Father's

(Here we are being silly about 2 years ago!)

I have an incredible father! He is a very gentle and quiet man, but funny as anything if you get to know him! He was always there for us as kids to cheer us up, talk if we needed to, one of our biggest fans as we cheered at endless high school games, etc. He has taught me many things throughout the years but I think some of the most important things he has taught me are LOVE GOD, attitude is a choice - choose to be happy, blue bell ice cream cures many ills:), work hard at what you do and make sure you love your work, you can be, build, and do anything, when in doubt - be silly, love strongly, sometimes its better to just be quiet and smile, and get outside as often as possible! I love you daddy! You are the best dad EVER!

with Kinsley - he LOVES his grandkids - even if they do call him Grandaddy instead of Grandfather:)

(Curt and the kids at our old house a couple of years ago)

And then there's this man! The love of my life! God handpicked him for me and I have no doubt about that! Curt you are everything I ever wanted - remember my list?:) You are the most incredible loving, silly, fun, caring, gentle, understanding, hero of a father to our kids EVER! I am so blessed and thankful God sent me a man who is the stronghold of our house, a provider, a peacemaker, and such a loving father! Your rock my world Curtis Jon Downs!!! I love you!

(yesterday's breakfast in bed:))

My New Favorite Show!!!!

THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE SHOW!!!!:

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist" on Bravo is its latest stroke on the reality canvas. Bravo has brought Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Sarah Jessica Parker and her production company, Pretty Matches, together with the Emmy-nominated Magical Elves ("Top Chef," "Project Runway") and Eli Holzman, to produce "Work of Art: The Next Great Artist," an hour long creative competition series among contemporary artists. "Work of Art" on Bravo will bring together fourteen aspiring artists to compete for a solo show at a nationally recognized museum and a generous cash prize.

This show is on Wednesday night at 9:00 pm on Bravo! It's my new fave, I could watch it for hours, I am so inspired by these contestants that I just want to set up a working studio! And...I wonder how they choose contestants:)???

Is there anything she does that doesn't turn out great??? I just wish I was on the show:)

The artists all get critiqued on their work each week and the first week one of the ladies said this to the critiquers: WOW, she had guts - but wouldn't I have loved those words back when I was in architecture school defending my designs! I think I might have to buy one of these shirts! LOVE IT!

I am officially inspired - LOOK OUT!

OUR FUNKY/MODERN WEDDING REGISTRY DISHES - Show Us Your Life!

Our Wedding China - Nikko Platinum Filigree

Our everyday dishes - Mikasa Currents

One of the blogs I follow "Kelly's Korner" hosts a "Show Us Your Life" event every so often. This week it was "Show us Your Wedding Registry Dishes". I think these events are so fun, and I love looking at everyone else's blogs so I chose to participate in this one! Please remember we were married in 1999, our choices were VERY limited! We registered at Dillards and Bed Bath and Beyond - back then our choices were those two and Target - and Target wasn't as cool then as it is now! We still love and use our china believe it or not! We opted for a more classic pattern there! Not so much with our dinnerware..., back then we wanted something a little more modern - and truly this was our ONLY choice! We have since updated our dinnerware thanks to Target -ha:) - we have the Gibson square plates with black and red dots (couldn't find a pic of these anywhere) - , but still love Mikasa's fun and funky pattern! Who knows maybe these will be vintage some day - maybe they already are:) ha ha!

A favorite place - The Dallas Arboretum!

POOL PARTY!!!

My sis's kids came home with my mom from San Antonio to stay for a few weeks. Yesterday they came over for a super fun POOL PARTY! They played in the pool all day and then we had a pizza party for dinner. Here they are all lined up - Colton, Madison, Kinsley, Makenna, and Kaden!

Chillaxin! - I love that word:) A great combo of the two!!!

My precious momma soakin' up the sun!

Baby Kai even got to come, she had a blast on the tanning ledge! Everyone took turns holding her!

Jae and Kai, loving the water, and pool toys:) Jae brought that awesome lemonade I posted about - she's actually the one who introduced me to the recipe! And she made an awesome pasta dish to go with our pizza, I'll post that recipe when I get it:)!

Our friends Dawn and Aubrey also came and we had a blast being with them! This is what summer's all about!!!

Early Birthday Boy!

The day before Kaden's last day of school, his class had a party for winning the Box Tops contest and for the summer birthdays! Here's my little July birthday boy, with his loving sis! Don't you just love how your kids faces light up when they see you at their school? I wish I could freeze that smile - just precious!

Here he is in front of his class while we all serenaded him with "Happy Birthday To You!"

I can't believe this sweet little child of mine will be 7 in less than a month - he's having a leggo party! Stay tuned!

REFRESHING!!!

It's been HOT outside! Need something to take to your next pool party or to offer to your guests at your next outdoor barbeque that's totally REFRESHING?!!! Try this recipe! This lemonade is the best I've ever had! Sweet, tart, and with a little zing - it's delish:

1 part frozen pink lemonade (I use Minute Maid)
1 part Fresca
add key limes and/or raspberries if desired:)
garnish with something precious - like a slice of lime:)

Pour into cute little glasses...

...or set up an outdoor self serve lemonade and cookies bar for your next party!!!

...it looks really pretty in something like this too!

Also...you can keep this on hand at your house, with your fave snacks and cookies, to pull out when those unexpected but enjoyable guests arrive!

P.S. I gave this, with somewhat of a twist, as a teachers gift this year: a pink metal bucket, Minute Maid pink lemonade powder, lemonade decorative vintage -y looking pitcher, 4 glasses with lemons etched on them, and some napkins with lemon pictures as well. Included was a note of thanks saying "Have a refreshing summer"! **fun gift!

On the road again...

Seems like we were home just long enough to do laundry, and now we're off again. Tomorrow we will be leaving for one of my favorite places in Texas - San Antonio for a family reunion! I'm sure there will be tons of time spent walking up and down the riverwalk - we are even going to eat at this restaurant with these colorful umbrellas!!! I just LOVE this pic!

We are staying on the water, and I'm stoked! We've stayed on the water before and it's such a blast! Easy access to all the night life and activities!

And I'm sure we won't get away without visiting this grand ol' place - The Alamo!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Devil's Den Arkansas Camping Trip 2010

If you just tuned in, beware, this is going to be a VERY long post! If you are interested, then read on, this trip was too fun not to post all the pics I had! Truth be told, my camera isn't that great, and EVERY disk I have is FULL of pics that I have yet to download, so on this trip I had to delete pics before I could take some, somebody out there PLEASE tell me you have this same issue and I'm not the only one:)!!! Needless to say, toward the end of the trip I resorted to using my sis-in-law's camera which she so kindly promised me she'd email the pics - and she has - I just haven't figured out how to get them on here. So here's what I have so far...!

Our precious cabin #11!

Most of the trip we spent hiking and rock climbing, Devils Den is famous for its caves and crevasses. Here's a sign leading us to the trails!

Curt and I peeking into a cave!

Curt and the kids peeking into one of the caves - they were closed due to some bat bacteria, but no one said we couldn't peek inside:)!

Sweet cousins, Kaden, Kinsley, and Corbin, enjoying the hike!

We saw this little friend on our first hike, nothing like being initiated to the wilderness right off the bat! We took the time to snap a pic, and then quietly proceeded with our walk! The kids were fascinated!

My beautiful sis-in-law Sarah with my niece Emerson (such a trooper), and my nephew Corbin. I can't tell you how much I enjoy being with these guys! So glad God put us in the same family!!!

My bro-in-law and avid rock-climber, he taught all of us how to rock climb - here's Kaden on his first trial run.

And Kinsley takes a turn!

On the trail under a big cavern - so FUN!!!

Kaden and Kins touching the water running off the trail! It was beautiful!

There were two gorgeous waterfalls at one point in our hike, it reminded me a lot of Maui! I just kept thinking, "God, you are awesome!"

This is at the Devil's Den Dam - a beautiful place to relax, have a picnic, enjoy life:)!

This suspension bridge was close to the dam - the kiddos were excited about this!

Here we are enjoying a hike!

And skipping rocks...

And LOVING nature!!!

We got some AWESOME pictures of all of us rock climbing but they are on Sarah's camera, as soon as I figure out how to get them on here I will - it was exhilirating!!! Hope you all had a great memorial day as well!