happy fourth of july!

i somehow have very few pictures from this week, but we spent a lot of time driving back and forth between muskogee in the evenings while lou, caitlin, and kevin are in town. 

we spent the fourth at dee's house, with sue and her whole gang coming down for the holiday, too.  this was haley's first time to meet aunt lou and her grandkids.  i think she was a little nervous to meet them, but everything seemed to go really well. lou took haley and caitlin shopping for swimming suits.  while they were all shopping for suits we took kevin and headed to the castle of muskogee with amanda, zach, and tabitha to buy fireworks for later that night.  we had a little bit of a scare as we were standing in line and got a call that ryan was having an asthma attack.  luckily it was a false alarm and they were able to get it under control before we could get his inhaler to him. 

after all the shopping, everyone headed over to the a hotel pool where jim and sue were staying. 

there wasn't any sunscreen so i sat poolside most of the time covered up under my dress and a towel.  when it was closer to time to leave, {and i was sweltering under the towel} i decided to ditch the layers and hop in the pool for a bit. 

as we were getting out of the pool haley said justin would be coming to get her around 4:00 to head over to the land.  we had discussed her spending half the holiday with us and half the holiday with my mom, but a plan had never been shared with me.  i was a little frustrated because i was planning to drive out there, so it didn't make sense to me to have justin come by the house to get haley.  i had no way to get a hold of him, though, because his phone had gotten broken and he was waiting for a replacement to come in.

justin came and picked up haley and i hung out at the lears' until dinner was almost ready, then i headed over to tahlequah.  conor hopped in the car with me and away we went.  at the light in ft. gibson, we passed justin, lindsay, haley, and parker.  conor and i ended up beating them to the land.

while dad was grilling burgers, {super juicy} chicken,  and corn, conor and i followed this cute little guy around.  this mower {and wheel barrow in the background} were new toys for him.

 

this funny little face is staged.  if you ask parker to "make your face," this is what you get.  every. single. time.  he's so funny!

mom, dad, justin, lindsay, parker, haley, john bodean, his wife deb, and landon were all there.  we had fun eating dinner and cupcakes. i stayed for several hours, but as it started getting darker i decided to head back over to muskogee.  i'm glad i decided to leave when i did because conor and i had a beautiful show all the way home.  we had the ft. gibson show plus all the fireworks everyone else was shooting along the way.   we got back to muskogee in time to see a few of the larger fireworks we had purchased, but i stayed in the house with the boys.  oliver and conor really didn't like all the loud noises.

mike vs. harry styles.

On our drive to Edmond today, Travis and Haley had this little exchange:

Haley: Mike's pretty.

Travis: You think Mike is pretty? Mike?? It's Mike!  Mike from Jersey.

Haley: Handsome is a better word.  ... But he's got nothing on Harry Styles.


What do you think?

5 months.

dear haley, 

i almost didn't write this letter, because even though i've published it on the appropriate date of your five month anniversary, i'm actually writing this in late july.  i didn't want the letter to be less authentic by writing it at a later date {and i'm already working on your six month letter}.  you keep reminding me i owe you a letter, though, and i don't want to let you down, so i will give it a shot. 

here's a little about you this past month: 

• you spent time with aunt deniese while we were on vacation and you had the opportunity to babysit parker for justin and lindsay
• at the end of your week's stay with aunt deniese, you headed for a long weekend at megan's; you were so excited to get to see her
• once we got home from vacation, i had to turn around and leave for houston for a week.  it worked out, though because you spent most of the week with justin and lindsay so you could babysit
• we were worried that you spend the entire summer stuck indoors and home alone, but as it turns out, you've been in high demand.  you love babysitting parker and you've started babysitting levi and asher, too.  ashey is your new best bud. 
• you were with us when we got the news that my aunt frances died.  on father's day.  it wasn't a great day for any of us. 
• you gifted travis with a video game for father's day 
• aunt lou came in and you finally got to meet her, caitlyn and kyle.  just like the rest of the family, she embraced you as if you had always been around.  she even took you shopping and got you a new swim suit so you could hang out at the hotel pool with everyone

it's been a really full month for you.  i've been proud of you for taking on extra responsibilities babysitting kids you started out not really knowing well -- and now you just love them.  {i think the never-ending compliments from asher about how beautiful and pretty you are help}.  every day we hit our stride a little more.  you now ask when we're going "home" instead of saying "yours and travis's house."  the boys hate when you're gone, and they get so excited when you come in.

we've had a lot of changes over the past few months and keeping up with this blog has been a little difficult for me.  it's important for me to journal the adventures of our family, so even if i'm a little late, i always try to document the important moments and even some of the moments that don't seem so important at the time, but we end up cherishing for years.

know that we love you and are here for you always.  even when life gets busy. 

<3,
travis, rhiannon, conor, & oliver 

happy birthday from my mom & dad.

with everything going on at the father's day/birthday celebration, i didn't get to share my beautiful gift from my parents.  this cute little bag is brighter than anything i would usually carry, but i love the pop of color it adds to any outfit.  it's buttery soft, and i love it.  thanks, mom & dad.

aunt lou comes to town.

today kicks off a busy week.  aunt lou is in town, and we had an open house.  know anyone who wants to buy a home?  have them come buy ours.

time for myself.

over the past few months everyone keeps reminding me to take care of myself.  i usually don't know what to do when someone says that, but today i decided to go to the pool, soak in some vitamins from the sun, and just try to relax.  so that's what haley and i did.

travis and matthew were out of town for the weekend picking up a bike for matthew, so i texted crystal to see if she wanted to take a break from packing* and bring the boys to swim for a little bit.  we hung out at the pool for a while and haley had fun seeing the boys.  after swimming for a bit haley and the boys were hungry so we headed up to steak and shake for dinner.

we didn't get a lot of laundry done, but it was a great weekend afternoon.

*have i mentioned matthew and crystal are moving?  when they first found out we were talking about moving they joked about needing to move, too, because we would all be too far away from one another.  well, as it turns out, they are beating us to it.  crystal put in an application with the bartlesville school system late one evening.  earlier this month they called and asked if she could come in for an interview -- it was the week we were on vacation.  she, amber, and all the kids drove to bartlesville that day so she could have her interview.  by the end of the day, she had a job, and she and matthew were putting their house up for rent.  they had several hits on it within hours of listing it and then had it rented out within two weeks.  at the same time, they found a house in bartlesville that had recently been renovated.  it has a huge backyard, is 7 minutes from work for matthew, about 4 minutes from crystal's school and is within walking distance for levi to get to his new school.  everything just fell in line for them and has been such a testament of what God can do and how everything falls into place when it's supposed to.  i keep reminding travis and myself of this the longer our house sits on the market.  it will sell when it is supposed to.

after hanging out at the pool, i came home and organized sierra's closet.  she's been keeping her room clean since moving in with us again {if you know sierra, you know this is no small miracle}. her room has been clean, but her closet has been a disaster.  i have a silver stand that i'm not able to use right now because we've already started packing up several things. i thought it would make a cute holder for her jewelry, and i think it worked out rather nicely.

sweet oliver.

i felt completely drained after the events of the week and i was battling an awful headache so i stayed home from work to recover.  i went out in the backyard and snapped a couple of pictures of oliver.  the heat was too much for my headache so i quickly headed back in, but i was glad to see this sweet boy's smile.

saying goodbye.

today we said goodbye to my aunt francie.  as i've found with most funerals, it was a mixture of bitter-sweetness. i got to see my aunt jesse's family including sandra, brenda and their husbands and families.  i also got to see my cousin courtney.  i haven't seen her in such a long time and i've been missing her dearly.  she lives in colorado now, and i think her wedding about ten years ago was one of the last times i've seen her.

penni dawn came in from tennessee.  i only get to see her about once a year to once every two years -- which is more than we used to see her.  the last time i had seen her was her mom's funeral.  i hate the idea that the only time we're all going to see one another is when another member of our family has passed away.

the funeral was heartbreaking.  courtney gave the eulogy and it was perfect.  she talked about aunt francie's bunny cakes, which were exactly some of the first memories of mine that came to mind when i first realized she was gone.  she used to make the most incredible bunny cakes at easter.

my heart broke for sonya and brad.  and for sonya's girls.  i think i would have been much like bradley was if i had just lost my mom.  i wish there was something i could have done.

my parents didn't go to the burial and i almost didn't, but karen and penni dawn convinced me.  i think i would have regretted not going.  i hopped in the car and followed penni, karen, and brad in the rental penni had.  when we got to muskogee, i  parked my car at justin and lindsay's house and hopped in the truck with the three of them, and we drove on to sonya's house.  everyone met at sonya's and hung out there for a bit.

all day long we kept getting the question of whether courtney or i am the taller one.  we looked about the same height, but i had one three inch wedges, and she was in flats.   we hung at the house for about an hour and then headed over to the grave site for the burial.  it was one of the hottest days we've had this summer, so the burial was very quick.  they already had the casket in the ground.  since we'd had a service, the local minister just read one verse said a quick prayer, and then let everyone give the final handshake.  it was a little awkward at first because instead of people just taking a handful of dirt, they all started dumping the entire shovel.  it was terrible sounding and made me shudder a little bit. 

travis wasn't able to go with me today.  he's only recently gone back to work full-time, and still has some days he's not able to go in.  having missed so many days, we just didn't feel like he should ask his boss for a day off to go with me.  i didn't think i would need him so much today, but i really wish he could have been there.

after the burial, we went back to sonya's for just a few minutes before driving over to arkansas {the closest town} to grab dinner.  aunt joyce and courtney had gone home, but sonya and her whole family, bradly, karen, penni dawn, tiffany and her boyfriend, uncle chester, my aunt's good friend lisa, and i all headed to dinner.

on the way back through muskogee to get my car, we pulled up to this little cutie.  my heart melted {the little bit that hadn't already melted in the oklahoma summer heat}.  penni dawn hadn't gotten to meet him yet; lindsay was still pregnant the last time she was here.  she also got to see lindsay's cute belly with this new baby.  none of us stayed long because we were afraid of becoming parker's next target, and because we were just completely exhausted from the events of the week.

at the end of the day, i am so grateful i went and had this precious time with my cousins.

two celebrations and a loss.

things have been so busy lately.  i feel like our calendar is packed to the hilt.  we try not to double-up on holidays in my family, but we haven't been able to do so lately.  we had to team up dad's birthday and mother's day. this past weekend we teamed up my father's day and my birthday.

on sunday karen and dave came to spend the day with us in muskogee  mom and justin whipped up a great spread for everyone.  we started out with a great meal and lots of laughter.  everyone around my mom's dinner table will probably always be one of my favorite times.  this time we used the table as a buffet and ate in the living room, but after lunch we cleared the table and started playing games. 

we had a cherry birthday cake mom had made {it was delicious}. i got to hear plenty of "fire" jokes since my candle count is starting to get up there.

we had finished cake and were playing pictionary when we got the call.  we knew aunt francie had been put in the hospital on friday after suffering a massive stroke, and karen got a call during lunch that she wasn't doing well ... but as we were playing, she got the call that they had taken her off all the machines, and she had passed away very quickly.

i wasn't expecting that.  at all.  yes, i knew she was sick.  yes i knew the stroke wasn't good.  but death.  i wasn't expecting it.  i wasn't ready for it. she has been hospitalized before and pulled through {but i guess most of us have}.  i started crying and had to leave the table.  travis was already in the back den lying down so i was able to go straight in and just sit with him.  i told him what happened and he just held me and let me cry. 

karen started crying before i left the room, and the room got incredibly quiet.  justin and sierra don't really remember aunt francie, and haley of course has never met her.  mom and dad were both really sad, but karen i were the most visibly shaken.

once i got past the initial shock of her being gone, all i could think of was my cousins sonya and brad.  they are so close to their momma.  i dread the thought of losing my parents; they are both so young to be telling her goodbye.  i can't imagine what they must be going through. 

before i left the house, i was able to give my parents and karen and dave the picture that i posted of my dad and his siblings -- the one i had taken from my aunt francie's page just a week or so ago. 

i know i've asked for this a lot, but please continue to keep my family in your prayers -- and please specifically pray for my cousins sonya and brad and my uncle chester.  

happy housewarming!

this weekend we got to celebrate with our friends jen & court.  earlier this year we found out they would be building a new home.  we got to watch the progress of the house online through facebook, instagram, and jenny's blog, but we hadn't gotten to see house since it was finished.

on saturday, they through a fabulous fiesta to celebrate their new home.  i didn't snag very many pictures, but jen's friend ashley snagged these two with jenny's camera. {i wish i was one of those girls who can pull off a fabulous ponytail, but i just can't.  don't judge me. it was way too hot to have my hair down.}

we had such a good time eating tacos from the taco stand in their backyard, watching all the neighborhood kids on the bouncy house slide, and catching up with jen and court.  their new house is beautiful and very them.  i can just see them living there.  i'm so excited for them and can't wait for many more celebrations in their home.