Dru and Carrie's Wedding/Ft. Myers, FL

When I married Tyler on September 4, 2004 I not only became a part of The Hampshire Family I also became part of The Hilton Head Family!! The Hilton Head Family has been together for 44 years!! It all started because of a group of fraternity brothers at IU. These boys...now men became best buds and soon joined in their significant others. Many of the wives went to IU as well and if they didn't...well they may as well have because they are IU Hoosier fans for LIFE!! Once they all graduated from IU and began the next chapter of their lives...getting married and having babies...they started an annual summer trip to Hilton Head, SC. Every summer these 6 families rented 2 HUGE Beach houses for 2 weeks!! How fun is that!? I think between the 6 of them there was a baby or two added to the clan every year!! Needless to say these 6 families became one BIG family...The Hilton Head Family. They truly are a unique and amazing bunch!! All the kids are now adults and starting their own families. The HH crew gets together for almost every occasion to celebrate the expansion of this once small group of wild and crazy fraternity boys...yes I have heard stories...ie: mattresses on the roof of the frat house and so forth...to now a group of who knows how many!! So...long story short....Dru is the oldest of 3 and is the first Dalton Boy to get married . When Tyler and I heard about the wedding and when/where it was going to be we both were like "We are GOING!!" We have missed many of the reunions because I was either getting ready to have a baby or I had just had one. Well, not this time!! Plus this was our first break from parenthood and jobs in a long time!! We had 5 days of way too much fun!! Seriously I can't remember the last time we both felt this care free and just totally let loose!! The whole Hampshire family was able to make it and it was the first time in 3 years we were all together!! Tyler and I made some great new friends the first night we were there and throughout the trip. Fort Myers did not know what they had coming....it was one of the BEST vacations...thanks to everyone that was there and congratulations to a beautiful couple Carrie and Dru Dalton!! XOXO

First Night

Our new Friends and Barb

Barb "The Local"

2nd Night...

Having cocktails at our usual meet up spot...our rooftop bar!!

Christine and Jeanne

Jeff and Kyle (Tyler's Dad and little sis)

The Woolery's and The Hampshire's

The Dalton Boys (minus Dru aka the Groom) and The Hamsters

3 of the Frat Guys....Mark, Lex (Father of The Groom) and Jeff

3rd Night...

Rehearsal Dinner at The Morgan House

Dru and Carrie and their niece Kaylee

Dru and the Ladies

Christine with her two girls...Kyle and Brooke

4th Night....

The Wedding

The Hampshires....

L-R...Brooke, Jordan, Me, Tyler, Matt, Kyle, Jeff and Christine

IU Ladies

Tyler and Peanut...the baby of the Dalton Boys

8 1/2 Months of Pure LOVE!!

Sweet Landy Lou, please slow down for mommy!! You are growing way too fast! I want to stop time, otherwise before I know it you are going to be a toddler on the run. I can't even imagine getting upset with you...hard to believe since your little mischievous sister is in time out pretty much every day!! You are just so darn cute and mommy can't imagine the day I have to discipline you...so sad to think about. You have been crawling for about a month now. As soon as you are down you almost always make a mad dash for mommy and daddy's bathroom. You are either in our closet chewing on mommy's shoes or standing up at the bathtub trying to figure out how you can get all those bath toys. You are pulling up on anything you can get your hands on and are curious about EVERYTHING! You are most curious about our food to the point that I feel really bad because you can't eat it yet. You finally just got your first two bottom teeth a week ago....I was starting to wonder if you had any in there. You love to be where everyone else is and get so upset if we leave the room for a second. You put your arms up in the air and reach for us to pick you up. I think I actually sigh every time you do it because again...you are just so stinking lovable! At night time you get a little cranky around 6:30-7 so we know it is bath time!! Bath time is your favorite! You take a bath with your sissy every night and you both love it! You get so unhappy if she is not in there with you. Surprising because all she does is decorate your head with bubbles, pour water on you and take your toys from you...you love it though! You definitely are the most laid back and happy baby. You (and your sissy) are mommy and daddy's absolute pride and joy and melt our hearts everyday!

Tyler's Birthday

Tyler's 31st Birthday was on Monday the 28th. I still can not believe we are in our 30's...sounds so grown up! Too bad we are still a bunch of kids but with more direction, focus and RESPONSIBILITIES...woohoo!! We celebrated on Saturday night with my sis, Clayton, and the Blair's (Lindsey and Todd) at Trulucks and then headed over to the Rattlesnake Bar at the Ritz. Dinner was amazing even though they were completely out of Florida Stone Crabs...that was all Tyler wanted for his birthday! I think all of our mouths dropped when the waiter told us...dinner was still fabulous and we had a little too much fun...I think we kept the tables around us and the waiters pretty entertained!! Then Sunday we had Tyler's parents, Mom and Mitch over for dinner and the Oscars. Mom made an amazing beef tenderloin and Christine made an amazing homemade chocolate cake with white icing...Tyler's fave!! We celebrated on Monday with just the 4 of us and had fun goofing off with the kids and making a yummy dinner. Happy Birthday to my love and I hope it was a good one...xoxo!!

80 Degrees in February!!

We all know that Dallas weather is very unpredictable. Well just a few weeks ago we experienced record low's where we did not get out of the teens for a few days. Not to mention we were hit with 2 inches of ICE which shut the entire city down during the biggest week in Dallas...Super Bowl!! Then we got 6 inches of snow on top of that! My office has NEVER shut down for weather...and we have had some bad weather in the past...but we closed for 3 days!! Which meant we were stuck in the house for 4 days...not so much fun with a 2 1/2 and 7 month old. This past weekend was absolutely beautiful and reminded me of living in California where the weather is PERFECT!! We took a nice long family walk and went to the park. The kids loved it...our Energizer Bunny that keeps going and going (AVA) ran the entire way to the park...played non-stop for 45 minutes...then ran up and down some hills with Daddy...and then ran all the way home...I seriously do not know how she did not pass out!! Landon chilled in the swing the entire time and did not make a peep on the walk...he is so opposite from Ava!

Best Friends FOREVER

Do you have a friend that you have been friends with for almost 20 years...make that best friends?!?! Those friends are far and few between and when you have one...hold onto them tight because they are guaranteed to be with you forever!! Tyler and Todd have been best friends for 18 years...they met in 7th grade (12 years old). They have been through thick and thin with each other and have stood by each other's side always!! They did not always have the best reputation growing up as they caused some major trouble....I won't go into details but if you know these two you know what I am talking about! Todd was not only Tyler's Best Man in our wedding but is also Ava's God Father. So, when we finally found out he and Lindsey were pregnant we could not have been happier...and then three months later found out we were joining them again in welcoming our second baby! Then the best news of all....we found out we were both having BOYS!! Tyler was so excited to find out that him and his best bud were going to be passing on the notorious and famous last names of HAMPSHIRE and BLAIR!! Landon and Deacon are truly two of the cutest and most adorable boys and have a lot to live up to...well Lindsey and I will definitely try our hardest to make sure they DON'T follow in their dad's footsteps as kids, but that they do grow up to be great men like their daddies!! Just remember one thing it is not about the quantity of friends you have but about the quality. Friends are a wonderful part of our life and they are meant to inspire, support, and make our lives more fulfilling! To all of our wonderful friends out there...we love you and I prey that Ava and Landon create wonderful friendships throughout their journey of life and are surrounded by love and kindness.