The 400 Club

This is my 400th Blog post! Woo Hoo!

It's been quite a month, and unfortunately I didn't document it all very well with photos. Let's start at the beginning...

The Sunday night before labor day some serious fires broke out across Central Texas and the Greater Austin Area, with one just a few miles away in Steiner Ranch, a subdivision within our ward boundaries. The entire subdivision was evacuated for three days. All of the fires were devastating, especially the one in Bastrop where 1500 homes were lost. Fortunately, the Steiner Ranch fire was contained relatively quickly and less than 30 homes were lost.



Happy Birthday to ME!



So it may sound heartless, but to celebrate my birthday, we had rented a pontoon to spend the morning together on the lake on Labor Day. I know. Our friends' homes were in danger of fire, they'd been evacuated and displaced, and we were kickin' it on Lake Travis. I tried to not let the guilt be a downer to my special day.

"One day they might actually let me drive this thing for real"

We enjoyed a lovely morning on the water with a few friends. Because of the draught, the water level of the lake is at an all time low. That's one of the reasons we choose a pontoon instead of a ski boat. The pontoon was perfect for lounging and visiting, cruising fast enough for a breeze, but not so fast that miss worrywart herself had to be concerned with the exposed rocks, islands, and trees.




Don't know why the photo didn't rotate. But doesn't it look like I know what I'm doing?



Three kids awake



Two kids asleep

Tuesday, my actual birthday, I was surprised twice! Kraig came home at lunch time and brought me a treat and several of my girlfriends gathered to celebrate my birthday at a local restaurant. It was a lovely day and I felt loved by those around me. Especially from Andrew who gave me two packs of gum, and from Josh who gave me a pumpkin because I love orange. :)

A few of my dear friends here in Austin.



A few weeks later my dear Mother came to visit. We had originally scheduled her visit to be here during a little surgery of Thomas', but the surgery was rescheduled for next month, and so I was able to enjoy a lovely visit with my mom. We celebrated her birthday while she was here AND got to go see Gladys Knight preform. Oh, and we played a few hands of Rencher Uno.

This is my cute Mom. Can anyone guess how old she is?

Here are a few extra photos of my crazy kids from this month.


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Josh made Thomas a headband like the stripling warriors. He even wrote Thomas' name on it. No, this is not the reverse of the photo. He actually write all of his words backwards. Might be a left handed thing?

 

Thomas spends a lot of time in the stroller walking back and forth to the bus stop 4 times a day. He's a good sport.

 

Maybe I should buy a few more wii remotes so everyone can play...

Thomas has almost mastered horsey rides with Daddy.