Last years photo shoot

At the end of last year we had a photo shoot with Eng from E. Smith Photography. We love how all the pictures turned out! Our favorite picture is the one that we use for the header of our blog. (I can't believe that I didn't post any of these pictures until now.)

Changes

Ken and I have been working on sprucing up our home. First up was painting the whole down stairs. This was quite the undertaking! It took longer than we thought but we are happy with the results. We still have to paint the stair way and the walls that go all the way up to the second story. We aren't sure how we are going to reach those walls hence why we haven't done them yet. Plus we are REALLY tired of painting!

Once the new paint was on the wall it became clear to me that we needed to change some furniture around and bring in new decorations. We have all dark furniture and solar screens which make the house seem really dark so I wanted to try to brighten up the place with light accessories. (I was so glad my Mom was visiting and could help with this...thanks Mom!) We really like how everything turned out.

(Sorry if the "after" pictures are a bit fuzzy. My camera is having issues.)

Before

After

Before

 

After

Before

After

Once we find a big rustic red Texas star we will hang it to the left of the T.V.

Our t.v. stand has always been a source of aggravation for me. With a toddler and dog in the house the glass on it always looked dirty. There were finger prints on the inside and out and it was really hard to get clean. Like  I said it always looked dirty. Here was my easy and inexpensive fix. But 8 sheets of 12x12 scrapbook paper of a subtle design. Then cut them to fit each pane of glass and use double sided tape to attach it. Now you can no longer see any fingerprints (or anything else) on the glass.  I love how it turned out! In fact, this might just be my favorite change in our house. 

Before (well I had already started the project)

Some baskets to help with organization

After

Happy Easter Bunny

Well that is what Katie went around saying anyway.

Easter weekend we went with the singles branch to Fossil Rim. We had a great time like always but this time was a little different because we got to go on one of their big buses and have a guided tour. It was really cool to hear all the facts about the place and the animals. Katie loved being able to run around on the bus. ;)

Katie loves Bonnie (bottom right) from the branch. She gets so excited whenever she sees her.

After we parted ways with the singles branch we headed over to the Dinosaur Valley State Park. We were so excited to see actual dinosaur prints. It is pretty amazing to know that we were standing where dinosaurs once did.

Easter day was beautiful. Katie enjoyed her basket, bike, going to church to see all her friends, and celebrate Christ resurrection. Unfortunately, I woke up with a huge headache and wasn't able to join them at church. All in all, it was a great day. We are so thankful for all Jesus did for us!

 We hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Happy Easter Bunny from our family to yours!

Here we go again

This morning Katie had a friend over to play and it was so much fun watching the two of them run around together. It makes me really excited for the day when another baby will join our family. Katie will make such a wonderful big sister.

Speaking about adding another member to our family....Ken and I recently re-listed our adoption profile on itsaboutlove.org. We feel that we have been able to heal from our failed placement and we are excited to "start" over again. We waited to re-list until we felt ready to start a new relationship with a perspective birth mom/dad and we are now completely ready and excited for this!

Thanks again for all the prayers and support that you have sent our way!

Texas Bluebonnets are in Bloom