Weekend with the Fritts Family

Logan, Cici, and Maddy Fritts came and spent the weekend with us on Johnna's Birthday weekend.  They got there just in time to cheer me on as I put the last touches on Johnna's marlin cake and then head to the Adamson's for Johnna's birthday dinner.

Saturday we had a beach day.  My camera fogged up so I didn't get very many pictures, and the ones I got were foggy :(  But we had fun, Maddy loved the water and would walk fearlessly right into the waves.

Sunday we all went to the aquarium because our neighbor had given us two free tickets.  It was so crowded so we didn't get to see any of the shows, but we fought the crowds and had fun anyway.  I had fun taking pictures of all the fish.  I think Maddy's highlights were the alligators, sharks, sting rays, and the guy dressed like a turtle in the lobby :)

Maddy checking out the sharks

Piranha

He even smiled for the camera :)

sting ray

Nemo and Dori

Close up of Nemo

Jellyfish

I could watch the dolphins for hours

She wanted to get in there and swim with the sting rays 

cute river otter

Sea turtle

The Fritts Family

Me and Trev

Maddy's favorite animal of the day

We had a fun weekend, so glad the Fritts' live close by in San Antonio so we can get together often!

Marlin Cake

Johnna's birthday was this past Friday.  It has become a tradition to make her an extravagant birthday cake. It started with Mallory and I staying up into the wee hours of the night making cupcakes for Johnna's 23rd birthday.

Last year I continued the tradition and made this cake for Johnna's 24th birthday:

For her 25th birthday I thought she might need a more sophisticated cake.  I decided to change it up a little and actually ask her what kind of cake she wanted.  She requested a chocolate cake w/ cream cheese icing.  When I asked her what she wanted it to look like she said "a shark... or a marlin!".  Perfect!  I decided to make it a marlin, but it also ended up looking kinda shark-like too so we called it a smarlin cake!

I think she loved it!  She is already starting to think about what she will request next year :)  Happy Birthday Johnna B, love you!!

Hattie Lane is here!

Our second niece, Hattie Lane Gilbreath, was born July 29th at 11:30am.  She weighed 7lbs. 4oz. and was around 20 1/2 in.  I rushed to San Antonio that morning for Cara's scheduled induction as it was progressing faster than they thought it would.  I got there with maybe 10 minutes to spare before I heard her soft first cry through the delivery room door.  Unfortunately she was born with the cord wrapped around her next twice causing her to have fluid in her lungs and stomach, making it hard for her breath :(  She had to spend the first twelve hours of her life in the NICU where only parents and grandparents are allowed.  That made for one anxious aunt and a bored big sister!  I spent the day trying to entertain Ainslee in the hospital while everyone else took turns hanging out with Hattie.

On the plus side, I finally got to see her the next morning and got to hog her all day since the grandparents had already gone back to Kerrville.  She is precious and beautiful, and I still can't tell who she looks like.  I kept asking Cara, "Are you sure they didn't switch your baby at birth?".  She doesn't look like Ainslee as a baby, but does have the same hair Ainslee had.  Cara and I had fun playing dress up with Hattie with lots of hats, headbands, bows, and an extremely large flower :)  I spent the day eitehr holding her, staring at her, or taking pictures of her.  Trevor came in that evening and got to meet his new niece.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

We are already in love!

Ruby {7 months}

Ruby has been quite a busy pup lately.  She stayed at the vet all weekend while Trev and I were in Austin for Mal and Rob's wedding a few weeks ago.  She had surgery to get spayed on Friday morning and spent the rest of the weekend taking it easy.  We kinda felt like we owed her some excitement in her life since she was such a trooper :) Two weekends ago we went to Kerrville to help Cara and Jason fix up their new house.  Ruby loves my parents backyard and Cara and Jason's new backyard is huge so we took her along to play while we worked.  Lucky for Ruby Jason's parents just got a new puppy and were puppy sitting for the rest of the litter.  It was Ruby's first time to play with a puppy younger and smaller than she is.  She was so good with them, she was playful but gentle with the little ones!

I'm not sure who loved the puppies more...

This past weekend we headed to the ranch in Hempstead.  We got to hang out with the new Mr. and Mrs. Williams and they brought along their yellow lab, Jonah, so Ruby had a playmate!  We had so much fun that we forgot to take pictures :(  Jonah loved to fetch the tennis ball from the pool and Ruby wanted so bad to join him, but was a little timid to swim in the deep end.  She preferred to lounge on the steps :) 

Thanks to some great coaching from "Uncle Rob" Ruby finally got the courage to leave the steps!  She was so careful as she edged her way off the step every time.  It was so funny I had to take a video with my phone.  Sorry its sideway, I don't think I can flip it.

I got a few picture before we left on Sunday, and of course they are all of Ruby :)

Saying hello to Ritz kitty.

Barking at the horses

Getting a drink/ Trying to catch some goldfish

We brought home an old dog house leftover from some of the old hunting dogs.

Checking it out.

I think she likes it!

Little does she know, we brought the dog house home because she gets to spend her first weekend alone in the backyard :) 

My Best Friend's Wedding

Mal and Rob tied the knot this past weekend! We had a fun filled weekend in the Austin/Dripping Springs area.  We left Corpus early Friday morning and made it to Austin just in time for Trev to drop me off for manicures/ pedicures with the bride, mother of the bride, and sister-in-law of the bride.  Then we met up the rest of the wedding party that was in town for lunch at central market, and yogurt at yogurt planet (shhh! don't tell my brother-in-law!).  By the time we were finished it was time to head to the wedding venue in Dripping Springs to start getting ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  Mal gave us all a quick tour of Vista West Ranch, the venue was beautiful and the girls got to stay in the "bunkhouse" which was just steps away from the ceremony and reception areas.  Everyone arrived just in time to go over all the details for the ceremony a couple of times.

Me and the beautiful bride-to-be.

I'm sad that I didn't get any pictures from the rehearsal dinner :( We ate at Jack Allen's Kitchen in Austin, and heard some wonderful toasts and roasts to the bride and groom.  We finished dinner late and then all the girls headed back to the venue to try and get some rest before the big day.

The next morning we were all woken up by Mallory singing us the "its time to get up!" song bright and early and started getting ready to go on a morning run.  We went on a good run/walk and then came back to start showering and getting ready for the bridal brunch.  It was so humid out there, I felt like was back in Corpus.  I had Mal's brother, Price, take our picture before we left for brunch and my lens kept fogging up!

We had a yummy brunch and started the day off right with mimosas!

After brunch we started the long process of getting all done up. 

Until we all looked like this.

Then it really started feeling like a wedding when Mallory put on a big white dress!

We posed for a couple of pictures, watched as the people started taking their seats right outside our window, and did some last minute finishing touches.

Sadly those were the last pictures I took all weekend :(  There was way to much excitement going on after this to remember to get my camera down from the brides room!  You'll just have to trust me when I say that it was a beautiful ceremony, followed by a crazy fun reception with wonderful food, yummy cake, lots of dancing, and loads of fun.  It all seems like a blur to me and I was only the matron of honor, I can't imagine what it was like for the bride and groom!  They are honeymooing in St. Lucia as I type this, can't wait for Mr. and Mrs. Williams to get home so we can hang out with them as two married couples!  We are so happy for them to start their lives together as husband and wife!