A trip to Waco Zoo!

I'm a little late with this post but wanted to tell you about our day at the Waco Zoo. On August 12th my friend Rachelle (mom to the quints), her sister Tiare, and I took 6 kids and 5 babies to the zoo in 97 degree weather! The babies and kids were great...I think only the adults complained about being EXTREMELY HOT & SWEATY!

All the kids...check out that stroller!

Tiare & Kassidy

Halli & Kyndall

Ryder & Rachelle

Kaydence & Tiare

Rustin

Next time I think we'll do the zoo in the fall or spring when it's not so HOT!

Freedom. Freedom! FREEDOM!!

First day of school is one of my favorite days of the year! WOO-HOO. Yes, I did the happy dance. :)

Taylor started middle school today (which starts one hour later than elementary). I was a bit teary eyed but I got over it rather quickly! :) She was sick yesterday with a 102 fever so we weren't sure if she was going to be able to go today but woke up fever free. I walked her to the classroom where she was assigned to get her schedule etc. There sat rows of kids with that "deer in headlights" look. And the room was super quiet...not a peep. I said to the teacher, "I bet this is your quietest day!" She was very nervous. I had to go back because I forgot to put money on her lunch account and happened to run into her. She was still pretty quiet but excited because her best friend, Samantha, was in her math class. So, hopefully she has a good first day of middle school!

Rachel & Taylor...they've been friends since kindergarten.

We're Back!

We had a great time in Oregon. We had a fun filled week and got to see lots of family. Here's a ton of pictures again!

We went to the Children's Museum....

Grandpa and the kiddos

Grandma & Grandpa with all the "Matheny Grand kids"...a.k.a. last name Matheny

Grandma & Carter

....and to the Airplane Museum.

Dave, Dave's Mom, Dave's little bro Andy

Christiana & Lauren

The adults got to go out for a nice meal at the Original Roadhouse...

Our last day we just hung out and had a BBQ. Dave's other little brother, Sam, came down from Corvalis to visit. It was his birthday!

A big group of Matheny's!

Grandma & Taylor

Lauren, Jade, & Carter

Dave, Carter, Andy, Sam

Thanks for having us Grandma & Grandpa! We had a great week! We love you...

Over the River and Through the Woods....

....To Grandmother's House We Go (& Grandpa's too!)

Carter sleeping on the plane (doesn't he look comfy?) Greetings from Oregon. Saturday night we flew to Portland, Oregon to see Dave's parents. Our plane left an hour late due to a thunderstorm in Austin. Luckily they held our connecting flight in Phoenix, AZ. Thank you Southwest! :) Anyhow, we flew into Portland about 1:00 a.m. our time (11:00 p.m. Oregon time). Dave's brother, Andy, picked us up from the airport and took us to his house. He & his wife Carrie have 4 kids and recently moved into their first home! It was so fun to see them and their home. The kids loved getting reacquainted with their cousins. We spent the night there and Sunday Dave's parents came up and we had a BBQ and had a fun day with our cousins. We also got to see Dave's Grandma Stanley. We headed to Dave's parents that night and will spend the rest of the week at their house.

Andy cooking us all dinner...

Lauren, Taylor, & Christiana

Hunter & Carter

Johnathan

Jade

Lauren & Jade

Me & Jade

Carrie & Andy

Grandma Matheny & Lauren

Great Grandma Stanley & Our Family

Stay tuned for more pictures as we have a fun week planned!

14 Years and Counting

Last Sunday (August 10th) was our 14 year Anniversary...we celebrated on Saturday night by going to dinner at the Melting Pot. It's a fondue restaurant and we had never been before so it was a nice treat. One of the things I love most about being married to Dave is that he always makes me laugh. He is so funny....Here's to another 14 wonderful years!

My 15 Seconds of Fame...

My friend Rachelle had quintuplets one year ago on July 31st. Last school year I went over a couple times a week to help her out while my kids were in school (as did many others in our church/community). It's been one of the coolest things I've been a part of. Thanks Rachelle for sharing these precious babies with all of us! Here's a few pictures of me and all the babies last winter...

Now they are ONE...so, they had a big birthday party for the babies (I think her guest list was close to 200 people). Several different news crews came to the party and I ended up on the 10:00 news that night! Yeah! So does this make me famous? :) I'm in one shot feeding Ryder ice cream and then again while they are singing Happy Birthday....

Anyhow, here's the clip if you want to see...the babies are so cute!

We Miss Grandma & Grandpa

Well, my parents left early Wednesday morning for home. We sure enjoyed their visit and were sad to see them go. Thanks again for watching the kiddos for us....they had a lot of fun! Dave get's home today! WOO HOO...two weeks is a long time! Here are some pictures while they were here...

Grandpa took the kids swimming everyday while I was in California with Dave...

Pretty Silly!

We miss you already and hope you had as much fun as we did!