Flower Girls

We drove down to Pine Bluff this weekend for a wedding. Kyle & I taught Jarrod Dortch's high school Sunday School class down there, and he moved up to Fayetteville last year. He and his fiance, Caira Daugherty, have been since attending our church (First Assembly of God in Springdale). They asked us if Caroline & Catherine could be in there wedding as their flower girls. This meant so much to us and was such an honor. We drove down there on Friday for the rehearsal and dinner. Saturday morning we got up and went to the salon where all of the bridal party got their hair done. Caroline & Catherine loved this, of course.

After their hair was all beautiful, we made our way to the church for pictures. For the wedding, the girls stood fairly still up on stage. Caira was an absolutely beautiful bride. More pictures after the wedding & then on to the reception. After filling our bellies, we headed back home. It was a quick trip. We drove 4 1/2 hours to Pine Bluff and then back home within 24 hours. It is Wednesday now & it is finally catching up with us today. We are all exausted.

Gymnastics Bragging

These videos are for all of you family members out there who have been missing out on these hard working girls. They have finally mastered back handsprings. These videos were taken back in January, so they have both improved since then and Catherine can actually land one by herself. See what you think! Pretty good for a kindergartener and 1st grader!

Our Trampoline Disaster

We have had our first run-in with the trampoline after three years! We have girls...I thought boys were the only ones that get banged up and bruised. Two weeks ago, Caroline and Catherine were being best buds, as always, playing on the trampoline. "Dead Woman, Dead Woman, on the floor...til I count to 24...1...2...24!" I don't know what they like about this game, especially talking about dead women, but it just about knocked Caroline out. She decided to get outside of the net. (Who needs a net anyway...it does no good!) BTW, Kyle has just finished placing a patio of beautiful concrete pavers right next to the trampoline with a peaceful bistro set and garden around it. So, back to the story, Catherine is trying to tag Caroline blindly (but she always peaks). She gets her, but she tags just a little too hard. Catherine is nothing but muscle; she doesn't know her own strength. Next thing Kyle sees is his baby girl flying off the trampoline face first onto the beautiful patio. You can imagine how scared Kyle was to pick her up expecting to see more blood than he could have handled; but, by the grace of God, she came in with a bruised cheek bone and eye socket. The impact did knock the breath out of her, but she recovered. The only thing she would complain about was her right side hurting and I just kept thinking about her liver. She became nauseated and a couple of hours later began throwing up. We took her to the ER and after several CT scans, the doctors located a couple of lacerations in her liver. We had to stay in the hospital over night to have vital signs monitored to make sure surgery was not needed. Some time during the night, after many prayers, her liver stopped bleeding and we were able to go home. Thankfully, she is now okay and will be able to get back to running, playing, and gymnastics starting Sunday.

Our Piano Princesses

We now can say we have two piano princesses in our home! Caroline and Catherine have been taking piano now for more than 3 months. Even though they missed their first recital due to Caroline's tumble off of the trampoline, they were able to play for their elementary school talent show. And, Kyle & I think they did great! We are so very proud of them. Thankfully, we have gotten through the first couple of months--a little tough to get them in the mode of practicing. Now, they go in there on the piano to practice on their own or with just a little coaxing. Since they have reached the accomplishment of learning some music pieces, they are enjoying playing much more.