Moms vs. Mudcats

  On Sunday, the moms played ball against the Dierker's Champs Mudcats (Chase's team).  It was pretty funny, and most of us had fun.  However, the boys were not very happy when we got them out!  Luckily, they won!

 The boys were nice enough to downgrade to a duct tape wrapped wiffle ball so as not to hurt us! :)

Mexico Trip

My fabulous husband surprised me on Valentine's Day with a one week trip to Mexico, and we were only 5 minutes from the airport when he told me!

We rented a jeep and toured the tip of the Baja peninsula the whole week.  It was unbelievably gorgeous!

The first day, we went to San Jose del Cabo and stayed at a little place called el Delfin.  We did lots of shopping in the tourist area the next day and then moved on to la Paz, where we stayed in a B&B.

 While in la Paz, we went on a 5 hour boat tour to la Isla de Espiritu Santo which means the Island of the Holy Spirit!  It was gorgeous!  Check out the gorilla face in the mountain!  Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?

 While on the tour, we went to a Sea Lion colony where there were hundreds of Sea Lions.  It was amazing to see them in the wild!  

Ray C. even swam with them!  I was going to, but the air was just too cold for me to get in the water and then have to ride back on the boat in the wind!  Yikes!  Ray C. was so excited to swim with them.  He said they were doing flips right in front of him as he swam. 

 We did lots os shopping and dealing!  I brought back some beautiful pottery, which is my favorite thing to collect.

 Ray C. did some kayaking, and I did too! But, after one wild adventure, I think my kayaking days may be behind me!

 We also saw dolphins on our trip to the island!

 After our visit to the island, we traveled to the west coast of Baja and stayed in el Pescadero for 5 nights.  This is the house we were upgraded to from the casita Ray C. had reserved!  We felt a little guilty having the whole thing to ourselves, but we got over it pretty quickly!  We cooked most of our meals, enjoyed the beach, and soaked in as much relaxation as we could stand!

It was a fabulous trip, and I am so thankful to my husband for wanting to take me away!

Family in Florida

We enjoyed spending time with family over Spring Break when we traveled back to Ray C.'s hometown - Monticello, FL.  We were so excited that Aunt Ruth brought Grandma and Grandpa up from Sarasota to visit with us.

 Grandma, Aunt Ruth, and Grandpa

 Grandma and Maggie

 Peppy and Finley

 Abigail painted the tree and Heather helped the kids decorate cupcakes to make a family tree.  What a cute idea!  Papa and Peppy had cornbread muffins since they don't eat sweets!  The kids had so much fun creating the cupcakes.

Peppy with her mom, Mrs. Jewell!  We are so blessed that they are part of our Story!

Grandma and Grandpa

We were so excited to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa over our Spring Break.  These are Ray C.s grandparents.

 Look at all those kids...

 Who says you can't have fun at 90?

Messy Race

Ray C.'s sister, Heather, planned a Messy Race for the kids during our visit over Spring Break.  Oh what fun....and what a mess!

1. Be the first person to burp after drinking a cup of Pepsi.

 2. Dump a party hat full of flour on your head.

 3. Put an egg between your ankles and walk.  If you drop the egg, you have to smash it on your head.

 (When they refused to smash it on their heads, Uncle Glen was happy to help!)  

By the way, the eggs were fresh from the chicken coup!  (Heather and Whit live on a farm.)

 4. Egg toss...which really turned in to pelting each other with eggs that didn't want to break! :)

 5. Pie in the face...

 6. Turn Uncle Glen into a human sundae!  (They poured caramel, chocolate,  cherries, and whipped cream ALL over Uncle Glen...

 ...and then Uncle Glen showed them how much he loved them!)

 7. Dump a tube of Mentos into a diet soda and watch it shoot like a geiser!

 8. Run to the hose and rinse it all off before stepping a foot in the house!

Even cleaning off was fun with the huge hoses.  

Moving Papa G

After my parents moved here in August and my sister came in January, we finally 

convinced Papa that it was time for him to come too!  

 So, during Spring Break, Ray C. and I drove up to Baxley, GA 

(about 3 hours from Monticello) to pick up Papa's moving truck!  Mama and 

already flown down to get everything in order.

We had to be sure to get a picture of Papa sitting on his front porch that my dad built for him! 

 It was a big day for Papa to leave his home of 17 years, but he did it courageously!

We are so excited to have him in Texas!  He is living in a Retirement Home only 10 minutes from our house.  We love being able to visit with him.  

I am so excited to have my family here with us and we continue to do life together in Houston!

Sweet Girl

Pictures from Monticello...

We Found A Ball

While visiting family in Florida over Spring Break, Mary Frances and her cousin, Maggie, came into the kitchen to tell us that they found a baseball in a hole in the tree.  We pretty much dismissed them and told them to go get it.   A few minutes later, I walked past the living room windows to see this...

 Can you see the ball?  It's about 15 feet up in the tree!  So, the girls found a ladder and...

 enlisted some help from Abigail...

 guided the ladder up the tree....

and started to climb up before all 6 adults opened the door to stop them!  Gotta love their sense of adventure!  Whit, did climb up the ladder and finally hit it out of the tree with a stick.  It was so much fun to watch!