YAY for Family!

My grandparents, two of my aunts, and one of my cousins came into town this weekend for a visit.  We were thrilled to get to spend some time with them.  This was the first time for them to get to meet Samuel and Anna. 

The Weatherford Boy's having fun at Grandma's house.



Samuel had and ear infection this weekend.  He mostly wanted Mommy but snuck in a few snuggles here and there



Anna and Samuel.  They are six months apart.  They seem to be interacting a lot more lately.
It is so neat to see them together.  Right now Sam is a little bit of a bully but I bet that Anna will
soon hold her own.

Samuel and Aunt Yvonne

The Great Grandparents and their five Oklahoma great-grandchildren.  This picture is
not perfect (obviously) but it is so hard to capture all five of these wiggly worms at the
same time.  Its real life.

Just because he is cute ; )

We celebrated Josh's birthday this weekend.  It is a big birthday year for him.
That makes me feel old too.  It is so crazy how fast time has gone.   Happy Birthday Uncle Josh!
You are an awesome bother-in-law and uncle!  We hope that many blessings come your way this year.

First Haircut

Samuel's first haircut was so hard for me to commit to.  Lucas didn't get his trimmed until he was two because he has so much less hair than Samuel.  I didn't know how Sam would look with his hair cut.  Would he look to grown up? sniff, sniff.  But, with family pictures around the corner I had to take the plunge.  He did so much better than I expected.  I thought he would have thrown a fit.  But, he sat patiently and didn't try to grab the clippers.  I was so proud.  Here are the before and after pictures. 





Before                                                  After

We did not go too short because I was nervous.  Next time I am going to be more daring.

Home is where your family is.

The Weatherford Family has learned this phrase well.  Since we were married four years ago, we have moved four times.  We moved again last weekend and with at least one more move in our near future we have figured out a few life lessons.

1.  Home is where your family is.  No matter if its in a beautiful new home or a small apartment, we are a family.  We are there for each other, we love each other.
2.  God loves us and He wants what is best for us.  Recently the Lord led us from a very bad move that would have created a lot of stress in our lives and could have been dangerous for our children.  We had already committed to the brown recluse infested home when we kept running into setbacks throughout our move.  Obviously, God was giving us time to notice the extreme bug issue so we could get out without any problems.
3.  Children are resilient.  Every big change we have ever had has caused Brian and I to stress and every time the kiddos have proven us wrong.  How will Lucas handle a new brother?  How will he handle a big boy bed? How will they ever share a room?  How will they handle the move?  Well, they handled it perfectly.  No problems, no crying, no missing sleep, nothing.  They handled it like they believe #1 (above.)
4.  You don't need stuff.  Obviously we have way more stuff than many people all over the world.  But moving has allowed us to evaluate what we need.  We have really edited our life down to the important stuff (Except for photos and albums.  I have been told that I have a problem with this.)  I'm still a normal American that sees that cute shirt that I "have" to have, or that treats myself to a Braum's banana shake when I have just spent too much on groceries.  But, we really have tried to simplify.

After a full day of moving, we finally brought Samuel and Lucas home.  We walked in prepared to build it up to something grand but we didn't have to.  Lucas was so impressed that all of his stuff was here.  He walked around taking inventory and saying "wow!  My toys!  Wow, my bed!"  What a relief that was.  Thanks to everyone that has supported us over the last two years of moving.  Thanks to our family for helping us out in so many ways.  We love you!

ahhhh

After almost three months of scorching weather we finally had a break from the triple digits.  The weather made me so happy.  It is amazing how nice weather can effect your mood.  We took advantage of the incredible temperature and spent all Sunday outside.

The big kids relaxing before lunch.

Aunt Lindsey and Lucas

Brian and I after church

Brian and Lucas after church.  I love to see my boys match.

We took Sarah and Lucas to the nature park.  They had so much fun.  Lucas chased Sarah, they pretended, they threw dirt, they found bugs, they jumped, and they climbed.  We ended up taking the long trail by accident.  It was good exercise (especially with two little kids on our shoulders.)

After the nature park we went to the playground.  I could have just stretched out on the grass and fell asleep.  It was such a pretty day.

Lindsey and Me.  Lindsey and Abigail met us a little later for some fun.

Samuel and Anna stayed behind to have some bonding time. 

This weekend was Samuel's 11th month birthday.  Where has the time gone?  He is getting so big.  He is walking about 90 percent of the time now and is standing up on his own without pulling up on anything.  He is 100 percent a momma's boy and is loaded with a huge personality.  I love watching him change and grow.  I cannot wait to celebrate his birthday next month.