Too Hot!

So far this summer Amarillo has had 17 days with temperatures over 100°…

and we haven’t even hit July & August. Last week it even spiked to 111° which, in my opinion,

is too hot to even enjoy an afternoon at the pool.

Schatzi in my usual spot.

Cure: spread out on the big bed, call in your friend, and try to stay cool during a nap.

Bountiful Harvest

Since living here, herbs, specifically basil, have been my specialty.

And this isn't for lack of trying other plants.

Although it pains me to admit, I have attempted to grow tomatoes here since we've been married... and have failed miserably for 5 straight YEARS.  (Gasp!... I know, how embarassing!)  In Missouri, I basically put a few tomato plants in the ground and hoped I wouldn't be overrun with them in August.  Amarillo has been a completely different story: wind burn, sun burn (didn’t even know this was a possibility), drought (if someone forgot to water for more than a day) on top of our horrible soil and Schatzi.

It's so hard for me to admit defeat, therefore I decided to try one final spot.

With love, I carefully planted 6 tomato varieties in the ground with 1experimental plant in the big pot, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best...

Cherry tomatoes!  RED, RIPE, TOMATOES... From MY yard!

Go figure I'd get it right the year it hasn't yet rained. Seriously, we haven't had ANY rain in Amarillo this YEAR.  None.

Andrew & Angela's Wedding

 

On Saturday Ben's cousin, Andrew, married Angela at Perkins Chapel on the SMU campus in Dallas.  It was one of the best/shortest weddings we've ever been to.

 introducing Angela & Andrew Sanders

Shanny & David with Ben & Kaden outside Perkins Chapel

Our family

6.18.11

* The only decent pictures from my camera.  Hopefully more to come.

Weekend in Dallas/Grapevine

This week Dorothy flew into town from North Carolina and on Friday morning we

(all of the Dows) loaded into two cars to make the 6-hour trip to Dallas for Andrew & Angela's much-anticipated wedding.  (Andrew is Ben's older cousin and we weren't sure if he would ever get married).

 Kaden and Aunt Dorothy somewhere between Amarillo and Dallas...

I think they wore each other out.

 Although Deann & Norman (Ben's aunt & uncle) had a tremendous amount going on with their son getting married, we lucked out and were invited to stay with them in their new house in Grapevine.

Not only did we have our own space to spread out (we had the entire bottom floor), it was so nice to be able to sit and actually visit.  Deann had pulled out toys, puzzles, books and balls for Kaden's enjoyment.  The best part was that Kaden got his own room and proved his ability to sleep on a "big boy bed" all night without rolling off or freaking out in the middle of the night.

BUT if you were to ask Kaden, the best part was their pool...

complete with a motorized floatie/squirt cannon.  We eventually had to drag him out because it was waaaaay past his bedtime and it was getting dark outside.

Ben & Kaden doing their thing.

Memorial Day 2011

On Memorial Day, Dan & Heather invited us over for burgers, brats and lots of fun in the pool... Danni's new pool! 

Kaden (1 year, 9 months) & Danni (2 years, 4 months)

Angie (due with baby #2 in August) & Mr. Jace

Ben enjoying his turn at the kiddie table.

We had a lot of fun & got a little preview of what it might be like to have Ben home all summer.

It was wonderful!

Outta Control

Overall, Ben & I would have to say that Kaden has been an easy child

(although we don't have a lot to compare him to).  He is happy and fun to be around, BUT his climbing abilities paired with his fearlessness continue to freak me out on a regular basis.

I thought we might be past the phase of pushing the kitchen chairs around and climbing on top... Guess not.  This time he was trying to decide between "choc-ate" Ovaltine on the top shelf and the peanut "butter" down below.