Twin Two Year Old's Circus Extravaganza

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY MAVERICK AND JOLEA!

Their parents, (our friends), Jennifer and Steve, prepared a wonderful circus themed birthday party for their twins that included a bouncy house, face painting, cotton candy, hot dogs, clowns, kids swimming pool, and loads of smiles! Here are some pics from the party. It was up there on the top kids birthday parties I've ever been to. :)

This is sweet Maverick... or Steve Jr. :)

This little doll is precious Addison. She is quite possibly the happiest baby I've ever met. She has a beautiful bright smile, too that makes it impossible not to be happy around her! ...and look at those lashes!!


Things must look so much larger than life when you're that small...

This is Anderson, and his daddy, Adam, in the background... another set of father/son look-a-likes. Anderson has the most charming personality and he is absolutely hilarious!

Little Maverick taking out some two year old anger on the pinata.

Maverick and his uncle, Colby. He is such a loving uncle- and really good with kiddos! He'll be a great daddy someday.

Little Jolea tried on uncle Colby's clown glasses. She seems to be calm most of the time and very loving- with a hint of a comedian... she also tried on a clown nose, as you'll see further down. :)

Jennifer's brother Colby and his wife, Emily.

Jolea

That nose is huge on her tiny face.

Steve's sister, Stacy and her husband, Brannon. Another loving uncle in a clown costume!

Maverick and Uncle Colby.

Bro and sis love!!

Brannon, a.k.a. B-Mo, the entertainer. :) I heard a story that on St. Patrick's day he wore this green hair into Chili's to celebrate! Funny!! (any other day of the year and he would have gotten some super strange looks!)

The twins! A mother's joy X 2.

Anderson! Argh- don't you just want to squeeze him?! He is so cute!


Some of the party-goers in the pool cooling off.

A splashy happy guy.

Daddy had to run home across the street and get his swimsuit... until then the little swimmer couldn't resist getting in that water. He proved his diaper to be extremely absorbent and durable. It was so heavy it just began to fall but that didn't stop him!!

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Addison with her bright expressions...

Maverick sharing his cake with Daddy... such a sweet gesture-- and that was GOOD cake!!!
The Brewer Family

Jolea thoroughly enjoying that red icing!

The main cake was a huge clown and each of the kids had their own little cake that was a circus tent. So creative! (Diane's Dream Cakes)

Jolea hanging back while presents were being opened.

A quiet moment for Maverick, getting hugs from his Grammy.

The Moore Family with comedic uncles.

Jolea and uncle B.Mo.

The pinata... pre-bust.

Uncle Colby and kiddos.

Sweet time with the grandbabies... precious moments!

Enjoy the weekend!

Love and smiles,
M

"Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again."

--Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Thoughtfulness to Enjoy

My sweet friend Jennifer surprised me with this beautiful arrangement of flowers today. Isn't she thoughful?? I took pictures for her at her twins' big second birthday circus-themed bash this past Saturday, (which was quite a party btw!). I simply love fresh flowers. There is something about them that just makes me happy, possibly the beautiful saturated colors combined with their complex shapes. Flowers are just one of God's ways he brings us joy. He didn't have to create beautiful flowers-- they really serve no other purpose for us humans but for our enjoyment. I guess they feed insects and such, but they didn't have to be so beautiful if He didn't want to make them that way. :) Isn't that wonderful?

(Thanks again, Jen!)

I hope everyone is have a great week so far on this Tuesday. I'll post Maverick and Jolea's birthday bash next!

Love and Smiles,

M

P.S. Closing on our land got pushed back up to two weeks... we are waiting on the current owners/lawyers to sign the revised paperwork from the survery. We gained an acre! Woohoo! :)

Happy Friday

A beautiful flower for a beautiful day. Enjoy the weekend! :)

Remembering that feeling...

For some reason this week I am really reminiscing about our honeymoon and just how wonderful it was. I don't know that any place will take us where we went those nine days back in 2008. It was absolutely a feeling like no other to be there... and experiencing it with my sweet Ken. As much as we are completely dependant on our computers and cell phones there was such a peace with them gone. After two days of "shakes" and withdrawals from them, we really realized how beautiful of a place we were in and enjoyed what God had created for us. Unbelievable scenery, beautiful weather, unique but wonderful food, nature like we had never imagined, calm and still that just doesn't exist in the United States. humph... oh to be back at that place to experience that feeling again. St. Regis Resort in Bora Bora... we love you. We miss you. Thank you, Lord, for creating such breat-taking places for us to sit and be still.

View from our over-water hut.

Lots of love and smiles,
M

Scrappy and the 4th

On the weekend of the 4th of July we had a couple different things going on... Scrappy came home from being painted! Scrappy is a plane being built by Danny and Grandad- I'm talking every tiny piece is hand crafted and put together- from pieces of airplanes the two of them have flown over the years. Grandad has been hand crafting the wood and dash and it just blows our minds how talented he is. He can make ANYTHING!! (That is where Danny gets it from.) He has an engineer's/inventor's mind. It was very exciting to see Scrappy come home with his colors in place. He looks great and it won't be too long before he is completely finished!

Chase and Candace came in town and we got to hang out with them a lot which is ALWAYS fun! We never know what we will do... a trip to Tractor Supply is usually in the cards. We all love that store and can find something we "need"! (and to think I didn't even know what Tractor Supply was when I lived in Dallas... I was surly missing out!) That weekend we bought a hog trap from there and some items to "lure" the hogs. Ken and Chase were super excited about that! We went to the land and they scoped out the perfect place for it by a creek and were dead-set one would be in there by the next day... no such luck, yet. We have seen the tracks around it and some smaller critter ate the food out of it- so we need to put some more out. I bet that was one fat raccoon or possum having ate all that food!!

All the guys did a fireworks show on both Friday night and Saturday. We got little lawn chairs and set up for the production. They all instantly turn into eight year old little boys. It is so much fun to watch them! They put on quite a show for us both nights. On the fourth, we all piled in the car and headed out to see Wayne Caldwell's 45 minute big show but got there after it was over and everyone was folding up their chairs to leave-- we missed it!! Kim had cooked a great home-cooked meal and we weren't going to miss that, that's for sure!! So, we just socialized for about an hour with some of our friends and then headed home for night two of our men's shows. Candace actually did her own show after they guys'... with the ladybugs, cars, chickens, strobes and smoke bombs. She is always entertaining! "Come on- show a little love for me up here by myself! Whoo-hoo!", as she twirls around her punk she used for lighting them. Kim, Danny, Ken and myself cheered her on. She made even the chickens fun. :) It was a great fourth and I hope yours was too! If anyone has great pics they took from the fourth send them to me and I'll post them! :)

L-R: Chase, Candace, Danny, Grandad (Kenneth), and Ken... and the oh-so-beautiful Scrappy in the back row!!

The two master-minds!

Danny and Grandad drew the scallop and striping themselves and had it painted on- it turned out so cool!

Three generations of Goggans boys... three different stages of life... all very similar! The Goggans' genes are extremely STRONG!

Chase and Candace--- I guess Candace was catching a ride from him... Chase is a trooper doing any physical activity in the daytime heat!

When Scrappy first arrived back from being painted...

Ken and Chase at the hog trap... we know those crazy hogs are out there... it's only a matter of time before some are caught! We do not want to kill them, just catch them and take them somewhere to get them off our soon-to-be-land. They are really scary dangerous and tear whatever they are around up! I used to feel sorry for them until one charged Candace and me one time... and it was even in a trailer and couldn't even get us, but we still jumped back... and I no longer felt so sorry for it.

Some of the firework aftermath... a trip to the dumpster was definitely in order.

Ken, Kyle and Chase

Enjoy the week and weekend!

Lots of love,
M