The Coon family Visits!

Michael's brother got married on July 3 in Houston. Which was great for us...very little travel time! All 11 of his siblings and his parents decided to come for the event and stay for the 4th of July. Which was also great since we don't get to see them that often.

Some flew in a few days early and stayed with us. Collin had had a fever and no appetite all week, so he wasn't the most social. But on Thursday June 30th Michael took the day off and  we went to Galveston for lunch and took them on the Galveston Ferry ride- which is always a fun, free thing to do! And the ride out to Galveston along the coast is beautiful! Then Friday the siblings headed up to Houston to meet the group that had done a road trip out and to pick up some others from the airport.

 

On Saturday we met up with them in the Sugarland area where they had rented a condo for a couple days. The girls got their nails done while the boys played and babysat. We went to a BBQ place for lunch and then went bowling.

 

 

 

The next day was the wedding. We were able to go to church since it wasn't until the afternoon. And then we headed to the wedding that afternoon. And it wouldn't be a Coon get together without someone having car problems- the large van they had driven from Utah broke down that morning. Thankfully Thomas is a mechanic and came to the rescue. Thankfully we squeezed people in the few operating cars, called a taxi for the rest and made it to the ceremony right on time. Swati is from India so it was a traditional Indian ceremony which was very neat to experience. And I still can't believe that I didn't take any pictures! But here is a link to the photographer's website with some highlights. I got a traditional Indian outfit, but again didn't take any pictures. It was so hot and a little stressful keeping the boys happy right during what was normally nap time. And then there was a reception at a country club. We had a great time dancing, spending time with family, tasting some Indian food (a little spicy for us) and meeting some of Swati's family and friends. Collin loved the cake and even left a cute little finger mark on it. Good thing his Aunt Swati and Uncle Dennis love him (and the photographer had already gotten pictures of it)

 I also made some favors for the wedding. They had some chocolates inside that Swati had gotten from Erie where they live. It was fun to come up with something to disguise the packaging. 

Monday was the 4th of July. Michael's parents were staying with us for a couple nights. That morning our ward had a pancake breakfast. Michael had to help serve food at it so we went there for breakfast and then headed straight out to the beach for the day. The rest of the group met us there. We brought a little grill and cooked hot dogs for lunch. Shortly after lunch I headed home with some very tired boys (too many late nights!) for baths and naps. On the way out our van got stuck in some sand at the exit. Thankfully it was a busy day and a kind (and very strong looking) man showed up in a big truck with a huge American flag waving in the back and said "Darlin' do you need some help?" All in a southern accent ;) It made me laugh but I was so grateful! He pulled a HUGE rope, at least as big as my arm, out and hooked it to the back of the van and walked me through what to do to get out. Then told me how to get out the next exit to avoid getting stuck again. I was so grateful for his help and from what it sounded like he pretty much goes around helping people get out of the sand because he said he had already helped a few people that day. Made me so grateful for kind people out there in the world! Last minute it was decided to move dinner to our house that night instead of the beach house they had rented. It ended up working out and I had to do very little work! (I am so glad I insisted on cleaning up the house Saturday night even though we were exhausted) Then we watched fireworks from the Hobby Lobby parking lot. Another late night but it was a fun 4th of July (although I always miss celebrating at home with my family and their big celebration!) Collin LOVED the fireworks and talked about them for days afterward.

Tuesday we go to spend some time with Michael's parents. We took them to story time and then visited Michael at work. Then we had lunch before they got picked up to do some things with the other siblings. The boys and I opted for a quiet afternoon at home....we needed that after a busy weekend! Collin was taking a much needed nap so he missed out on our traditional pictures on our bench, but Derrick was all smiles! 

 
That was the last we saw of the family since they hit the road early Wednesday  morning. Its always a little crazy and overwhelming for me when everyone is together, but we had a great time and I am so glad that the boys got some time with their Coon family. It doesn't happen that often. Come visit us in Texas again soon! 

Huntsville Camping Trip

There is a big group of members from our ward that go on a traditional camping trip before Easter every year. We went for our first time this year (March 24-26) and it will definitely be one of our new traditions too!

The boys did great and we all had such a great time hanging out with friends, playing, fishing, riding bikes, canoed, enjoyed the beautiful nature, and some quality family time (this was our first trip since Derrick was born)

We got there Thursday afternoon and set up camp. It was a bit breezy and chilly. A little colder then we were anticipating. I did not sleep well that night because I was so worried about Derrick. But I am pretty sure he slept the best that night! And I have to add overall he did great for camping at 4 months old!

Friday the weather was perfect! We played and had fun with friends. Derrick hung out most the day in the Beco or napped in my arms. Collin was too distracted to nap, but he did sleep fairly well in the tent at night. That evening there was a big group dinner and some fun skits. Everyone brought dessert to share- Michael of course had to make a dutch oven cobbler. It was delicious!

 They had a fun rope bridge they set up for the kids. Collin loved it. He also loved the pink helmet that he borrowed from a friend- he had it on most of the afternoon.

 Our view at dinner...I'm telling you this is a BIG group! 

Saturday morning there was a big Easter egg hunt for all the kiddos and then we took down camp, and were on the road again right after lunch.

 I LOVE this picture! It just perfectly captures camping- pj's, sweatshirt, dirty face, hot coco! 

We all camp home exhausted and dirty- signs of a successful camping trip!

Derrick's Blessing Day

Derrick was blessed on February 27th here in the Lake Jackson Ward. Michael gave him a sweet blessing. We are so grateful that my dad was able to stand in the circle as well as some friends in the ward. The rest of the day was fairly quiet and a welcome day of rest after several long days of painting and house projects. We did do a little photos shoot of Derrick. Tried to recreate some that my friend Becca had taken of Collin. I think we did a pretty good job with just my trusty iPhone. We are going to count these as his 3 month pictures too. That night Casie and baby Tanner joined us for dinner (Joe stayed home with a sick Ashton) Michael grilled some yummy chicken, turned out pretty yummy for Michael's first time grilling. We are so grateful to have sweet Derrick in our family forever!

 

And a little flashback to Collin in his blessing outfit! Same quilt as the backdrop, about the same age, different outfits, and both as cute as can be! 

 

Boppi and Grandpa Al came to visit!

There was so much excitement and anticipation of my parent's coming to visit! So much so that Collin made himself sick....not really, but he did get hit with a flu bug a few days before they came. I sanitized the whole house before they arrived and thankfully no one else came down with it. Unfortunately for Collin he really didn't have his full appetite back until the last couple days they were here. Thankfully that didn't affect his energy though!

 I loved having my parent's come to visit, especially my dad since he hadn't met Derrick yet and doesn't usually get to travel as much as my mom because of work. They planned their trip (February 24- March 2) so that we could have a little bit of time to settle into the house and decide what home projects we wanted their help with. As much as we would have loved to tackle the kitchen or backyard we needed a bit more time to save money and decide what exactly we wanted to do. But we did get some good brainstorming in while they were here. We decided to paint the entire family room, entry, hallway and the boys room. And added a spur of the moment project of tearing out a little formica counter in our "office nook" and replacing it with some stained wood. And of course some other little odd projects like cleaning window screens and sprucing up the front porch. And one of my favorite upgrades was replacing all the switches and outlets in the rooms we painted. Such a simple thing but gives the house such an updated feel. It was a lot of really late nights and Michael and I had some bits to finish up after they left but I just love how fresh everything looks now! The shelf in our entry took a bit more work then anticipated- probably would have helped if we had primed it. But we used a paint the owners had left so that it matched the other trims and didn't realize at first that it didn't have primer in it. Oops! All the paint we had bought was a paint/primer combo. But 3 coats later it looks so much better then it did in that ugly chocolate brown.

 

Before and After. 

We also changed out our light bulbs for LED ones which really help brighten up the room! 

  

Funny I don't have any pictures of my dad working. But he did help, and was great at fulfilling his Grandpa duties! Although, I'm not sure we can trust him as a babysitter, he might end up sleeping on the job... ;)

We did manage to squeeze some fun in while they were here too. In between our many trips to Lowe's we took them to our favorite park to feed the ducks and showed them around town a little.

We spent a morning at Surfside beach and had a picnic lunch. We even got lucky and saw some horses. Collin liked them but not enough to pet them.

 

 

 

  

We took a day off from working and went to Galveston. We rode the Galveston Ferry, had lunch at Miller's Grill, and walked around some historic districts and played for a bit at a fun park we found.

And of course Sunday was Derrick's baby blessing. I was so grateful to have my parents here for it. It would have been a really lonely day without any family to celebrate with us.

We (meaning my dad and Michael) grilled a delicious steak dinner their last night. I am not a steak fan but this was good! My dad said that he couldn't come all the way to Texas without having steak.