More photos from our trip to Lufkin...

On our way home today, a tanker truck exploded somewhere about 10 minutes in front of us. We were lucky we had stopped to go to the restroom or we'd have been stuck right in the middle of the huge mess. These are the photos I took from the car.





Jason & Sarah had fun playing football with their Pop right before we left to come home today! Sarah got really into it, too!



Sarah gives Mimi a tearful goodbye hug. She was so mad that we were leaving to go home. Then, we went to see Grandpa & Ner-Ner and they cheered up! :) We were glad they got to see both sets of their grandparents today!










Does anyone else see what's wrong with this picture? Even Wal-Mart is feeling the Economic crunch! LOL Talk about inflation!






While in Lufkin, Sarah & Jason got to see two of my great friends Sandy & Charlene....who they lovingly call "Dee-Dee & Cha-Cha". They were given WAY too much candy which made them have crazy eyes! LOL Just kidding....DeeDee gave them funny glasses! Cha-Cha had her precious grandbaby, Connor with her! Sarah loved him! He was adorable!




Me & My girls! I miss them so much!




We also got to go see Mrs. Davis...Aunt Suzie's mom! She loves the kids and we loved getting to visit her. She had some beautiful photos from her and Suzie's Hawaiian vacation from Christmas last year. Tons of photos of waterfalls and rainbows! The kids loved it!

Sarah's Heart....

On Thursday, we met with Sarah's cardiologist at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. It was her regular checkup. She gets them every 4-6 months. She hasn't had a surgery since before she turned one, but we are coming up on the last of the series of heart surgeries.

At her appointment, he told us that he wants to see her again in February or March and at that appointment, he will go ahead and schedule her for her heart catherization surgery which will take place a few weeks or months later (we don't really know the exact timeline on that yet.)

From there, after the cath, they will set a plan of action and her open heart surgery will be within 6 months of that. Either way, we are going to be looking at getting her surgeries over with and behind us sometime within the next year and a half!

The funniest thing happened at the doctor's office on Thursday.....

For the first time, they asked us to put a hospital gown on her. They requested that we tie it in the front so I followed directions. She looked down at it like I had put her in a plastic sack! LOL Then, we went for the chest xrays and on our way BACK to the exam room, she untied it and just turned her nose up and threw it down in the floor of the hallway! She WOULD NOT wear it! The photo of her with her cup in the hospital gown is the only one I got. I made her laugh and snapped the photo! It was so funny. haha I told Todd I needed to get her some "custom" hospital gowns made up before her surgery! We both laughed about it! However, we really are getting her some made! I have a lady that makes some of Sarah's clothing and she is making them for us! I'm going to take Sarah to pick out the fabrics she wants and we'll have matching hairbows, too! haha She'll be the most well-dressed hospital heart surgery patient you've ever seen! LOL

That's my girl!

Hot Air Balloon Festival

On Sarah's birthday (September 21st), we met Mimi & Pop in Plano for the Plano Hot Air Balloon Festival! Sarah is obsessed with hot air balloons. SHE LOVES THEM! When we heard the festival was on her actual birthday, we HAD to take her and Jason! We had so much fun! She absolutely loved seeing real hot air balloons. Jason LOVED climbing the rock wall which he was VERY good at! Sarah of course wanted to climb it next. (Even though we were ALL telling her she was too small.) She wouldn't hear of that. Finally, I knew that she wouldn't let us leave until she had climbed that rock! So, I went to buy her some tickets to climb it! She shocked us all. She got all strapped up with harnesses and up she went! I love that both of the kids turned to smile at me as they were coming down! You can tell that I have them trained! LOL

One thing I thought about is how there will be a lot of times in Sarah's life when everyone wants to protect her and keep her from doing things because of her heart. When she looked up to me with those big blue eyes full of determination, I decided I needed to be on her side and help her achieve her wish which in this instance, was to climb a rock towering above us all. There are going to be a lot of things that we can tell her she "can't do" when in reality, we need to let her try. She already shows us that if we tell her she cannot do something, it only drives her to be more determined to do it! I have come to the resolve that I am going to be her cheerleader. I'm going to stand behind her. If she wants to do something, I'm going to help her achieve it. (as long as it truly won't hurt her!)

That is the biggest birthday present I can give her and I will have to remind myself to give her that gift every year of her life from here on out.

Below are the photos of what she would probably call the best day of her life so far!



She and her "bubba" in the back seat! She looks excited about heading to the Hot Air Balloon Festival, doesn't she!?
She was really excited to see her Mimi & Pop on her birthday. They drove to meet us and enjoy the festival, as well!

Sarah coloring some Hot Air Balloon Art in the kid's zone!


The infamous ROCK! Not too big for MY babies!!!! Jason climbed it first! I was so proud of him! He went straight to the top with no problems and no hesitation at all. He loved rock climbing!
Smile for the camera! Mom's watching! LOL
Sarah gets ready to climb the big rock! She wasn't even nervous at all!
Once again, smile for the camera!!!! LOL
Waving at the balloons as we load into the car to leave! She just LOVED seeing them!


Me & My Sweeties!!!

Me & Carolyn with the kiddos! What a fun day!
I am thankful I am friends with my Mother in Law!

Sarah got a baby that swims for her birthday from Mimi & Pop and she wouldn't let go of it all the way home! She passed out with her baby in her lap! So sweet!

Nature Walk Fun

These are fairy & frog houses that me and the kids made to hide in the woods!

Sarah's Birthday Party....Finally Posting!!!

Finally, I am posting Sarah's party pics from Saturday! She had a wonderful time! We had planned it for outside, but the weather changed our minds so we moved it into our dining room. The house was crowded, but it was still fun and cute! We had a "Wild Child Tea Party" and Sarah LOVED it!

See....I promise I would get nothing done if I went to bed at a decent hour! I was making chocolate covered marshmallow sticks at 2 a.m.! LOL But they were SO cute and a big hit at the party!!!

Below are several photos of the decorations.....I stayed up most of the night putting the finishing touches on the party! Thanks to my friend, Tanna, Sarah had the cutest cupcakes for her party! Miss Tanna made them for us and they were DELICIOUS! These roses are made of wood! I thought they were so cool!

Some of the tissue flower balls hanging from the ceiling! So fun!

I made Sarah's cabbage patch doll a matching tutu dress to wear at the party as Sarah requested! I though this turned out really cute! These are photos of guests arriving and Sarah waiting for them to get there! It was so sweet seeing all the little girls all dressed up for a tea party!

We played "Pin the Spout on the Tea Pot"! It was so funny and cute!

Everyone dressed up for the party! Even the babies!!!



Jason only felt a little out of place at the tea party! He had friends there, too, so it was fun for him!

Watching out the window and seeing the rain!

Sarah models some of her new clothes!

Well, I got it back to normal within 2 hours after the party, so I guess it was a success! :)

Todd took my photo as I washed up the last of the dishes and platters! I look tired! :)