Gone Fishin'

I am so sorry about the delays between blogs. It's just the mad-dash that is our life. I don't think life will slow down until the boys go to college. Just an FYI. We have school...preschool and first grade, which means homework. Everyday. Ethan reads chapter books now. What?!?!? Oh and there's work. Marines keep Andy too busy (only a little over 5 years until retirement), and criminals keep me super busy. Darn them! Then there's soccer (for Ethan and Daddy...can't imagine when Jack starts playing next year), and we're going to be enrolling the boys on a swim team. AND Grandma Vicki is here! She is staying with us through the holidays as I have oodles of training at work, and Andy is the Toys for Tots coordinator, oh...and we have two kids that need to be taken care of. So praise the Lord for Grandma Vicki!!

Anywho....about a month ago we took the boys fishing at Lake Tenkiller. There are tons of lakes in Oklahoma. Who knew? Now that soccer season is in full swing, the lake trips may slow down, but I know Andy will be dragging us out there, regardless of how busy we were. That's actually a good thing because it's really relaxing to read my book while the boys catch gross fish...I mean YUMMY fish. ;)

My fisherboys.

He's reel cute. Get it?

No Mom, I don't need my fishing pole. Oh, and Dad forgot to pack it. I'll just catch some rays in the lake...fully-clothed. Maybe a fish will swim up and nibble on my finger.

I love you brother!

Never Forget

9/11/01: I was a junior in college. Nineteen-years-old. I was in calculus class when the first plane hit. I didn't know anything happened until I went back to my dorm room and the girl across the hall said, "a plane hit one of the twin towers." Even then it didn't really affect me. I walked to my sociology class, and then I began to realize that this was something big. No one talked the whole class. We just watched. Watched both of the towers collapse. Watching the images over and over again - it's hard to believe it's been 10 years since this tragedy.

In the past 10 years, our family has been personally affected by the terrorist attacks. Andy spent all of 2010 in Afghanistan, and we were left to hold down the fort while we waited for him to return. Here are our personal pictures in memory of 9/11/01.

Andy in Afghanistan: 2010

Ethan loving his daddy's cammies: 2007

Jackson's shirt says: "My dad is a real American hero."

And not to forget the emergency personnel who were the warriors that day. Here's a shout out to my dad. He was a volunteer firefighter for many, many years. Love ya, Dad!

The Zoo is HOT!

Last weekend we went to the zoo. We'd been skipping it all summer because it's been SO hot. However, we recently received word that the zoo added some cooling zones and splash pads to help beat the heat. We went early, stayed cool, and had so much fun!

It's finally cooling down now, and we went fishing yesterday. Pictures soon to come!

My monkeys monkeying around outside the monkey house.

The new giraffe!

Woo hoo!!

We spent the majority of our time getting wet.

We couldn't leave without hitting up the playground!