White Bear Lake with the Houges

We just had a great time in Minnesota with family!! Paul's bro's bro-in-law generously let us stay at his lake home which works out wonderfully with our large family...plus it's beautiful, being right on the lake. It rained a lot of the time, but we were able to sneak in some waterskiing, jogging to parks and to the marina and Paul and I got to play a fierce game of tennis. We really enjoyed visiting on the front porch and Paul's mom was our chef for the week! Elli just loved her cousins, especially Gabe, whose 9 months older. She learned many words from him and they loved to dance and play together. What was a topper to the week, was how the family had already embraced our little guy. The cousins would ask about him which meant a lot to us. Paul's mom had already checked out India books. It is always so fun to catch up with family and "play" together! The rain brought an amazing rainbow at the end of the week and two bald eagles swooping around our cabin!

A Beach Blast with the Rios'

The Rios' flew from Colorado to visit us last weekend and what a blast we had!! We went to Port Aransas and enjoyed the beach and just spending time together. We took the ferry to get there (great suggestion, Leann) and loved searching for shells, while the boys went for a run and body surfed. After our getaway we toured the Riverwalk and downtown San Antonio. We even did a little bootscootin' at the country store:) Elli LOVED Ramona and also loved the attention she received from them. Great times with sweet friends! I don't think I captured great shots of all of us, though:(

Mornings at the Houges'

It's such a sweet sight in the morning when Elli and Daddy make coffee.

Our Little Son

We received new pics of our guy from a family that just picked up their little girl. We have more pics, but will post some more probably with his name! Vikram is his Indian name. Don't ya love the pink polka-dots? I just want to go get him and squeeze his rolls!

Windsurfing Weekend

Finally...we celebrated Paul's October birthday:) What he wanted for his birthday, Christmas, etc. was a windsurf weekend and May is the best month for it, so he patiently waited for last weekend. It was worth the wait for sure...the windsurfing at North Padre was amazing and Paul had a blast! Elli is not too sure about the water and the wind, plus we both had a little stomach and respiratory bug, so our oceanfront condo was wonderful:) Good job, Paul, you are quite the windsurfer!

It's a Boy!

We got matched!! Yes, this sweet little guy with the biggest brown eyes is going to be our son! He was born in October ...which couldn't be more perfect, considering he is coming into a family who all have October birthdays! Birthday weeks may be kind of crazy now:) Paul and I were reflecting last night on how God has an amazing plan for him. We have been praying and waiting for him for over 3 years...before this little one was even little at all. God has perfect timing and it's again a lesson to wait on Him, even when it seems like it is taking longer than we want it to. Praise God for our newest little miracle. Elliana loves the attention she gets with this shirt, but not quite sure if she understands what it means. We will keep you posted on the name we choose for him.

Grandpa and Grandma in Texas!

Last weekend my dad and mom came to visit. We had a blast celebrating Mother's Day with Brian, Leann and Landon and enjoying the outdoors, going to the Witte Museum. It was too short but we packed it in! Can't wait until the next visit!