Getting All Caught Up!

Struck by Lightning -

This gave us the scare of our life. Last Saturday, Neno and I were watching TV after the girls had gone to bed and it began to rain. Neno went outside to listen to it under the covered patio and lightning hit so close and so hard that it send him running back inside. After settling in to watch a show that Neno and I both enjoy, it happened again, but this time it felt like it hit the house. No joke, we didn't just have a power surge, we had everything going nuts. The TV spazzed and then went off and our alarm that hasn't been tripped in 4 years starting going crazy. We had no idea how to turn it off and were sure that it was going to wake the girls, but they slept right through. We were sure that it hit the house so Neno set out with a flash light to make sure that nothing was on fire or smoking that was attached to the house. Once he made his rounds and with no TV to watch, we headed off to bed. Then, the doorbell rings - not a regular occurrence at 10 p.m. so we answered it to find our neighbors. They had come down to tell us that they saw the lightning strike close by and when the went to find out where, the bark from our oak tree was in the street. That lead them to our tree and the spot of the strike. Here are a few pics of the damage...

You can see the entrance and exit of the lightning!

Annabelle is 9 months -

AB turned 9 months on Saturday and I know I have said it before but I do not know where time goes. She is so much fun and I just love when she gets excited. Like Ava Grace, she has some great expressions. I have decided that she will probably not crawl like most babies. She could care less to get up on all fours and take off. The army crawl works for her and it gets her anywhere in the house that she wants to go. She has also started standing up in her bed occasionally. So, we had to drop it down so that we wouldn't find her on the floor one day. She is so proud when she gets all of the way up in the bed. She starts to get excited and bounces which puts her right back where she started from on her rear. She is getting too big!

She broke the mobile pretty much as soon as she grabbed it. Gorilla glue to the rescue!!

AG Swim Lessons-

On July 13th, Ava Grace started swimming lessons at Tech's new leisure pool (It is fabulous). I would have to say that our short stint at TEGA earlier in the summer got us off to a great start. She had no hesitations about getting in the water and taking off. She keeps telling her teacher, "I can do it by myself." And though we aren't quite there yet, she is getting really close. She wants to go under and get diving toys, she wants her teacher to back-up when she jumps and she is not afraid of holding her breath and staying under water for a while. I love it!! She is a little fish! I have also had the chance to play with my camera some when we have been out there and I captured a few good pics...

4th of July-

Over the 4th we ventured to Lake Buchanan (Nana & PawPaw's) to have some family time with my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews. We also had some special visitors as my friend Kristen, her husband Brian and precious daughter Presleigh joined us for a day. We hiked down to the "Big River" as there isn't any water behind my mom and dad's house right now. It is so sad, but the hike was worth it. The kids loved picking up shells and swimming in the "big river" as Ava Grace would say.

The girls and I stayed behind for a few extra days so that we could play and mom and I could talk business. I even got to soak up a little sun while the girls were napping. That was fabulous. We met Molly, Emma Beth, Marlee, Janie, Pepper and Jackson at Chick Fil A in Austin one day for just a little extra cousin time and it was so fun to see all of them together. I am not going to rush it but I cannot wait to see all of them growing up together.

And Now, We Are All Caught Up...