Happy Birthday, Jackson!

9 years ago today, our baby boy, Jackson was born.  He was 7 pounds 6 ounces of perfection, and he changed our lives and our hearts forever.  And even though he’s 9 today, he’ll always be our baby.

Trip to Austin

Two weekends ago, we took a little road trip to Austin with our favorite girl!  We bought her tickets to Hamilton--her favorite!--as one of her birthday gifts.  The musical was in Dallas, but we accidentally got the tickets for a weekend that she had her band trip, so we had to sell them and the only other time we could all go was when they were going to be in Austin!  So, we made a short weekend out of it and had the best time!

When we got to Austin, we grabbed lunch at a great burger restaurant, and then we had to take pictures at this wall!

We stayed at a great--and very fancy hotel--so we took pictures before heading to the theater!

She was so excited!

Bryan and I had never heard it, but we really loved it!  After the play, we went to get dinner at 10:30 at a 24 hour diner, then we got donuts at 11:30.  It was so much fun!

On the way home, we stopped at Magnolia--my favorite!

It was the best weekend!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to our favorite guy!  He's the joke teller, the best hugger, gives great advice, points us to Jesus, and loves us fiercely.

We're so blessed that he's our Papa Bear!  

Braces

One of my Mom Rules is that when you get a shot, you get an ice cream cone.  So, when you get braces, I figured you should get a whole container of ice as well as all the fixins for an ice cream sundae!

Library Day

 Yesterday was our first trip to the library this summer!

We've been coming to this library and taking pictures on this bench every winter and summer break for the past 5 years.

They used to be so little!

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time!  The way he's looking at her...heart melting.

Jackson at Camp

We picked Jackson up from camp on Saturday morning, after he had been there since Sunday, and my goodness, he had the best time!  There were so many fun things to do at camp, but some of J's favorites were:  riding horses, shooting bb guns, sliding down the huge slide into the pool, and worship.

The camp has an app that you can download where they post pictures, and it was my favorite thing to check it each day to see pictures of Jackson!  This was from one of their theme nights--camo night--this was J's favorite theme night!

This is Jackson with his  counselor and cabin mates.  While we were driving home on Saturday, we asked him if he made friends with the boys in his cabin, and he said that he did...even with an enemy...a Longhorn!  Ha!

Swimming!

On Wednesday and Friday, the campers could write letters.  This was the first one we received from Jackson.  I teared up when we read it!  I love it so much!

This was after he had face paint on...and clearly didn't get it all off!  His counselor told us he loved the face paint!

Another letter--asking me to "please please not smoosh him to death".  And at the bottom, he signed it, "sayonara"!  Hilarious!

One day, Jackson's cabin got to take down the flag at the end of the day, and J got to help fold it!

I just loved these pictures so much!

When we got to camp to pick him up on Saturday morning, we couldn't wait to actually see him!  This is by far the longest we've ever been away from Jackson!

I was so excited to hug him and hear his sweet, little voice!

This is his counselor MoneyFall--or Drew.  Jackson loved him!

At the end of the week, the counselors give each of their kids a list of character traits that they see in them, and these are Jackson's: encouraging, adventurous, and eager.  We completely agree!

We are so proud of Jackson!

He loved camp so much, that while we were there, we signed him up for next summer!

Sarah and Mama...and Papa Too!

Last week, while Jackson was at camp, Sarah and I spent almost every day together!  And it was THE BEST!

On Monday, she hung out with her other BFF that she hasn't seen in forever, so I hung out with my other BFF--Bryan!--and Sarah and I started our week-o-fun together on Tuesday!

First things first, coffee!

Then, we went shopping at some of our favorite little shops in one of our favorite little downtown squares, then we got sushi!  After that, we had ice cream!

Our first day together was pretty great!

And what made it even better, is that that night, we went out for Thai with Papa Bear!  I don't know why I didn't get a picture of all three of us!

We started our second day off with breakfast and more shopping...at one of our favorites...Target!

Then, we had tea and lunch at a little tea room that we love!

One Wednesday, we matched!  It was great!

I snapped pictures with our real camera and my phone, but I think I like this one better because she has her hand on her hip too!  Goodness, I love us!

Then, we got more coffee!

And we did some more shopping, including at a bookstore, one of Sarah's favorite places in the whole world!

That night, we had dinner on the couch while watching on of our favorite shows with Papa!  It was the best!

On Friday, we ended our week by going to one of our favorite places--the antique mall and tea room that we used to frequent when we lived in Ft. Worth!  It was so lovely and brought back so many wonderful memories!

We basically ordered all the things while we were being "ladies who lunch!"

We ended the day--and the week--with dinner outside.  Bryan grilled burgers and I made pasta salad and fruit salad.  We, once again, turned on our favorite show and had a wonderful last night just the three of us.  I really missed Jackson while he was at camp, but I had such a delightful time with Sarah!  She is truly one of my very favorite people with whom to talk, laugh, and spend time!