Golfing with my Dad

I have not played golf since October of last year. The wedding put a halt on that and also the weather. I have been dying to play. I have gone up to the driving range and practiced a few times. I felt like I was getting better so I couldn't wait to test out my new skills. Finally, my dad says to me, "Why don't you and I go play on Sunday?" REALLY?? I thought you'd never ask. As the day was approaching we found out that the Easter Egg Hunt was on Sunday at the church. We headed out after the hung and got a late start over at Fort Sam. We played the Salado side. It was a little chilly but an absolutely gorgeous day. This tends to bring out all kinds of golfers so the play was a little slow. This normally irritates me but I decided to relax and see what happens. I ended up getting my first par on hole number 2. I was on my way. Well it was my only par of the day but it kept me content throughout the round.

My dad and I never really get to talk because we are never alone. Since Ash has two kids, it is almost impossible for me to get a one on one conversation with mom, dad or Ash (I'm not complaining, I love those kids!) so it was nice to have some uninterrupted talks. My dad by nature is a very quiet man so it is always so intriguing for me to hear what all he has to say. He always softly and kindly gives me advice and talks about my life. We hit some awesome shots but really didn't score too well. I was so happy to get out and play. It has been WAY to long.

May 1st Race

My mom got diagnosed with breast cancer last year and it was a devastating blow for my sister and I. It was one of those gut checks I hope to never have again. I got the call from my sister to tell me the news. I am glad she called me first because she told me to hold it together and be strong for mom. I said okay but then I needed to get my cry out with her. We sniffled back and forth about all the possibilities and what could transpire. We talked about the worse case and the best case. As we stood by my mom as she went through the process, I saw who my mom was. She never wavered or thought things weren't going to be okay. She did her research and was proactive and found the solution to her problems. She found the best doctor and quickly got the treatment needed. It was a very scary thing for me.

I wasn't always a close family person but when I turned 25 and had life hand me some challenges, I realized that my family was the greatest gift God could give me. I began to cherish every moment with them. It is very rare for a day to go by where I do not talk to my mom and my sister. They support me in every thing I do.

Now, for those of you that don't know my mom had surgery and radiation and now has 6 month check ups. At this time, she is cancer free. YAY!!!

I have never run the Susan G. Komen but I am so excited this year to participate. We are thinking of creative shirts to make for each person. I can't wait. We will be registering as a team. We will have all the kids in tote. It should be an amazing day!

Another Wedding Weekend....

Our friends Candace and George got married this weekend. We started on Friday decorating the dance hall. Once we got that together, we headed over to the church for the rehearsal. Here are the girls. The happy couple had the dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant.

Here is our family. Gavin had a little melt down at dinner but for the most part we keep things together.

Saturday morning, the girls headed for the long quest for perfect beauty. Here we are once we all had our hair and make up done. I must say that I was impressed with our schedule. We stayed right on track and got to the church right on schedule.

Here is Bill and I inside the church with our fancy outfits.

And here we are in the western outfits. Amy and Brad came to the wedding. They lefft today to move to Atlanta. (sniff sniff)

Here is the family hanging out at the reception.

And the two boys who looked perfect in their trial run of their Easter outfits.

Gavin and I posin' together. We danced to Boot Scootin' Boogie!

Roy sat with us at dinner and talked with the elder and his wife who performed the ceremony from our church Oak Hills.

And now introducing George and Candace Keen!!!!

Spring Break Day 2

We headed out to Natural Bridge Caverns early Tuesday morning. I was exhausted but it is amazing what energy you can find for your kids. Ash and I completely agree over Spring Break... EARLY is the only way to go. We of course were correct again. We showed up with no line and headed in to the cave. Our first stop was this tiny hole. In 1960, some guy saw this hole and said hmmm... Let me climb in here and see what is going on. I certainly would never do that. Bryan was able to go with us which takes a huge load off of Ash and I. Bryan was trooper despite having Rocco on his back and all the other kids hanging on him for his attention.

This was my favorite picture. This is called Emerald Lake and had a clear green tint to it.

I remembered as a kid that it was much longer. As an adult, it seemed a little too short but still amazing. At Devine Acres every year the kids love to mine for crystals. They had a place identical at NBC. The kids got there dirt and went mining. They are fascinated by these rocks. Roy takes the lead and the other kiddos intently watch him.

Look at all those rocks.

Unfortunately, back to the grind. Ash and Bry went to Houston so I am left to go back to work.

:( I was glad to be able to take the boys and do fun things with them. This year we were unable to go on a mini vacation so we had to find SA fun!

Spring Break Day 1

So we had plans to head down to the Witte Museum bright and early but... Ashley got a call to show her house so we did a "clean sweep" and got the house looking perfect. We got to the place an hour late. Good thing because it didn't open til 10:00am. We would have been way too early. This was the T-Rex that greeted us in the parking lot. We got our tickets and headed in. STOP!!! Gavin and Jillian walk in to the exhibit and ROOOAAARRR.. their first dinosaur encounter. We had a big talk about how they are not real and soon they began to loosen up.... a little. Roy began reaching for all the dinosaurs and explaining that they were just rubber. Once the little ones saw Roy touching them, they realized that it wasn't so bad after all.

This was the most interesting part of the day. T-Rex babies have hair. Check Ashley's blog out on why... I am sure the elementary teacher will have a great explanation.

Roy took a break on Rocco's stroller. I find it so funny how Rocco always wants out of the stroller and all of the older kids want a ride IN his stroller.

They had this neat sections where the kids could dig for fossils. They found all sorts of dinosaur foot prints. This particular footprint was so big the boys climbed right in.

We were done by 11:30 and the kids were starving. We went and crashed Grammy's house. We went in the backyard and planted green beans. Each kid was fascinated by this. My mom is just awesome. She can really get all of their attention in a hurry.

Even Roy planted his own green bean plant and stated "I will try the green beans on my plant!" Whatever works to get vegetables down these kids!!

We ended with water colors.

Definitely a tiring day from me and Aunt Ashley but we just wanted to provide some fun activities and spend some quality time with all the kids.

Roy's Birthday

Happy Birthday Roy! He turns 10 today! Wow, it is amazing for me to see him at 10. When Bill and I first started dating he had his 7th birthday. Of course, I have known the little guy since birth but wasn't involved unitl three years ago. He is really coming in to his own these days. He is TOTALLY into basketball which makes me one happy camper. Everyday he asks me to shoot hoops in the backyard with him. I make up silly little games to keep him intereseted and it is working. He can't put the ball down. Even this morning at 7:00am while I was finishing the cinnamon rolls he was out there practicing. I have enrolled him in his first bball league. With the new love for bball he has put the video games down. He really isn't as interested with them anymore. I am teaching him to take care of his room and bathroom. He is a very loving child and always hasn't to be near Bill or I. I am very blessed to have him as a son. He and I have a great relationship and enjoy our time together.

Last night, we took the kids to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate. Here is Roy, Brandon, and Sean. Gavin enjoyed hanging out with the older boys. He really likes my cool aviator sunglasses. Could I have snapped a cuter picture.

Then they decided to embarrass Roy and give an ol' Yeeee Hawww!!

All he could do was bury his head.

Gavin's Bday is on the 14th so we decided to throw him up there to. He REALLY wanted to get on it and this is the look I get when he finally gets on.

Then we went to Roy's Showcase. He was picked to go and perform in front of 8 different schools.

He did some elastic band exercise where everyone was jumping around. Sounds like serious exercise to me.

The the grand finale all the kids jumped around. It looked like lots of fun.

Off to bed because I think we might have some coast plans for the weekend!

My Next Home Improvement

As most of you know, Bill had his own house before we got married. It was definitely a bit of a bachelor pad when we first started dating. I slowly have made it into a home and put a few Summer touches here and there. My most recent projects was the boys' bathroom. When Bill and I started dating there was Spider man in here. Then it changed to Sponge Bob. But Roy is getting a little older now, and Bill and I think our bathroom is way to small for four people to share, I wanted to make there bathroom a little more grown up. I started with a beautiful new shower curtain. I know boy colors are blue and green but I couldn't say no to RED! I got them a nice brown toothbrush holder and trashcan but it still needed a face lift. The ceiling popcorn was falling off and there were so many marks all over the walls. So..... I decided to paint. And I was not sold on a color because I never know when I am going to feel something different so I painted it WHITE. I scraped the popcorn off the ceiling all in one night. My back hurt, I was tired, sweating everywhere, but I got it done. The I got the paint tape set up and took everything out.

READY FOR PAINT!!

Then mom and I knocked out the first coat in 2 hours. There was so many weird angles and hard places to get but we knocked it out. Gate Services phone in one hand and a paint brush in the other. My mom was laughing at me the whole time.

Then yesterday, while the boys were out at the soccer fields, I knocked out the second coat.
Today I came home a little early before I have to go get Roy and checked to see if it was dry. I took off all the tape and put all the pieces back together! I am sure all of you are looking at this thinking, Summer, I see no difference. But you must believe me, it made a world of difference. Even if it is just in my eyes.

Tyler got to come over!

We've been trying to get Tyler, Angie and Gary's nephew, to come over to the house for some time now. We made a deal that it could only happen with good behavior. Every time we have tried to get the boys together someone is in trouble. But for a two weeks now Roy has had no folder marks! Then we talked to Angie and Gary and Tyler has stayed out of trouble at school as well. So after church we got to bring Tyler home with us. We ate pizza and played. I went to the grocery store and while I was gone, Bill made his famous smoothies for the boys. He aired up the mattress and this is what I found when I got home. All nestled snug in their bed.

The next morning, we made pancakes and the boys played. They were so happy that they finally could get together and play.

Camping Trip Without a Tent

We headed to the coast with John, Lisa, Mark, and Iris. When we pulled up to the site the wind was howling. We decided to not set up tents but all six of us sleep in our covered trailer. WHAT?!? That is right we all piled in the trailer to sleep and this was our wonderful camp site. Mark and Iris drinking and hanging out at the camp fire.

I found the best seat in the house. It was right by the barbecue pit with the truck blocking the cold wind.

The night was so cold. The wind was shaking the whole trailer. I thought we were in the middle of a tornado. When I woke up, I found a beautiful sunset.

We had our worst fishing trip yet. I caught NO fish. I had NO bites. It was awful. Bill caught two hard heads and then managed to pull in this red fish late on Saturday. It made him happy for a split second.

Saturday night was a blast. We cooked hot dogs on the fire and drank beer. Here is the gang enjoying the cold camping trip.

Sunday morning was no different. We couldn't find the fish and the fish couldn't find our hooks. We headed back early to get home and relax before our work week. We were about 80 miles from SA when the trailer tire blew. Rubber went flying everywhere. Luckily, we didn't lose control and we were only 6 miles from a 24 hour tire shop. Bill and John took off and got us a new tire. Collectively, we all assisted with the tire and off we went.

It was a great weekend even though the fishing was not good.