Cameron, the Cemetery, and Many Many Pictures

Last weekend, we visited the quaint town of Cameron. I have some family history in this town. It's the place where my grandmother, my "Ginny" (yes, young Ginny was named after her) grew up, and it's also where my dad was born. Not far from town is the North Elm Cemetery, where several of my ancestors are buried. Tommy and Kristina have plots there too, which was the reason for our weekend trip. My parents, along with Kristina's parents have chosen a headstone for Tommy & Kristina. Though the stone was not yet placed, it was good to visit the cemetery again.

We stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast, the Magnolia Inn in Cameron. Dad, Mom, Kelly, David, the kids, and I had the place to ourselves for the weekend. Mom put together a fabulous dinner, and we spent our time happily enjoying each other's company. Dad, David and I were able to get out and play some tennis. It was a very enjoyable weekend, and it came at the perfect time. It felt like a new beginning for all of us.

Dad & Mom & the Magnolia house

I had some fun taking pictures. The old house was the perfect backdrop.

Mom bought this "baby hammock" for the twins. Yay! Thanks Mom!

Kelly was nice enough to get some family photos for us in the courtyard.

Princess Brooke

"Grandpa Hug"

Grammy Co & Aunt Kelly with Keely

Brooke had fun dancing with this big doll.

And on to the cemetery visit...

My great grandparents

My "Ginny"

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In Other News...

A small glimpse of what we have been up to lately...

1) Brooke wants to be a princess, all the time!

2) She also likes to take care of babies, whether they're her babies or her baby sisters.

3) She's tee-tee'd on the potty a few times, and can do it when motivated. 

4) The babies keep growing and growing!

5) Brooke is out of the crib and into a big girl bed. Sniff, sniff. Our baby is a big girl now!

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AC breaks... in July... In Texas!

A few weeks ago, we headed to New Braunfels for our first visit since I was restricted from travel by my doctor in March. David had coaching school in Austin, so we took the opportunity to spend some time with my family. It was a fun time, mixed with some adventure...always good when traveling with 2 month old twins, right?

Ginny & Jake the dog

The first afternoon we were there, we noticed it was kind of hot in the house. We soon realized the air conditioning was broken! It took a while for us to get worried enough about the babies to try a Plan B. Thankfully, Kelly offered her apartment to us and we made it out just fine, or as fine as we could be in that situation with fussy babies.

Here's my mom chillin' with one of the twins in front of a box fan at the house.

Thank you Aunt Kelly!

To beat the heat, we headed to the Springfed pool at Landa Park. 

This is where we learned that Brooke has no fear in the big pool, and she's definitely ready for some swim lessons.

Before we left, the twins had a playdate with another set of twins at the children's museum. Their mom is Kay from my online twin mom support group; she lives in NB too, so I hope we can get our girls together often. That's her in the black with the blue sling. Believe it or not, we ran into another twin mom, Rachel. We all have identical girls. So if we decide to ever move to New Braunfels, I have a whole set of twin mama friends!

Dad had the AC fixed in no time on Saturday, and we were able to enjoy much of the weekend without too much sweat.

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Changes

I haven't felt sharing much lately, and I thank all of you for being patient while our family is going through a difficult time. A decision has been made that Austin and Ginny will be moving to live with another family.  We are sad and disappointed that it could not work, but we are also hopeful that this is the best thing for Austin and Ginny, and for our family. We are very thankful to the people that have opened their hearts and home to these children who need so much. 

Our prayers are with Austin and Ginny as they adjust to what we hope is a permanent home for them. I know that this was somehow all meant to happen, and God planned for them to be with us during such a hard time in their lives. I hope we were able to provide what they needed at the time, and that they took something away from being in our care. We are forever changed by this experience. Thank you to everyone who showed us love and support during the past year. We are grateful. We are inspired to better help others because of your example. 

Austin and Ginny will always be our nephew and niece, and we love them so much. If you read this, please pray for these beautiful children during this transition and for the years ahead. 

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