Bryan and Ashley's wedding in HorseShoe Bay

My cousin, Bryan, married his fiancé, Ashley, at Escondido in Horseshoe Bay. I am so glad we were able to go. It was really nice to get out of Memphis and be somewhere different. The girls had a lot of fun as well. We had a plane flight and a 3 hour car ride so it was a lot of traveling. On the way to Tx, Ford and I sat in seats one in front of the other and we each had a child in our laps. This was a better set up than on the way home. On the way home, we were all in the same row- 4 people in 2 seats with lots of our luggage. To say it was packed was an understatement. Sal has learned the phrase "What's that?" so she loved asking that all during the plane ride. So funny! We did lots of stickers and drawing and snacks. We left Friday and came home Sunday. We loved being with family so the traveling was worth it. Here are some pictures:

Like I said, stickers and snacks

Traveling worn these babies out. Right before Mary Kate fell forward (bc she fell asleep), she was smiling at several ladies in line in front of us at the rental car place. She went from smiling at them to completely asleep in a matter of seconds. She just quits when she gets tired.

On our way to the rehearsal dinner

Sally and my cousin's little girl, Clara. Clara is about the girls same age so it was fun to see them together.

My parents at the Rehearsal Dinner

Sweet Grandmary and me at the Rehearsal Dinner.

Mary Kate eating a muffin with E on Saturday am.

Playing with Clara on Saturday.

The best we could do of all the kids. Dash, Clara's brother, is on the far left.

Grandmary bought the girls Longhorn dresses.

Loving E.

I love the contrast of these two pictures. Sal enjoyed playing on the Golf course (where the rehearsal dinner was). She liked picking up golf balls but she didn't venture too far away from us.

Mary Kate on the other hand was running all over the golf course and picking up every ball she could find. I don't think she stayed still all night long. She had the best time.

 

On our way to the wedding.

 

A random pic but I love this one of my mom and Mary Kate playing "Ride the Horsey".

 

Spring is finally here: Botanic Gardens and other pictures

Last Spring, we took the girls to the Botanic Gardens to take pictures of them in the daffodils. I wanted to do it again this Spring so my mom helped me snap some shots of them. It is amazing how much they have changed since this time last year. Due to their stage in life, they weren't loving having their picture taken. Who wants to sit still for the camera? They were much happier when we went to my Big Back Yard and they were able to slide and play. We are beyond thankful for the sunshine! These two are very fond of being outside. We spend lots of time in the cove and the girls are learning the neighbors names and who lives in which house. They love looking out the window to see what the neighbors are doing. Here are some pics from the Botanic Gardens:

Like I said- not loving it! :)

But always loving the playground.

 

Stuck on the sand box.

This was from another time at My Big Backyard with some friends.

 I love watching these munchkins love each other. They love giving hugs and kisses.

Melt my heart.

Typical Mary Kate face!

 

Pretending to go night night on each other.

 

Digging in the Harrison's yard with Marie, our sweet neighbor, who is also a twin.

These two are in love and over the moon for their Daddy. They want to be with him all the time. Tonight I asked them who lived in their heart (talking about Jesus), and they answered "Dada". I love these sweet, calm times before bed where they love to be still and snuggle while we read or watch one of their shows.

 

Snow day, MLK day, Valentines, and other pictures

Memphis is having its second snow day today for this winter, so I figured it was time for me to blog about the first snow day. :) I guess I will try to do a quick recap of the last month and a half. First of all, I got my own computer. I am super excited about this. I have been using Ford's laptop when he gets home from work, so having computer access during the day is awesome!
We have been doing well lately. The girls are super busy, but so much fun. We have had some pretty days, besides the last week, so we have spent many hours at the park. I am so thankful we have a park at the end of our cove. It is so nice, and we really love going there. The girls are able to do the jungle gym mostly on their own. They LOVE the slide- especially Mary Kate. She could slide for hours. Since January, we have experienced a lot of the stomach bug. The first time, our whole family got it. The last two times, only Sally has had it. The girls have learned to only drink out of sippy cups. This is a big deal for us. We had to work pretty hard to learn how to do this without choking so I am very glad we are now completely bottle free. The girls have become a little more verbal. They love saying"hi" to each other or to other people when they walk in the room. They understand so much of what I am saying. They can point lots of objects out in their books, follow commands such as " hand mommy your shoes" or " go get your coat" etc. They just aren't speaking lots of words yet but I know they will come. Sally had a good physical therapy appointment with Morgan last week. If everything goes well at our appointment with Dr. Warner, we might not have to do PT anymore- this will also be a huge milestone to cross.
So here are some pictures of things we have been up to:

 

Sal playing in her bed (the only place these days that they are contained.)

They love cleaning. so crazy, I know! But they love to Swiffer and they love to do laundry.

They also LOVE helping Ford make fires. Every night, these 3 would go through the motions of making a fire and then sit and watch it burn together.

Their faces when Ford walked in the bathroom- such delight!

Rocking our tutus and loving on our lovies

I love this picture because it is such a classic Mary Kate face.

On Martin Luther King, we went down to the River and walked around, had lunch, and played in Harbor Town. It was a beautiful day and I am thankful for these memories. I know I really needed a pretty day and to get outside!

Ford and Mary Kate looking at the ducks.

Our family on the river.

Also a classic MK move- Downward dog in her froggy footie pajamas

We have been going on some walks when it is pretty and we were with my mom this day. Mary Kate wanted to hold either my mom's hand or my hand while we were walking.

 

Here are some pictures from the first snow day in January. It was a fun day! we played with our neighbors at the park, went sledding, etc. Sassy and Kern came over to play with us in the snow.

Ford showing the girls what snow is.

Doing some sledding with Mary Kate.

The girls sledding with Sassy.

So thankful for awesome neighbors.

 

On Valentines day, we had our first baking experience. It was fun, but I have never seen my kitchen in such a disaster. Both girls definitely experienced a sugar high. Sara Tyson and Sam came over to try out our cookies. We made sugar cookies with powdered sugar icing and red sprinkles. I love the bottom picture of Mary Kate putting the sprinkles on her cookie. She is totally missing the cookie, and Sally knows it.  Ford was out of town until that Valentines night, but he brought me beautiful flowers, and he brought three light pink roses for each of the girls and for me. The girls are so blessed to have him as their Valentine.

The girls like doing girly things together. They like to brush each others hair. In this picture, they were laughing at Mary Kate brushing Sally's hair.

and now some warmer weather pictures. My neighbor took these for me. Ford sent the girls tandem sliding, which clearly, they loved. I love that Ashley captured Sally with her tongue out. Sal sticks her tongue out when she gets really excited.

 

Sal at the park.

My Christmas and Valentines gift was a night away so we went to Oxford one Friday night. We had a great time. We ate at some of our favorites- City Grocery and Bottletree. We ran into several friends while we were there. It was really good to just get away and have a night just the two of us. My mom was a trooper and kept the girls. We weren't even sure if we were going to be able to go to Oxford because Sally was throwing up, but mom really encouraged us to go, and I am so glad she did.

We bought the girls some "Ole Miss" shirts while we were there.

Last but not least, Sal learning to drink from a straw.