4 Month Wrap-Up

Where have I been?! Busy to say the least! I think my last official post other than last night, was in October so let me catch you up!
Thanksgiving was so fun! We took a cruise to the beautiful and freezing Caribbean! Yes, you read correctly, freezing! It was warmer at home than on the cruise...we did have fun though. I literally wore 3 shirts and socks and tennis shoes the whole time! I like to call the photo on the left, "Not too cold for a CocoLoco!" This was at the Midnight Buffet and so many people were walking around all week wrapped in their stateroom blankets. So I grabbed one and took a quick photo! We finally saw the sun the last day in Key West and we rushed to get on our swimsuits...It was still pretty cool though and I certainly had goosebumps! Oh, and yes, Brad is that white!! HAHA! It was fun to get away and spend some time with Brad's family! The first day we slept almost 11 hours-seems like we needed some rest. We met the best girls on the trip-Anna and Emily! I think that they literally changed my life. They are sisters that live up north and they are so fun and adventurous. They gave me a new perspective on life that I have really been embracing lately! Don't get me wrong, I am still never going to go sky-diving and I still won't like rollercoasters, but I just have a different outlook on life and trying new things. One of the new things I love is SPIN CLASS! Brad and I go at least twice a week and it is great! I have never been one to get sweaty-not from a princess kind of way-I am just not a sweaty person...but in spin class-it is a workout. We have an awesome teacher named Jerry who I call "Scary" and he makes it great! Brad thinks I am ready to get a road bike-we'll see! I do like the fact that I don't have to worry about cars hitting me in the gym!
Ok, back to the holidays...The Tuesday after Thanksgiving, Ryan went in for his open-heart surgery. I spent the night with them on Monday night and helped prep him for the next day so at least Todd could sleep. It was very hard to put him in that carseat and let them take him to the hospital. I can't imagine what it was like for Laura and Todd to give him to the surgeons. Whew-what a scary time! He did absolutely fantastic and we are so thankful for the staff that took care of him. Once again, I spent a lot of time over at Laura's house taking shifts and helping with the kids.

Two weeks after that we were gearing up for Reece's surgery. The night before we got together again but this time to celebrate Reid's 2nd birthday!
What a stinker she is! Love that girl. She loved her TMX Elmo (and so did Ryan) and her cupcakes!
It was a good distraction to do that the night before Reece had his surgery!
To read the twins whole story over the past year, go to the link below. I don't know how long it will be on there like that but if you search on the DallasNews.Com site "Mended Hearts" I'm sure you will find it! It was pretty cool to go around town today and see my nephews on the front of the paper. We thank Michael Granberry and Lara Solt for all their hard work to capture the boys story of faith and triumph and strength! Lara is actually up for a Pulitzer Prize for her work on the "Yolanda" story and we truly hope she is rewarded for her awesome photos! http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/012807dnglheartkids.4b07152.html