A Night at the Ballpark

part of the "circle"

I have always been a Texas Rangers fan. Well, really I shouldn't use the term fan. More of a supporter. My parents typically took us to a game or two every summer growing up and they were always fun. Back in the Nolan Ryan/Pudge Rodriguez/Jose Canseco/Rafiel Palmeiro days. Vintage Rangers. The Ballpark always puts on a good show whether the Rangers are doing well or not. And we all know they're doing pretty good these days. Anyway, I would say I transitioned from a supporter to a true fan last summer. Justin loves baseball, specifically the Rangers, so naturally some of that enthusiasm rubbed off on me. We made it to six or seven games last summer - a record for me! Of course it was easy to become a true fan last summer, especially towards the end of the season when they got really hot! So, I'm a Rangers fan.

We'd been talking about going to a game for a few weeks and made plans to go with our friends Robert and Kelly last weekend. My bestie Natalie called early in the week and said she and her husband were coming into town for the weekend and wanted to go to a Rangers game. Perfect! I called the circle and although not everyone could make it, we ended up with 10! It was a packed house and we had such a fun time. Even if we didn't get to see fireworks. Stupid high winds.



some of our boys. plus robert who's not looking. aren't they cute?




my love



It's nights like these that make me so thankful for my friends. I'm a lucky girl. (Side note: fully aware of my overuse of the word thankful. But, I am. Guess it's a good problem to have. My apologies for the cheesy redundancy).

Thankful

It's not Thanksgiving. Not even close. But today I feel thankful. Thankful that I had the day off last Friday. Thankful that I got to spend time with most (but not all) of my dearest friends. Thankful that Justin and I got to spend Easter together celebrating our risen Lord. Thankful for precious time with family. Thankful for home cooked meals and Easter candy. Yes, today I am rejoicing. Life is good and I know that all of the beautiful things in life are from Him. Most of all, I'm thankful for Christ Jesus who was crucified, dead and buried and rose from the grave. Conquered death for me and my sin. How powerful and unimaginable.  I love this hymn, remade by Casting Crowns.

"Living, He loved me. Dying, He saved me. Buried, He carried my sins far away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day He's coming! O glorious day!"

Thank you Lord for sending your son to die for me and save me from my sin. Christ the Lord is risen! Christ the Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

More Dancing!

First off, is it sad that my blog posts typically involve the same characters just different scenes? Maybe. It's what's going on right now though. Anyway, Friday night I joined my parents and niece on a trek up to Frisco. (Side note: I loathe driving up there. Just NOT a fan of the Plano/McKinney/Frisco area. Sorry. Give me Fort Worth and I'm happy). My aunt, uncle and cousins live up there and my cousin Alexandra was performing in her drill team's spring show. As a former drill team member myself, I was thrilled to go and watch! We weren't sure how 22 month old Keira would do for the two hour show which was way past her bed time. In a word, she was mesmerized. She sat on mom's lap for the entire show, clapping after every performance and eagerly waiting for the next. After the show was over she kept saying, "more dancing, more dancing"! Sweet girl. Another Fillie in the making? Looks like it.

loving all of Alexandra's sparkles

sooo excited waiting for the show to start

mom and dad with Alexandra. isn't she beautiful?

me and Alexandra. how did i not do the drill team/sorority girl pose too?

all tuckered out on the way home



Dad in a Dress

Look closely and you will see my dad. Yah, he's the one with the giant bow on his head, wearing a blue dress. Had I known my cute little conservative dad would be dressing in drag last Friday night, I might have brought my nice camera. Lesson learned = always bring your nice camera. My parent's sunday school class put on a dinner theatre to raise money for I'm not sure what last Friday night. My dad, the successful financial planner, was the star of the show. We'd heard about "play practice" for months, but we had no idea what to expect. Now, I have tons of memories of dad being silly. Dancing to the beach boys in his brown, eighties-tastic robe on Saturday mornings. Doing his version of "raising the roof" or the cabbage patch in the 90s. Talking in his "rapper" voice to embarrass us in front of our friends in the early 2000s. Yes, my dad is quite the character, but not a lot of people know that side of him. I can honestly say I've never seen my dad in a dress though! Ha. He was a grouchy brother in the play and as part of the play, was forced to dress up as a woman for a scene. It was funny. I had to snap a pic. Even if it was from a distance with my iphone. I still have evidence. We loved it. And we love dad.

us with the star. apparently still in character

Cause for Celebration

It feels like spring is sailing by at warp speed. I'm okay with that. I'm ready for my allergies to go away and for Rangers games, BBQs, the lake and fireworks. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the present. True to form, last week was a little nuts. We started the week off with wonderful news though. Justin got a fantastic job at a great company! Praise. The. Lord. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like he was un-employed or anything, but this new position is in the industry he wants to be in at a large, locally based company with lots of potential for him to flourish. I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard and been so patient, trusting fully in God's timing and provision. To say the least, we are thrilled. We planned to celebrate last Wednesday since Justin has class on Monday and Tuesday nights. Our plans changed a little bit when my sister called needing help with the girls. Justin graciously opted to eat a quick dinner and head over to Matt and Aimee's to help with bed time. We did toast the new job later that night with a little champagne. I have a feeling we will do more celebrating in the future too. Cheers!

Micah "celebrating" with Justin

Micah Rose

 celebrating my guy



A Windy Afternoon at the Park

Driving home from church and lunch yesterday I asked Justin what he wanted to do, fully expecting some sort of cleaning/organizing project response. Much to my pleasant surprise he suggested going to see my nieces. Woohoo! We took Keira to the park to enjoy the beautiful afternoon and give her mom some much needed rest. Well, as much rest as you can get with a newborn in a not-so-good mood. (Matt was at work).

We had so much fun with Keira, although we were super nervous with her on the playground. She had no fear and even pushed a big girl who was waiting for her turn on the slide! Justin and I decided it was time to go when the group of little (big) boys showed up with plastic swords. Clearly, not interested in watching out for the "baby" in the dress. Here's the serious big (little) girl in the dress at the park:

And we can't forget baby sister Micah. She didn't get to join us at the park, but we did get to snuggle her for a little bit when we got home. And Justin even got to hold her for the first time! Guess she's "stable" enough now. She wasn't in the best of moods, but we love her and her big sister so much!