A mini vacation....

just like 7th grade doubles pictures...(Jill, I hope I made your husband proud)

aaahhhh!

Daddy and the kids...

Ryder's 1st tennis lesson...

Amy and Syd...
We went to Dallas for the weekend and had such a good time. Amy Van was house sitting for some of her good friends while they were in Hawaii. She asked us to bring the kids over and let them swim while we grilled out that night. I knew they had a nice house, but my jaw hit the floor when I saw it. Some of the ammenities included (in realtor language) outdoor kitchen with flatscreen, fireplace, pool, hot tub, lighted tennis court (yes in their back yard); the inside had 2 staircases, an elevator shaft, a dining room table that seats 24 people and to top it all off, the master closet was honestly the size of my bedroom at home. We did the math and realized that their house is 6 times the size of mine. I could go on for days about how gorgeous it was. We ended up staying there 2 nights because we didn't want to leave; it was like being at a resort.
Needless to say, we had a great time and it was so good to see Amy and let her spend time with my kids (when I could pull her away from the Olympics...Go Michael Phelps:) For those of you who don't know her, she's crazy, but I love her! Anyway, here are a few pics from "the mansion". Have a great week.

The last B-day party for a while....

I actually wrote this over a week ago, but was having problems downloading the pictures. I realized it was because I have too many saved on my computer, so I'll have to start putting them on disks...aaaggghh! Anyway, this is a slideshow from Hannah (3), Elise (2) and Ryder's (2) Birthday party. I had to throw the single picture in there, because they were both trying to kiss him; what a little stud! We're headed to the "Big D" for the weekend; have a good one!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Life is not always meant for us to understand...

You're probably wondering why I posted a picture of a "present", but it's a lot more than that. Most people don't know this story, but I've thought about it for a while and something is compelling me to share it. I'm not doing it because I want sympathy or anything like that, but to show that while we don't always understand why things happen, God always has a bigger plan. Four years ago last night, I layed in a hospital bed and delivered a baby girl. On our way to the hospital, we were fully aware that she would never take a breath. Her name was Summer J. Scott, she was 12 inches long and weighed about a pound. We knew at 9 wks that something was wrong, but it was a few months later that the Dr.s determined she had Turners Syndrome. We were told that I would get to about 8 months and her heart would probably stop beating. Although I didn't make it that far, her heart did stop beating. Oddly enough, I knew exactly when it happened. Colt and I had really prepared ourselves for what we had to do that day and although it was just like a normal, induced delivery; in our minds it was more like some type of procedure. I guess that was our defense mechanism. As those months of being pregnant went by, we learned several things. Probably the most important was that it's not always our job to understand why God does what he does. He's God, it's his prerogative and it's our job to determine how we will handle the outcome. They always say that major tragedies will either make or break a relationship and through this challenge, it only made us stronger as a couple. We saw sides of each other that we had never seen and opened up in ways that I never would have imagined. Looking back, I think that God knew we needed something to shake us up, and this is what it was. I also know that at that period in our lives, we were in a financial mess. Things would have been very different for her than they are for Ryder and Sydney and we wouldn't have been able to take advantage of many of the opportunities that were so blessed with today. I say all this because when life has you in the middle of a storm and it looks like there's no clear skies in sight, just be patient. We don't always get the answers, but I firmly believe that we learn the lessons that can lead us to a greater understanding about so many things.

Back to the "present"....Instead of having a funeral, we had her cremated and saved her ashes. We weren't sure what to do with them, but knew that it would be revealed to us at some point in the future. Last spring my mema past away and we decided to bury her ashes with mema. When my dad ordered the headstone, he decided to have her name put on there also; I thought that was awesome. I guess the reason I wanted to write about this was because sometimes I feel a bit of guilt because I don't ever want her to be forgotten, but at the same time it's not "casual conversation" material. I guess her birthday just made me think about it. The flip side to all of this is that God has chosen to bless Colt and I with 2 beautiful children and we both feel that our lives couldn't be better. Our lives go on, business as usual, but she will never be forgotten; it's awesome to know that we will still get to meet her someday!

My baby is 2!!!

Love this picture!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It's so hard to believe that Ryder was born over two years ago. He has been such a joy to us and our family and we never expected the last couple of years to be as wonderful as they have been. Now our joy has been doubled with Miss Sydney...life is good :) Ryder had a small party Monday night with our family and he decided on an Elmo theme. I'm not big on characters, but other than tractors and farm animals, Elmo is the only thing he's really taken an interest in. I did my best at making his cake and it actually turned out really well. I have no idea how it tasted because I wasn't about to eat all that clumpy icing, but the kids seemed to like it. I asked his Pappa (Colt's dad) to make his traditional B-day cake and it was great. We've decided that were going to have to buy a bigger house just to hold all his toys. Do they still make small toys? If so, please tell me where. Ryder ended up going home with Colt's parents for the week and it's been so strange not having him around. Granted, I've gotten more done around the house than all of last year combined, but I'll be ready for him to come back in the next couple of days. We're debating taking the side off of his baby bed this week. I think he's old enough, but it may drive me crazy and end up back on the bed by the end of the week...we'll see.
For those of you that new about my grandaddy, he had a heart attack the other day and remarkably is doing just fine. He's already gone home and you would never know that he came near death a few days ago. Knowing him, he's thinking that he's got to much work "around the house" to finish up and it's just not his time. He's a funny guy!
This is random, but I'm going to start posting houses that I have for sale on my blog. Hey, I might as well kill two birds with one stone. If you know anyone looking for anything in the Lubbock area, whether I have it listed or not, just let me know. Anyway, I hope all is well. Have a good week.

A great weekend...

We decided to visit Colts family this last weekend. He has always been very close to his aunt, uncle and cousins, but they live in northern NM and we usually only see them once or twice a year. During the holidays we always get together and have the JLS ropin (Jackson, Lehman, Scott) and were fortunate to get to do that this weekend. Back a while ago, we found out that his uncle Joe has pancreatic cancer and immediately started treatment. I'm so glad that we got to see him this weekend because nobody knows what God has in store for his future. For the 4th, we went over to Eagles Nest and watched the firework show over the lake. It was so gorgeous becasue we were right in the middle of the mountains, no clouds in the sky and nothing but a million stars and awesome fireworks. Of course it didn't dawn on me that capris and flip flops probably aren't the smartest thing to wear at night in the mountains. I don't know what the temp was, but it was pretty dang cold for July. Overall, we had a great weekend with his parents and the rest of his family; once again, it was nice to get out of town.

To be honest, I don't really feel like blogging right now. I feel compelled to mention this, but don't want to talk about it yet. I just got a call from a good friend in Dallas that I used to teach with. She called to let me know that one of my very good friends at school died last night. She's had cancer 5 times now. I don't have much to say, other than I hate cancer and it scares me greatly. On that note, please keep her family in your prayers and please pray for Colt's uncle Joe, too. He's got quite a battle ahead of him. Don't ever forget that we don't know what tomorrow holds, the ones we love may not be with us. Don't take anything or anyone for granted. Now that I've probably depressed you all, (sorry) have a good week.

Intense Prayer...

"Let the little children come unto me"
I love this picture. Ryder is learning how to pray and that we say prayers when we sit down to eat. He looks like he's in deep agony, but it's still the cutest thing. It takes forever to eat a meal, because he will take a bite and want to pray, take another bite and want to pray....Larissa has already warned me, "just wait until he starts saying them". I'm sure they will get interesting. As for Sydney, she's getting so big. She can't wear gowns at night anymore, because her legs stick out too far. We'll go to the Dr this week for her 2 month checkup and I really curious to see how much she's grown.
It's been a good week, but still really busy with work stuff. Summer time is usually when things kick in for the real estate business and I'm so blessed to have so many things going on right now. It's amazing that I can still get this much work done and stay home with the kids most of the time. My mother in law was here yesterday and watched them for a while and my mom has volunteered her Tuesdays to watch Sydney while working on Larissa's house. We're so lucky to have everyone this close. Not too much to write about, but I had to get this picture posted.

A crazy month...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth, it's just been a really busy month. I've had more going on with my business than I ever have (but I'm not complaining) and adding Sydney to the family has been a much bigger adjustment that I ever expected. She is wonderful and it's been so awesome to watch her change and grow every days. She's already sleeping through the night and not even 7 weeks yet. She usually goes to bed around 11 and doesn't wake up until at least 7 the next morning. Ryder sleeps at least 13 hours a night and still take at least a 3 hour nap during the day. For whatever reason, God blessed us with really sleepy children. All in all, things have gotten so much easier and we're starting to figure it out.

Colt and I sent Ryder to his parents and Sydney to my parents this last weekend and took a long needed getaway. We went to Albuquerque by ourselves and had a wonderful time ALONE! We stayed in a really nice hotel downtown where there were all sorts of restaurants, pubs, and shopping within walking distance. We went to the casinos one night, rode the tram and just spent a few days "hanging out" together. It was so nice to not have anyone else around and have no set schedule. I would have taken pictures, but we got to the top of the city (tram ride) to admire the gorgeous view and that's when I realized that I left my memory card at home...go figure! Anyway, we had a great time, but were certainly ready to see the rugrats :)

I don't usually have deep thoughts to write about, but I had an epiphony (I love that word) while we were there. We were sitting on a patio eating supper and watching all the people go by. Down town Albuquerque is FULL of strange and homeless people. We were right next to the sidewalk and a really old man, wearing torn up clothes, using crutches falls down on the ground near us. There was an iron gate seperating us, but my first instinct was to go over and see if he was ok. I noticed that nobody was even paying attention to him as he layed there moaning. I looked at Colt with shock and he said, "no, he's just doing it for attention so he can get money." Although I thought theres no way, he got up and hobbled away. About an hour later, the same man came back and did the EXACT same thing. I was amazed, because Colt was right. As I looked around, I noticed so many people that I would refer to as "bums" that have brought this lifestyle on themselves because they are alcoholics, drug addicts or whatever...then it hit me. That man is someones son, probably someones father and brother. I'm so quick to judge people, and whether he had made bad decisions or not, he's still a human who deserves what we all want. There may be a family sitting home worried about him, wondering if he's warm, where he's sleeping, or if he's even alive. It just really made me think twice about the way that I look at people and the fact that those are the people that Jesus spent so much time with. It's so sad that we allow the media and other forces to determine who we accept and who we don't. Whether he wanted money or not, Jesus would have helped him up and sat there and talked to him. I chose to enjoy my hot supper in front of him! Anyway, it's just something that's been on my mind and something that I really need to adjust when it comes to the way I look at people.

I know, deep thoughts by Suzanne. It's been so long since my last post that I had to do another slideshow because I have so many pictures. Have a good week!