Vacation

We have been in Pensacola, arriving on Wednesday afternoon. It was an uneventful motorcycle ride, other than Greta Garmin (GPS) falling off the bike in Mexia and sliding down the pavement. We went back and picked her up and she was none the worse for the trip. Just a little scuff on one corner but she will works like a champ. I will be talking to the guy from Austin that sold us the "mount" for it when we get back to Texas. We have visited with Greg's mom, and sisters, and seen all the kids and grandkids since being here. Took pictures but no way to post them at this time. They will come later when we get back home. May go to the beach today and then heading back home first thing in the morning. Hopefully we can get far enough to avoid the evening thunderstorms that seem to pop up along the coast most every afternoon. Later guys......love to all, paula and greg

Happy Anniversary!!

Happy 8th Anniversary Samantha and Brandon!!

Wishing you many more happy years together!!

More shower pictures.....

The table was really cute!!

Marci looked really cute, too!!

Marci and my mom (Nana) looking at the new baby book.

Samantha, her mom Carolyn, and Grandma Dieterich watching the opening of the gifts.

We think the yellow duck is a baby bathtub.

"Look, itty bitty Crocs!!"

Marci and Jeremy got some really nice things at the shower. We are so thankful for all our friends and family!!

Another baby shower....

Baby Dieterich had another showering of gifts yesterday, courtesy of our sweet church people. It was really nice and the baby got a lot of nice/needed things. I didn't have but a minute this morning to load a couple of pictures. Will try to do more tonight.

This little guy was too cute. He was filled with lots of useful baby things.

A denim cap that Mimi just couldn't resist.
Maybe Fritz can wear this before he rides the motorcycle with Papa.

Roses

If you aren't a plant person, this post is not for you. A coworker traveled to his hometown of Tyler, Texas several weeks ago. Tyler is the rose capital of Texas. He brought several rose bushes back to each of us. Another certain coworker has yet to take her roses home and plant them in the ground. Imagine our surprise last week when we saw this in her office.

The silly plant has sprouted and bloomed in the bag in her office!!! The plants that got taken home and planted by others haven't even bloomed yet.

They are really small, perfect little roses.

Coworker has decided to call it "blooms in a bag"......whatever......

Passing of time....

My supervisor came today for her weekly visit and brought this nice framed certificate with her. I knew my anniversary was coming up but this was a pleasant surprise.

Just in case you can't see that it says 20 YEARS!!!!!

I am a dinosaur......

Happy Birthday sister Nancy!!

Have a wonderful birthday today, Nancy. Try to slow down and enjoy the day!!

I enjoyed reading the restaurant newsletter. Great job.

We miss you, Kaila and Bricen!!

The kids headed back to Florida this morning. They were just about home tonight at 10:00 when I called. Other than a duck sock of Kaila's and a child's washrag of Bricen's, I think they pretty much went home with what they brought, plus a little more that Mimi bought them. They were getting just a little bit homesick by Thursday evening and I asked Kaila if she was tired of Mimi and Papa, and her response was "No, Mimi, but I miss my mom and dad." These are the messages we found this afternoon when we got home....

We had the best time with Kaila and Bricen last week. Bricen always has a smile on his face and Kaila amazed me at how smart she is. They are absolutely delightful children. They are well behaved, and a joy to be around. Ashley and Kailen have done a great job with them. We love them so much and are so proud of them all!!

We are hoping that their summer visit becomes a yearly event!!

The countdown is on.....

Baby Dieterich is due in about a month. The time seems to have gone quickly, at least for me. Marci was given a shower during lunch hour on Monday at the hospital. She got some nice things.

I have to agree with Jeremy. Marci is absolutely glowing these days. She is doing great!! Her tummy doesn't really look like she is due in a month. She still looks very comfortable.

Our church is giving her a shower on Sunday afternoon. I must go get a gift soon.

Yuck.....

The Weekend

I know you are all waiting breathlessly to see what we have been doing. Saturday, the kids and I ran some errands (Greg was at 7 on 7 football all day) and did a little shopping. Bought the kids some t-shirts (can anyone say Hannah Montana and Spiderman?) , an Incredible Hulk figure, and flip fone looking walkie talkies. Greg met us at Logan's Roadhouse for dinner and then it was on to Lion's Park Kiddie Land. The kids didn't know that their parents were meeting us there. They were very excited to see them and had a great time at the park. I was remiss in that I did not grab the camera when we left the house because at the time, I was thinking that we would make our way back home at some point. But that didn't happen. So no pictures of all the fun riding the rides. We all went back to the house where everyone settled in for bedtime. Sunday, the guys went off to work on a tile job and me, Ashley, and the kids went to church, where we met Dustin. Marci and Jeremy stopped by the house for a time as well (Jeremy wound up working on a couple of computers so he may not come back to visit for a while). But the house was full of happy noise all day. I had to come back to work today (yuck) and Greg was back to his school. We will really miss the kids when they return home. Will try to grab a few more pics before they leave.

Happy Father's Day!!

Friday Continued

Tonight the kids got their promised ride on Papa's motorcycle. They took the 6 mile loop that goes from our house, around by the high school, then makes a couple of turns, goes by my sister's house and then back home. They liked the fact the fact that they could talk to Papa through the microphone in the motorcycle helmet. And they listened to Oldies music, too.

Bricen got to ride first.

Kaila got to ride next.

We had a full day again today. It was dinner, baths, and I think Kaila has already fallen asleep on the floor in front of the tv.

Friday

Today we went to the Mayborn Museum. There was a lot of local stuff as well as the usual museum exhibits. The kids weren't too excited about most of the things on the first floor.

The Texas Longhorn.

Then we went to the second floor, where there was lots of hands on areas for the kids. Here, they are flying a plane.

Bricen was our country cowboy.

Kaila was our little country girl, cooking at the fireplace.

Bricen Huckleberry Finn.....

Papa got in on the fun, too. Here he and Bricen pose for a picture.

Mimi was even convinced to dress up like an Indian.

We spent about three and a half hours at the museum and the kids weren't even ready to go at that point. But we convinced them that we had been there about long enough, at least for Papa anyway. We stopped for ice cream sundaes on the way home.

Thursday

Today we dropped by my office, then traveled on across the Interstate to the "promised land", Baylor University. It was orientation week so instead of the campus being deserted like it usually is in the summer, there were lots of people walking around. We did get a parking spot pretty easily, though.

We stopped to see the Baylor Bear. He was out and about, which is quite a treat. When it is this hot, he usually isn't very active.

This was watching the bear through the glass window. Thank goodness. When Bricen saw the bear coming toward him, his comment was "he's coming, he's coming" and he jumped down off the window ledge, thinking he was going to get him.

We met Papa at McDonald's and had lunch, then went by to visit with my mom. We stopped at the Dollar Store for goggles and water guns, headed home to change into swimsuits, and went to swim at Ms. Carolyn's/Mr. Tom's. The kids had a great time.

Our objective when going to Baylor this morning was to get the kids some Baylor shirts. They decided they would put them on once they ate dinner and got cleaned up.

This is their imitation of how the bear stood on its hind legs.

We ate a quick dinner, turned on Bee Movie, and Bricen made it about 15 minutes before he was sound asleep. Papa just got in from a 7 on 7 football game and now the three of us are finishing up the movie.

Wednesday

Wednesday was a trip to the Cameron Park Zoo. I am ashamed to say that I have never visited the zoo since it has been remodeled. Bricen and I were the only "newbies" to it. We went early in the day, hoping the animals would be moving around.

Kaila wanted to pose with the leopard.

Bricen made a cute butterfly.....

Our happy group. We had a picnic in the park after we left the zoo.

Papa had a boy's baseball game to umpire so we headed over to watch (he is the umpire in the background).

The day was complete with a stop for ice cream.

Then it was home for baths and bed.

Tuesday

Kaila awoke earlier this morning than yesterday and joined me outside where I was working. Bricen slept in and when he woke up, we made a trip to WalMart. It was rather uneventful other than the amount of money that we spent. When we got home, Kaila was so excited because the cat would sit in her lap. She insisted that I take a picture of them.

Papa got home about 1:00 PM and we ate lunch. Then we all made our first trip to the Waco Waterpark. It is very "small kid" oriented so it was great for Kaila and Bricen. We stayed a couple of hours and had lots of fun. We didn't get pictures of the action because we didn't want to have to keep an eye on the camera the whole time.

This is what a couple of hours at the water park will do to kids.....

When we asked Kaila if she took a nap on the way home, her reply was that she had been "pretending"......yeah, sure.....at one point earlier her head had been turned sideways and her nose was shoved up against the carseat.

Is Bricen too cool in the sunglasses? I think he was asleep before we got out of the parking lot. These pictures were taken sitting in our driveway. I ran in to get the camera and no one even moved. Greg and I had giggled all the way home while watching them.

Tonight we grilled chicken. Dustin, Marci and Jeremy joined us. We had a great time...and a terrific day!!