Morgan is Four!!

Morgan's birthday landed on Thanksgiving day this year. With me being pregnant I decided to take the easy way out & have her party at my parents' home. Mom was cooking anyways, right?! Luckily, neither Mom nor Morgan minded! Morgan loved having all her cousins there to celebrate!

How Sweet It Is To Be Two!

Morgan & her Daddy

It looks like Steve & I are bringing another little girl into the world. Stevie is a wonderful Daddy to little girls and he has one in particular that stole his heart & broke him in good! Our lovely Morgan. From the beginning, she has loved falling asleep on him & I noticed that I have gotten a few pictures over time. She has managed to get sooo big & she's only about to be four years old. How time flies! It seems like just yesterday she was that little bundle of joy that forever changed our lives.

Happy Friday!

Well, I know I haven't posted anything in quite a while. I was just looking through my pictures of the summer and found my favorite.
This picture has everything in it that I love. Who could ask for anything more? Happy Friday.

My Sweet Cadence Emily!

Too funny for words!

Quote of the Day.....

"This is my cat. [serious face] She speaks meow. " Morgan Faith

"The greatest prayer is patience.” Buddha

As I begin writing, this post has taken a spin! I like the discussion it hails for. Our tank is in the beginning stages therefore it is a little bare still. They say patience goes a long way in this hobby. Ha! What's patience?! When I began researching saltwater tanks I read the word 'patience' alot. It has always been a word for me that was almost a joke. Patience is a virtue, right?! It's also a process I stride to teach my sweet daughters everyday. I just looked up Patience on the internet and......instantly.....I had a ton of quotes on hand. hmmmmn, so inspirational! I wanted to share....

"I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures." Lao Tzu

"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience" Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Every dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and change the world." Harriet Tubman

This one is for Marilyn :)..... (I love to garden as well!)
"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace." May Sarton

And lastly,
"Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake." Victor Hugo

Here is our tank 30 days in..... we have a long way to go in order to reach our end goal of a reef tank.

A New Love.....

Yes, my friends! A new love has taken over our household. Steve and I have managed to finally get a fish tank up and running! Steve has always wanted a Saltwater tank and it has always seemed a little intimidating to me. For goodness sakes, I killed a Betta once. I knew I would like it....I didn't know I would LOVE it! We started the process about a month ago and it is alot of work. I'd say it's all worth it. Morgan and Cadence love it as much as we do....perhaps one will become a Marine Biologist someday. The tank is teeming with life and we want soooo much more. Too bad our tank is only 72 gallons! Alright then, we have taken the plunge and here it is!

Carnival Fun!

Who can resist a Carnival? Not I! After all the family left, we loaded up and headed to the carnival! It was so much fun! Morgan had most of the fun because Cadence is still too small to ride anything. I don't think Cadence really cared, she loved all the lights and people.
This picture has a funny story! Steve and Morgan were making their way through the fun house and I yelled for them to take a picture. Well.....Morgan came running my way and ran straight into a window! I snapped this picture as she was bouncing off of it! poor baby! She took it well and found it to be funny!
Morgan and Cadence on the BIG Ferris Wheel.....

On our way home! We won an Emily Elizabeth....hooray for Morgan! She's Morgan's new favorite doll!

Party at Aunt Mary's House!

I love it when Livestock Show season starts because that means I get to host my nieces and nephews when Houston rolls around. This year was an exciting two weeks around the Owens household! Bobby, Lisa and their three kiddos were here for two weeks. Cherie, Mark and their four kiddos were here the last week. Steve and I love to have the house full! The girls were extremely excited, they don't get to hang out with their cousins that often. Steve said he bought his new PS3 for the kids (wink, wink!) and it sure came in handy...the kids were so fun to watch.

A Day at the Livestock Show

A couple of weeks ago, Bobby, Lisa and the kids came to town for the Houston Livestock Show. We managed to make it down there to see all the action and the girls had a blast. Here are a few pictures. This one is of Bobby and Morgan. This steer did very well...in case you were wondering....and I'm bragging a bit on their Steer! He placed 13th out of 49 in Houston. By not making the Sale, he was shown in Austin and placed 2nd!....making the Sale.....Congratulations Andy! Congratulations to ALL my nieces and nephews. This year, they showed Steers, Heifers, Rabbits and Hogs. We are very, VERY proud of ya'll!!!!! In this picture are two of Bobby's three kiddos, Kaitlyn and Andy with Morgan.

Morgan rode a pony....all by herself! She is sporting a bandana that she made in MDO. She is very proud of it and it's the cutest thing ever!

Inside the show barn was a Petting Zoo. Not my idea.....but Morgan's big brown eyes convinced me to let them go in! They LOVED it! I couldn't keep up with Cadence as she raced from animal to animal!

Little Duckling!

Morgan has started a Mother's Day Out program. She is so proud that she gets to go to 'school!' When I dropped her off she didn't look back! She's such a big girl! Afterwards, we went shopping and she followed behind me like a little duckling. (She's in the 'Little Duckling' class.) I asked her to walk beside me and she informed me she's smaller than me and had to follow in a row! She also came home with a craft! My very first ,of many to come, art project!

Cousins!

They were having a blast! I know this video is really dark but I still think it's cute! Last weekend my cousin and his family came to see us. It's great that we have children the same age. And....we love it when they come. Morgan can't wait until next time!

Christmas Roadtrip!

Well, that's pretty much how I would explain our Christmas. Since we live in Houston, we get to drive many miles to see family at Christmas time. We started a few weeks early and went to see Meems & Peeps in Colorado City, Texas. Peeps is Stevie's Dad. The girls love playing on the staircase with Peeps. The next weekend, Stevie's Mom and Stepdad came to see us! We love it when we have visitors....especially Nana and Papa. We watched the Cowboys that weekend, too. Nana and Papa are huge fans.We stayed home and waited for Santa on Christmas Eve. Morgan is a strong believer in the Santa Claus! He surely didn't let her down. They opened presents first thing Christmas morning and then we were off to Grandpa Sammy & Grandma Louwyns. (My parents house in Drippin')
Christmas with the Alba Family is crazy. There is always fifty or more family members eating, giving presents and enjoying the company. My Grandparents, the Dalleys, were there also. And I'm not sure why my Uncle Lino had his gun with him. But, you know I had to take a picture of it!We spent the night at my Mom's and left the next day for DeLeon, Texas. (I didn't take a picture of the girls on the road that day....or I would have felt the need to add it here!) Stevie's Grandma and Grandpa live there. Christmas here is pretty exciting also. Steve's Mom is one of six children. Mamaw has her gathering every year and it is very special to us.
The girls were playing leap frog at 11 PM. Morgan was wearing her new princess costume from Maw! After it was all said and done, we did have a Merry Christmas. All of our family is doing as well as can be expected. We love being able to go see all of them during the holidays. Wish we could see most of them alot more. Perhaps.....they could come see us!?!??!