Good Ol' Tommy

Taylor, Aubrey and I got to go to Texas for a short trip. We had a great time with those we got to see. Taylor was very excited about getting to ride Tommy. Here she is learning all about how to get a horse ready to ride. She brushed his body and combed his tail. (She is not quite ready to put the saddle on yet, but she would probably try!) So Tommy got a little bit of much needed excercise and Taylor had a great time on him with her cousins Caitlyn and Micah. Taylor is a girl after my own heart when it comes to horses, and it is neat to see her love for them develop. Thanks, Darin and Jody, for all your help!














Taylor and Caitlyn on Tommy.














Taylor leading Tommy like a read pro.















Taylor takes Aubrey for a ride! Aubrey likes the saddle horn. 

Texas size fun!

 

Way to go, Josh!

Many of you know that last weekend our family went to Chicago to watch Josh run in the Chicago marathon. This was his second marathon in two years. He ran it with our neighbor David and my cousin Scott. We had a great time with Josh's old friends who now live in Chicago, and Taylor and their son were running non-stop all day Saturday. That is why Taylor fell asleep while we were waiting to see Josh in the marathon! We connected at miles 13 and 26, and we were glad to see him smiling at both! Taylor was looking very carefully for her daddy at mile 13, and she was very excited to see him. But, after a hot chocolate and cookie break, she fell asleep on the way to the mile 26 spot. Aubrey did not have to battle the cold and the wind because Josh's wonderful friends offered to keep her for the day. There was rain in the forecast but we are so thankful it never came!
Josh had problems with his knees and ankles all duringhis training and at mile 13 of the marathon he informed me that he felt like "his leg was about to fall off" it hurt so bad. But he never stopped until he crossed the finish! He says now he is ready to move on from marathons to triathlons so his body won't get such a beating. And for now he is resting his body while his brain is on overload with seminary classes and life decisions (very long story).





When we got back home Josh fell asleep on the couch, and Taylor decided he needed a blanket in order to have a truly good nap. So she took care of her daddy and gave him her kitty blanket. 

A Day in The Country

This was one of those days you hope you never forget. I almost decided not to go, because staying home would have been easier. But it was a nice day and I didn't know when we would have another chance to go. So we packed a lunch and took a trip to the apple orchard. The drive there was wonderful, the girls and I had a wonderful time together, it was wonderful to be in the counrty again, and the apples were wonderful! Thank you, Lord for convincing me to go!

 

 

 

Playing at the Botanical Gardens

This is a little video clip. I don't know if this works.

 

Botanical Gardens

The girls and I took a trip to the Botanical Gardens to take some "one-year-old" pictures of Aubrey. These (above and below) were my favorites.....(She is wearing a dress that I wore when I was a baby.)











*My Favorite*

More Catching up!

Here is Taylor and her friends at our neighbor Wyatt's birthday party.














Taylor helping Mommy feed Aubrey. (She still loves anything having to do with babies!)















Taylor and Aubrey watching Daddy drive off to school.
















This was back in August. Aubrey discovered she could put those rings on her arms, and we would regularly find her very proud of herself for getting them all on at once. At this particular time she also happened to be standing all by herself! Good job Aubrey!...This picture is in our playroom which we now have because the girls are sharing a room!

"Catching up"

Hello everybody! We are blogging again! We haven't done it in so long I don't know if anyone checks ours anymore, but we are up and going again! These are some pictures of this summer. I have had some trouble with my pictures lately, but I was able to make these available, more will come later...

This is the team I went to Haiti with in July. It was so great to be back after not having been there for over 5 years! Things haven't changed too much. We got to stay at the Harvest orphanage in Port-au-Prince for a few days and then we went down to Joli Gilbert to do medical training with the church leaders in the area, and do a medical clinic. As always, we witnessed God's mighty and loving hand miltiple times in those two weeks, and we were blessed.
While I was in Haiti, Josh was with Taylor and Aubrey driving up to St. Louis and getting everything moved back in by himself!! He is superman! I was so blessed -but not surprised- to come home to St. Louis and find the house and the girls all doing great. Josh was pretty worn out, but he still had a big smile on his face!

We got to go to the Bahamas with my parents and then stay with the whole John Leininger family. We also got to spend some time with Kelly and Richard there. Kelly took this picture of us at the beach.



















We had a great time playing with our friends and family in San Antonio.
















And we got to eat at Mague's ("Maggie's"), our favorite mexican place in Boerne.