Payten LOVES water

Our little Payten loves to play in the water all the time. Anything that has to do with water...Payten is in!! Everytime we pass the Water Park entrance she starts saying, "water park, water park". (even though you can't even see the water park from the road b/c it is hidden by trees, she still knows where you are supposed to turn. I literally have to drag her out of the bath tub in fear that she is going to turn in to a prune. :) Below are some pics we took last Monday at the Water Park. We have so much fun there. I have a really good friend that I met at the gym, and she has two girls around the same age as Payten. We get Chick-Fil-A and then head to play in the water....typically every Friday, you will find us there. But last Monday Daddy took off work so we spent a little family time basking in the sun. (trying to get a base tan so we don't fry in Mexico!!) Payten has now learned to swim. (well with her floaties on) She is so brave and will jump off the side of the pool and into the water. She also is an expert in kicking like a frog and the breast stroke....seriously, i am not joking!!! She is so much fun to be around. She is my little buddy. Oh ya, one of the pics is Payten holding Nala for the first time. She has been trying to pick her up since she could walk. It is so entertaining to watch them play together. They have a love/hate relationship...Payten will chase her around and Nala will finally give in and let Payten pick her up....Nala just takes is so well, although she lets out an ocassional cry for help. :) Work is going really well. I love both of my jobs!!! I am going to get my personal training certificate in September and then will be able to charge a lot more for my services!! :) I have always loved being in the gym, so I am going to take the plunge and get certified. I am also a Children's Coordinator at our church. I basically oversee what is going on, answer any questions parents might have, check in new babies and toddlers, and update the rosters as well as headcounts at the end of Sunday School and "Big" church. It is a lot of work and always extra busy since we have thousands of members, but I love it and believe that God got me that job....I was not even looking for it. Oh ya, I am also on the Leadership team for MOPS. I am excited to meet other moms and get to know women from my church and learn from them. It is encouraging to meet other women who love the Lord....it encourages and inspires me to be a better wife and mother. I am so excited to come back to Oklahoma in less than two weeks. Not only is it Payten's 2nd birthday, but we will get to meet Baby Kennedi for the first time!!!! We are so excited to meet her. We are really looking forward to spending time with everyone.... it is so hard to believe that we have lived in Texas for 6 months now. It has gone by so fast.... We had Scott, Bethany, Wes, Allison, Mike and Tracy over for dinner last Friday night. We had such a great time and it felt like we were back in Bartlesville. We grilled out and played games....it's pretty crazy that four couples are already in Texas from B-ville. I wonder who will be next??? :) I have to admit....I LOVE TEXAS. It is very kid friendly and there is always something to do. I would reccommend this place to anyone!!!!!!! The people are great, the grocery stores are fabulous (Kroger and HEB), Target is my second home, (I got in trouble this month for spending way toooo much there...haha), the community is very clean and beautiful, and the Water park/Beach Club is Payten's dream come true!!! (and mine too.) Okay, I think I have succeeded the maximum amount of words for tonight.. hope no one gets bored with my novel! :)

Fun at the Zoo

After spending 3 hours at the zoo, I have come to the conclusion that ALL zoo animals are severly depressed!! :) Seriously, all the animals were hidden in a corner fast asleep. They are sleeping because they are bored, hot and in a 10x10 room and feel extremely cramped. Okay enough about that....I just feel bad for all the animals that are stuck and will never be able to run free. :) Other than that, Payten LOVED the zoo. Her favorite animals were the giraffe and the elephants. We got to watch the elephants get their daily bath. She sat there the whole time, wided-eyed and enjoying every minute of it. Since she has a stuffed giraffe that she sleeps with every night, she was excited to watch the giraffes play. She calls them "raffs". It was extremely hot, but that did not seem to slow her down. She was pretty upset when we had to leave. We had a great time... Payten's new favorite thing is Finding Nemo. She has been watching it everyday. I am amazed at how long she will sit in front of the t.v. while Nemo is on. She will go and get Finding Nemo out of the DVD rack, get the DVD out of the case and try to stick it in the DVD player. She will practically beg for one of us to put it on for her. This little girl loves animals and baby dolls. It is so neat to watch her personality grow as well as her interests. We were laughing at how long the giraffes neck was. Pretty funny!!?? haha ( I guess that's pretty funny to a two year old.) She really enjoyed the petting zoo. She kept trying to brush their fur even though they were trying to eat.