Rodeo 2013!

More party pics!!

More from Caroline's party! Thanks to Aunt Lindsay!

Lina's First Birthday Party!

This weekend we celebrated Caroline's first birthday with dear family and friends.  Aunt Kat and Uncle Beau hosted a perfect pancake and PJ party!  It was so much fun! 

 

 

I had an idea to have my mom paint a picture of Caroline holding strings of balloons - but without the actual balloons.  All of her party attendees would do a thumbprint in colored ink to create the balloons so she would always have a memory of her first bday party and attendees!  It turned out GREAT!  Thanks Mom! 

 

We had a room of bold oranges, pinks, and yellows. 

 Aunt Catherine is helping lil Lines with her thumbprint.

We had fruitloop necklaces as an activity.  Fun idea but either the yarn was too thick or the fruit loop holes too small... so that didn't go over like I thought it would.  The fruit loops made for a colorful tablepiece though!

 

Donut holes and fruit skewers

Beautiful Valentine's flowers from Beau to KKTB used for some party flowers!  And a sweet picture of Caroline!

 Balloons galore - Caroline LOVED the balloons!

 Aunt Cat and Uncle Ryan Hottman! 

 Mama, Dada and Sissy!

 The delicious cake!  It was chocolate but I have recently found out that Caroline does not prefer chocolate.  She is like her daddy and prefers vanilla or other flavors. 

 Great Aunt Cathy - The best aunt of all - sporting PJs at the pancake and PJ party!

 KKTB and Beau!  Made the most delicious blueberry, choc chip and regular pancakes in the world!!

 Sweet Avery, Luke and lil Caroline!  Having some great time together!

 Luke enjoying his new books from Aunt KKTB and Uncle Beau.

 The princess about to have her smash cupcake.

 Little Zoe and her princess hat!

 Lines and her smash cupcake!  Happy Birthday!

That was delicious mama.

 

Happy Birthday to our sweetest little girl!  What a precious doll.

Sweet Caroline is One!

Today our sweet baby girl is 1 year old! 

Unfortunately she has a black eye, from a bath tub incident, and a double ear infection (that is on the mend)... but besides those slight things - it is a happy day for her!

 

She woke up to Luke yelling "Happy Birthday Sissy" and a happy birthday song from mom, dad and Luke. 

 Then we had a Happy Birthday waffle breakfast complete with heart glasses and more happy birthday songs from Luke.

What a great first birthday!  We will celebrate more this weekend!  We love our Caroline!!!

The littlest Lines

Sweet little Caroline melts so many hearts with her precious smile and warm loving self.  Both of the kiddos are extremely animated.  This weekend Caroline and Luke were playing on their slide and it started off very happy and fun!

 

 Excited about the slide down.

Preparing...

 All ready to go!

 Yikes!!!  Not sure what to think about this...

Back for more but now brother won't get out of the way!   Sadness.

Sister is now a HOTTMAN!

I took a brief hiatus from the blog for a bit but I was missing my writing and updating.  Plus, a few people actually told me the same thing which I enjoyed hearing so I have quite a few updates!  The biggest update is my sister got married this weekend! 

Catherine and Ryan planned a beautiful dream wedding in the Bahamas with 30 of their closest family and friends. It was just perfect!

We stayed at a gorgeous boutique hotel called Pelican Bay.  This is from our balcony.

 This first day a slight cold front came through so it was a bit cloudy here... and cool.

 But we made light of it!

 The events kicked off with a casual cocktail welcome reception.

 Ryan and his bride-to-be on the "Aquarium Dock"

The next morning my mom and I met Cat for her trial hair and make up appointment and then her beautiful bridal portrait session.  After a long day of beautifying and photos, brother Nate went to get some Bahamian beers and wine for a mid-day celebration in my parents suite. 

 

 Later in the afternoon, we had a rehearsal of the wedding.

 And then it was off to the beach for the rehearsal dinner.  Waiting for the water taxi...

 Once we arrived to Taino Beach, we snapped a few shots of the beautiful ocean.  Littlest brother Joe and Kristen!

 Nate and Lindsay having a grand ole time!

 After a delicious Caribbean BBQ and bonfire on the beach, it was time for fire dancing!  Look at my hubby up there getting his groove on!

 He had a blast!

 On the way home, the water taxi driver pulled up to the old deserted ghost ship where part of "Pirates of the Caribbean" was filmed.  It was definitely creepy!

The next morning, wedding day, Ben and I woke up early, rented a car and drove to the West end of the island for some snorkeling. It was quite chilly in the morning so I rented a wetsuit.  Our snorkeling adventure was complete with sightings of barracuda, lobster, sea urchin of all sizes, shrimp, eels, turtles, and thousands of fish and schools of fish.

 Then it was off to meet the girls and bride-to-be for hair, makeup, and champagne!  Cat's best friends put together a video for her of photos and video tidbits from friends wishing Cat the very best!  It was so so sweet.

 My turn! Glenn was the resident updo stylist on the small island.  He did a great job!

 Here is my mom after her hair and makeup!  Beautiful!

 And - here is the PROUD and gorgeous bride!  I took this shot outside her suite against one of the balcony walls. 

 Mom and Cat - about to leave for the wedding.

 But not without a sassy sister shot!

 MWAH!  And here we go!

 So, I don't have shots of the actual wedding b/c I was in it.  Those will come later.  But here we are sitting down for our incredible 5 course meal at the only 5 star restaurant in town that Cat and Ryan had rented just for their wedding!

 Such a handsome couple!

 And what dashing brothers!

 Dress change!  Cat is one happy bride!

 The fabulous cake.

 Cat's wedding planner leading the cake cutting.

 First dance.

And, my adorable, fun hubby bringing down the house with his amazing dance skillz all night!  I, or my family, have never seen such moves until the Bahamas!  He rocked out all night long!  The memories from that night will make me smile for the rest of my life!

Congratulations Cat and Ryan Hottman!  Looking forward to celebrating again in Houston when you return from Antigua!