zach graduated!

zach graduated. zach graduated. zach graduated.. that means he will be going to COLLEGE. whoa. when did he even turn 8 years old?? i don't remember him being this old.. anyway, wierd. SO stinkin' proud of my brother. it has been so encouraging to see how he has matured and grown. he is such a cool kid and i can't wait to see the man God continues to make of him. seriously, though. i could go on and on and i'm not just saying that because i am his sister.. he rocks, people.

some of the graduating peeps on the NEW field in georgetown (cool/wierd..)

i don't know.. some people say we look alike. :) proud of you, zachy!

graduated? YEAH he did!

brotha and some buddies.. can't believe they're all done!

christina and i are so proud of our brothers!

CONGRATULATIONS, ZACHARY!! i can't tell you how excited i am for you about all of the sweet things ahead of you. i LOVE you so much.

week in tejas

i was so thankful to be able to go home to visit friends and family for a week before all of our summer stuff got started. of course there never seems to be enough time to see everyone but i love the little time i do get to spend with friends and family.. here is a mini-collection of photos from the week:

i learned how to long board with zach! it was really fun/a little scary. i did alright until the LAST run. i was holding onto the car while he pulled me and when he stopped i was supposed to cut in front of him around the corner.. what it actually looked like was me NOT cutting hard enough, deciding to jump off because i was headed for the curb, and barrel rolling on the pavement because i was definitely going faster than my feet could run. ouch.

lunch date with my sister and taylor. love my crazy little sista.

have a coke and smile. tay is a genius at knowing "hippie ashley" places to eat and always has some fun, random place to try that i have never been too. i get lost in all the great places to go but she can totally sort it out and knows the perfect places.. thanks, girl.

and some things haven't changed since like 7th grade.. kristi, jes, sonia and i went to ashlynn's to swim, lay out, and catch up (missed you shlynnie! she got there later) rachel (ashlynn's mom/another mom for all of us) had invited us to come over even though no one was going to be there and left drinks in a cooler. when she got back she had NOODLES. so funnn..

before i'd even gotten home, tay had invited me to go to mauldin's 60th birthday party- heck yes! i LOVE her whole family and it was wonderful to eat some good bar-b-q and do a little dancing with everyone!

there was a lot going on but there are some of the highlights from the week! love me some tejas time. love all you tejas peeps too.

kennedy anne

i have been so thankful for God's timing in many things this year and i couldn't believe how perfect it was this may. i only had one week off after preschool ended and our summer literacy camp/group stuff started. i was talking to ashlynn on the computer one afternoon and we figured out that i would be home right around her due date!

..so i basically started happy crying almost in disbelief of how perfect that would be. when i got home, kristi and i road-tripped it up to san angelo to meet the beautiful kennedy anne. it was SO good to see clay and ashlynn and meet their sweet daughter. auntie tinkle (me..) and auntie kristi FELL IN LOVE with her in about .3 seconds.. like the speechless, awe-filled kind of love.

kennedy anne is a beautiful little gift from God. i am so thankful for who she will be in all of our lives; she is one LOVED little girl. oh my gosh i am so excited to see her grow up. clay and ashlynn are already such loving parents. we are all amazed at every little expression and noise she makes. oh i wish i could put this into words.. but i feel like i am failing to describe how truly incredible kennedy and her little family are.

auntie kris and kennedy

momma shlynn and her girl :)

auntie tinkle misses you like crazy already, kennedy anne. i love you.

last day of preschool!

our kids are DONE with their first year in preschool!! woo hoo! cara and i "organized" a last-minute "ceremony" for our kids.. basically, it looked like drum rolling, shouting names, giving out folders/crafts from the year, and lots of screaming and clapping.




so proud. good job, chilluns! man, i love these kids!!

cara is pretty

for a project at one of her churches back home, cara had an assignment to have pictures taken in her everyday activities with a sweet pair of frames.. i had the honor of stalking cara for days with a camera.

it was funny to watch the kids play with them and react to her.. here are a couple i thought were cute:

there's really no point to this blog post.. i mean i guess to sum: glasses are fun and cara is pretty.

guitar class concert

for one of cara's personal projects this year, she taught ronni, sili, and ernesto how to play guitar! they LOVE cara so much. she spent a lot of time preparing music for them and ended up making them binders with all they'd learned. the grand finale of their class was a concert at our apartment!

..well, we were all QUITE excited and quite overwhelming for the boys. the whole makarios staff was there and ronni's family came. the boys refused to even come in the apartment for awhile.. they did NOT want all of us watching. most of the staff actually went onto the back porch so they would start. it was really sweet once they'd been convinced to start. they did such a good job! so proud. :) they had such a great teacher..

ronni and ernesto

cara and sili

after eating treats and performing, cara gave them their binders and certificates. it was such a sweet time. because they performed she also promised a trip to the beach.. :)