rub-a-dub-dub 2 babies in a tub

my big kids

Who needs a sandwich torn up into tiny bites?  Not us!!!

Branson 2011

 Ready to roll in our "Branson...or Bust!" shirts.  We headed out on Saturday for our annual trip to Branson.  The babies did great in the car (except for their 20 and 40 minute naps!) and we made it in one piece.  Everyone slept well for being away from home and Ryan and Kate had the time of their lives hanging out with all of their family.  We enjoyed our trip very much and are already looking forward to next summer!

 Our favorite daily activity: swimming at the pool with cousins!  What could be better than a mega water gun fight???

 Some mean high chair dancing at the Hard Luck Diner.  The servers sing there and the babies always have a fabulous time.

 family pics in blue (good job photographer Julie!)

Per tradition, on our last day we had breakfast at the Grand Country Buffet.  We always hit up the "love chair" and the gift shop after breakfast, but this year we were delighted to find that they had a new attraction: the super giant claw machine!  We were sure at $2.50 a pop we would never win one of the giant balls, but imagine our surprise when Matt won on his first try!  Never mind that the ball was so big it had to ride home with Justin and Jessica!!!

to-do

What to do when your "to-do's" are longer than your list???  Make another list of course!  We are getting ready for our annual Mills family trip to Branson, and as evidenced by the above photo, I am one tired mama!  And obviously, I am not done yet.  I think as the babies have gotten bigger, my list has gotten longer.  If we continue at this rate, I'll be out of paper soon!

6 years!!!

What were you doing 6 years ago tonight???  Well, right about now, Matt and I were driving away from our wedding reception as our friends and family waved and cheered.  We were headed to Tulsa to spend the night and fly out early (and I do mean VERY early) the next morning for our honeymoon cruise.  What a special night!  It is hard to believe 6 years have already passed us by, it seems so fast that I can't imagine how it must feel to have been married for 20, 30, 50 years, as some of our family have been.  We got to celebrate today by going to the movies for the first time in about 24 months (we think) and then having a nice, quiet dinner all by ourselves.  What a treat!  Per tradition, we then came home and watched our wedding video together.  I think it is always nice to look back on a very special time in our lives and remember "what we agreed to" as Matt says.  I look at the "kids" we were in our wedding video, and I think that although we had no idea what was coming (the hard work that a good marriage is and the tough realities of this life) we were so in love and so happy.  It reminds me of how I want us to look at each other more often and how we need to strive to maintain our wedding vows, especially through the hard times.  I have a wonderful husband.  He's not perfect (and who really is?) but he is an excellent father and leads our home as Christ has commanded him.  He is a good son and son-in-law.  He works hard to provide for our family.  The Lord has blessed us with each other and 2 precious babies, among many other blessings.  In this, our 7th year of marriage, I pray that both of us take more time to focus on our blessings and thank our heavenly Father.  May this be our best year yet!

suit up!!!

All ready for our first swim of the season in our new turtle "pool"

OOOH! This water is COLD!

Little Princess all wrapped up in her princess towel

Little Mr. was not so ready to get out!

sno cones are yummy!

What are we waitin' for dad? Let's eat!

Who needs to be spoon fed when I can clearly feed myself??? (And yes, that is mama wearing a white shirt to feed babies sno cones...fortunately, my legs took most of the mess!)

mmm...that looks good...can I get a bite???

thanks for sharing dad!!!

Playin' at the Park

Daddy needed to mow tonight (really had to since the rain combined with sunshine was giving us really high grass really quickly!) so we needed something to do to get us out of the house. Fortunately, my sister-in-law and niece were also bored at home, so we met up at the park for some cousin play time. Obviously, Katie was pretty thrilled! As we waited on Aunt Jess and Cori, Ryan looks up at me from the stroller and says "go, mama!" his new command to keep me moving. So I guess this means we are now speaking in complete sentences?!?

Sliding is so much fun that its darn near impossible to get a picture! Believe it or not, this was actually the best pic out of 5...but we sure had a good time!!!