Celebrating our Missionary!

Warnock cousins are very close and many of us are are as close as siblings. The baby cousin, Scott made the decision to go on a mission & we could not be prouder or more excited for his adventure! We had a huge family weekend at my parents to celebrate his decision & say our goodbyes. We swam, cooked out and played volleyball Saturday. Saturday night all of the adults headed to the Country Club for dinner. We had a room to ourselves so we got to have a memorable night talking about family memories & giving Scott advice. Next Sunday happened to be fast Sunday so we got to hear many family members' testimonies, most importantly Scott's. The spirit was so strong the whole weekend. I am so thankful for Scott's example for my boys and though we will miss him terribly, we are so proud! The people of Buenos aires, Argentina are very lucky to have our Scott for two years!

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Deanna's baby shower

One of the cutest girls I know is pregnant and I was excited to get to co host her shower. Lori & I had so much fun with the planning. I love Lori, she is so smart, fun & creative! Thanks to all of you other fabulous ladies who helped so much with the food. There were 26 ladies that came & we had fun visiting & celebrating Deanna's upcoming sweet pea!










This is the cardstock banner I made.









Martha Stewart tissue poms. I love these, they are fun for any occasion.

Fun details.

The food was so yummy! I especially loved the watermelon baby carriage.

Is Lisa gorgeous or what!!

Deanna will definitely be set with diapers!

Everyone had fun visiting.

Lori's cupcake picks turned out so cute & Megan's cupcakes were DELICIOUS!

The candy buffet was a big hit. Before the shower, Matthew said to me, "Mom, that is so cool, can we keep it there all the time? Just what we need,right!?!

Second Grade

I can't believe Matthew is a second grader! It seems only yesterday I was taking him to his first day of Kindergarten. I am so thankful he loves school and is always happy to be there the first day of school each year. He is so lucky this year, he got an incredible teacher and he could not be happier!












Luckily I knew ahead of time who Matthews teacher was going to be so we were able to give her something fun at meet the teacher night before school started. I love having my vinyl machine because I can throw together last minute gifts that are one of a kind!

Annual Lake Travis Trip

We look forward all year to our annual Warnock family Lake Travis trip. It is the one time of year that my entire family including spouses & children get together. For a group of 31 (with one more on the way) that is quite a fete! We stay at The Hollows where we have individual houses with beautiful views of the Texas Hill Country. It was sad to see how low the water was. Even sadder for those who owned boat docks that did not float to adjust to the low levels leaving them dry dirt.









As usual, we played on the party barge the first day. It is so nice to have a bathroom, lower level
shading for the babies to nap when tired, a slide off the upper deck and a grill to cook hamburgers for lunch.








The little kids love to take turns being captain and first mate. I love how serious Jake looks during his turn!









The older kids (and adults) love to jump from the upper deck. It is so funny to watch them do it over & over again.












The best part is the time the kids spend together making memories and growing closer. I heard several of them say, "this is my favorite vacation ever"!



















Because the water was so low & most of the ramps were inaccessible, we spent a lot of time at the pool. We swam for hours,cooked out, made smores at the fire pit and sunbathed. Austin is so beautiful, we love it there!





Thanks Mom and Dad as usual for providing such a fun and memorable experience together for us. We are always sad when it ends but are already counting down to next year!

Lake Whitney

We went to Lake Whitney with Chris's family & some friends. We stayed in a cute cabin that overlooked the lake. The boys had a great time kneeboarding, wakeboarding, riding the tube and playing on "the beach". When the kids were in bed we stayed up late playing games. We had a really good time & are grateful Chris's brother bought a new boat & lives close!

Katie's 32nd Birthday

I have to say that at a time in my life when I needed it most, I had one of my best birthdays ever! The week before my Mom drove up with Emily & Liz. They took me shopping at Nordstrom to get new clothes and shoes. The day before my birthday, a little birdy who knew how much I love cupcakes, left some on my front porch. The Cupcakery provides a little heaven here on Earth, or at least Frisco! On my birthday, Hillary, Liz & Alicia made me a FABULOUS dinner. It was so yummy, especially the lemon cake with lemon pudding filling & cream cheese frosting! I got the jewelry armoire I have been wanting for years. After dinner we played lots of Settlers of course! My dear friend Natalie organized a birthday luncheon for me at Chili's later that week. I got some fun presents & I especially love my new python purse! It was so much fun and meant so much, you girls made me feel so loved , very much needed!

Chris's 34th Birthday

This year Chris turned the "Big 34"! A boy after my own heart, Matthew wanted to plan the party. He planned it down to every last detail. We were looking at a birthday cake website and when he saw the hamburger cake he excitedly told me, "that's the cake mom, it's perfect"! Matthew planned the meal, Mexican food, & he made sure we had Blue Bell ice cream to go with the cake. Jake, Alicia, Liz & Brandon & their kids all celebrated with us. Chris got money from my parents & new running shoes, movies & clothes from the boys (they picked everything out themselves, I funded it).We had a lot of fun & as you can see, Jake wasted no time, or utensil, on his piece of cake!

Random thought

Ok, so I know this is totally random but I have loved reading Stephanie Nielson's blog (NieNie dialogues). She finally revealed a picture of herself since being burned in the plane crash. I have felt such empathy & love for this woman I have never met. Another favorite "stranger blog" of mine is Kelly's Korner. She posted a link to her friend Katie's blog (http://therowefam.blogspot.com/. Katie was 8 months pregnant, had to go in for an emergency c-section & ended up losing her baby. As I read Katie's posts tears welled up & I felt so much love for this stranger. I wanted to reach through the computer & give her a huge hug. So, the point of this.......I was thinking today about human emotion & the ability to love and I believe these are gifts that we all posess. I was thinking that it was a blessing I could feel such deep sympathy and caring & love for complete strangers I read about & how good it made me feel to send them a message & let them know that I was thinking about them. It was such a simple, small thing I did & yet it made me feel good & my problems seem small. Just think, if each day we all made an effort to seek out a stranger(s) that needs an encouraging word or small (or large) act of kindness, how much better would the world be. The whole pay it forward thing really works & you don't even realize it or how easy it is! I have enjoyed being home with my boys & will treasure that time forever. I am grateful that they both will be in school this year because a dream of mine has been to volunteer at a children's hospital and work with a battered women's shelter. If there is anyone who would like to join me, I would love the company.

Going Private

After much contemplation, I have decided to make my family blog private. I saw a special on the news about people who steal pictures of children from blogs and use them in adoption scams or other types of scams. I love being able to share my life with my friends & I really love the sweet comments you leave! If you would like to be able to view my blog in the future just leave me a comment with your email address & I will add you to the list. Love you guys & thanks for being part of my life!

Pierce & Cecy's Birthday Party

Pierce & Cecily's birthdays are the same week as the 4th so we celebrated their birthdays with a big Luau party. The decorations were awesome, the food was fabulous & it was fun to have so many cousins there!
Brian made the most amazing Cantelope punch. It was so sweet and refreshing! Serving a mission in Mexico really brought out his domestic skills!

Double ice cream cakes made with Blue Bell of course for the birthday cuties!

Cecily thinks ice cream cake is delish!

These kids made out like bandits with the presents!


Everyone swam & had a good time for the rest of the day.Jake & Will used rafts to create a wave pool, with all that muscle it was just as good as the one at Hurricane Harbour!Two of my favorite girls! The hit of the party was the rocket the Will Warnocks gave Pierce The kids loved it & launched it again & again & again! That thing went so high, it was pretty amazing.