Sea World

Carigan did not want to be close to Furry Shamu!!!

I could have stayed here all day petting and feeding these sweet dolphins!!!

We are waiting to watch out first show...the Sea Lions - The best show there!!!

We ended up in the splash zone unaware, but praise God we didn't get one drop on us...cold day!

Here is the link of all our pictures and two videos from our Sea World Trip! Check them out!http://picasaweb.google.com/chadandcrystal/SeaWorld?authkey=Gv1sRgCODVrJ7Xkbm6Qg

The Girl's First Roller Coaster Ride!!!

So we took the girls to Sea World this past Saturday on Family Christian Day! We had so much fun during their first trip to the park. Chad and I hadn't been since we were really young, so it was like experiencing it for the first time too. One thing that the girls kept asking to do was to ride this roller coaster. I couldn't believe it. They were so excited in the long line waiting our turn. Carigan could hardly control her patience during the wait...which was the theme of the Veggie Tale's story that we watched earlier in the day. Cami wanted to ride with Dad and Cari rode with me. She was tall enough, but still seemed so little to me as she was sitting in the seat. As the ride took off, she started to slide under the bar...so I just held her hand in hopes of keeping her in the cart with me. Cami and Chad were so cool with their arms up and I have a death grip on Cari. They had a lot of fun!

I love my kids!!!

This chair has fun written all over it!!!

"If you live like no one else, you can live like no one else!"

Can I do a little shout out....



Chad and I are officially debt free for the first time in our lives!!! Well, except for our new home! But we are both driving paid for vehicles and we don't have any credit card balances, loans, or hospital debt to our name. It was a goal of ours for a long time and we praise God that we finally got there. We are now in the process of saving up 3 months of salary and are working on making a will for our children's sake. We learned it all in this book!!!

With the talk of the economy is shambles...we managed to become free of debt, while sadly our country goes deeper into debt. Everyone has tips for saving money now, but Chad and I have been doing this for years and on just his salary alone because I longed to be home with my girls. We have shared meals, clipped coupons, and watched for sales...and we still do!

With God all things are possible!

Something fun to do with the kid-o's!!!

This fall Chad and I planted a tomato and Serrano pepper plant and we yielded a surprising harvest. It was so much fun!!! We decided to put them in pots and add basil and cilantro. We also let the girls pick a plant - they wanted a strawberry plant. If you look closely, you can see the tiny strawberry growing.

It has been very educational and fun to grow our own veggies and fruit. I would encourage you to plant one as well. They are very pretty because each plant has a different color flower that will bloom first and that is where the fruit or pepper grows from. I am sure they grow better in the ground, but we wanted to see how well they would do in our pots.

We use the pepper and cilantro to make salsa...we make salsa a lot!!!

We have also planted peach trees, blackberry bushes, and fig trees. My grandparents grew a lot in their backyard, so it is a fun memory I wanted to create for us as well.

Our Anniversary Weekend…9 years!!!

Our theme this past weekend was trying new things.
On Thursday we dropped our precious girls off with their grandparents and Chad and I had the weekend to ourselves. That Thursday we went to Main Event in Austin and tried ROCKCLIMBING for the first time. Let's just say it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I got scared and then clung to the wall afraid to let go and glide down. Finally I trusted the rope and let go. After a few tries I finally made it up to the very top and got to ring the bell. Chad was very proud of me and I was pretty proud of myself too. Chad, on the other hand, was like Spider Man up there. He was awesome!!!

Friday we had a private dance lesson!!! We learned the Waltz and Swing! We had so much fun!!! Afterwards, Chad talked me into ice skating. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

We finished the weekend up with shopping, dinner, and a movie. It was a great anniversary weekend staying at home and going out to try new and fun things with my hubby. I recommend it to anyone…especially the dance class!!!

Family Life

I was talking with our Pastor, Jennifer Hollar, the other day on the phone and I mentioned how I feel somewhat guilty that I don't have Carigan in any kind of classes like we did with Camille when she was that age. With Camille starting school this year, I already spend about 40 min in the jeep four times a week. It has been a huge adjustment for our family, yet I have a feeling that I will look back at this time in my life and think I had it made. Anyways, I don't want Carigan to be disappointed later down the road when she finds out that bigger sister got to do so many different things and she didn't. I know we will eventually have her in something, but I still was feeling the "Guilty Mom Syndrome". I don't want to be a mom running my children around on crazy schedules!!! We would all be miserable!!! But, I do want to give them opportunities to find their niche.

Jennifer said something to me that will change my perspective forever. She has 4 children and has a much tougher task than I do. She told me that her children don't know crazy schedules either, but what they do know is Family Life.

A light bulb went off! What a beautiful and simple statement! That is what we have and my children know so well....Family Life!!! My kids know Saturday mornings with Daddy's pancakes, they know Dad getting home around 4pm everyday during the week, they know obstacle courses in the living room, movie nights with Mom and Dad, girls day out with me, and they know a huge playroom up stairs that they can play in anytime. Family Life...I never thought of it as an experience before, but it so is! What great memories they will have growing up. I never will feel guilty again! It made me so grateful for what we have as a family. Thanks Jen!!!