Astros and Berry Pickin

Oh, what do you do in the Summertime, when all the world is green? 

Do you fish in a stream or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by?

Is that what you do? So do I!

We like to go to the Astros Games during the summertime.  This weekend the Astros played the Yankees for the first time during a regular season.  Back in the spring, you had to enter your name in for a chance to buy tickets to one of these games this weekend.  Our name was drawn and we purchased the 4 tickets that were allowed.  Madelyn stayed at a neighbors since we only had 4 tickets.  We were not going to be getting home until late so Chanelle said Madelyn could stay the night.  She lasted until 5 am.  Chanelle called at five and said Madelyn was awake and ready to come home. It's great to have such wonderful neighbors. 

It was fun to see the Yankees and Mayor Rudy Giuliani throw out the first pitch.

We also enjoyed the fireworks.  Great night had by all...even though the Astros lost.  Garrett, our kid that remembers everything, said we are bad luck...out of the ten games we have attended the Astros have lost everytime!

Another fun activity this weekend was going to a  local orchard where you can pick your own berries.  

Berry pickin is always better with friends...

and Mom...

We came home with blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes and zucchini. I'm sure we'll be back because we're almost out and the boys said the berries were soooo much better than the ones from the store.  

Happy Father's Day!

I'm so glad when Daddy comes home, 

Glad as I can be;

Clap my hands and shout for joy, 

Then climb upon his knee,

Put my arms around his neck,

Hug him tight like this,

Pat his cheeks, then give him what?

A great big kiss.

The children are so excited when their dad comes home.  They run and jump on him like he is a million bucks! I hope they always love their dad like they do now.  

We are grateful for Grandpa Wade.  He always supports us in everything we do.  Grandpa has taken up bike riding this year and this Saturday he is riding in his first 100 mile ride.  Way to Go!  Dad, I need a picture of you riding your bike...not your Harley.  We hope you have a nice Father's Day this Sunday.  See you in August in Florida.  

We also are thankful for Pappaw Griffiths.  I think this picture is darling with Christopher on Pappaw's back.  The kids are excited to come to your "log cabin" this summer in Ohio.  We have not been to Ohio since the boys were really small and Madelyn has not ever been there.  We have been meeting in North Carolina at the beach instead.  So, the boys have in their mind that Pappaw Griffiths lives in a log cabin.  He better get busy building one before we get there! Happy Father's Day to Pappaw.

Happy 4th Madelyn

M:  Matt's Pride and Joy, Madelyn four days old

A: Always on the go... Madelyn at 1 year

D: Delicious... She loves to eat all the time.  Madelyn at 2 years old with some kind of food in her mouth.

E: Entertaining...She is learning to love to sing.  She always mixes up the songs and sings about 3 songs mixed together.  Madelyn at 3 years old.

L: Lovable.  Madelyn takes a while to warm up to people but once she does she truly loves you and wants you to hold her and love on her.  Madelyn at 4 years old.  She picked out a cookie cake and it was very yummy!  Good pick, Madelyn.

Y: Yellow Personality (Easy going...most of the time)

N: Natalie's Best Friend...She saw me typing this and she said "No, I'm daddy's best friend."  I still love you Madelyn Grace.  Happy 4th Birthday!

My brother Chad and his family came over to celebrate.  We had bbq and yummy homemade ice-cream.  We shared the ice-cream with a couple of our neighbors that evening.  Who wouldn't like homemade ice-cream on a 98 degree weather day?

June 8, 1996~12 years ago

Matthew and Natalie were married for time and all eternity!

We lived in Sugarhouse in a one-bedroom, pink kitchen and bathroom basement apartment. Rent $350.  The rent was raised to $355 after we spilled some ranch dressing on the cement steps and didn't clean it up.  Those were the days.  

Grandma Berg lived up the street and kept a close eye on us and we kept a close eye on her.

1997

We were still attending the University of Utah and living with one car.  

We enjoyed sleeping all day on Saturdays.  No one to wake us up. 

We went on lot's of walks around the neighborhood and dreamed of leaving the basement apartment and living in a home with a back patio.  

My brother, Chad and his wife Angie were married that year and moved in around the corner.  

Southwest Airlines had a deal to fly for $25 to San Diego...yes, $25.  Of course, we went.

1998

We visited with Matt's family in Ohio and drove to Cleveland.  We made several trips to Ohio during our first few years of marriage.  It was always nice to spend a week at a time visiting with his family and learning to love all the things about them.     

We love to laugh.

We love to see new things.

We love to be together.

1999

We moved into our first home in Draper, Utah.  We lived there for 7 wonderful years.  

Our first born, Christopher Matthew was born.  We couldn't have been happier.  

2000

We enjoyed just being the three of us.  We loved witnessing all the "first" things that come with having a baby.  

2001

Our second child was born, Garrett Wade, along with 5 other BOYS in our cul de sac.  Out of 12 houses...6 boys were born that year.  Something must have been in the water.... 

2002

It is always nice to get away and remember why we fell in love.  Just the two of us!

2003

We got our first and only dog, Brutus.  The three boys were thrilled.  Mom not so much!

2004

Madelyn was born on our anniversary, June 8.  Eight years of marriage and look what a beautiful gift we received. She is our princess and rules our house.  By the way, while I was in labor, Matt decided to go eat dinner.  I thought he was going to pick up a hamburger but he went and had steak.  He said, "well, it's our anniversary".  

Summer of 2004. Wade Family

2005

Our last "snowy" winter in Utah.

2006 

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary in Maui.  I am grateful to have those memories.  We had such a fun time and went and did as much as we could thinking we might never get away again. 

We moved our family to The Woodlands, Texas in October 2006.  This was a big year for us.  I had always lived in Utah and so I was nervous to leave my comfort zone.  It was also difficult to leave my family since my mom had passed away and I felt like I needed to stay to help my dad. Needless to say, this has been a great move for us and I have grown so much over the last 20 months.  It was also easier to move knowing that my brother, Chad and his family were an hour away in College Station.  They were a great help in easing us into this transition.

2007

We entertained many family member as they came to visit us in our new home.  We went on many trips and saw many new sights.  We made lot's of new friends in our new area and have felt right at home.  Christopher was baptized this year and that was a big highlight in our life.  

2008

Twelve years later and here we are.  Three healthy kids and one happy couple.  Here is to many more years of joy and happiness.  We have made it through the tough times too and I hope this year we can grow closer together and remember 2008 as one of our best years.

Left to Tell

I read a very inspiring book this weekend and one that I think everyone should read.

Immaculée shares her miraculous story of how she survived during the Rwanda genocide in 1994 when she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor’s house for 91 days! In this captivating and inspiring book, Immaculée shows us how to embrace the power of prayer, forge a profound and lasting relationship with God, and discover the importance of forgiveness and the meaning of truly unconditional love and understanding—through our darkest hours. 

This book really puts things into perspective.  In the spring of 1994, I was graduating from High School.  I was just concerned about planning my senior to trip to Del Cornado, CA  and making sure I graduated. While in Africa during this same time, people were fearing for their life just because of their ethnic background.  Over the course of 100 days, 1 million people were killed.  77% of the Tutsi population were slaughtered during this time.  It is interesting though, that today the Tutsi are currently in power in Rwanda but they do not refer to them such.  

Sometimes we just don't realize how good we've got it.  Her faith in this book is amazing and I do think she was saved so she could share her story.  She truly was LEFT TO TELL.

Houston Ranked #1 city to live and work and play

We are happy to be living in the greatest city and enjoying all there is to do here.  

For my Utah friends don't feel to bad...Provo, Utah was ranked #10.

Summer is almost here and this is what we've been up to:

Slip and sliding and swimming

Hanging out in the dark...power out for several hours.  The kids were excited to get into our emergency backpacks to get the flashlights out.  We had pack meeting that night for Christopher's scouts and they held it in the dark with glow sticks/necklaces. That was one cool meeting. One boy was receiving his "arrow of light" award and once the cubmaster handed his award the lights came on.  Right on cue!

Volunteering at school for the fairy tale fair.  Madelyn was a great helper.  

Eating lunch at the boys school.  Look at Madelyn hanging onto Christopher.  So cute!

Celebrating Madelyn's upcoming birthday.  She loves to go out of town and stay in a hotel so to celebrate we went to Schiltterbahn in New Braunfels.  Schiltterbahn has been voted #1 Water Park in the world for the last 10 years so we have been excited to try it out.  It is just a short three hour drive from our house.  There was so much to do that come 8pm we still had not gone on every ride.  The lazy river is by far my favorite thing to do.  I could sit in one of those all day.  That night I kept dreaming that I was still in the water going around and around.  One ride actually takes you out into the Comal River. Pretty cool except for the algae on our feet. Nice and Slimy! 

Our neighbors also went along with us.  The kids had a blast and they think we should do this every weekend. Sounds like a plan to me.

The next day we went to a cave in San Marcos.  It is the nations only earthquake-formed cave. It was neat to see the fault line running the length of the cave. 

They were all amazed at what they saw and learned.

Look out tower to see the "Hill Country" on one side  and the "Gulf Coastal plains" on the other.  

We be Caven'n!

Eating Ice-Cream.  On our way back from our get-a-way, we wanted to stop at the Blue Bell ice-cream factory.  They were closed but we found a gas station that sells all varieties in yummy waffle cones.  A great end to a great weekend!