Coin Collector

Samantha is a collector of many things. Most of her collections are rocks, acorns and garbage. Thankfully, she also has a fondness for money! On Saturday, we decided to empty all her piggy banks and count up her money.

$129.16Papa collects quarters and found this to be the perfect time to introduce Samantha (and Alayna) into quarter collecting. After a trip to Hobby Lobby and a quick teaching moment Papa they are all set!
Samantha has nearly completed her State Series Quarters (1999-2009 collector's map). Alayna has her 1st quarter in the National Park Quarters (2010-2021 collector's map).

Final Four in Houston

Blake fondly remembers the days in junior high when his older brother Brian would sneak him out of school so they could watch the first couple days of the tournament together...
How far they have come! Blake's Dad, Brian, and Nate all flew in to visit and see the games to see the final four and championship game live!
Brian also brought his 5 year old, Jake. We walked to the donut shop EVERYday and ate at all our favorite restaurants.

We finished each day with frozen yogurt. Including a double dose at one shop, only because we sat there for so long...how do you not go back for seconds?

Sammie and Jake nearly collapsed at the end of the each day.

"Roll-Over, A-lay-na!"

Katy Youth Soccer

Samantha has joined the Blue Dragons!Her team is 10 kids (age 5 and under), which breaks down into groups of 5 to play a game of 3 on 3. She has practice on Friday night and games on Saturday. This past week, she scored her first goal! Sammie loves to hear people cheer for her, and will run and kick extra hard if she knows anyone is watching. Her favorite part of the game is taking water breaks and tackling Beckam with hugs and kisses...girls can be so distracting.I didn't get her goal on video, but here she is assisting Jackson.

Grandma and Papa's Azaleas

Every spring, mom and dad's azaleas bloom. They are the best looking house on the block!

Here is one of Grandma, Papa and Alayna.

And now the same pose, 4 years ago, with Samantha.

Spring Break with Summer, Drew and Dawna

Summer, Drew and Dawna flew in from Tucson, Arizona to spend their spring break with us in Houston. We had a great time! I have been going through the thousands of pictures everyone took over the past week. Seriously, thousands...and they are all crap! I guess that is what happens when you let Sammie get a hold of 3 different cameras. Here are the ones that best represent our minivan adventures. We miss the live-in nannies, but don't miss the late-night (every night) game of MindFreak.

NASA Space Center
Super crowded, but pretty cool to see everything.

Swinging Door BBQ

No visitor comes to our house without a trip to our favorite BBQ restaurant.
Brazos Bend State Park
We had only about an hour here, but were able to a bunch of alligators!

Houston Livestock, Show & Rodeo and Carnival
Drew braved the 130' bungee jump and this is the only photo to prove it.
Blue Bell Creamery
I have 5 versions of this picture...so that each one of us is holding Alayna.
I give you one guess who's idea that was. :)

ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run

While Sam, Alayna and I were in St George for the weekend, Blake's buddies at work talked him into entering the ConocoPhillips 10K Rodeo Run. His day started (and ended) with a 15 minute bike-ride into downtown. Although a 12 minute mile is nothing to shout about; he never stopped running! His last exercise of any kind was March 2010 church basketball...he can not move today :)

When Blake was younger and living in Colorado, his family would run the Bolder-Boulder 10K. So this run brought back memories and he is now challenging our family to make this a yearly Houston Holiday Family Tradition.

Here is the link to check out his results...search by HOLIDAY
http://www.conocophillipsrodeorun.com/EN/results/10kresults/Pages/index.aspx