Camping at Mineral Wells

This past weekend we went camping with the Macias and the Dunbars  at Mineral Wells State Park.  Krista loves to make s'mores, so that was a critical part of the camping experience on Friday night.

 Krista with her "camping size" marshmallow and Raul with a brat.

 A close up so you can see the perfection

 The result:  A s'more oozing with marshmallow-y goodness.  Krista was happy.

 We had a pretty awesome breakfast:  eggs, sausage, bacon, bagels, cream cheese, fruit. 

 On Saturday morning we went on a couple mile hike.  The weather was just the right temperature and the sun was shining. 

 All the wives :)

 At the beginning of the hike we passed this beautiful cactus flower.  There were butterflies everywhere during the whole weekend!  I wish I could have captured a picture of all of them.

 A lookout on the hike over Lake Mineral Wells

At the end of our hike we were on the trail that first took us out.  I noticed the flower on the cactus had opened only an hour and a half later.  Amazing.

 A whole group shot in front of the lake

 Before we went home we explored the rock formations and watched people repelling and rock climbing.

Good food, beautiful weather, and great friends made it the perfect way to spend a weekend.  Thanks Krista, Raul, Meredith, and Mike!  We had a great time.

Camping at Cedar Hill State Park

This weekend Jeremiah and I wanted to get away, just us, for a night, so we went to Cedar Hill State Park on Joe Pool Lake.  He got some new equipment for camping for his birthday and we wanted to try it out before our camping weekend with friends coming up at the end of April.  Even though we didn't hike and stayed by our car, it was nice to just be outside by a campfire and relax.

 Miles was very excited to join us on the trip.  A pout-y face Maximus had to stay home.  Camping's not for cats.

 The drive out there had hillsides covered with bluebonnets!  This one was right outside our tent door.

Somehow we got a prime real estate spot right on the water.  The state park ranger said this spot is never available! 

 Unfortunately Miles didn't enjoy the experience at all.  Poor Miles.

 Jeremiah loves watermelon so we made the afternoon a little sweeter by slicing up this little guy.

Due to state park rules, dogs have to stay on a leash.  Miles isn't used to this restriction and got himself tangled quite a few times.

 Jeremiah built us a little fire.

 And then he cooked us breakfast this morning!  Yummy!

 While he cooked breakfast I decided to make myself useful.  I have many skills, but rolling up sleeping bags is not one of them.  Turns out, if you can't roll up a sleeping bag you can't roll up a tent either.  The above picture was my best effort :)

Here is Jeremiah's version.  Oops!

Jeremiah's Birthday Weekend

This past weekend we went to east Texas to spend with friends and family.  Jeremiah's parents were supposed to come down but were unable to because of circumstances beyond their control.  We missed seeing them but enjoyed hanging out with my side of the family and friends. 

Jeremiah, Sam, Raul, and Doug played in a charity golf tournament at Twin Lakes for Mallory's Heart Foundation.  Our dear friends lost their daughter in a car accident a year and a half ago.  To continue her ministry they started this foundation to fund food and schooling for children in El Salvador.  For more info go to http://www.mallorysheart.com/. 

 Jeremiah and Doug ready to take on the course!

 Daddy and Jed... Best friends since 1st grade!

 Logan and Lauren enjoying the day

Later, when we got to the farm it was apparent that spring has sprung!  I love this time of year in east Texas.  Everything is that bright green.  Miss Kick'em High, Daddy's horse, had a colt last week.  Look at these beautiful pictures of the little guy!

Mom and Dad have been working on their house, getting it ready for spring/summertime, their favorite time of year.  I enjoyed taking pictures of all the beautiful spots outside around the house.

 Dad built mom this new little potting shed out near their garden.  I love it!  Looks like something off of Pinterest.

 These old, faded chairs look awesome out by the garden.

 Onions, lettuce, tomatoes, blueberries, strawberries, squash, and more... yum!

 Mom's cute little herb garden in a water trough.  So creative!

 The new fireplace out by the swimming pool.  Beautiful Dad!

New back porch deck! 

On Saturday we went to First Monday.  It rained on us the first 30 minutes but the husbands were troopers and we stuck it out.  It was beautiful the rest of the day.  Of course, my only purchase was a turkey leg, and then I had to go home early because I was exhausted!  Krista, Raul, Chris, and Jonathan made a day of it, though.

 Preggers with her turkey leg

 Lauren and Sam sharing a pork-kabob and corny dog

 Chris and Jonathan

No, he didn't eat both of those things by himself.  I helped!  Notice the new TCU shirt from Krista and Raul.  Nice :)

Later on in the afternoon we enjoyed the first craw fish boil of the season.  Gary, my uncle, gets these craw fish from a man in Louisiana and boils them in our backyard.  It's our 11th year to have this family tradition.

 In the mix we also add new potatoes, corn, sausage, artichoke, mushrooms, lemons, and shrimp!

Then we pour it out on a big, long table like this and squeeze our way in around it to eat!  Last man standing is the winner!

 Jonathan, Krista, Raul, and Chris relaxing in the backyard

 Jeremiah and Gary inspecting the craw fish.

 I thought this was hilarious!  Jonathan is eating a hamburger and all of the dogs are proving to him that they each deserve a piece.  They just kept staring at him.

 Mom and her good friend, Debbie

Marcy and Gary gave us some sweet gifts from The Registry.  My necklace says "Due in October" and Mom's says "Proud Grandma."  Cute!

Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures on Sunday because I wasn't feeling so hot.  We enjoyed a family breakfast and lunch and celebrated Jeremiah's birthday.  My parents got him a nice pocket knife with a belt holder and some camping gear.  I got him a tent for us to go camping in a few weeks.  It was a fun weekend, but I needed some rest to recover from it!