5 Glorious Years!!

On Friday, June 25th we celebrated 5 amazing years!! What a blessing it is to be married to someone who was made just for you, right beside you loving you with all their heart.  When things are changing all around us and the world is moving too fast, we are right next to each other loving every minute that passes because we are one in unity.

To begin the celebration off right, Craig took the day off from work and we went to the zoo for some family time!  We think this is going to be a new tradition to spend part of the day as a family and part of the day as a date.  Caleb loved it and is showing us what the elephant's trunk does and a quick spin in the jeep.

It is sprinkling and this guy has no interest in going in doors to stay dry.

Caleb is surrounded by plenty of animals and interesting things to explore and he picks the goat's bouncy ball to play with and tries to get them to play with him.

After a nice nap time, we took Caleb to spend the night at the Tamlyn's House (The Tamlyn's are a gracious family in Craig's Small Group of 10th graders.)  We could not have asked for a more willing family to watch, play, love, and care for our son.  Caleb had the best time playing with them and we are grateful for their generosity.

We stayed the night at the Westin Downtown and had dinner at Craft in the W Hotel.  We had a fabulous night, eating incredible food, relaxing in a nice hotel, and reminiscing on the past 5 wonderful years!

Month 21 - June 25

The two words to sum up Caleb this past month are observant and organizer.  He can spot a motorcycle, construction truck, garbage truck, fire truck, basketball court, tennis court, balls of any kind, etc from any distance.  We will be driving and he will see things that are on billboards, on the other side of the road, or some distance away and gets really excited.  We will be on the phone or talking and he knows/responds to the things we say (especially if it is a place he enjoys or a kind of food that he is into).  He amazes us with how much his mind is like a little sponge and his vocabulary is increasing leaps and bounds.  He is an "organizer" because he will make sure doors/cabinets/drawers are closed, shoes are by the door, toys are put up (for the most part-still working on this), he puts things up that he got out, loves throwing away trash, and doing "chores" around the house for Mommy.  It is really cute!

Gatti Town with Mommy and her favorite game DDR (Dance Dance Revolution)

So focused on driving the car

Sweet Gracey turned 3 and had a Fancy Gracey Party!! Cori did an amazing job having a dance party after the kids played dress up, the most precious decorations and yummy food.  Grace is teaching Caleb to do the Hokey Pokey.

He is not very interested in dancing but loves Grace's Baby Stroller

Caleb sort of played dress up

Our first trip to the doctor after a nose dive.  (As we mentioned in the Memorial Day post) Caleb dove off the couch and landed in a really rough position on the ottoman.  This is a picture of his swollen red nose hours after on a way to the doc.  He checked out okay, but they did say to try to keep him from hitting that same spot for a week.  I knew something was wrong because he normally doesn't cry that much after he gets hurt and he whaled for an hour.  Poor guy!

A lunch break with Daddy

On our 7 hour car drive to the ranch we stopped at a great Truck Stop and this is what I found when I came out of the restroom.  Our little cowboy playing basketball!  He loved that 10 minute stop!

The beginning of June Mimi came in to not only visit but to help watch Caleb during the week leading up to the Auction.  We were able to do a few fun things (Arboretum, Zoo, Pool, Play dates) in the crazy heat.

Caleb loved the new exhibit that opened at the Dallas Zoo-Giants of the Savannah

Caleb loves the pool Mimi got him. We are in there a few times a week!

Thanks Mimi for coming in town, spending quality time with us, loving us, and serving us.  We love you!

Mason (a friend from MOPS) turned 3 and had a Thomas Birthday Party at Pump It Up Jr (bounce houses). 

This was Caleb's first experience at a place like this and he wanted nothing to do with the bounce houses but played with the balls and cars the whole time.

They even tried to get a group picture and Caleb decides to walk across the middle of the group.  I guess that truly is a group shot.

This is part of Caleb's big wave he always gives Daddy

Caleb LOVES bubbles!

What another fun month with this little guy!  He is the joy of our life!

Happy Father's Day

Caleb just loves, loves, LOVES his Daddy.  It is the highlight of our day when Daddy gets home from work to wrestle, dance, sing, be crazy, silly, and so much fun.  Caleb wants nothing more than to be just like his Daddy.  It just melts my heart to see the love they share together and I often pray for their relationship for years to come.  I always knew Craig would be an excellent father but it is so cool to see how much they adore each other.  It melts my heart to see my boys having so much fun together.  We had a very relaxing Father's Day weekend with a lot of World Cup and US Open watching, some yummy meals, and great family time.

Here are a few pictures from the last month of the two boys together:

Here we are at GattiTown with our Community and they are dancing on DDR

This is the last time Craig will have to mow in a few months. For Father's Day we gave him a lawn service to mow our yard so Craig doesn't have to worry about it and he can spend more time with us.

A Father's Day Photo Shoot and one of the many games Craig has made up with Caleb.  They are looking at themselves in the screen that turns around and can face them.  Craig would say something and they both would do it...I would capture the picture and they had a blast playing together.

"Wave to Mommy"

"Tongue-Tongue"

"Nose-Nose"

"Eye-Eye"

"Nose-Nose" except Caleb really pushes (as you can see with Craig's expression)

Sweet Kisses...I just love these boys but especially love my husband for the man he is to our son!  Thank you Lord!  Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Alpha Delta Pi Silent Auction and Casino Night

So one of the reasons the blog has gone to the back burner is Julie's second "full time" job took on a whole different meaning the past couple of weeks.  She co-chaired the Dallas Alumnae Association of Alpha Delta Pi's Second Annual Silent Auction and Casino Night benefitting the Ronald McDonald House.  The big event was held on June 11th at Milestone Culinary Arts Center.  All the hard work paid off as we are able to donate over $5,000 to the wonderful cause. 

The wonderful Committee that Julie was able to work with

Treasurer Bree, President Tracy, Me, and my fabulous co-chair Julie G (she was my president when I pledged and I looked up to her so much-it was so fun to get to work with her on this event!) 

I may not have been able to entertain Craig the whole night but he had fun regardless

Some of the "feature" auction items: 2 round trip airline tickets, Autographed Masters Flag the year Phil Mickelson won it, a wine tasting/tour for a group of 10 people, Dallas Vigilantes box with 18 tickets, and a 3 night stay in a South Padre Condo

The rest of the 85 auction items

A precious jewelry tree

I am grateful for the wonderful photographer that took a picture of us.  Marcy with Sweet Kiss Photography did such a great job capturing the evening. 

Memorial Day at the Ranch

For Memorial Day this year we loaded the car, TURNED Caleb's car seat to face forward!!!, and drove 7 plus hours to Craig's Family's Ranch down in the Hill Country.  (Located about 30 minutes from Garner State Park).  It has been a three year tradition to enjoy this beautiful ranch with Julie's family.  There is so much to do, see, enjoy, and create life long memories.  We feel like Caleb "grew up" while visiting the ranch.   

Caleb playing "peek-a-boo" on the Jeep (if you look close enough you will see Caleb's first black and blue nose, as he dove off the couch and face planted into our ottoman just days before our vacation)

This picture is kind of hard to see but it is Sarah "driving" the Jeep and both of them have their mouth open.  I can almost picture this same scenario in 13 years!

TJ was so precious, ANY chance he could he would be on the Jeep or riding around in the 4 Wheeler and Mule!! 

Christalyn taking a break with Papa from catching tadpoles, frogs, roly polies, scorpions, and anything else that moved. 

The joys of old tractors

Not a Memorial Day weekend without running through sprinklers

Chef Papa spent MANY hours marinating, soaking, tenderizing, smoking, and perfecting the fine science of brisket making!!!! And boy oh boy it was GOOD!

The Garcia family in front of a longhorn (while holding the Faith who was sleeping)

Hook'Em Horns! (Even Caleb has his horns up)

Swimming in the Frio River in Leakey

Pure Happiness

My favorite picture of the kids looking at the cows before bedtime

More cow watching with Papa

Like Papa...

...Like Grandson...Mooing like a cow (too cute)

Faith Isabelle Garcia (FIG) in front of a Fig Tree

This is the life

The Garcia Family

The whole crew

Mimi and Papa with their 5 grandkids

Thank you Wenning's for allowing our families to gather at your beautiful Ranch for a wonderful weekend.  Thank you Mimi and Papa for yummy meals, excellent childcare, great laughs, and for fun memories!  We love you all!!