Five loaves and two fish

So I think the feeding of the 5,000 must have started a little like this.

My dad came last week for a visit and it was wonderful. He then calls on Saturday morning and says that Daina wanted to come up for a visit. How fun! I told him I would see them the next day.

He calls back a few minutes later and says, "What do you think about me inviting (my brother) Trey and Tanika?" That would be awesome! The two cousins could meet for the first time.

He calls back to say they're coming and to say that he invited my grandparents. Yea!

He calls again to say that my uncle and his kids are coming. Yea!

He calls again to say that he has invited my mom and my sister. Yea!

These calls go on until we have over 20 people coming over for lunch the next day.

We had so much fun and I love getting to hang out with all my family. Being closer to my family is far and away my favorite thing about living in Normangee :)

My brother's girlfriend, Tanika and her daughter.
Daina!

Isaac loves his grandma, JJ!

Trey's girlfriend's kids.

My grandpa!


My older sister, Christina.

Trey with his new baby boy, Thomas.
My dad doing what he does best...antagonizing the teenagers :)
My grandmother with the little man. (This is who my family has said that I look like. )
All the kids on the "mule" (that's what they call it out here :)

"I" Spy

I just wanted to give you a little sneak peak into what little "I" has been up to...

First, for a side job, he has become a park ranger to help Smokey the Bear prevent forest fires...

This is what he does when he sees someone not using good fire precautions...
He also has become quite the people watcher at the mall...

He really loves hanging out with his grandad...
My dad says that "he's adjusting on the fly" to this grandad thing, but I think he looks like A PRO!!!
At 5 1/2 months, he really likes all kinds of foods :)Also a video of his most recent feat!

Southfork Fiesta

Ever since we got out here to the Ranch, it has been in our heart to have a BBQ for all the employees and yesterday was the day. I was pitiful; You would have thought it was my 6th birthday party yesterday.

I was more nervous yesterday before everyone got there than I was at Pink Impact. Event planning is not my gig, no matter the size.

The staff was to be at our house at 6 p.m. and about a quarter 'til I got so nervous. I started asking Joe tons of questions..."Can I put the food out?" "Should we play Mexican music?" "Do you think everyone will come?" "What if I can't communicate with anyone?" "Should we have gotten a pinata?" and the list goes on.. Joe kept giving me the big eyes and saying, "Babe, everything is going to go fine."

Well, everything went off without a hitch. Everyone was so sweet and I did a whole lot of smiling, nodding, and "Hola! Como estas?" Here are a few pics of the shindig...

This is the foreman of the Ranch, Magdaleno. He was hilarious and incessantly pinched Isaac's cheeks so hard.
This is the horse trainer, Jack, and his wife, Sandy, who is the accountant.
The lady on the right, Regina, is the one who inspired me to shut and LOCK the door when I am nursing! The girl on the left is Hailey's mom.
Some little ninos.
Everyone swam, ate, and then Joe instigated the inaugural game of Southfork volleyball (inspired by Carrie Walsh and Misty May-Treanor... Without the sand :)
Next time I'll get a pinata and I'll give you a little heads up so you can take a crack at it!

Olympic Fever

About a month ago, we started to see the advertisements for the Olympic games and it inspired us.

Every summer from the time I was 6 until I was 16, my mother made us swim on swim team. She said that we weren't just going to sit around like "bumps on a log," but that we were going to do something. There were elements of it at the time that I enjoyed, but I have appreciated it much more as I have gotten older.

Joe and I decided to take it to the pool and have our own "swim team" in our back yard. After the little man would go down, we would take the monitor out to the pool and we would swim laps. Can you just see us, goggles in tow? Joe is wanting to get a nose clip and I desperately need a cap for my hair. We joke that Joe is Michael Phelps and I, Darra Torres. An Olympic athlete at 41, so impressive.

This weekend we really enjoyed watching the opening ceremony, swimming, gymnastics (my favorite), and it was cute to see George W. out cheering on the athletes.

I hope you're enjoying Beijing as much as we are!!

My In Loves

My In Loves came for a visit this weekend. We finally got that game of badmitton in, but didn't have to rig up the exersaucer in the car to make it happen. :)

Here is my sister in law, Laurie, and her daughter, Cayla, visiting the baby horses.
Joe's parents enjoying the day.

"Pops" is known for having this affect on babies :)
Me and the babes after I got brutally whooped at badmitton. Whew, I am terrible at that game!

Nicole's Birthday!

Today's is Nicole's BIRTHDAY! So visit her blog and tell her how, at 35, she looks HOTTER THAN EVER!

I pray you have a great birthday and we wish we were there to celebrate with you!

Love you so...

Lomama!

Laura (aka Lomama) came for a visit this last weekend! Her and her boxer, Bailey, arrived on Saturday evening. We had lots of fun while she was here; she is the funniest and most random person that you will ever meet. If you clicked on her blog, that is just a preview of what I'm talking about.

We have been friends for many moons and have had some crazy memories over the years that include lots and lots of random and late road trips to all sorts of cities around Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico (oh wait, that was just me getting lost); random phone calls from me at 2 a.m. while riding on a tour bus; quality conversations in front of Petco and at the Bowling Alley :); many over the top April Fools jokes; me showing up at her door; running over medians (twice); me laying down the law about coming to my wedding....oh the list could go on and on.

This weekend we all went to church, ate lots of food that is bad for you (she even made Honey Bun cake for us- yikes!), and played spades, balderdash, and badmitton....(what happened to Scrabble!?!)



While we wanted to play badmitton, but we didn't want Isaac to be out in the heat. So Joe rigged up a little contraption in order to keep the little guy cool. He backed up the car, had the a/c on and put the exersaucer in the back.



This lasted for about two minutes; he was not down with our shenanigans!

Laura is also a video making and editing extroadinaire! We videoed some footage of the little man, so be staying tuned for when we post the video on here. It should provide for some good laughs.

Here is a pic of us and our "kids."

Baby Itch

Last week there were two very special babies born. Isaac and I made a flying trip down to Houston to see the mamas and babies in the hospital.

If you will recall this beautiful friend She had Graham Michael Baker last Wednesday a whole week and one day early- wahoo! She had a great delivery and her and Graham are home and enjoying their new family of FOUR!

Then, my little brother and his girlfriend delivered their baby on Thursday. My brother was so excited, it was so precious to watch him hold that baby with such pride and joy. He decided to carry on the tradition and the baby is named Thomas Darien Spry IV. My dad is calling him "Quad" and my grandmother is calling him "cuatro." God bless that little baby boy.

This is my brother and sister with baby Thomas.

If I needed any confirmation that I have the baby itch, then I've got it!

Our Lodger

We have some amazing mentors in Houston, David and Beth Reid. David is from Scotland and Beth is from California. They sound cool already, huh? They met when Beth went on a mission trip to Scotland... even cooler!

About a month ago, we offered to keep their 15 year old son, Chris, so Beth could go on a business trip with David to London. How fun!

Chris has been staying with us since last week. He has been such a joy and we have really enjoy him being here. Joe and I have had many laughs about what is going to be like having teenagers. Good times, good times.

Their family has all these fun terms for everything, what I call their Reidisms. For example, every highway you have to say "the" in front of it. "You go north on the forty five." (Imagine that with a Scottish accent). She just texted me and said she was going to a "tea cozy"- what is that? They also have a young man who is living with them temporarily and they call him, their "lodger."

So here is a pic of our temporary "lodger," Chris. We love you!

Mom Vacation

I have been missing in action and I don't know where the time has flown. I am going to post a few entries of what we have been up to...

Two weeks ago, in the midst of the Ranch potentially selling, Isaac had a pediatrician appt. Our new pediatrician down this way couldn't get us in for awhile, so we decided to go back to our pediatrician in Dallas.

Since we were going to be heading up that direction, we decided to stay a couple days. We got to stay with our Dallas family.

It was truly like a vacation for mom. Her kids love playing with Isaac and were always vying for who is going to hold him next. What a wonderful break! I enjoyed my time with them so much, left so refreshed, and had greater vision for God's calling for me as a wife and mother.

Thank you for a wonderful time, I love you very much!



This was the basket I found in the room we were staying in- was this not a 4 star hotel or what!?!