Happy 26th David!

Happy Birthday to the most thoughtful, funniest, most kind and tenderhearted little brother ever!

Tripp's Sip 'N See

This past month we celebrated the birth of my dear friend Karen Rector's new son, Tripp.  To welcome this new little guy a few of our close friends hosted a Sip 'n See shower.  Karen and I are friends from high school and we were sorority sisters in college.  Tripp was born November 25th to the delight of Karen, BJ and big sister Eleanor.

Mommy and Son

Since the Sip 'n See was held in February we decided on a "Valentine-y" theme to show off Karen's new heart throb.


The Invites - created by Marina

The Sip 'n See was come and go and guests enjoyed some yummy brunch items.





The Full Set Up

A few more pictures of decor. The guests filled out Valentines for Tripp and put them in the box.

Tripp seems to have such a sweet little disposition.  He was an angel the whole time, content in anyone's arms.  We are so thankful for this new little addition to the Rector family and look forward to all the moments we get watching him grow up!

Tripp and I secretly decided on matching outfits before the shower! 

Hostesses with Karen (Lucy also helped host, but couldn't be there the day of)

We love you Tripp! *Thank you Mindy, for all the pictures!

Happy Birthdays Katie and Jerod!!



Sorry the picture's a little blurry, but you get the idea.... he is SO excited for your birthdays!

 We love you!

Happy Birthday Lana!

I met Lana in junior high.  She was the new girl at our school and we became fast friends.  Although we weren't familiar with each other, the Lord had already intertwined our lives in the later elementary years through select softball and piano lessons.  Little did I know how much he would continue to bless me through her friendship in years to come.

In some ways we are  so similar and in some ways we couldn't be more different, but from high school to roomates in college, sorority sisters and beyond college, the Lord has woven our hearts together in a friendship that has truly blessed me.

It would not be uncommon in our high school days for us to be somewhere and for boys to approach us and tell Lana how beautiful she was.  I remember on one occasion her and I were at a mall and an older boy came up to us and asked if he could take his picture and walk around with her because she was sooo beautiful.  (Of course think of how beautiful my little freshman- in-high school self felt at that moment ;) )

 But it's true, she is beautiful but what everyone else who truly knows her sees is her beautiful heart too. The name Lana means "light" and she embodies this word in my mind.  She has the most beautiful and tender heart towards the Lord and her inner (and outer) beauty light up any room she is in. 

Happy Birthday to my sweet friend, Lana Arnold!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From the cutest of reindeers....
"Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight!"

Spooky Footprints!

Larkin and I decided to get crafty this week after seeing a cute pin on pinterest this past week.




A few messy feet later, we ended up with a cute canvas to hang with a Halloween ribbon and a few cards to send to family. Isn't this a cute idea? Happy Halloween!

Happy Birthday Marina!

Yesterday was my dear friend, Marina Simmons' 28th birthday. Marina and I became friends about 6 years ago when I started dating Jordan. She was dating one of Jordan's roommates, Chris, (who she is now married to) and her friendship over the past 6 years has blessed me in so many ways. So in honor of this special lady I have come up with the Top 10 things we all love about Marina!

...Drum Roll Please................

10. She is extremely creative (she designed this blog!)

9. She is authentic which makes people she's around feel comfortable being themselves and her candor can be very entertaining as well.

8. She reads celebrity gossip and believes everything she reads..."Where there's smoke there's fire!". . .or so she says

7. She will go out of her way to serve others. She is my most selfless friend. Whether it be through bringing meals or offering to clean my house when I had a broken foot or after Larkin's birth, or offering to watch Larkin while I go run errands, she truly goes out of her way to serve.

6. She's an incredible mom to little Owen and the first of our group of friends to have a baby. She paved the way for us, which would not be an easy thing to do.

5. She has a huge fear of vomit. HUGE.

4. She loves to clean and it seems is constantly bleaching her entire house.

3. She is just hilarious to be around - I find myself always laughing.

2. She is great with babies and so sweet with little Larkin. He likes to give her lots of smiles.

1. She is a very loyal friend, wife and mommy and I am so thankful for her in my life!



Happy Birthday (WEEKEND) Marina! You are loved!

Celebrating Jordan

This past weekend we celebrated Jordan's birthday with a surprise party at Twisted Root. I am not a huge hamburger person but Jordan LOVES this place so, of course, it made the perfect venue to have a small celebration in his honor.

Jordan's college roomates, buddies and their significant others joined in to make it a surprise dinner for the birthday boy. It was great for Jordan, whose idea of a perfect night would be hanging out with a group of buddies over a beer and a good burger. :) Marina Simmons, a dear friend, helped pull off the surprise and make it an extra special night for J. Thanks Marina!

Larkin got dressed up in his "party shirt" and was ready to surprise daddy!



Daddy and Larkin



Surprise Daddy!






Josh Rives and little Lucy - Mindy left for St. Marten so couldn't be there- we missed you!



Kimber Glenn and Larkin



Brent Baker, Jordan and Larkin



Our little Family



Larkin, did you have fun at daddy's birthday?!



Happy Birthday Jordan! Thanks for everyone who made it special for him :)

Dr. Seuss Birthday for Sam!

This weekend Larkin was invited to his second birthday party. He was so excited to go celebrate Sam Wannemacher's 2nd birthday at Gymboree! The party had a Dr. Seuss theme and Sam's mommy Stephanie (aka Thing 2!), did such an adorable job with all of the details!




Of course the party took place on the day of the first Aggie game so several families were decked out in Aggie gear including, Larkin's buddy Morgan Key.




The Birthday Boy, Sam


Larkin sat and watched a little sad he couldn't get up and play!

Happy Birthday Sam!

Birthdays!

This weekend we celebrated two birthdays! The first was for brand new baby, Reese Elizabeth who was born to our community group friends, Dana and Chrsitine earlier this week. We drove to visit them on Saturday. Reese is just a few days old and is absolutely adorable. Mommy and Daddy were doing great. I couldn't believe how small she was. She weighed about the same as Larkin did when we brought him home and look at the difference about 6 more weeks of milk makes! Time truly does go so fast, I love these pics of them together.



The next birthday party was for little Morgan Key's 1st birthday. Morgan is the daughter of another couple in our community group. Our dear friends, Lindsay and Randy. Lindsay did such a great job. There house is currently on the market and she had 50 people over for the birthday celebration! Quite a wonder woman if you ask me. Everything was adorable, the theme was celebrating their "Little Monkey". My camera did not do a good job with lighting but here were some of the yummy desserts and decor. We also got some cute shots with community group buddies: Morgan (the birthday girl), Sam and Larkin.

Happy Birthday Reese and Morgan! We love you, Larkin, Jordan and Elizabeth