rayner shine

january 4th birthday boy

2012-01-24T13:35:00.000-08:00

it's gonna be tough having a birthday right after christmas! we'll do better next year, buddy.

happiest baby ever. can't believe he's already a year old!

homemade party hats and daddy's pancakes. pretty good celebration if you ask me!

sweet big sister

freddy got a chair just like laurel's. now she has to teach him how to get out of it safely. he likes to just dive out of it. i remember laurel doing the same thing!

big boy at his doctor appointment that morning. i'm so very thankful for this precious, happy, HEALTHY, wonderful little one year old!!!

happy new year!

2012-01-24T11:24:00.000-08:00

we went to keystone with pops and abbi. what a blast - thank you mom and dad!!!

can you tell how much laurel likes her new helmet and ski boots?

freddy had lots of abbi-dates, and laurel got some good pops-dates. check out Belle hitching a ride in pops' pocket. so funny.

p and i got to ski together all day!

we loved hanging out (mostly eating) in the condo

pops went with us to A-basin and got to watch laurel ski!

look at her go!

we celebrate new years eve at lunch on top of the mountain. so cool!
thanks again pops and abbi. come back soon!!!

joy to the world!

2012-01-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

we got some snow the week before Christmas.

this little guy loves to watch it! how cute are those carharts?!? thanks, kissy!

buddy and kissy got into town on Christmas eve eve. we love having our grands here!

we had an incredible new orleans breakfast on Christmas eve. eggs hussard. absolutely worth the work (and calories). delicious!!!

kissy helped laurel make some Christmas cookies :-)

this big boy always just goes with the flow

after the Christmas eve service at church, laurel got to open one present from kissy. and then proceeded to wear it for the next 3 days. i think she likes it, kissy!

she also got a special grand to grand princess necklace from kissy. so sweet. i love the kissy hug and i love her showing her daddy her new necklace. :-)

the night before Christmas -- all set!

no, they weren't trick candles. we just haven't mastered that skill yet...

freddy's feet!

she doesn't quite know what to do with herself!

super excited about her helmet and the Lion King dvd...

thanks for the matching pjs, B! they were perfect.

the fredster. so many new toys (and mama's new mixing bowls) to play with!

all boy

family shot

she's blurry in the picture on the right bc she's jumping up and down. that's what she does when she gets excited. like a jack russell terrier. i love it!

note the jumping...

in princess heaven

abbi and pops flew in that day. yay!! yes we realize it is a blessing that are parents love to hang out and that we actually want them all here at once. the only problem is that it's never long enough! we had another outstanding meal that night - pot roast, mashed potatoes, creamed collard greens, cornbread, and dark chocolate caramel sea salt tart for dessert. YUM!!

pops got a tour of the castle, with his martini :-)

our cups runneth over. what a very merry Christmas. thank you, Jesus.

parties

2012-01-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

the kids and i got to go to the Christmas party at pat's office

some of our friends were there!

a jolly old man even showed up. freddy wanted no part of him.

a family photo!

then we had a party at our house for the ladies in my bible study.

and their husbands...

and all the kids...
we had a great night. it's the most wonderful time of the year!

some Christmas prep

2012-01-04T11:17:00.000-08:00

on the way home from the airport after the trip to mississippi, on facetime with grandparents, sharing her highlights magazine with little brother, into the toy box, and happy happy boy!

laurel's preschool Christmas program was awesome. and by awesome i mean entertaining ;-) listen closely - i think we may have a performer on our hands... (p.s. i forgot the video camera that morning, so these are taken with my canon. not the greatest quality, but you get the gist.)

a bunch of gifts from GOD to us

mary did HAVE a baby BOY

there was a cow

Jesus is God's promise of peace

Jesus loves us, we will jingle for joy!

laurel's good friend, marley, and her mom christine

happy birthday to Jesus! laurel was the "line leader" that day, so she got to blow out the candle

thank you, B, for the outfit!

old stuff

2012-01-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

photo ops

cuba gooding, jr came to usafa

superfans

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

2011-12-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

more turkey in tupelo

2011-12-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

the whole crew

on our way to the egg bowl. tired bulldog and tired rebel.

the tailgate was fun. the game, not so much...

birthday girl! double digits - can't believe it. we love you maury!

delta thanksgiving

2011-12-19T20:16:00.001-08:00

better late than never on posting, right? we had a fabulous thanksgiving day feasting and celebrating in clarksdale, mississippi. thank you livelys for hosting!

we were laughing bc ginger pointed out that all 4 of these could be ours, age-wise. yikes!

look at those new boots. thank you kissy!

photo shoot at the shack up inn

i'm with you, ginger. my favorite. man, are we blessed!!!!

turkeys

2011-12-19T20:12:00.000-08:00

laurel's preschool had a thanksgiving feast. pretty cute.

lala and her friends, marley and ashley

ladybug!

10 months

2011-11-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

sorry for the overkill. i just couldn't leave any of these out...

boo-tiful week

2011-11-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

we had a fun lunch with mindy and anneliese last friday

the girls, after their impromptu dance party

monday morning target run. wanted to get the most out of that precious puppy costume. thanks, B! it was perfect!

we went to the platings' that night for pizza, trick-or-treating, and games. paula was a pretty tough football player, and joel was the cutest mater you've ever seen.

PRINCESS ariel, prince eric, and their puppy. :-) laurel has stopped calling pat daddy and only refers to him as prince eric. for example, this morning when she woke up: "mommy, did prince eric already go to work?"

*loves*

i was scrambling for a last minute costume. ended up as a skier, stuck in the 80s.

caveman, brides, not sure what nate was...

candy! candy! candy!

precious thing. thank you platings! we had a blast.

snow day

2011-10-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

this happened this morning. i looked over and he was standing up! he was SO proud of himself.

little dolphin

2011-10-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

winter is here!

2011-10-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

laurel is still taking swim lessons and is doing a fantastic job. she's such a little fish! i'll try to get a video soon.

on monday, we put freddy in the water for the last 5 minutes of laurel's lesson. he wasn't so sure about it. so i signed us up for "mommy and me" (maybe "daddy and me"?) classes on the next 4 saturdays mornings.

orange day at laurel's preschool. freddy had to participate, because, seriously, how cute is that outfit?

today we got our first big snow (we missed the one earlier this month)

hard to believe that one week ago today i was sitting out there on the deck in the sun with my friends!

laurel surprises me every week with how much she's learning at school!

girls' weekend

2011-10-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

last week/weekend 4 of my college buddies came to visit. (p had a boys' weekend at the usafa game in boise.) it was so much fun to have my furman friends here! 3 of them had never even been to colorado...

on wednesday night, we celebrated caroline's birthday at the broadmoor. fabulous atmosphere, food, and friends!

on friday we loaded up and headed to the mountains. loading up 5 ladies + their luggage + freddy was a bit of a chore. can you tell i'm standing on a ladder to pack the car-top carrier?!

we spent the weekend at our friend cara's in-laws' house in the mountains. our mascot freddy made himself right at home

me, caroline, cara, stephanie, and maureen on a walk - ellen must've taken this one

on saturday we all (6 ladies and 2 babies) somehow fit into cara's car and went over to breckenridge for the afternoon

fredster was SUCH a trooper!

it couldn't have been a more beautiful day

there's a photo of all of us (top right) - cara, maureen, stephanie, ellen, caroline, and me.
freddy and cara's 8 week old, greta, were angel babes.

another group shot

love these friends!

an early sunday morning, packing up and heading back to the denver airport. thank you, sweet friends, for making the trip. can't wait til next year!!!

meanwhile...

laurel spent the weekend with our friends, the platings. she had such a fun time! i love that photo of joel and laurel and hope.

lala rode a horse for the first time!!!

thank you, platings, for loving our little girl!

fabulous fall

2011-10-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

a random collection of photos...

a house divided

our beautiful red tree in the front yard

chubby boy. i love those knee rolls!

lala's preschool photo in the middle. love it!

smiles

2011-10-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

a few school outfits...

can you tell which day was white day? we were sick for pink day :-( so we had to go all out on purple day!

thursday night we watched the falcons get beat :-( but it was still a ton of fun!

fmr

getting a little colder here!

nashville nuptials

2011-10-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

last weekend we went to nashville for my cousin daniel's wedding. we also got to see several good friends who live there. what a bonus!

lala with williams (aka will-ee-yums)

uncle sims with porter and freddy

lunch with mom, dad, mary, kirk, rich, and uncle john. thanks uncle john!

the boys and their babes. it was beautiful in music city. meanwhile, it was SNOWING at home. that's right. october 8th. our friends said we got 5 inches! of course, not a trace of it when we got home...

dinner with sims and leslie, john & whitney, emily, susannah, trent & kristen, and rebekah & john. what fun!!

handsome daniel and his beautiful bride, ching li

gorgeous setting

we love weddings. :-)

especially when we get to see COUSINS

i love these. wish i had had my good camera. story of my life...

easiest. baby. ever. seriously.

mary stuckey. :-)

precious fredster

dinner at local taco in brentwood. did i mention it was MY HUSBAND'S BIRTHDAY? we got to celebrate over breakfast with trent and kristen, then with birthday (wedding) cake, then over a pitcher of margaritas. pretty good day!

thanks pops!

the bond sisters. love these two!

time to go home. little trooper.

whoa whoa

2011-10-07T11:23:00.001-07:00

mount herman

2011-10-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

on sunday after church, we climbed a mountain!

laurel hiked the entire 2 miles up to the top. she may have complained a little, but she made it and we were so proud of her!

this was no easy hike. in some places it was very steep and rocky. can you find freddy?

the views were gorgeous from the beginning. all the aspens are changing to a beautiful golden color.

at the top. we did it!

we could see the denver sky line to the north and the academy and pike's peak to the south

we had a yummy cookie when we got to the top.

laurel hitched a ride for part of the way down. at one point she told pat "be careful daddy, i'm trying to go to sleep." well excuse me!!!

then she got her second wind...

my legs were trembling when we got back to the car, but i'm ready to find another mountain to climb!

last week

2011-10-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

church clothes

new trick!

we drove to denver to see cara and louisa and to meet baby greta! isn't she precious?

big boy LOVES sitting up in the grocery cart and checking everybody out

almost as much as he loves his swing. :-)

and his puppy dog.

we love afternoons in our back yard!

dave came over to watch the air force - navy game with us. what a game! yay falcons!

saturday night laurel and i had a date. we went to dinner and then went to see a play! the first of many special dates, i hope.

meanwhile, daddy and freddy watched football and played. looks like they did just fine without us!

falcon fans, stand up and yell A.F.A.!!!!

2011-10-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

laurel participated in a cheerleading clinic on friday night, then "performed" a cheer and a dance at the game the next day. here are some shots from the clinic...

i love the top right photo - think they've all got it???

our friend hope went with us. she really knows what she's doing!

of course freddy enjoyed watching all the girls :-)

my handsome boys

BLUE and WHITE!

we didn't get a video of laurel on the field. we were too busy looking for her! but you can see here how many girls participated and how much fun they had.

in case you're wondering, here's who we root for at our house. go team(s)!

school days

2011-10-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

laurel started preschool when we got back from the beach. she was so excited. can you tell?

all set!

my shape is the blue triangle!

i love this! the teacher calls laurel to get in line and notice where she goes. ha!

silly precious little preschooler

meanwhile... the fredster is:

and still the happiest baby ever.

kissy and buddy came that weekend. we spent a lot of time at the academy. it was the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and we were moved to tears several times

go falcons!

sunday after we dropped kissy and buddy off at the airport, we spent the afternoon with our friend dietz in denver. what a fabulous family day!

my favorite video ever. (so far...)

silver beach, 2011

2011-09-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

the annual johnston family reunion at the beach labor day weekend. we had everyone there (31 people) for the first time in a very long time. crazy and wonderful!

partners - rebecca and laurel

don't worry cece, your partner will be ready to play next year!

hooray!!! daddy's here!!! such a cute daddy...

birthday celebration. 65 and dirty thirty!

i love this family!!!

some merrills

the original 4, duncan trying to explain something to freddy, and the angry ocean. it rained all weekend. i didn't get in the pool or ocean one single time. :-(

champion travelers. seriously.

goodnight irene!

2011-09-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

after mary's wedding, we had to flee the northeast a day early, thanks to hurricane irene. it ended up being a blessing, though, b'c after a hard travel day we got an unexpected day of rest at smith lake. :-)twins?

i haven't even mentioned yet how much i was missing my husband. man! especially at mary's wedding. life is just not as much fun when he's not around.

i was also missing this little squirt. freddy and i went to clarksdale on monday morning to pick her up. i'm glad she was excited to see me - i was afraid she might not want to go back with me!

so good to visit with kissy, ginger, warner, and jackson

woo woo!

jacky mac!

that's a WHOLE lot of love happening right there...

precious precious

after lunch and naptime in clarksdale, we drove back to tupelo. but first we had to stop in oxford for dinner at proud larry's with good friends. look at little dolly mcclendon and little gibson rayner in their tutus! (posing on the square and playing with johnny barrett on the courthouse lawn)

freddy got a bottle from stewart and some love from ev. in my favorite of our wedding photos, pat and i are standing right where laurel is on those courthouse steps...

back in tupelo. quality time with abbi, dress up time, and time with posey.

the x factor

2011-09-29T14:36:00.001-07:00

ready for the next season!

2011-09-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

do you think they look alike? that's laurel on the left and freddy on the right - both taken around 7 months old

meanwhile...

2011-09-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

laurel had a very special kissy date in texas

they went to the mall and the aquarium and the disney store!

and apparently ate a LOT of ice cream! happy happy girl. then they drove a looooong time to get to clarksdale for...

jackson's birthday party! happy birthday, big boy. can't believe you're two already. wish we all could've been there. so glad lala was!

the only air force falcon in the bunch. :-)

next stop... cape cod!

2011-09-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

laurel got to stay in texas while my little boyfriend and i flew to boston for my cousin mary's wedding on the cape.

freddy was a great traveler and it felt much better in massachusetts!

i finally got to meet my cousin richie's little girl isabella and her new little sister, clara. so precious! freddy's new best friend was isabella's grandfather, joao.

kirk and rich's house on the cape. i want to spend a couple of weeks here...

richie and renata hosted the rehearsal dinner at their house on the cape. cutie patootie taylor (mary's then fiance) and yummy lobster!

love these pics of the snell "kids." all grown up. top left picture - richie, alex, mary ramsey, and adam.

adam dishing out breakfast, mary getting her hair-do done

hooray! praise you Lord for this precious married couple. :-)

i stole these off renata's blog, so they're a bit blurry. doesn't kirk look beautiful?

cutest kids at the wedding, hands down. i love isabella's dress. of course renata is always stunning. i love y'all!

the wedding was gorgeous

but not as gorgeous as the bride. man! she is just breathtaking. love you, sweet mary. thank you for letting me be a part of that special day!

deep in the HOT of texas...

2011-09-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

we (all 4 of us) got to spend a weekend at kissy and buddy's house. then daddy left and we just kept having fun!

laurel had a blast at the jump zone

we cooled off in the backyard

we explored the indoor safari park...

i can't believe she actually found two pink balls in there -- she went straight to them!

train ride and a happy happy girl!

monster boo boo at chickfila. ice cream fixes everything :-)

swimming with our friends at lifetime.

we had a fabulous visit, kissy and buddy. thank you so much. we love you!!

camping trip (in a cabin)

2011-09-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

last month we ventured out for our only "camping" trip this summer. we rented a cabin up near aspen and had a wonderful weekend!

on friday we drove to aspen and took the bus to maroon bells -- one of the most photographed spots in the country. and here you see why...

the view is breathtaking

bottom left, here, you see a grove of aspens. they are everywhere! the nearby town is aptly named.

laurel is SUCH a good little hiker. she tripped and fell several times (surprise, surprise kissy), but the only time she cried was when we would not let her go see the bear some other hikers spotted. yikes!

i couldn't stop taking pictures. it was so gorgeous!

last one..

hanging out at the cabin. i love the top picture, but i had to put the bottom one on here too so you could see what laurel is reading to daddy.

happy campers. :-)

they're growing up so quickly!

lala and the fredster shared a room. we could barely wedge the packnplay in beside the bed, but we did it! and it actually worked -- they both slept well. mama made homemade biscuits on saturday morning. yummy tummy!

then we drove to glenwood springs, about 10 minutes away. they have the largest hot springs pool in the world! they have to pump cold water into both pools (one is 98 degrees and one is 104 degrees), bc the actual hot springs are 120 degrees!

our little swimmer had a ball of course. see her out there with daddy?

i think freddy liked it too...

back at the cabin, being silly

s'mores and dirty summer feet! what could be better than that???

thank you daddy. we had a fabulous time! can't wait til next year...

more summer photos

2011-09-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

big girl at the dentist

happy little falcon

sweet big sister

ready to go to the denver aquarium

had so much fun with cara, claire, and louisa. the denver aquarium even has MERMAIDS!

love this

north georgia rayners

2011-07-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

last weekend, pat's uncle craig and his family came to visit us. we had SO MUCH FUN!

laurel with sydney, cole pushing freddy, and laurel's room all set up for one boy and one girl.

TO THE TOP!

on saturday we rode the cog railroad from manitou springs to the top of pike's peak.

some of what we saw. no, i'm not on my phone -- i'm holding the cap to the camera.

the end of the rail. it was breathtaking, in more ways than one.

what a great picture! too bad little bit isn't looking up.

best buds

on monday, while pat worked, we went to eat lunch in old colorado city, went by the broadmoor, and got ice cream at our favorite place downtown. what a great day!

then pat joined us for dinner at colorado mountain brewery.

little trooper with his great uncle craig. ha!

we had a fabulous weekend. thank you craig, angela, sydney, and cole! can't wait to see y'all again soon. we love you!

6 months and stuff

2011-07-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

this is what we looked like this month...

big boy!

big, hilarious girl

sooo sweet to her little brother. on the other hand, he puts up with a LOT!

polka dots!

fun in the backyard. the water in the pool was so cold, we had to warm up a little bit. :-)

helping daddy cook. pretty sure there are delicious pancakes in that bowl

happy boy

before church

nom nom

2011-07-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

happy fourth!

2011-07-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

the hardest part of having a party is having to say goodbye. :-(

God bless America!

nowadays

2011-07-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

lala wants to play dress up every single day. freddy loves to just be in a diaper. i'm lucky if i just get a shower. :-)

we got to spend a fun evening downtown last week with our friends, the rampeys. laurel loved playing with their boys.

some family shots

2011-07-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

home, sweet home!

2011-07-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

my boys. :-)

we got to spend a little more time with the dreyers before they moved back home to south africa.
*sniff, sniff *

funny, funny kiddos!

we love these friends!

this one breaks my heart.

summer videos

2011-07-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

20 years!

2011-07-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

freddy and i took marj and the boys back to the nashville airport, spent the next night in memphis with our good friends the hallidays, then drove through oxford for lunch on the way back to tupelo. and i only have one picture to show for it!

but it sure is a cute one. this is freddy and his friend, otis. wish we lived in the same place!

that friday night laurel helped me get ready for my first 20th high school reunion party. then saturday i drove to memphis and picked up my honey!

we went to oxford first. loved hanging out with ev, johnny, macon, and rhes. then got to go to stewart and brooke rutledge's wedding. so glad we could make it!

ended the night at tupelo country club for the second half of my THS 20th reunion weekend. whew, what a whirlwind. but so much fun!

special time w/ pops and abbi

2011-07-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

more more lake time

2011-07-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

boat ride. pops and andre were big buds. the birmingham johnstons joined us!

movie time

roly poly

the game of life, pops on the deck, happy boy with abbi, yummy homemade pizza

talking to derick in australia on skype

happy birthday, marj!!

more lake time

2011-07-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

the other reason we went to nashville was to pick up marjorie and the boys at the airport.

and to take them back with us to smith lake. yay! so glad that they made it, after a nightmare travel experience. hope it was worth it for them! we loved it.

andre and laurel had a ball together, as usual. fourie loved being on the boat.

sweet andre puts up with a lot.

gosh, i miss this boy

lala loves her new life jacket. can you tell?

thank you for coming to see us, marjorie, andre, and fourie. we love you!

meanwhile, daddy had to wear a jacket to have his coffee in the morning on the deck at home in colorado, by himself on father's day. :-( we love you, daddy! we missed you so much and we think you're the BEST!!!

music city

2011-07-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

freddy and i made a quick trip to nashville while lala stayed and played with abbi

i got to see some really good friends - leslie, kathryn, whitney, emily, amanda, jordan, kristen, and susan. what a treat!

i loved watching my friends love on freddy

the precious mcgown children - knox, gray, and pallas

whit and wynn, williams, les with pallas and porter. ugh, wish i could see these special ones more often!

the dabbs family. veda, cohen, kry, trent. xoxoxo

t, lovin on freddy. makes me smile.

camp tupelo

2011-07-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

next stop - pops and abbi's house in tupelo.

i really didn't put much bubble bath in there. but, boy, did it grow?! love my girl.

first bites of rice cereal for the fredster

i think we've got ourselves an eater.

loved seeing our cousins again. beautiful shots of maury and lucy. not pictured - carley holding celia back from loving freddy too hard, and laurel and rebecca running wild through the house. ha!

the mcgraws, loving on my kiddos. love y'all!

great grandmothers

2011-07-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

after the beach we got to spend a couple of nights in laurel, mississippi.

laurel and freddy loved hanging out with meme

and with B and mamaw. thank y'all for loving us so well!!

on sunday, daddy headed back toward colorado -- with a pit stop in jackson to see friends and to meet robert patrick riles. welcome, little man! i can't wait to meet you!

meanwhile, the kids and i drove over to hattiesburg to eat lunch with and see some friends there - the currys, the rileys, the youngs, and the atkinsons. thanks to the men, we girls actually got to visit!!

beach week 2011

2011-07-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

the week at the beach with kissy and buddy was wonderful, as usual. thank you, thank you, thank you!! we had so much fun with y'all and with uncle chris, ginger, woo woo, and jack jack. do we have to wait another year to do it again?

laurel, excited to be at sea n suds; the lazy river; pat helping buddy get things set up on the beach.

a rare moment of stillness.

best buds!

i LOVE this one. yep, we've got ourselves a thumb sucker. there isn't much cuter than this.

we loved playing on the beach...

and getting loved on by kissy...

and the pool...

and the lazy river...

and our new hats...

and EATING, of course!!!

ginger and i decided to go parasailing. after watching people do it for 30 years, it was about time!

it was SO MUCH fun. can you tell? i think we must've laughed 90% of the time!

love you, lil roo!

dinner at lulu's. a must. thank you, kissy, for our precious shirts.

what a week. thanks again, buddy and kissy!

hills

2011-07-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

we hung out at the lake for the rest of that week, loving every minute of it. our friend leslie brought her kids, williams and porter, down for a couple of nights. this is the only picture i got!

missed you, sims!

at the lake

2011-07-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

on may 25th, we left colorado and headed east, then south.

we had a rough start - laurel had a bit of a bug, so we stopped at the pediatrician's office on the way out of town. we were determined, and she was a trooper!

after two 11 hour days in the car, we made it to smith lake. yes!!

freddy's first boat ride

we love it

cousins, cousins, cousins. lala talks about all of you all the time. i'm sad i never had my camera out to capture precious celia in action. :-(

the challenge

not bad - and there's celia!

my boys.

sweet, smiley, happy, baby boy. we love you so much!

my favorite people in the whole wide world. i am blessed beyond measure.

thank you, abbi and pops, for another fabulous weekend at the lake. uncle, barbs, rich, carley, cousins, we had so much fun with all of you. wish we weren't so very far away. we love you all to pieces!

way back in may...

2011-07-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

here are some random shots from the month of may

the view from our deck. the left photo was taken at the end of april. the right photo was taken mid may.

goodbye neighbors! see you in the fall... :-)

dinner with our bffs, the dreyers

my two little frogs

and my artiste. sidewalk chalk works well on a swing set. who knew?

4 months

2011-05-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

mothers day 2011

2011-05-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

progress...

2011-05-19T14:33:00.001-07:00

"sew, a needle pulling fred...!"

2011-05-06T13:33:00.001-07:00

outstanding academy educator

2011-05-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

pat's colleagues in the history department voted for him to receive the prestigious outstanding academy educator award. i'm one proud military wife!!

here are a few pictures from the luncheon.

and a video from the award ceremony...

spring?

2011-05-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

colorado's version of spring has sprung in the springs...

it really is beautiful, but we're ready for a little more warmth and no more wind!

precious frog, watching sister swim

friends - laurel and andre, freddy and fourie, laurel and mollei

my little blessings

happy times

2011-04-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

dress up time. my little princess

how did this happen? how did i get SO blessed??

happy girl eating lunch outside, getting her hair cut; TIRED girl with goggle eyes at swim lessons

Happy Easter, 2011!

2011-04-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

i'm dreaming of a white... Easter??

thank you, B!!

family shot, after church at some friends' house

thank you, abbi, for our Easter outfits!

egg hunt. little girl LOVED it!

proud girl. sweet daddy.

we had a fabulous day. we missed our families, but we are rejoicing that we serve a risen Savior!!!

3 months, a little late...

2011-04-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

laurel and freddy comparison - he is SO much bigger than she was at this age! can you tell?

covenant child

2011-04-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

sweet friends celebrated this special day with us

thank you, aunt ginger, for sending the gown for freddy to wear. it was perfect!

GRANDfathers

2011-04-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

both sets of grandparents were in town last weekend for freddy's baptism. as usual, we crammed in as much activity as possible. the visit is NEVER long enough!!

my kids have the BEST grandfathers

we love you pops and buddy.

cutie pie

the big project - finishing laurel's swingset. what a happy happy little girl!

the aftermath. bloody marys for all

this old man was loving all the activity in the back yard. sweet boy will be 12 years old this july. wow...

little fish

2011-04-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

laurel is doing SUCH a good job at swim lessons! we love "miss step-anie"

proud pops

happy

2011-04-16T19:51:00.000-07:00

Arapahoe basin

2011-04-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

we squeezed in one more ski day and a great visit with my college friend cara and her family a few weekends ago

cara is expecting number 3 - maybe it'll be a little boy like the one she fell in love with that weekend :)

laurel LOVES playing with claire and louisa. the picture in the bottom left corner is just fantastic, don't you think?
thank you, kellstroms, for a fabulous weekend!

on the way home from the mountains we stopped in denver to see disney princess on ice. i wish i could've gotten a better picture! we missed the first 30 minutes b'c of snow and traffic, but it was worth the effort. we all loved it!

hardee whites

2011-04-15T19:25:00.000-07:00

alex and amanda and grady white came to visit us the second half of spring break. what a treat!

laurel and grady were SO CUTE together :)

these two are pretty cute, too, don't you think?

alex helped pat start laurel's swingset. it was a much bigger project than we had anticipated...

amanda and i took the kids for a picnic at the broadmoor while the boys went on a hike (there are some photos on facebook)

thanks for coming to see us, friends!

spring break

2011-04-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

we had a BLAST with our friends, the dreyers, at keystone over pat's spring break

lots of eating, laughing, playing, dancing...

laurel and andre's dance party

freddy and fourie, just hanging out

precious little blessings

not a lot of sleep for mommy, unfortunately. whew - looking rough!

the boys with their boys. i love these

we even did some skiing/boarding. the boys got 3 good days in.

marjorie is a saint. she kept all the kids one day and let me go skiing with the boys

on the last day marj and i took all the kiddos up the mountain on the gondola to eat lunch with their daddies.

highlight of the trip - the kids getting to watch pat and derick ski/ride under us in the gondola on the way back down the mountain.

family of four - figuring it out

2011-04-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

laurel and freddy watching "kids" on tv
laurel and some of her favorite books
this is one of the (pointless) times i got out my old journal to try to figure out WHEN laurel did WHAT

baby emma, freddy, and big sister

we said farewell to pat's 1994 4runner, aka "the brown car."what a great vehicle.

and hello to our new ride. we love having the 3rd row!

lost videos, part three

2011-04-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

just a couple more

i'm a little snowman, short and fat
here is my broomstick, here is my hat
when the sun comes out i melt away
down, down, down, i'm a puddle today!

lost videos, part two (a month later...)

2011-04-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

lost videos, part one

2011-03-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

i just found a ton of videos from around Christmas time. they will probably be incredibly boring to everyone except grandparents, great grandparents, and one great aunt in particular. enjoy!

kissy, kissy, what do you hear?

2011-03-05T13:36:00.000-08:00

2 months

2011-03-05T10:21:00.000-08:00

sweet sister letting freddy watch "ariel" with her on my phone
mommy's BEST helper!

big boy

starting to see some precious smiles!

yay! 2 months! now maybe i'll let mommy sleep some!

i love my new camera

2011-02-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

and my subjects!

back to reality

2011-02-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

everybody left, and we're making it - so far...

he looks different in EVERY picture!

our friends cara, claire, and louisa came to visit. we always have fun with them.

my little valentine

with my big valentine

littlest valentine in his church clothes. thanks kissy!

3 and 1

2011-02-17T15:54:00.000-08:00

woo woo!!!

2011-02-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

unfortunately, warner (woo woo) and ginger's flight was canceled on friday, so they missed the birthday party saturday morning. but we were so happy to see them later that day!cousins

awesome time with buddy. what a fabulous grandfather!

aunt ginger. i think she's in love.

the view from our deck before the big snow came

fun in the snow!

we miss y'all!

we love you, william warner lively. thank you for coming to see us. come back soon!

pjs and pancakes

2011-02-17T13:44:00.000-08:00

the day after laurel's birthday we celebrated with a few friends

birthday girl pajamas

sweet friends
p made delicious pink, blue, and green pancakes.

centerpieces

love this grin after she blew out her candle

family of four?!

we love kissy and buddy - SO glad they could be here!

happy

i think the cupcakes were a hit

beautiful kissy and her newest love

the chef

the kiddos

the princess, opening presents with daddy

sweet (perhaps dangerous?) birthday hugs

derick and his boys

twins!

more twins! :)

a true friend will clean your floor... love you marj!

precious, happy, easy, content, BIG boy fourie

opening gift from tupelo cousins. thank you carley, richard, maury, lucy, rebecca, and celia!

laurel katherine is THREE years old!!!

2011-02-17T13:01:00.000-08:00

on february 4th, our little 2 year old became a big 3 year old

we had blueberry muffins that morning and opened a few presents.

then laurel got to celebrate her birthday with all of her friends at mothers' morning out!

buddy arrived that afternoon. what a lucky birthday girl!

freddy meets freddy. so precious.

here, pat is giving buddy a taste of his first batch of home brew. it is really really good!!!

then lala got to open more birthday presents... thank you everybody!!!

happy girl

i LOVE this progression. pat explaining the baby doll cradle, and laurel realizing what it is...

buddy and kissy gave laurel a plasma car. she's already so good at driving it

thank you buddy and kissy! big birthday hugs!

the big present is a swingset for the back yard. it's actually in a box in the garage. we have to wait til it's warmer to put it together. i think she understood the picture...?

sweet memories. what a great day!

life with the fredster

2011-02-17T11:00:00.000-08:00

when pops and abbi left, we had a few days on our own. and we survived!

check out that hair! the middle picture is after his bath - the only time it lies down. hilarious! oh, and thank you to ginger and leslie for sending him enough clothes to wear several outfits a day. who says boy clothes aren't cute??

big sister is adjusting well. we did a puzzle together (with abbi's help), and laurel looks forward to bike rides and trips to the park with daddy.

this is what we've prayed for. and what many of you have prayed for. thank you, Jesus!

sweet, sweet big sister

love our colorado friends!

kissy came to help out and love on two precious kids. thank you, kissy!!!

week 3

2011-01-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

pops came back to get abbi. she was such an incredible help! thank you abbi, and thanks pops for sharing her!

love this

smitten

week 2

2011-01-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

bottling day!

pat had a good little helper, as usual

daddy's boy.

laurel helping daddy change a diaper. when did she get SO BIG????

beauty

this little princess is SO FULL of fun and personality.

abbi couldn't stop taking pictures. ha!

laurel's first trip to the dentist. she did SUCH a fabulous job!

little brother

week one

2011-01-27T19:11:00.000-08:00

lots of this

the many faces of freddy

pat took laurel on a daddy date - how cute?

images of things to come...

mama mani and pedi

does she look 12 in this picture, or what? so sweet.

coming home

2011-01-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

i am so incredibly blessed!!!

i love these...

marjorie, her sister yolinde, andre, and fourie came by to meet freddy. love these friends!

big boy fourie (4 1/2 months) and tiny freddy (3 days)

paula brought us a delicious dinner. thank you friends!!

big sister

2011-01-27T18:16:00.000-08:00

priceless moments

diaper change. the picture on the right captures mom's and pat's reaction when laurel sneezed right in her little brother's face!

how precious?!?!

welcome to the world, little man!

2011-01-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

my water broke at 7pm on january 3rd. go time!

fredrick merrill rayner (freddy) was born at 3:15 am on january 4th. 6 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches long.

still cannot believe we have a baby BOY!!

what a little miracle. thank you, Jesus!

happy new year!

2011-01-27T17:14:00.000-08:00

there i am on the treadmill, trying to get this show on the road!

new year's eve. 39 weeks! who is that in there??

daddy's girl. go dawgs? yeah, go dawgs...

abbi and pops gave lala a new baby doll for xmas. she named her "emma" after meme.

sweet, sweet girl with her abbi and her emma

these two are quite a pair!