happy 1st birthday Mark!

I can't believe it's been a full year since Mark joined our family! It's been a huge year for us all.



On Mark's birthday, we woke up at Curly and Andydaddy's house (since Bailee got sick and destroyed our house). When Zach woke up, he gave Mark a hug and said, "Happy birthday Marky! Wow, you got more hair!" So sweet.

We went to the park and Mark climbed all the way up to the slide a couple times.





We went to Walmart and got a
few birthday supplies. Dora party hats were a must. Mark loves Dora! It's hilarious. Out of all the shows, he is just obsessed with Dora. When he sees her picture he smiles and makes happy noises.



Then, we went to Chelsea's house to spend the day while ours was being sanitized. We had the best time playing with her and Logan! We played outside in the sandbox and Mark managed to stay awake until 11!




I put him in Logan's pack n play and be went right to sleep. He slept for 3 hours!! Craziness!
When he woke up, we made strawberry shortcakes and sang happy birthday.








It was such a fun day and it was really sweet to see Zach be so into celebrating Mark.

The next day, Zach and I made a birthday cake for Mark and we think he really liked it!




Zach decorated a little cake and I was so impressed at his skills!








A few days later, Nana came in town and we had a party for Mark at Caruth Park. It was a great time!





























Happy birthday Markyman! We love you so much!!! You have been the perfect addition to our family!

beaver creek

For Christmas this year, David planned a trip to Beaver Creek - our favorite place!



It's been so long since we have been and we were both so excited. It was so refreshing to have time like that with just us.



I snowboarded and David skied. It was so much fun!




Every morning we went to a little crepe shop at the bottom of the mountain for breakfast. We drank cappuccinos and ate some really good food. We stayed up as late as we wanted and slept in. We really enjoyed doing whatever we felt like and having no schedule.

Here is what our hotel room looked like.


A few of our friends from the ski team were there and it was a lot of fun catching up with them.







Photo bomb by our waiter ha!

We went to dinner in vail one night with them and had a blast. We also did a little skiing with them.



One night we met up with O.E. and Dave for dinner at the Minturn Country Club! It was amazingly good food and it was the best ever getting to hang out with O.E. in person!!!! We had the absolute best time with them!


It meant so much to me that David took the time to plan a trip for us and that he took off work. It made me feel really special and it was such a special trip!

I love you David! Thank you!!

celebrating

Last night we went to dinner to celebrate some good things happening at work for David. I am so proud of his work ethic/obsession to be the best.

I really need more pictures of David but this is what dinner looked like for us.



Zach had fun watching the hibachi chef and David got Mark to sleep in his carseat after Mark put up quite the fight.

It's definately not easy going out with two little ones...in the rain...but it was worth it. We had a really great night!

Right before we left, Zach was walking around with his sunglasses on and I snapped a few pics. He's usually not one for pictures but he started striking poses and it just cracked me up!!

Here's my favorite one! Shoes on backwards, hand on the hip, and one leg sticking out. Hilarious!!


And another. This kid! So animated and always bringing the attitude.

cotton bowl

David and I went to the Cotton Bowl this past weekend to see A&M beat OU!!!

I dressed the boys in their Aggie gear complete with face stickers and sent pictures to David to pump him up (like he needed any pumping up ha!).









I dropped the boys at my parents house and they were so excited.



David and I had such a fun time together! It was nice to get to spend the afternoon tailgating and just being together. And of course an awesome win by the Aggies really topped it off.


Zach had a really fun Saturday morning with Andydaddy! Donuts and the toy store...a 3 year olds dream!








David and I slept in and went to see This is 40. It was a great movie and so fun to get a suprise date day together when my parents offered to watch the boys a little longer for us.

Zach was so exhausted from all the fun, he fell asleep while drinking his juice box! Haha!

happy new year

It's 2013! This is my world.



































In a lot of ways I'm so happy to
leave 2012 behind and move into a fresh new year. But David and I did learn a lot in 2012 and God changed us through several hard circumstances. For that, we can always remember 2012 as a year of growth and learning.

We trusted God this year more than ever before. And God was faithful. We learned that there is so much beauty in the pain, that we are stronger and braver than we thought, and that with God, we really can conquer anything.

Beautiful lessons. I am living more thankful than ever before.

It's so easy to get busy and forget to really talk to God or to your spouse on a meaningful level. To all of the sudden realize a year or two have gone by and there has been no growth.

I pray that, in 2013, David and I continue to grow closer to God together and separately and that we teach our boys about God's love for them so that they trust and love him every day of their lives.