Hoppy Halloween!

Pun-ki

I'll let Anna tell you what this post is about:

(Glad I got it on tape because now she pronounces it normally.)

Last weekend we went to the Country Critter's Farm with Brad's brother and his crew. The kids had fun

riding ponies...(well, Anna didn't really have fun doing this)

petting animals...jumping in the bounce house...(well, Anna just sat there laughing while her cousins jumped around her)

sitting in the pumpkins...(of course by the time we took this picture, the sun was right in their eyes so they were all looking down or squinting)

going on a hayride...listening to storytime...and eating snow cones. Funny story about this picture. The boy on the right is not a relative. Anna kept eyeing his snow cone during storytime. Finally she said "Hi" in a sweet little voice and then grabbed for it. The little boy had enough and immediately got up and went over to his dad. Needless to say, we got Anna her own snow cone after storytime was over.

Hopefully going to the Country Critter's Farm will become an annual tradition and next year cousin Emma will join us!

Sea World

Earlier this month we went down to San Antonio to go to Sea World with Gigi, Aunt Karri, Lucas and Marcus. I was looking forward to it since I hadn't been since like 5th grade. Anna was at the perfect age to take to Sea World because she got excited over everything. That made the experience so much more fun for me.

Poor little Marcus was not very happy in this picture because as it turns out, he had RSV. We noticed he was breathing heavy towards the end of the day, so we took him to the hospital across from Sea World. He ended up having to stay the night there. He was such a trooper!

Howdy Cowtown

I actually cringe when people refer to Fort Worth as Cowtown. Don't get me wrong, I love the cowboy culture here (I was born and raised in Texas) but it is only a small part of the city. There is a vibrant downtown, amazing arts district, live music and one of the best zoos in the nation, just to name a few things. These attractions are part of what brought us to Fort Worth, and we live only 5 minutes from all of it! Doesn't that make you want to come and visit??? Oh, and I also love that the city logo is a longhorn so it is on everything...including our trash can.

Moving is painful, not just the physical act of moving but the emotional toll it takes as well. Leaving friends and comfort, trying to make new friends, however; we believe it will be worth it in the long run and plan to grow deep roots in our new city.

Home Sweet Home. The big red oak tree and the front porch is what sold us.

We are very thankful and feel blessed to be able to raise our little family here.

Farewell Big D

After almost 3 years in Dallas, Brad and I decided it was time to move on. For some reason we never felt like it would be a permanent residence for us, it just never felt like "home". However, I strongly believe it was exactly where we were supposed to be during the last 3 years and Brad and I took some time to reflect on what we learned and how we grew during our time in Dallas. There is plenty that we will miss, especially friends and our church. Some sweet friends gave us a going away party before we left. The best part of the evening was when they took time to pray for us and share some encouragement with us. On one hand I thought, "why are we leaving again???" and on the other hand I was thankful to leave with such a feeling of peace.

Here are a few pics that I borrowed from friend's blogs since I didn't take any of my own: