Group Picture

Jason and Courtney -- Jared, Kristin and Madison -- Us -- Josh, Katie and Brayden

One big group shot before we all headed back home.

Reunion at Lake LBJ

We left early this morning for Lake LBJ to meet up with some of our friends from the church we attended when we lived in College Station. We loved FBC Bryan for many reasons, and the families we met up with this weekend were a large part of our fellowship there. It was so much fun getting to see everyone and catch up on way too many months gone by.


The Mommies and our babies -- Kristin and Madison (21 months), Courtney and Bryson (due July 10), Me and Parker (25 months and not quite sure about the boat yet) and Katie and Brayden (18 months)

Trash Day

Parker loves Friday because it is trash day. He helps me put the two trash cans out every morning and bring them back in in the afternoon. Although the trash trucks usually come when he's napping, if Parker hears the trucks outside he runs to his room to watch out the window.

Higher, Higher!

My grandparents stopped at our house for an hour or so this evening on their way home from helping my brother move. Parker loved playing in the backyard with Papa and continually asked to be swung higher.

Growing Our Garden

Our first little squash are starting to sprout in the wonderful garden Jered planted for us.

Learning to Share

Parker has found it really fun recently to share all of his food with the dogs. The dogs don't seem to mind one bit!

Memorial Day Pool Party

We had the opportunity to go to John and Nicole's this afternoon to enjoy some more great food and let the boys have some fun in the sun. Dale and Parker didn't do much playing together, but they didn't mind playing next to one another.

A Rainy Day at the Land

We went out to Craig's (Jered's boss) land this afternoon to enjoy a yummy cookout and do some fishing. Not long after we got there, right after we got the sandbox out, it started pouring. All of us huddled under our small canopy and waited for the 30 minutes or so of rain to pass us by. Although the rainy weather did not allow for very many good pictures, we didn't let it spoil the fun.

The little kids and big kids both liked playing in the sand.

Playing in the rain

You know it was a bad picture day when this is our family portrait. :)

Day Trip

Today we took a day trip to College Station so that I could attend a baby shower for one of the girls from our Sunday School class there, Courtney, and then we got to spend the afternoon catching up and having lunch with the Glade Family. It was such a great trip and wonderful to see so many friends that we hadn't seen in a long time.

Jenny, me, Courtney, Kristin and Madison

Parker and Cameron getting all the toys out at the Glade's house.

Playgroup for a Few

We hosted playgroup this morning at our home, and the three that showed up to play had lots of fun!

Zoo Thursday

Since our playgroup has moved to Friday, I think we may make going to zoo on Thursday's a regular thing.

Haulin' Rocks

Today Parker helped Daddy move a truck-bed full of rocks to the back yard to put under the swing set. He loved hauling the rocks, playing in them and finding all the bugs.

Spring School Picture

Parker's school (MDO) picture from this Spring. Although he looks a little tired, I still think they turned out cute.

Little Green Thumb

Parker is always such a great helper in the backyard. Today he just had to help Mommy water all the plants.

Circles with Sidewalk Chalk

We got the sidewalk chalk out today, and I was pretty impressed with Parker's circle drawing skills.

May 16, 2008

My {one} picture for today didn't turn out, so I went searching through older pictures and found this shot from one year ago today. It was actually taken by T-Ma because she was staying at our home with Parker while Jered and I were on vacation.

Pure Joy

Parker demonstrating his pure joy as he blows bubbles with T-Ma.

Just Plain Fun

I think today was one of Parker's most fun days ever in Longview. He got to:


Give his truck a bath in the dogs' water bowl,


load his wheelbarrow with duck food and take it to the pond,

feed the ducks with Papa,


and run like crazy in the backyard with Candy's nephew and niece, Brennan and Addi.

For a two year old, it doesn't get much better than that!

Doing Things Backwards

While in Longview, Parker enjoyed eating lunch outside and fishing inside.

Goodbye Grandma Nisbet

After a 2 1/2 year battle with cancer, my maternal grandmother went home to be with the Lord and her mother on Sunday, Mother's Day. Today was the funeral, and it was a bittersweet time celebrating my grandmother's life and spending time with close family and friends. Thank you all for your sweet thoughts and prayers in the past months.

Parker and me with Grandpa and Grandma Nisbet in March.

Parker, Papa and Poo

After being home from Corpus for less than 24 hours, Parker and I had to unpack and repack to head to Longview. When we got here today, Parker didn't waste any time getting in the backyard to help Papa pick up the dog poo. Sadly enough, this is one of Parker's favorite activities at home and away.

Happy Mother's Day

My Mother's Day morning began with a super sweet card and "flowers" from my husband and son. Jered did as any good father would do and allowed Parker to pick the flowers he wanted to give Mommy. At the store Sunday morning when they went to get my card and flowers, the bouquets just happened to be positioned right next to the produce. Yes, that is how I ended up with a squash and jalapeno pepper instead of flowers this Mother's Day.

We spent most of our day driving back home from Corpus, and this little guy was exhausted!

Celebrate with the Summers

After Stephen graduated last night, his parents hosted a wonderful celebration honoring him today. We enjoyed time with family, lots of delicious food and a few games of washers.

The Johnston boys searching for a lost washer.

Not the best picture of us after being outside all day in the warm weather, but I'll take what I can get!

Stephen's Graduation

Tonight we attended our brother-in-law, Stephen's, graduation. The past two years he has worked toward a culinary degree, and we couldn't be more proud of him and his accomplishments.

Uncle Judd and J-Pa

We arrived in Corpus about 6 this evening with just enough time for Parker to get some playtime in with Uncle Judd and a tractor ride with J-Pa.

Parker Helping Pack

We leave tomorrow for our trip down to Corpus to celebrate our brother-in-law, Stephen's, graduation. Today Parker felt like he could help me pack a little.

Did That Really Just Happen?

What a morning, really just the last 30 minutes, we have had. Parker didn't go to Mother's Day Out today because I don't want to risk him getting the swine flu. I know, call me crazy, but if I had sent him and he did get sick, I would feel completely selfish and horrible for sending him for no reason. Don't get me wrong, I sure did miss my 5 hours off to get stuff done, but it was fun getting to pick Daddy up from work and go out to lunch with him. As we were leaving the restaurant, Parker walked straight into the corner of a wooden table. Expect a huge shiner under his left eye in the days to come. We took Daddy back to work after lunch and picked Prancer up from the clinic because Jered took him to work this morning to run some blood work. This may sound like a seemingly unimportant detail, but it is very crucial in the minutes to come.

As we pulled into our neighborhood, I decided to stop by a friend's house to pick up Parker's water and snack cup that we left there last night. I jumped out of my running car, Parker and Prancer inside, and ran up to her front door to get Parker's items. Thirty seconds later I come back to my car, and it is locked! Are you kidding me?!? Prancer had stepped on the door lock and had proceeded to lock every door in my car. Seriously. Everything was locked inside my running car...Parker, Prancer, my purse, my cell phone. I ran back in to get Kimberly's cell phone so that I could call Jered. Thankfully, his meeting hadn't started and he only works about 5 minutes away, so he drove over with the extra set of keys to unlock my car. Parker did ok the first few minutes in the car, but he then began to get upset and didn't understand why he couldn't get out and why I wasn't getting in.

This was Parker right after I got back into the car. He was a little upset (and very tired) about the whole situation.

Happy that Mommy was back in the car and we were home.