Barnes/Brooks/Scogins/Auburgs

The title alone should probably tell you that our first two days in Texas were busy! Hehe :)

The first day we were there we headed over to the Barnes.  They are one of our favorite families from church and were the girls Texas grandparents!  This wonderful family took us in way back when Grace was first born.  We spent our first Christmas down in Texas with them and most holidays after that when we did not head back to Jersey or Nebraska.  Not to mention the countless times they would babysit for us so Mark and I could have some adult time and not neglect our marriage.  They were a huge blessing to us!  Their daughter and family came over for lunch as well so the girls were able to see and play with Chase & Kylie & I was able to catch up with Jill too!!  

Unfortunately I was so busy talking and catching up that I forgot to take any pictures other than this one above of Eva with Sheree.  Thankfully Sheree sent me some pictures that she took so below is a picture of all the kids together.  The more children in a picture the harder it gets to get all of them looking at the camera.

I love this picture!  I love how Kiley is smiling so big or laughing so hard that her eyes are closed and I love how Eva sat down front and center and how Grace is looking at her like what are doing and yet the way Chase is looking it looks as though he admires her for it!!  Hehe, I'm sure none of that was going through their minds but that is the thought I had when I saw it! :)

Sunday after church we went and saw Adam & Jill and their two amazing babies!!  They have twin girls that were born in August so we were able to see them and snuggle with them some before we left.  It was wonderful to see them and to see how much their girls have grown.  We had so much fun and I know the girls had a blast!  After we left Eva kept talking about Ella & Sadie and Grace kept talking about Beagan & Calo, their dogs.  And that statement right there tells you so much about the personalities of our children.  Eva loves babies and Grace loves animals!!  Again unfortunately I did not get any pictures of our time with them.  It might be hard to imagine but I'm horrible about taking pictures!!  The only reason we have the pictures we have is because I force myself to take them for this blog! Anyways after leaving their place and kicking myself yet again for not taking pictures I vowed I was going to be better the rest of the trip so the girls could look back on them.  So this meant I had to force myself to stop talking and start taking pictures....very hard for me when all I wanted to do is sit with some of my closest friends and talk and just hang out and be with them.

Well I did get better but not much.  Most of the pictures I got of that evening all came with in a 5 to 10 minute time span!! (I got better as the trip went on.)  That evening as well as on Saturday evening our time was spent with the Scogins & the Auburgs!  It was wonderful!!

Carl helped the kids catch a lizard but only Grant & Presely would hold it.

Sadly after this photo the lizard was put in the truck and sent down the slide.  I'm pretty sure it did not enjoy the ride! Hehe

I love this picture....it is like Grace is telling Grayson something but he thinks she is crazy or not really telling the truth or just plain unimpressed by her!  Yet Grace seems so unfazed by him that she just keeps on talking, which is normal for her to do!

We thought we would attempt a picture of all the kids and actually got a great shot!!  Then we realized Thor was not in it cause he was sleeping.  We figured we would try again later that night or another day with Thor....it never happened!  Oh well....just realized that we have the kids sitting from youngest to oldest!!

......and just like that two days of the trip flashed by but every minute of it was soaked up and enjoyed!