Father's Day

Since Mimi & Papa came to Austin to bring Gaby back, we got to spend Father's Day together! Matching girls- Gaby saw me wearing purple and wanted to wear purple too!
We went to Stubb's to enjoy their Gospel Brunch. It was really fun! Gaby was having a ball grooving to the music and dancing her little tush off!
It's all blurry b/c she couldn't sit still :)
Happy Father's Day to my sweet dad, great father-in-law, lovable brother and amazing husband!!

She's back!! She's back!!!!

Our sweet Gaby is back!!!

We were sooooo happy to see her!

We missed her tonzzzzzz!!!

Grandparent's Camp

So when we were in Houston last weekend, we drove halfway to Orange and met up with Mimi & Papa to exchange a very special package. Our little sweetie was going to spend the week with her grandparents and she couldn't have been more excited! She sounds like she's been having such a good time with them. And Mimi has been so sweet to send me pictures almost everyday so we can see what they've been up to. Here are a few...

Gaby and Papa out in the garden picking vegetables...

Tomatoes!!

What a stash!!!

Practicing her letters...

Mimi even made a special trip to Louisiana so Gaby could visit her MawMaw.....

Gaby's Great Uncle Calvit was there too...

Gaby wanted to make sure Mimi sent me a picture of her green tongue :)

As you can see, our sweet girl is having a ball with her Mimi & Papa! But we miss her tons! So we are ready for her to come back home. Two days and counting...

Tio Billy's 40th

Right after Ellington's party, we headed to Houston so we could celebrate Tio Billy's 40th B-day. Even in his old age, Tio Billy did a great job blowing out his candles...

Ellington's Purple Party

Gaby's BFF had her 3rd bday party on Saturday. The theme was purple- Ellington's favorite color! It was at The Champions Academy where the kids had some gymnastics fun. Check out the group photo. See Gaby in the back? She was a little perturbed b/c there wasn't a spot right next to Ellie. So she decided to pout about it. That's my strong willed little girl ;)

Kayaking on Lake Austin

We've talked about it forever. But this past weekend, we finally got around to renting kayaks and going out on Lake Austin. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to be out on the water. Gaby was a little prissy about getting wet and bugs landing on her etc etc (She is DEFINITELY my daughter- heehee!) but in the end really enjoyed herself. I was pleasantly surprised at how fun it was! And Suzy & Lulu absolutely loved it and I was so proud at how well they paddled and how strong they both were. This is definitely an activity we are going to start doing more often :) I just looooove this fun picture!!!

Lulu & Suzy in the House!

Lulu & Suzy spent the past week with us! Since they are on summer break now, I thought they could help me out with Gaby while I was at work. They are just the sweetest girls and took such good care of their little cousin. I'm pretty sure they had fun too, though :)

Here are some pics of the week.

Little Ballerina

Gaby's dance class:

Carter, Caroline, Hampton, Gaby

Reese, Marie Claire, Maddie

What a bunch of cutie-pies!!!

First Dance Recital

Gaby had her first dance recital yesterday. It was a pretty big production with about 30 dances. The show was at the high school auditorium which has quite an impressive stage. Gaby's class danced to a song called "Goodness Gracious" and they wore the cutest red and white costumes. Here she is backstage with her buddy Isabel who was also part of the show... And her friend, Reese, who is in her class... The girls had to wait backstage until the second act and unfortunately had never gotten a chance to see the stage before they went on that day. As you can imagine, I'm sure it was a little overwhelming getting on that stage and looking out at the dark audience. Now, no one cried but most of them just stood there during their preformance, our Gaby being one of them. They were still pretty darn cute, though. We weren't allowed to take flash photography during the show but I was able to take a couple bootleg shots. Here's the least blurry one. Gaby is on the very end...
After the show, Gaby's daddy gave her flowers which she was very happy about. Did I mention, Pito and Pita were there?? And Gaby's cousin, Suzy, and Tio Billy! That's our sweet little ballerina striking a pose... Even though Gaby didn't dance, we are so proud of her for getting out on that big stage. It was a fun morning and so cool to see what the future has to hold for our little ballerina. All of the dancers did such a great job!

Girl's Weekend Photos

Gaby had such a fun time at her cousin Mia's house. Everytime we called (which was 3-4 times a day) she was busy either playing dress up, singing & dancing, or running around outside. She was always short and sweet with us on the phone b/c she had better things to do ;)

One great story is that the first two nights Candie put the girls to bed at a respectable hour, 9pm, in Mia's room together. And both nights at around 11pm she had to finally separate them to different rooms b/c they just kept chatting away. They would talk about what princesses they were and their favorite toys and colors and other very important topics that would keep one up two hours past one's bedtime! Is that not the cutest thing you've ever heard??

Love ya, Cuz!!!

Buffett, baby!!!

Byron says I'm very hard to surprise. And actually, I think I might be. It's the planner in me that makes me ask a lot of questions and usually find out about things before I'm supposed to. But this year, Byron actually pulled off a surprise for my birthday! It's not until Thursday, but this past weekend Byron surprised me with an impromtu trip to Dallas for the Jimmy Buffett concert! Now, if you've ever been to a Buffett concert you know that it is much more than a show, it's more about the entire day leading up to the show. We, along with our good friends, The Davis', rented an RV and spent the entire day hanging out with some friends and all of the other "Parrotheads", eating, having cocktails and just enjoying the weather. It was quite an experience! And such a fun surprise... Can you tell who had a few too many hurricanes?? ;)
Byron had even planned for Ms. Gaby to spend the weekend with her cousin Mia. It sounded like they had a blast! I'm still waiting on some pictures of their "girls weekend"...

(Hint, hint, Steven.)

My Little Gymnast :)

With her best friend, Ellington...