Back to Louisiana!

 Well...I've been back to visit Nathan twice since we've moved back here to AZ.  I don't have all the pics from the first trip....Nathan has them on his camera (which is now getting on a bus to go across the WORLD!) But we had a great time together! We drove to Dallas (after buying a new battery for the car...after the car wouldn't start...after the first gas stop...AND after the first hotel stay!) We went to Six Flags and ate lots of Shrimp Margarita's at Rockfish! 

These next pics are from the second trip...I brought Taylor along with me and we stayed at the best Bed and Breakfast ever! The first night there were two other families there but the 2nd and 3rd night we had the whole house to ourselves! It was awesome! They had tons of chickens and Taylor got to get the eggs and put them in the basket.

So glad we got to see Nathan again before he leaves. Now the countdown begins!

Kaylin's {early} 3rd Birthday Party!

 The Birthday Girl!!! We love you Kaylin!

Careena, Gwen, and Taylor hanging out...waiting for everyone to show up. 

 The {upside down} cake!

 She got alot of fun toys! Thanks everyone!!!

 Kaylin with her cousins Logan, and Dallan!

 Lincoln and Taylor trying to wake up Nellie!

 All the kids riding the train!

Hope you enjoyed your early birthday party Kaylin!!!

Goose egg.

We went to the park yesterday and had lots of fun! Taylor loved to drive the bus.

Kaylin loved taking Daddy's order.

Taylor loved squeezing her chubbiness into the swing.

Taylor also loved spinning around.

So did Kaylin.

She also loved getting a big huge goose egg on her head after running into a table.

Just in case you care....

We got a new car!!
Welcome to the family Mr. Jeep Commander. Kaylin and Taylor love your built in DVD player and leather seats safe for spills. And I love your third row seat perfect for when we have extra riders! (Except for my mom and dad who still prefer to sit snuggly between the girls' car seats.)

I can finally put Taylor's hair in pigtails!

I highlighted my hair for $3.00!!

The girls love playing dress up...with anything!

And they are the cutest little models EVER!!!

Decorating...and table redo!

Okay...if you haven't discovered thrift stores...please do so as soon as possible!! For real!! Seriously, thrift stores light up my life. Just come with me sometime and you'll see what I mean. Its like a caffeine high without the caffeine! (the wreath will be a future project I'm sure)

My mom bought me this mirror...I couldn't bring myself to pay $15. (see how cheap I am??...its a curse) But c'mon $15 for a huge mirror probably dating back to the 50's!??! She couldn't let me leave without it. Thanks Mom!!


Here is a before pic of the chairs (sorry, no before pic of the table) that we got from our neighbors FOR FREE!!! Please don't give me free stuff that feel like I have to use even if it doesn't go with my house at all! I had to make it match my decor and it was a pain in the you know what...but it was worth it!
I tried spray painting the metal white but it wasn't working too great so I found some "whoops" paint at Wal-Mart for $3.00 (it was a little more yellow then I wanted but hey, you can't beat three bucks for paint!)
And guess where i found this cute, cute fabric?!? Yep, you guessed it...the THRIFT STORE!!! For $3.00!!! I would have paid like $15 or more a yard for similar fabric!!! It was an old table cloth that I just cut to size and then hammered it on. (sounds alot easier then it was...just ask my fingers)
So... Free table, $12 on spray paint that didn't work (boo), $3 on yellow paint, $3.00 on fabric and I have a cute new table for $18!! Nathan will be so excited when he gets home! (Ha!)

New Orleans!

Nathan's gone :( for training....again! He'll be gone til the 26th. So my mom and dad decided to come stay with me and the girls while he is away. Me and the girls picked them up in New Orleans last Tuesday and we stayed and played there for a few days. This post has a bunch of pics...thanks to my mom!
Eating at Bubba Gump's!!! It was SOOOOO delicious!!
Our friendly waitress who sang songs with Kaylin.

This was our hotel lobby. It was an old factory that they converted into a hotel.

Wore them out!
We on a swamp tour the next day and saw LOTS of alligators! Here's the nasty swamp water!!
And a nasty big bug on our boat!
And a NASTY alligator!

And an "alligator house" as Kaylin would say.
Later that day we went to an old plantation house. It was called Oak Alley because of all the old oak trees that were lined up in front of it. It was so pretty! The trees were over 300 years old!


We went to an aquarium the next day.


And then we went to the Children's Museum. The girls had a blast! It was one of the best children's museums we've been too.



They had the cutest miniature grocery store. Both the girls were in heaven!


These pics were from the next day in Baton Rouge...we decided to stay a night there too. We went to the Rural Life Museum were they had houses and antiques from the 1800's...it was really neat.

Another nasty big bug!!!


We missed you Daddy!!!!!