we were a bit indecisive.  Sammy immediately knew what he wanted!}

Yesterday Madison caught a starfish and all of the kids took turns holding it.

We are having so much fun!  It's nice just being able to spend the entire day with Bobby.  We swim, relax, eat, swim some more, eat some more.  It's such a hard life but someone has to do it!

Panama City Beach - Part 1

We have finally arrived in Panama City Beach, FL.  The kids are excellent travelers and we only stopped twice...once for a potty break and once for lunch.  They are amazing!

We spent the evening settling into the hotel and then we headed to the pool.  Sam immediately put on his water wings and jumped into the pool.  He's still as fearless as he was last year.  He goes under and pops back up laughing!  Hannah finally practiced swimming without her water wings.  She was so nervous at first but she's ever so slowly getting the hang of it.

While we were swimming, two ladies came down with a little boy (Hannah's age) and a little girl (Sam's age).  After observing Sammy jumping into the pool the little girl decided she wanted jump as well.  I happened to have two extra pairs of water wings (you know, just in case) so I gave them to their kids.  When the ladies were finished swimming I told them they could keep the water wings (do you really need two spare pairs?) 
A few minutes later one of the women came back and told us her husband was grilling a ton of food and they were going to make us two plates.  I sent Bobby to get the food when it was ready.  While he was there the husband told Bobby to try some fish he was grilling.  Tommy Bowden had caught the fish and given it to their family and they were grilling it.  What a small world we live in!  And the food was delicious as well - grilled pork chops and chicken, potato salad and rolls.  What a blessing!!

This morning I took the kids to the beach so Bobby could sleep late.  It was a balmy 73 degrees but the kids got in the water any way.  Poor Sammy still has trouble standing in the waves and laughed every time he fell.  We attempted sand castles but the kids were more interested in running in the waves. 

Here are a few pictures to get you started...

Texas

This past week Hannah & Samuel went on their first airplane ride.  We went to Houston, Texas because Bobby had work related business to take care of and we visited with his Uncle Thom, Aunt Nancy and their two granddaughters (Rose, 6 years old and Dee Dee, 4 years old).  So all together we had a 3 y/o, a 4 y/o, a 5 y/o and a 6 y/o.  What fun!

Both kids were so excited to fly but unfortunately Sammy had a minor accident right before we boarded the plane.  He was running to the window to look out at our plane, tripped and hit the edge of the window sill with his nose.  He cried, his nose began to swell and I began to panic thinking he had broken his nose.  He wasn't excited about boarding or take-off.  Thankfully his nose was just busted and he slowly recovered about 30 minutes into our flight.

We had a busy week full of fun...

Wednesday we went shopping and went to Chuy's for supper.  I love Chuy's and had to buy another tee-shirt since I basically wore last shirt to shreds (I bought it over 10 years ago when we visited Thom & Nancy the first time!)

Thursday Rosie & Dee Dee had school then swim lessons.  So Bobby & I took the kids to the Science Museum and the Butterfly Center.  Hannah LOVED all of the butterflies.  You feel like you're in a rain forest with all the plants and the waterfall.  She managed to hold a few butterflies but Sam only held one b/c he's a boy and unable to stay still :-)

Friday the girls had a half day at school.  So we spent the entire afternoon at the Children's Museum.  This was my favorite place.  I can't even begin to describe how awesome it was!!  The kids did some hands on science activities and then we headed over to Kidtropolis so they could "work" and earn some money.  I think I had as much fun working and playing with the stuff as they did!  We ended outside with the Water Works which Sam loved.  He was soaking wet by the time we left.

Rosie is not picking her nose...she's pushing up her safety glasses.

Saturday we spent the day at the Houston Zoo.  I enjoyed watching Hannah & Rosie holding hands as they walked from exhibit to exhibit.  Sam & Dee Dee were feeling a little left out so Bobby paired up with Sam and I convinced Dee Dee that I was much cooler than Hannah.  She was my buddy the entire day.  We ended the day with a train ride around Herman Park which was lovely and relaxing after a full day of walking.

Sunday the guys & the kids stayed home while Nancy and I went shopping.  We ended the day with supper at 'Souper. Salad'  Nancy & the kids made rice krispy treats while I packed our bags.  Unfortunately we had to leave the next day...

We were so sad to leave on Monday but ready to be home at the same time.  Rosie & Dee Dee handled the 'goodbyes' better than I thought they would.  Hannah broke down at the airport as we were checking our bags.  She didn't want to leave Rosie & Dee Dee.  For almost an entire week she had two little girlfriends to play with!

Thom & Nancy were such wonderful hosts.  They were a blessing to us and I want to thank them for all they did for our little family while we stayed with them.  We love you all and can't wait to see you again!!