The Werleys

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

2012-01-15T22:47:00.000-06:00

...A 6 year old boy wanted a Star Wars Birthday Party!!

We had fun decorating the Warehouse youth building at our church Star Wars style!

We also had a lot of fun family and friends come and celebrate with us!

All the Grandma's!

Grandpa Werley is always so fun!

Love this pic of 2 of my favorite men!!

This girl loves her Nana!

Austin's favorite gift was from Sarah and Sky. This boy loves Angry Birds! Thanks, guys!!

This little boy's cup was FULL by the end of the weekend! It was so fun celebrating our first born! I think it was a day he will never forget! :)

Austin is 6!!

2012-01-15T22:21:00.002-06:00

Can't believe this boy is 6!! We had a great day (week) of celebrating our first born! The morning of his birthday started out with opening presents and then eating a yummy breakfast that Daddy cooked.

Then we headed to the Y and to the park for a fun time with some of our favorite friends!

The Birthday Night ended with Chuck E. Cheese (of course!)

It was a great fun-filled day!

We are so truly proud of this fun-loving, energetic and authentic little boy the Lord has given us!

Happy Birthday, Austin!

We love you!!

Girl's Night!

2012-01-10T23:00:00.000-06:00

I recently had a girl's night out celebrating a dear friend with some new friends the Lord has graciously provided here in Houston. It was such a fun night of great food and fun fellowship!

Happy Birthday, Megan! What would I do without you, my friend?! You have been a true gift to me and I am so thankful for you!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T23:28:00.000-06:00

This year we started a new tradition (that I think we are definitely going to keep!) of heading to the coast to celebrate the new year as a family. We went to the Kemah Boardwalk for the first time and had such a great day! Kemah means 'Wind in the Face' and wow was it named correctly! So windy, but fun fun!

This was the first 'big kid' ride of the day for these two. Austin had to be convinced to get on and Audrey was excited. Funny how they are so different in that way. :)

Their faces in this picture say it all. Love it!

My cute little co-pilot on one of the rides that took us way up to look at the board walk and the ocean from above.

Austin has become quite the photographer. Good job, Buddy! ;)

I will always have a great memory of these 3 riding this ride! Can hear my hubby's laughter now! (Just glad no one threw up!;)

Audrey HAD to have the 'little balls of ice cream', so we ended our time in Kemah eating Dip 'n Dots in the cold. :) It really was an awesome way to begin 2012!!

Great Wolf 2011

2012-01-03T15:15:00.000-06:00

We had another great trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine this year! We decided to go for a night in between Christmas and New Years and visiting all our families for Christmas. The kids had been talking about going back to 'Wolf Great Lodge' all year long, so it was such a fun treat to be able to go again. There is just something really fun about going to a water park in the winter time! Here are some pics from our trip. (I bet you can't guess who I was with most of the time!;)

Such a special time together as a family having a blast! We love creating these kinds of memories!

We made it through the 1st Semester of Home Schooling!!

2011-12-31T12:37:00.000-06:00

Yay! It was a GREAT 1st semester of our Home School journey! We completed 50 days of school together (just schooling the 3 days the girls are at preschool and using the 4th day as a catch up day along with 8 weeks of Friday school through a co-op). 50 days was the goal I had in mind and I was so excited to hit that day and look back over what the Lord has done in and through our lives as a family the last 6 months. I worked Austin pretty hard having high expectations on both myself and him (thinking that I am responsible for him learning to read kept me motivated!!) He is a great student and worked hard for his Mommy. I think we both loved spending the time alone together too. ;) We did 2 lessons of each subject everyday (2 math, 2 language etc.) and lots of sight words, Bible, copy work and reading. My Hubby and I agree that it is definitely a success so far. More importantly, I feel like I have my boy's heart more now than ever. That alone is priceless!

So, to celebrate we went on a date together before the Christmas break. :) I took Austin to Build a Bear and he stuffed and dressed his Jedi Snoopy. (His new favorite stuffed friend!)

We then walked around the mall, ate lunch and then stopped by the pet store to love on some animals. This little guy sat on Austin's lap for almost 30 minutes! (Too bad he cost almost $700! Crazy!!)

Way to go, Austin! You did AWESOME your 1st semester of Kindergarten and this Mommy is so proud of you!!

New Adventures Ahead!

2011-12-30T16:39:00.000-06:00

Grandpa and Grandma Werley are moving! They are leaving the house that they have lived in for 20+ years and moving out to the lake to enjoy a simpler life. We are so excited for them! I was a little sad walking around their house for the last time over the holidays and snapped a couple of pictures:

This house holds a lot of great memories for our family. I met Andrew for the first time sitting in the living room of this house. Many Christmas and Birthday celebrations and great conversations through card games played in the kitchen in this house.

Andrew's room growing up and where the kids have slept when we come to visit.

Alisha's Room - The room we always stayed in when we visited.

And this was the Pool House (now the studio). It was in this house on the weekend I first met Andrew that I realized I really liked this boy and hoped to spend forever with him over a game of pool. Sweet memories (that feel just like yesterday!) So excited about the great memories our kiddos are going to have going out to Lake Granbury to visit Grandma and Grandpa!

Mery Christmas from the Werleys!!

2011-12-29T15:36:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

We celebrated a wonderful and pretty quiet Christmas this year. Because Christmas was on a Sunday, we offered both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services at our church, so we decided not to do any travel until the day after Christmas to visit our families. We had a great day celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Here's a pic of the kiddos on our way out the door for the Christmas Eve service sporting their new 'red gift' pajamas. :)

Merry Christmas! The older two drug their little sis down super early to get the morning started (and as you can tell from this pic, she wasn't super happy about it! I have a feeling she 'got' what all the excitement was about this year and next year there will be no problem.;)

Dressed in all of our Christmas Day clothes for Church (thanks JG and Big T)!! LOVED our Christmas Day service! So simple and worshipful!

Christmas ended hanging out with the Adkins= GREAT DAY!!

Happy Birthday, JESUS!

Our Little Dancer

2011-12-28T12:57:00.000-06:00

Audrey has been taking dance this semester and to say she loves it is an understatement! She loves every minute! Here are some pictures I took at her a little Christmas performance they did for the parents on the last day of class for the fall:

Great job, sweet girl! We love our little dancer and are so proud of you!

A Dream Come True!

2011-12-22T17:13:00.000-06:00

My sweet husband planned a very fun date this month! He took me to the Nutcracker Ballet in downtown Houston! It is an event I have wanted to go to since high school! It had been a CRAZY Christmas season (with attending about 15 Christmas parties at Church). We had been so busy, so it was nice to be alone together. Our seats were amazing and the whole night was a wonderful and beautiful experience.

Thanks to my awesome hubby for this incredible and thoughtful gift! One I will never forget!

Preschool Christmas Program

2011-12-21T13:14:00.000-06:00

The girls had a very sweet Christmas program for their school at our Church. Here are some pics from the night:

Ainsley was a hoot to watch! See that little boy next to her? She was keeping him in line all night! Quite entertaining! :)

Audrey took a very serious approach to her role... :)

Our favorite part of the night was listening to both the girls recite the scripture verses that they had learned at school. So special to hear your children hiding the Word in their hearts! Thank you, Joyful Noise Preschool!

Ainsley's verse: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Audrey's verses: "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:8-12

The Gingerbread Tradition Continues...

2011-12-20T16:58:00.000-06:00

A couple of days before Christmas we always make Gingerbread Houses. This year we decided to make a Village so that everyone could have their own house to create. Good times had by all!:)

Question most asked while working: "When will we get to eat them??"

This girl definitely ate more of the house toppings than she put on her house. ;)

Daddy constructed (and re-contructed!) the houses. Thanks, Babe!

The end result. Fun memory!

Best of Friends

2011-12-19T19:12:00.000-06:00

These two have been sweet friends since they were born!

It helps that their Mommy's are best of friends as well. :)

Kenzie wanted to come to Houston to share her birthday with Audrey, so we set out to have a special 'girls' day' together.

Our first stop was Build a Bear where the girls picked out new friends, stuffed them, bathed them, put them in their new outfits and then named them. It was so fun!

Audrey named her bear "Cinderella" :)

Then we headed to the Tea Room for lunch. The girls loved this place! They got to drink their lemonade from their very own teapot and teacup. So girly and fun!

They really do have a blast with each other! :)

That evening we went to a Christmas Production at a Church in town together. It was definitely different and entertaining!

Star Pizza for dinner! We miss our sweet friends and love it anytime we can get together.

Happy 5th Birthday, sweet Kenzie!

Thanks for choosing to spend it with us!

My First 5K!!

2011-12-15T14:08:00.000-06:00

So me and these two sweet friends, Megan and Lesley made it a goal to run a 5K before the end of 2011. We are 3 Mama's with 10 kiddos between all of us and it was TIME to set a goal for our health and mainly for ourselves. :) Meg and I started running in September 3-4 times a week early in the mornings doing the Couch to 5K program. There were many mornings that were tough, but there is nothing like having some one there beside you cheering you on to go a little further each time. We were so excited (and a little nervous) to run our first 5K for a wonderful cause. It was also fun to see my cousin, Brad and his family there to support his friends by running the race (he came in 3rd!! Awesome!)

It was a beautiful day for a run! Here we are about to cross the finish line. Love that we stared and finished together! (And yes, that is my son running beside me. :) Fun memory!

My sweet family came to cheer me on. Love them!

Love you, girls! Could NOT have done this without you! WE.ARE.RUNNERS!! Hoping and training to run my 1st half marathon in 2012! We will see! ;)

Michael W. Smith

2011-12-15T12:49:00.000-06:00

For Christmas this year, I gave my Mom tickets to a Michael W. Smith concert here in town. It was such a fun night!

We had great seats. It was also fun and an honor to have President George Bush Sr. and his wife there enjoying the concert with is! (Hard to see in this pic, but he is being brought in in the center next to the stage.)

Spectacular music from a Christian music legend!!

The night ended with dinner at Olive Garden (of course!) Merry Christmas, Mama! Love you!

Thoughtfulness

2011-12-12T13:28:00.000-06:00

We had two sweet ladies of our Church make things for our family recently:

These quilts were hand made with love. They are awesome! Love how they fit each of their personalities perfectly!

Thank you, Ms. Bonnie!

Another sweet lady from Church made the girls several dresses. They loved the fun prints on these. :) Thank you, Ms. Jeanne! We are so grateful for both of these ladies thoughtfulness!

O Christmas Tree!

2011-12-09T13:39:00.000-06:00

We had a lot of fun this year buying a real Christmas tree. (It's the first live tree we have had since our kiddos were born.) The whole process was great and we definitely started a new Werley Christmas tradition! (Maybe next year we will even chop our own down! :)

Could she be any cuter?! :)

We also put a little tree in each kid's room. They loved decorating and having their very own. :)

Just looking at this picture brings back the lovely pine smell! Love it!

With a Grateful Heart

2011-11-29T12:42:00.000-06:00

We shared a wonderful Thanksgiving this year with my parents and my brother and his sweet wife at the lake. It was everything I was hoping for: quiet, relaxed and low-maintenance with great company, good weather and yummy food! We have SO much to be thankful for this year! The Lord has been so good to us in revealing His plan for our lives and ministry. We have had an amazing and fun year as a couple and as parents.

Things rolling around in my mind right now of gratitude: our healthy, happy kiddos who completely drain us mentally and physically each day, but I wouldn't change it for the world, my incredible hubby who has gone through A LOT this year in and through our transition. He has carried so much on his shoulders and been amazing through all the emotions (from me, yep his emotional wife!), questions, criticism, support and lack of, and all the while has been so sensitive to the Lord, His Word and His calling while guiding and leading his family. SO thankful and proud of my man! Grateful for the two Churches we have been a part of this year; both FBC Anna who we miss and love dearly as our 'first' Church the Lord called us to for a season, and to JVBC who we are growing to love more everyday and know the Lord wants us here to serve diligently and faithfully for Him. Grateful for the new home we moved into the weekend before Thanksgiving. Thankful to finally begin "settling" here in Houston! Grateful for our amazing friends who have supported, prayed and loved us through our transition this year. (Even the incredible ones from Anna that 'get it' and love us through their pain, sadness and questions of us leaving- that's true friendship!! Thank you! You know who you are. ;) Grateful for new friendships that are so sweet developing here in H-Town, too. Thankful for parents and siblings who let us vent and bounce things off them this year as we sought God's will for our life and future and for their support and love through the 'process'. Also so thankful for family that helped me visit Suzanne in Africa. The trip of a lifetime! LOVED that precious time spent with one of my favorite people in the world and for our mutual encouragement to each other while I was there! Grateful for a safe trip (that I took alone! Still proud of myself for that!;) Last and of course not least, so truly grateful to my LORD. I have fallen so much more deeply in love with Him this year! His Word has been made more alive and new to me like never before and I am so thankful everyday for His guidance, protection, love, and care for the details of my small life. He has provided in incredible ways this year! Daily giving me exactly enough grace and strength to make it through the day as He carries us though. I am in awe of His goodness to me and can't put my gratitude into words that come up with the emotion I feel when I think about what He has done for me and my family. It just blows my mind!! LOVE this journey with my God (and SO glad I am not the one in control!!)

Here are a few pics of our Thanksgiving this year:

My bro Cory and his awesome bride, Kristin (AND their baby they are expecting in May 2012!!)

My love.

The MEN and the fried turkey :)

Audrey's cute feet - she walked around taking pic with my camera all weekend!

Best Buds

Grandma and Pap pics- love this one!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Austin was very excited to pick up Abraham from the kennel after Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading! AND now on to unpacking...:)

No more training wheels!!

2011-09-28T19:27:00.003-05:00

Yep! It's that time! Austin was so excited to take off his training wheels and be like his best bud Cade. :)

He of course picked up the whole two wheel thing really quickly. Daddy was a great coach!

Way to go, Buddy!!

These two cuties were having fun, too cheering their big bro along. :)

Guitar and Things

2011-09-20T19:17:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to post some cute pics of my little monkeys. :)

1st Day of School 2011

2011-09-12T19:07:00.003-05:00

This year is a different kind of year for us because we now have a KINDERGARTENER and 2 preschoolers! Another big change is that I decided to home school Austin this year. We were all excited about it and it is truly going great! This is a pic of our 3 cuties on their first day. :)

This girlie is super excited! Like every year, I was emotional. (Surprise!;) Both the girls were starting to go to preschool 3 days a week instead of 2. They are just getting SO big!!

Audrey with one of her sweet teachers, Ms. Lora.

Ains with some new classmates and friends.

My sweet boy in our classroom at home. :) The absolute best thing about home schooling is the precious time I get to spend alone with Austin 3 days a week while the girls are up at the church. I love it!!

Our "classroom"

I was honestly a little nervous about taking on the teacher role in his life, but we have both adjusted well. He is such a smart kiddo and we have had tons of fun! He schools for 1 1/2-2 hours a day and is doing great! Is he always super excited to "do school"? Nope! Just like any kid, most days he can't wait to be done so he can go play outside. ;) Overall though, it is awesome and I am thankful the Lord has called our family to home school for this season! For how long? Who knows! All I know is we are right where we are supposed to be for now and that is good thing. :)

Star Wars!

2011-09-10T18:55:00.005-05:00

Both of my boys love Star Wars! One since he was a boy and the other because his Daddy and hero likes them. ;) So, when the exhibit came to Houston this summer these 3 spent an afternoon together to go and check it out.

LOVE these happy faces!

A-Town is a HUGE R2D2 fan!!

Such cuties!! They had such a fun time with their Daddy and that makes this Mommy super happy! :)

South Africa!!

2011-09-05T13:21:00.005-05:00

This summer I got the once in a lifetime opportunity to travel to South Africa (by myself!!) and visit my amazing sister who is serving there with the IMB (International Mission Board) for 2 years. To say that I miss Suz is a major understatement! She is my very best friend (besides my hubby;) and to have her on the other side of the world has been difficult for all of us (especially my kiddos who all adore their Aunt Zuzu!)

I asked for this trip for Christmas last year (thank you, family!) and I was so excited to hug Suzanne's neck and be there on her birthday. The trip was definitely a long one (about 24 hours of travel on the way there and 40 on the way home!) and I was there a week. I became an expert traveller (never travelled alone before!) and on the way home I got to see both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in one day! (Once I got into the States, I flew from New York to L.A. and then to Dallas. It was crazy, but the quickest way to get home!)

LOVED getting the opportunity to see my sister's new world! From her flat to the city of Jo'Berg to all the new adventures of food and driving on the other side of the road! This a picture of us getting a pedicure done on her birthday (and we got massages too!)

If you know my sis, you know that birthday's are a BIG DEAL. It was so fun to have some of her missionary friends come over for dinner to celebrate my sister. Suzanne is loved no matter where in the world she is!

We spent a lot of the week bundled up (because it was winter there and pretty cold!) doing not much at all except hanging out talking and watching movies. We did go to a Lion's Park one day and it was awesome!

This lovely picture is of me about to feed a very friendly giraffe. Not too excited about it, but did it for my sis. ;)

Look at that tongue! It was long and SLIMEY!! It was fun. We laughed a lot that day!!

We also spent an afternoon with two of Suzanne's sweet new friends from her church. They are sisters as well and have such precious hearts for the Lord. We had a great time together and I loved getting to know people my sis is connecting with and building friendships with in SA.

This is the last pic we took before we drove to the airport for me to board the plane back to America. It's very bittersweet having my sister there in Africa. Sweet because I know she is living out what she has felt called to do since she was in jr. high and she is doing an incredible job at it. But also bitter because we don't get to talk as much as we would like and I just plain miss her. If I am being truly honest, I just don't like sharing her with the world. ;) I am so proud of this girl!! How many people have a dream of serving the Lord no matter where He puts you (even if it IS Africa), and actually accomplish it?? God is using her in a mighty way and I know HE delights in her as she submits herself to the gospel of Christ! Nothing better or more satisfying!! I love you, sis!!

Summer Happenings

2011-08-30T09:49:00.004-05:00

This summer flew by so fast!! With all the transitioning, I barely had time to breathe let alone do all the blogging I hoped to do! I want to post some pictures of some of the every day things we did during summer once we got to Houston.

Ains and Daddy hanging out watching some Curious George (her favorite!)

On one of the Wednesday Nights this summer at Church the children's ministry hosted a Pirates and Princesses party. Our kiddos had a blast dressing up that night!

Daddy with his P&P's. :)

This kiddo is WAY into angry birds! Played and talked about them all summer!

Our Monkey's just hanging around. :)

As usual, we did a lot of swimming! Austin has become quite the swimmer and Audrey is on her way! JV has a great community pool and we were there as much as possible.

This was the first summer Ainsley really started to enjoy the water. Next summer we will do swimming lessons for her!

Summer 2011 was all about trying to get adjusted to life in Houston. Sad that I didn't take as many pictures as usual, but my focus was on establishing our 'new normal'. :) We have a great Church the Lord has called us to, a great community to live in and a wonderful rent house. We praise God for every day He gives us together as a family and are so thankful for how good He is to us!

Pine Cove Part 3

2011-08-27T10:04:00.004-05:00

Audrey and Kinsey having fun at the pool. We spent every afternoon at there cooling off. It was a hot week!

Breakfast Trail Ride - Love my man on a horse!

Boat time! Our kiddos love the banana boats. Always a much anticipated event of the week. :)

Austin loves the fun slide and went down it as much as possible this year. :)

Austin and Daddy made a rocket together one day and got to shoot it off. Pretty sure it was one of Austin's highlights of the week.

Such fun memories!

Our little crayons on Crayola Night. :)

Comeback Kid with Austin. Austin followed this guy around all week. Very cute to watch!

Audrey and Kinsey (and thanks to Ms. Mandy for making the adorable hats for all our kiddos!)

Austin and Dax

One tired girl! (They all are so tired by the end of the week!)

Another cute pic of Austin and Dance Pants!

This is a pic right before we left to go back home with our devo counselor for the week - Band aid. Loved her!! It was truly an incredible week and one that we so desperately needing with the crazy summer that we had of moving from Dallas to Houston. We left encouraged and inspired to serve and live for Him and to always remember the great things He has done for us. This week is priceless to us each year and we already can't wait to go back next summer!

Pine Cove Part 2

2011-08-26T10:24:00.004-05:00

Our family photo for the week :)

Austin moved up to Wild Kids this year and it was a big move for us not to have all three of our kiddos in Cove Kids (babies-preschoolers). He had an amazing week an got to do fun things without us like the zip line and banana boats. His counsellors were incredible and some of our favorites from last year. So crazy how big our boy is getting!

On a lunch date with some of our favorite people.

And continuing the Pine Cove tradition of bowling with the Helms.

This is Dance Pants and she was one of Austin's incredible counselors for the week. We love this girl and were so blessed by her both last summer and this summer. Thank you, Katie for pouring into our boy!

This is Bob and Ann Livesay and they were our speakers for the week. They were WONDERFUL!! Bob recently retired from a church in Houston not too far from us and they have a heart for pastors and their wives like us. Thank you, Bob and Ann for taking a special interest in us and filling our cups this week! We are forever grateful and love you both dearly!

Dance Pants and Austin having a blast at the pool. I am telling you! She was amazing and our boy LOVED her!!!

Austin took a stab at the high dive, but just couldn't quite do it. Next year, buddy! ;)

This is Comeback Kid and he was Austin's other counselor for the week. Cody, you are awesome!! Thanks for pouring into Austin. He had a blast with you!

Sweet Pitter Patter was one of Audrey and Ainsley's counselors for the week. Thanks, Ashlyn for loving on our girls!!

Austin's crew - definitely some fun and WILD Kids alright! ;)

Audrey and Ainsley's sweet little group - 'We love Jesus Yes we do! We love Jesus and how 'bout you?'

Pine Cove Family Camp 2011

2011-08-25T10:50:00.005-05:00

For the past 3 years we have be going to Pine Cove Family Camp in Tyler, TX. This is such a special week for our family! We literally count down the days every year! Words that describe this place for our family: rest, fun, excitement, nourishment, intentional family time, growth, focus, thankfulness, and joy. It is truly a time for our family to reflect on all that Lord has done in and through our family the past year and what He wants us to focus on in our family for the upcoming year. It is an impactful and intentional time for us to be together as a family with no distractions. We always show up beat up, tired and weary and then leave refreshed and renewed ready to pour out again. WE LOVE IT!! I want to post some pics of the week and as usual I am posting way too many pictures. This blog is like a scrapbook for me. (Yes, I even get printed out in book form from this site! Makes it so worth the time!) Here are some pics from our first part of the week:

Here are our cowboy and cowgirls ready for a wacky western wound up!

Kinsey's family has joined us at PC for the past 2 years and we love spending time together! These two girlies are such sweet friends!

Love my cowboy!

Sand time with Dax!

Our best attempt at a family pic for the night. Please someone tell me, will we ever ALL look at the camera and smile at the same time??

A cute pic of a tired girl. ;)

The rodeo!

So thankful for this girl!

Such a sweet picture of Kinsey and Austin!

Down time with some cars on the porch of our cabin.

Date night!

The theme verse for the week: "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live." Deuteronomy 4:9

Beach!

2011-08-15T20:59:00.001-05:00

We always said when we moved to Waco from Houston about 10 years ago that we wished we would have gone to the beach more often. SO, now that we have recently moved back to the Houston area this summer we have made a commitment to try and go to the coast once a month. We love it!! Here are pictures of our first trip:

These two cuties were so excited to hit the waves. ;)

Our best friends, the Helms came into town for the weekend and we all loaded up and went together. Such fun memories!

Love my boys!

These two girlies are such sweet friends! (Notice the matching swimsuits!;)

These two were 'sand buddies' for the day...

Love the upside-down-sunglasses-look!

Having fun!

So blessed!

SO grateful for this sweet friend!! Love ya!

Precious!

For a kiddo that doesn't like to really get that dirty (I know, right?!), he is having a blast!

Feeding and chasing after the seagulls. It was a great day!

Remember

2011-08-11T20:47:00.001-05:00

These sweet ladies threw me a little going away lunch before we moved to Houston. It was such a fun time with just a few tears. ;) There are many ladies in this picture who will be some of my friends for life and who I already miss dearly. I am truly a blessed woman to have such amazing women in my life and when I look at the above picture, it is such a great reminder of how great our God is! I want to take time in this post to voice what the women of First Baptist Anna mean to me. Some of these ladies were already there when Andrew and I got there and some of them came while we were ministering there. All of these ladies are dear to my heart and I am so thankful for their lives and the many ways they impacted mine. Many hours of play dates, Bible studies, women and church events, small groups and worship were spent with these incredible ladies!

Torrie - You are such a precious friend who found Jesus and was excited about her new journey with Him. MANY sweet memories and talks. Love you, friend! (And thanks for taking all these fun pictures!)

Natalie - We were kindred spirits from the moment we met! Thank you for being such an encouragement to my life and a true forever friend! I am continuously blessed by you! Love you!

Jennifer - You are one of my favorite friends ever!! You are such a blessing to my life and I am so thankful the Lord brought you to FBC Anna! Love you!!

Megan - LOVE taking this journey of faith with you! So truly thankful for your authenticity and true friendship to me. What would I do with out you?? Love being in Houston with your sweet family and know we will be friends for life. Love you and praise God for you!

Lori - You can't tell we were crying before we took this picture AT ALL! ;) Love you, my sweet friend! So very thankful that you were in my life as a true source of encouragement and friendship. God used you so often to speak into my life and I am thankful He brought you to FBC Anna!

Jenna - You are one of the most incredible and godly women I have ever met! So very thankful you were one of Austin's amazing preschool teachers and through that, He brought your sweet family to our church. You encourage me, make me laugh and bring a smile to my face every time I think about you. Missing you, my friend and love you so much!

Stephanie - Thank you for being one of my first friends in Anna! You and Matt are awesome and we love you both so much! Loved those many mornings and evenings of working out together and playing at the pool. You are an incredibly strong woman and I am so thankful for you!

Ms. Judy - You truly are such an amazing woman and bring such wisdom to FBC Anna. Thank you and Mr. Harlow for loving on our family and taking such great care of us! Love you!

Ms. Carrie - You are such a fun-loving and caring woman! I loved being around you and I am also a HUGE fan of your sweet daughter who was such a great friend to me. You will always be a picture of joy to me. Love you!

Ashley - Thank you for coming on staff with us and for the many hours you and Zach have put into ministry at FBC Anna. You are an amazing woman and I am thankful for you!

Ms. Avonne - You are such an incredible woman who is full of faith, strength and wisdom. Thank you for believing in us and being one of our biggest fans at FBC Anna. I can only hope to be like you one day! Thank you for encouraging and inspiring me to draw closer to the Lord every day. We love you so much!

Suzanne - You are such a fun woman to be around! We had many late nights planning events for the women's ministry that were so fun because you were there! Love you!

Jeannine - It was so great getting a chance to watch God take hold of you and your sweet hubby's life! So thankful for you guys and can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for your family down the road! Love you!

Sarah - You are one of the sweetest people I have ever met! We love you and Josh so much and are so proud of you guys! Thank you for your friendship and the many ways you guys were there for us while in Anna. Love you, girl!

Machael - Love your sweet family and that the Lord brought you into our lives and our church at just the right time! You are an awesome lady and blessed me so much!! Love you!

Lisa - LOVED watching you get excited about the Lord and what He was showing and doing in your life! You are an amazing woman and such a true JOY to know! Love you!

Jodie - You are another one of my favorite people ever!! So thankful the Lord brought you and sweet Darbie to our church! I don't even think you know how wonderful you are and how you have such an amazing ability to encourage and love on people and that people are so drawn to you. So thankful for you and praise God for your life! Love you!

These are just some of the women who impacted my life while we served in Anna. I miss them all, but I also know there are many incredible women at JVBC that the Lord will use in my life as we serve there. I have always heard that being a pastor's wife is a lonely place and I am so truly thankful I have not experienced that. God has been so good and even though it has hard to say good bye to so many amazing people and families that we will never forget, we know without a doubt we have been called to JVBC and that He has wonderful things in store as we seek Him!

Saying Goodbye

2011-08-02T20:35:00.002-05:00

As almost everyone knows by now, Summer of 2011 has been a huge transition time for our family. In May, our world began to change as a church in Houston started pursuing my husband to be their next pastor. It was a wild time of prayer, excitement, saddeness and anxiety as we sought the Lord on what we should do and if it was His will and plan for us to leave the church we loved so much to begin a new adventure in Houston. Over and over again the Lord confirmed the calling to where we felt we would be in disobedience if we didn't go. We were so excited and shocked that Jersey Village Baptist Church would want us and also filled with emotions of sadness as we thought about FBC Anna and all the amazing things the Lord had done and the relationships we had built and how we were going to have to say goodbye. It was hard and everything happened so fast. Lots of tears. hugs and goodbyes to many incredible people and families. And many hellos to new wonderful people that filled our new church. They made us feel so welcomed! It was awesome! So, it has been a summer/season that has been like a roller coaster ride of emotions. Very difficult at times and very sweet at others. All in all, we are DEFINITELY where the Lord wants us and nothing feels better than the assurance of being in the center of His will (especially on the really hard days!) God has something amazing in store for both FBC Anna and JVBC and we are honored to be a part of both FBCA's past and JVBC's future.

Our kiddos have done great with the transition, but were also very sad to leave their friends. We joined a play date at a splash park with a lot of friends from Anna before we moved. It was such a fun day with such a great group of kids!

Haley has been such a sweet friend to Audrey! Many fun days at the park and playing at each other's houses!

And Doak was one of Austin's favorite buds! They both love all things Cars and are both all boy! Love this precious pic!

One of Ainsley's favorite friends in Anna was Aleea. They had practically grown up together and were always so excited to see each other.

This pic is of them screaming and laughing. Love it!

Love these girlies and their Mamas! Audrey was the youngest of this crew and these sweet girls always included her and loved on her. :)

Another one of Audrey's favorite friends was Delaney. These girls loved playing dress up together and putting on their La La's (dresses:).

This is a super random pic, but I wanted it in a post and didn't know where else to put it. ;) Inside our pantry in the kitchen, we put the kiddos heights and dates. REALLY wanted to cut this out, but wouldn't have been good for the sale of our home having a hole in the wall. :) We made so many wonderful memories in our 3 1/2 years in Anna. It will be a church and town we will always hold close to our hearts as Andrew's first lead pastor position. So many incredible families!! And so many amazing things the Lord did in and through people there. It was a true joy to serve that church! We are so excited to see how the Lord is going to use us at JVBC, too! God is so good to us and we are constantly in awe of his unconditional grace in our lives! He gives and He gives and He gives!

"The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY." Psalm 126:3

Colorado Part 3

2011-06-30T15:18:00.001-05:00

This is at the top of Vail Mountain. It was beautiful, but cold and windy. Crazy that it can be that cold in June!

God's work of art! Spectacular!

Our only family picture from the trip. :)

We ate dinner on top of the mountain and then there were a couple of things for the kiddos to do. Audrey did so great on this jumpy thing!

Happy girl!

She was going so high!

Austin is not the biggest fan of heights, but he was having fun, too.

And this girl was just excited she got to do something like her big brother and sister did. :)

Sweet girl!

After that we got to play in the snow!! Crazy! It was fun!

The beautiful ride down the mountain.

Vail Village below

The waterfall we passed (and Andrew partially climbed on afternoon on a run!) on our way back to the house.

One of the days we were there, Andrew and I celebrated 12 years of marriage!! It was a wonderful way to spend our anniversary! I am still so amazed the journey the Lord has taken us over the past 12 years! What an awesome ride it has been! I love you, Mr. Werley! Thank you for asking me to marry you and for being my best friend, encourager and life partner! The Lord has been so good to us! He gives and He gives and He gives!! This trip to Colorado is one we will be talking about for many years! It was a time for us to slow down even when our lives were so crazy. We are forever grateful we had the opportunity.

Colorado and CARS 2!

2011-06-29T15:43:00.001-05:00

We went to a different park every day we were in Colorado. Like I said every view in Vail is incredible!!

Here is the view from the first park!

See saw!

This was definitely Audrey's favorite to do that day!

Cutie!

I can hear their giggles now. Moments like these make this Mama very happy!

Austin has gotten really good at the monkey bars. :)

A hill to roll down! Fun!

That night we went to a fun bistro cinema where we ate dinner and then watched the Cars 2 movie. We had one VERY excited little boy! We had been counting the days for weeks until this movie came out!

Audrey was excited too, but mainly because her brother was. ;)

Cool glasses!

The movie was kind of dissappointing and a little more violent than we were anticipating. Ainsley had no interest, so we walked up and down the stairs the entire movie. It was still a fun family memory! No of us had ever eaten dinner inside a movie theater. It was fun.

This boy loves his Daddy!

Not a postcard, but a REAL picture! Amazing!!

That night we went up to the top of Vail Mountain and rode a gondala. The kids loved it!

Mommy and Audrey - love this girlie!!

Colorado Part 1

2011-06-28T16:18:00.001-05:00

As many people know, our family has had a major transition happen in our lives the last few months. I will definitely put up a post about how amazingly the Lord called and moved us forward working out all the little details and revealing Himself and His will the entire process. It was one of the most emotional and draining times of our lives, but to God be the glory completely worth it in the end to be in the center of His will for our family serving Him in ministry. In the middle of all this transition time, a wonderful family at our new church so graciously offered us their beautiful home in Vail, Colorado to go to relax, retrat, spend together as a family, and just prepare our hearts for the upcoming season of ministry in our lives. It was everything we were hoping for and such an incredibly beautiful place! Vail in the summer - WOW!

This was the house we stayed in for the week. It was perfect and so fantastic!!

This ws the view from the deck outside!! Incredible!! We were outside on the deck as much as possible! I can still hear the sound of that river.

Another view from the back. Everywhere you looked was breath-taking. We were in awe of God's beautiful creation the entire trip!

These two were excited to explore Vail Village.

Not a sign you ever see in Texas! :)

Love this pic of my precious family!

We saw a lot of this! My husband really wanted to join them!

Ainsley's Birthday at the Zoo

2011-06-22T09:12:00.000-05:00

Right after I got back from my trip to South Africa to visit my sister, we took this sweet girl to the Ft. Worth Zoo for her birthday. It was such a fun day together as a family and all 3 kiddos had a blast!

The 3 cuties excited to get on the road to the zoo. :)

Can't believe this kid is about to be a Kindergartener!!

Sweet sisters!

What are they looking at?

THIS! A unique bird with a mouse-friend!

Austin loved all the dinosaurs around the zoo.

This cutie is proudly holding the purse I brought back from SA from her Aunt Zuzu. Thanks Zuzu!

Snake time!

Birthday girl!

A look of pure JOY!

Austin's favorite animal this time was the penguins!

Pretty girl on the carousel.

Riding the train!

At the end of the day we let them all pick out a new stuffed animal of the favorite animal they saw on our trip. These two were so excited to add a penguin and a flamingo to our family. (Ains chose a monkey, but was done with pictures by this time. :)

Ainsley is 3!!

2011-06-18T16:22:00.006-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday to our beautiful little girl!!

Singing Happy Birthday to our sweetie. We had a small family birthday dinner for Ains this year. (Mom was in Africa the week before her birthday. Post to come! :)

Cake and ice cream time!!

Happy Birthday, princess! Mommy and Daddy are so very proud of you! You are such a joy to us every day and such a gift from the Lord! We love your smile, laugh, the silly things you do, hearing you sing, watching you take something apart and try to put it together again, how much you enjoy being our little helper and how excited about life you are! You are precious to us, sweet girl!

What a Great Season!

2011-06-15T16:03:00.003-05:00

Austin had a great 1st baseball season! Not sure if he will want to play again next spring, but as his first sport to play, it was definitely a success!
Sitting next to his buddy, Hudson waiting to bat. :)

He grew so much as a player as he began to understand the game more and more. His favorite part was of course batting and running the bases. :)

Little sis was proud of her ball player!

The last game all the boys did a great job! Austin got two hits and made it to home both times. :)

They had cup cakes after the game to celebrate.

Blue icing for the Rangers! ;)

Austin also got his very first trophy! He was/is so proud of that thing! Way to go, Austin! You had a great baseball season! We are so proud of how hard you worked and how much you improved and learned! Go Rangers!

A Visit from Nana and Meme

2011-06-08T15:54:00.004-05:00

Meme (Andrew's grandmother) lives in California and has never met our kiddos, so it was so great and special for her and Nana to come for a visit.

We went out to dinner and then off to a splash pad.

This boy had fun showing off for our visitors. ;)

This pic makes me laugh!!

Dance time!

Such a cutie! She's was having a blast!

We love you, Meme! It was great to see you!

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

2011-06-03T15:35:00.004-05:00

We had some of our favorite friends from Waco come into town to visit us Memorial Day weekend~ The Helms!! We had a wonderful weekend! All of our kiddos play great together and both Mandy and Steve are such a blessing to our lives!

These two girlies are building quite the friendship! Pretty sure they are going to be friends for life just like their Mommies. :) They had a blast playing and having a "slumber party" every night and even got excited about wearing the same swimsuit. Too cute!

Fun times at our favorite splash pad/park. :)

More fun in the sun! The kids a patiently waiting...

...for their Daddies to blow up all the fun pools to splash around and play in! Yea for summer!!

Audrey loves her new princess pool! (Thanks Uncle Cory and Aunt Kristin!!)

A-Town looks so big in this picture!! My baby boy is growing up!

Sweet Dax loved playing on the Thomas toy that we have had forever. In fact, Austin gave it to him at the end of the weekend! Toys like that are too great not to be passed down to friends. I was proud of my boy. :)

Thanks Helm family for being such great friends and for all of the good conversations, laughs and fun card time we had! We love you guys!

Last Day of School

2011-05-30T13:39:00.006-05:00

Our three cuties had a fabulous year at preschool! I feel like the girls especially grew and learned so much!
Love this silliness!

This girl ADORES her big brother! So thankful for thier close relationship and don't know what they would do without each other!

Thank you, Ms. Lisa and Ms. Melissa for eing great teachers to Austin this year!

Ms. Sandra and Ms. Vicki ~ We LOVE you!! Thank you for loving and teaching our Audrey. She enjoyed school and learned sooo much! You two ladies blessed my heart every week!

Audrey with two of her favorite friends from class. Such sweeties!

Ms. JoAnn and Stacy ~ Ainsley couldn't wait for "school" each day because of you two precious ladies! Thank you for loving and taking care of my baby so well! I loved it when I asked Ains who her best friend was she replied, "Ms. Stacy!" Of course!! ;)

No more preschool for this little guy!!

2011-05-28T21:16:00.000-05:00

Our "graduate"

All three of our kiddos were in preschool this year and it has been an AWESOME experience all the way around!! Great church. Great school. Great teachers and staff. Great curriculum. And great mommy alone time. ;) Austin had preschool graduation and as you can guess, it was an emotional day for this mom. Sad that the preschool stage is over, but we are all excited about what the Lord is going to do during the elementary years!

Austin seeing us in the crowd for the 1st time. :)

Sweet Ms. Carrie - the director of our preschool and "queen" of the royal ceremony.

Austin did a great job on his song! (And he didn't jump off the risers to do a dance solo either this time! ;)

Be brave, be strong. Know that God is with you...

Austin and his two teachers this year. Thank you Ms. Lisa and Ms. Melissa! (He is looking for us and daddy was standing with the camera in a different place.)

LOVE this sweet boy! So thankful he is ours!

We are so proud of him. :)

Austin with his good buddy, Jacob.

This is Tyler, another great friend from his class. Tyler always cracked us up because every day when we came to pick Austin up, he would ask if he could come home with us and play. :) Love all the sweet little friendships that were made this year!
It was a great ending to a GREAT year!

Spring Fun!

2011-05-15T22:01:00.001-05:00

Our kidds love to put on thier boots.:)

This girl loves to put on Mommy's shoes. Such a cutie!

And so does Miss Anisley! She is always digging through my shoes!

Daddy and Austin got to go to a Rangers baseball game with Grandpa Werley and Uncle Graham! They definitely had some fun guy time!!

Easter 2011

2011-05-08T21:04:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful Easter this year! It was a great time of reflection on the many ways the Lord has saved, restored, renewed, refreshed and richly blessed our family.

What's an Easter celebration without some egg coloring? ;)

This girl was having a blast!

Our most creative child loved this project.

Easter morning!

Such cuties!!

LOVE this pic! LOVE these kiddos!

It had rained the night before and was pretty muddy, so the egg hunt at Church was held inside instead. Can't even tell you how many eggs I stuffed this year as the "sub" children's minister. Good times. ;)

Let the "hunting" begin!

"Look what I got, Daddy!!"

Caught him trying to stuff some eggs in his pockets after his basket was full. ;)

Like father, like son! We have two goofy boys in our home!! ;)

When we got home it was Easter basket time and then some long naps. We were all worn out, but so blessed to share such a great day with our Church family celebrating our risen LORD!

Thankful Thursday - I Heart Spring!

2011-05-05T17:12:00.001-05:00

These pictures make me so happy! Enjoy!

"The LORD will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail."
Isaiah 58:11

Dinosaur World

2011-04-30T17:26:00.000-05:00

On our little weekend get away, we stopped at dinosaur world in Glen Rose. It was a perfect day to go with great weather and no crowds. :) The kids loved it! (and so did Daddy;)

Look at that foot print! So cool!

Love these cuties!

No matter where we go, if there is a park of any kind - we are playing at it!

Daddy too! ;)

Such a fun morning! There were lots of great blue bonnets and wild flowers there too. Those pics to come! :)

Thankful Thursday - Park Friends!

2011-04-28T15:31:00.001-05:00

The Lord has blessed our family with great friends! We meet some of them every Tuesday after school to play at the park. This has quickly become an event of the week that my kiddos look forward to. I brought my camera one day to snap a few shots. :)

The Crew :)

The Crew + 1. :)

These two sweet boys are never too far apart from each other on these days.

And these two cuties crack me up! They love exploring together and they are special buddies. ;)

I hear often about pastor's families (especially the wives) who experience great loneliness while serving in the ministry. I am so very thankful for the friendships that the Lord has provided for us since we have been in Anna! He has been so good to our family over and over again! These sweet friendships remind me of a song I love by Sara Groves called Twice as Good:

raise a glass to friendship and to knowing

you don't have to go alone

we'll raise our hearts to share each others burdens

on this road
with every burden I have carried with every joy it's understood

life with you is half as hard

and twice as good

Restful Lake Days

2011-04-25T16:54:00.007-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to one of our favorite places to "retreat" for a weekend: our lake house! My sweet hubby had not taken a Sunday morning off in over a year and a half and it was a much needed break our entire family and such a wonderful weekend! Here are some pics:

It was super windy when we got there so it was a great opportunity to do some kite flying!

This cutie was so excited!

Audrey did a great job navigating her kite!

Miss Snow White

Grandpa did a great job helping "save" the kites from the trees. :)

Love this pic!

And this one too!

Ains was so excited to have a turn. :)

It was so windy!!

Golf cart time!

Fishing time! (No luck this time though.)

Cutie fishing in her pjs. Love it!

And yes, more kite flying. Did I mention how windy it was?!

Our sleeping arrangements changed this time at the lake. No more pack and play for this little girl (after she decided to figure out how to climb out). She is getting so big!!

Swimming time!

Sweet sisters!

These two love this water slide! Can't believe that it is already time to pull it out again! We love that we have such an amazing place to retreat to! It blesses us every time we go to the lake. Can't wait for summer!

Fun School Days

2011-04-25T15:34:00.005-05:00

We have been more than blessed for all 3 of our kiddos to be able to attend First Baptist McKinney's preschool this year. It has been a wonderful year! They love going to school, have made great friends, have learned so much and love their teachers. We couldn't have asked for a better experience!

We got a letter telling us every kiddo in the school needed to bring a live flower to school one morning for chapel.

This girl LOVES flowers and was very excited to go out to our little garden in the backyard and pick one of her favorites.

We are always in silly mode at our house these days. ;) Hard to get any group pictures!

At the end of the day, here is what was on display! The lesson for the children that day is how Jesus gives life to everything. So beautiful! I love that my kids are being taught about Christ's love every where they turn in their lives! SO thankful!!

We also recently had Western Day. This was the best pic I could get of our little Cowgirls and Cowboy. (Always silliness!) But - I LOVE these cuties!

1st of Many...

2011-04-20T15:40:00.000-05:00

This cutie had his first t-ball game!! I am putting way too many pictures in this post, but I just can't help it! I wanted his first ever game well documented. ;)

Coach giving a pep talk before the game.

Not quite the baseball stance, but so cute all the same!

His uniform is HUGE on him, but he still looks adorable! :)

Getting ready to field the first ball hit to him...

Daddy is one of the coaches and does a great job! Love this pic!

1st time about to bat. Go #6!!

He got on base! Way to go, A-town!

He is ready to run... (even if he is not completely sure where to;)

Go Rangers! Austin had a great game and learned a lot. we were so proud that he did his beat and had fun. :)

Such a cute pic! Love that these two can be on a team together! Austin and his bud, Hudson are the two youngest kiddos on the team. (And also the shortest and tallest! ;)

Toy Story on Ice

2011-04-18T16:25:00.000-05:00

For Audrey's birthday this year we bought her tickets to Toy Story 3 on Ice. I am pretty sure Austin was more excited about this event than his sister!! He couldn't WAIT! It was a fun family day! We are so truly blessed that we can give our kiddos experiences like this. My favorite part about the whole day was watching their sweet faces during the show. It made me want to take a trip back to Disney world real soon! ;) Here are some pictures from the show:

The best picture I could get after the show. They had a blast, but at this point all 3 were a little hungry and tired. :)

Audrey's 4th Birthday Party Day!

2011-04-15T15:17:00.000-05:00

Our sweet girl had a great day of parties this year! It was so fun for her birthday to be on the actual day of her party with friends!

The Birthday Girl - she talked about having a pajama party for like 3 months before birthday, so a pj party is what we had! It was so much fun! All of her sweet friends arrived early in the morning in their cute pajamas. This was also Audrey's first "friend" party and she was sooo excited!

Her little sis was too! when the girls arrived, we took each of their pictures...

And then put their sweet faces on a fun bag for them to take home as a party favor (thank you Mandy and Stephanie for helping make these bags so cute!!)

The mustang was a hit!

All the fun friends wearing their cute pajamas!

Daddy cooked all the girls and Mommies an awesome breakfast. Thanks, babe!

We sang to the birthday girl and then passed out the princess cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, Princess!

One of my favorite pictures of the day! Love it!

Opening presents

It was an "All Girl Party", but thankfully Audrey was fine with Austin inviting his bud, Cade over to hang while the party was going on. ;) LOVE their sweet friendship!

Kinsey and her Mommy drove all the way from Waco. We had fun girl time the night before the party and Audrey got to have her first "slumber party". They were both too cute! Another sweet friendship that I am so thankful for!!

After the fun party, we got online to talk to Aunt Zuzu. Birthdays are hard days for us because we miss her so, but it was fun to talk to her and for Audrey to open up the gifts Zuzu gave her right there with her. We love you, Zuzu!

After naps, more family came over to celebrate our big girl again.

Love those cheeks!!

It was a wonderful, jammed pack day of birthday fun! And I know one girl who will never forget it!!

Our Baseball Boy

2011-04-02T15:36:00.000-05:00

Austin is playing t-ball this spring for the first time ever. He asked us repeatedly for months if he could play baseball. He is a HUGE fan of his Papa and since Papa loves baseball, so does he. :)

Here he is about to walk out the door to go to his first practice. He was mostly excited about wearing his cleats. (The things boys love! ;)

Daddy was excited to start this whole baseball adventure as well. As it turns out, he has become very involved with the team and he would have it no other way. Andrew was never much of a baseball fan...until his son started playing. :)

Here is a pic Daddy took of his 1st batting practice. So fun!

And here he is in his game day uniform, being silly of course.

Go Rangers! More pics to come of Austin's first game!

More New Wheels

2011-04-01T15:26:00.000-05:00

For Audrey's birthday this year we got her a 'pre-loved' bike that she can learn to ride. Our sweet little girl isn't as adventurous as her older brother and would most times just rather be hanging out with Mom and Dad than riding or playing around. We know that she will love it once she figures it out, but want to wait until she wants a new bike to purchase one. :)

Such a cutie!!

Ainsley 'helping' her sis. ;)

Love his sweet smile every time!

Daddy coaching his little girl. He was a mountain bike racer, after all. ;)

Happy 4th Birthday, Audrey! You are getting to be such a big girl!

My Man is a Stud Marathon Runner!

2011-03-30T15:11:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, March 19th my amazing husband ran his first full marathon!! He did awesome and I was so very proud of him.

Here is the marathoner! The day started very early in the morning. It was the Grasslands Trail Run, so we had to drive way off the beaten path into the LBJ National Grasslands near Decatur, Texas.

And they are off! Run, baby run!

There were about 100 people running the marathon that day. After I saw Andrew off, I headed back to the hotel room to have a wonderful and relaxed morning where I was able to take a shower and get into the Word. Andrew texted me at the half mark and he was feeling great and making good time.

And here he is about to cross the finish line! He did it! Way to go babe!

LOVE this pic! Love you too, babe!

As it turns out, he had a little hiccup at mile 17 where the race officials made him sit for about 15 minutes to get some color back into his face. He didn't realize it, but was pretty dehydrated. It got very warm AND he was running trails pretty much in sand the whole time. Many people couldn't believe that he chose this as his 1st marathon and kept telling us that this is one of the hardest courses in Texas. Who knew?? He did awesome and we loved being in the temporary community of runners and spouses. We also learned a lot (the hard way) about trail running. :)

He was wiped out when he finished, but he FINISHED! One of the many qualities I love about this man is that he finishes what he sets out to do. So proud of him! (And pretty sure he will be doing a road marathon in the near future. ;)

While we were out of town, Grandpa and Grandma Werley came to spend time with the kiddos.

They all had a blast together!

And they worked hard on a beautiful new flower garden in our back yard! Love it!

Thank you so much! We love you both dearly!

New is FUN!!

2011-03-28T15:20:00.001-05:00

We were hanging out at the park with some friends and one of the moms asks me if I would be interested in a little power wheels car that her daughter doesn't fit into anymore. YES!! So they brought it over...

and these two cuties were in HEAVEN!! Thank you to this sweet (you know who you are!) family for such a fun gift!

Every time I see this picture I think of a 16 year old boy driving his 15 year old sister around one day. I AM NOT ready for that!! These two have spent many hours the past few weeks in this cute little car. Austin loves to drive and Audrey loves to be driven around like a princess (of course!! ;)

Ains loves it too. :)

We lovingly called Spring Break Week 'Spring Wreck Week' at our house this year because within 1 week our dryer, dishwasher and car (yes, my car!) died. It was stressful, but in the end (after all of our savings was depleted and my sweet hubby was D.O.N.E), we found an awesome deal on a....

'New-to-me' car!! I can't even tell you how excited I was to get this car!

Story: When Austin was an infant, we went on a little trip with Andrew's mom. She borrowed a friend's car for that weekend so that we could all ride together. I loved it and commented several times how I would love to get a car like that one day. So when it was time to search for a new vehicle we found my "dream car" that was the same model (and year) of the car I loved 5 years ago. So cool!

I am so blessed and really don't feel I deserve a vehicle like this. I am so thankful to the Lord and my sweet husband for such a wonderful gift.

Happy 4th Birthday, Audrey!

2011-03-26T15:04:00.001-05:00

Our Little Princess is 4!! Happy, happy Birthday sweet Audrey!

At school before her birthday I brought cupcakes to celebrate with Audrey's class - Princess themed of course!

It was so cute how excited she was to see me (or maybe the excitement was for the cupcakes...;)

Silly girl!

I loved the sweet little crown her teachers made for her!

They even gave her a little gift. She felt so special! Thank you, Ms. Sandra and Ms. Vicki! You two are the BEST teachers!

Audrey, your Daddy and I are crazy about you! We thank God for bringing you into our lives and for your sweet and compassionate heart. You are a true joy and a gift from Him! We are so excited about you turning 4!! What a fun age! We can't wait to see what God does in and through you this year. We love you more than you will ever know and are so very proud of our little princess!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Pajama Party pictures to come!!

Cullen

2011-03-21T23:06:00.004-05:00

This is one of my cousins, Cullen. He is my youngest cousin on my dad's side of the family and he is leaving this week as part of the United States Marine Corps to serve over seas for 7-9 months. To say that me and my family are proud of him would be an understatement. We are so proud, but will also anxiously await his return back to the states after he serves this country so faithfully. We went to east Texas a couple of weeks ago when Cullen was in town to see that side of the family and to give him a little going away celebration/lunch - Mauritzen style. ;) It was a great day!

Austin found a new friend right away! It was so precious watching him play with my cousin's dog! (You can't tell in this pic, but he was huge! A-town had no fear taking that red ball out of his mouth over and over again. Honestly made this Mama a little nervous!) And yes, Austin is posing in this and the next pictures. ;)

"Mommy, take my picture now." Too cute!

This beauty isn't a daddy's girl AT ALL!!

This is Ainsley's smile these days. :)

Here are some of the Mauritzen boys...

...And then a pic with me and Brooke added in. (We missed you - Cory, Suzanne and Blake!)

Papa was the "keeper of Lamby" for the day assigned by Ainsley. :)

Here is my dad's youngest brother, David and his family. Please pray for them while Cullen is gone. Both David and Jackie are strong believers and have been such an inspiration to me since I was little. Love you guys!

Love this pic with Papa and Grandma!

Ains soaking in her Papa time. :)

You never get too young to sit on your Mam's lap. Love it!

Great Granddaddy Mauritzen was there and this was the best pic I could get of him with all 5 of his great grand kids.

Love this pic of sweet Hallie and Austin!

Cullen, we are so proud of you and will be praying for you daily!

Snowmaggedeon

2011-02-13T00:11:00.006-06:00

So, the last couple of weeks have been CRAZY weather here in North Texas! Lots of snow and ice which equalled us staying at our house for A FULL WEEK (from Monday to Sunday!) because the roads were so bad. Though we were definitely a little stir crazy by the end of the week, it was great to slow down a little bit and have some fun family time. I have to say that we are DONE with cold weather and can't wait for Spring!! Here are some pictures from our "snow days":

LOVE how our house looks covered in snow!

Here are our little snow bunnies with Daddy ready to play. (It really was cold with highs in the teens and lo 20s. Us Texans just don't know what do do with those kinds of temperatures!)

Icicles!

A little snow-sliding...

...and a snow ball fight, of course!

Look at that cute pink nose! It matches her hat and jacket! :)

Poor Ains still doesn't like the coldness of it all. She is always the first one inside.

Audrey is about to peg Daddy. :)

Just love her sweet face of concentration!

This boy couldn't be happier. He had a smile on his face the whole time we were outside.

It's snowman building time!

Isn't she pretty? ;)

Giggles, giggles, giggles!

" Okay, who is ready to go inside with me? I am DONE!!" Me too, baby girl! Me too!

Our Little Artists

2011-02-12T23:48:00.003-06:00

The Preschool that all three of our kiddos go to each week had a little art show a couple of weeks ago featuring all of the children's art. It was so fun to walk around the building looking at all the fun pieces of art that were created in the classrooms by the students. One thing I love about the art show is that every parent gets and "Artist Bio" of each student written by their teachers. Here is what they had to say about our A-Team:)

Austin's piece was titled "Circles".

His teachers put - "Austin is very precise in how he works. He is a very self-confident artist."

Audrey's piece was called "The Water" - She was so proud of her picture. :)

It made my mouth drop with what her teachers had to say: "Audrey is a fearless (YES! they said FEARLESS!) leader and it shows in her artwork. She would continue painting all day if she could." Our Audrey?? I couldn't wait to tell her Daddy what was said about her! Audrey's teachers have been telling me all year that she is the "leader, peacemaker and mother hen" of the class, but I honestly always thought they were being nice. ;). I LOVE that school has been able to bring those characteristics out in her. Andrew and I are blown away that our middle child could have such confidence and be a "leader". We love it!

Ainsley's piece was called "Flower".

Her sweet teachers said, "Ainsley loves dancing, singing and playing with her friends. She is a busy little girl with the most amazing dimples in the world! Her color choices are as bright as her personality."

I just love that all three of our kiddos teachers pretty much nailed down their personalities with two sentences! We are so very grateful for such a wonderful preschool where they are growing and learning! They are all having an incredible year!

Happy 89th Birthday, Granddaddy!

2011-02-08T21:08:00.006-06:00

Today my Granddaddy Mauritzen is 89!

I wanted to put some pictures up of him and his bride (we lost Jeannemommie to a stroke about 4 1/2 years ago) and the family legacy they created together:

This was in December 2005 - Their 60th Wedding Anniversary Celebration!

With their 3 boys - My daddy, Uncle Chris and Uncle David

The whole Mauritzen crew at their celebration in '05. (I was 3 weeks away from delivering Austin. :)

LOVE this sweet picture! They adored each other and i know Granddaddy still misses her so much like all of us do. Jeannemommie was an amazing woman of strength and character. Sometimes when Ainsley smiles it reminds me of her sweet smile like in this picture. Just wish she could have met my girls...

All of their grandsons (and my handsome hubby;)

And the granddaughters - we were DEFINITELY outnumbered growing up!!

9 grand kids and 2 spouses :)

My Granddaddy served our country and I am so proud of that.

Thank you, Granddaddy!

They made a special trip up to Waco after Austin was born to meet their 1st great grandson. It was a wonderful day and one of the last days I got to spend with Jeannemommie before she passed.

Granddaddy holding Austin and my cousin's daughter Hallie at their 1st Mauritzen Christmas.

Happy Birthday, Granddaddy! We love you!