You Never Know What to Expect in Niederwald

And I seriously mean that! I got a call from Cody one night that a mule drawn covered wagon would be staying in his field that night. They were travelling from Louisiana to the Alamo. They were family of friend that we had gone to High School with, but I can safely say that it hadn't ever happened before, and will probably never happen again! Pics are of Maddy, Eric and Beck on the mule and then one I took of the wagon.

Highlight of my Weekend

I'm almost embarrassed to post this, but on Sunday we went shopping at the new Super Target in Southpark Meadows. It's really nice and really big! The best part was getting to meet Spot, the Target Dog. Beck and Madalyn were super excited. I know that Target will be super excited to be getting my grocery and my shopping money. That place is dangerous!
I was glad to run into Aimee and Gerardo while we were checking out. It's always good to see friends, even is just by chance. =)

Renaissance Festival

On Saturday the 13th we drove to Plantersville, TX near Houston for the Texas Renaissance Festival. Madalyn and I went with Lanette and Willow Filstrup. Madalyn goes home from school every day after school with Willow, so they get to spend a lot of time together. But not a lot of time dressed up as twin Midnight Fairies for fairy weekend at the 'Ren Fest'. (Now Madalyn's story about the fairies may make a little more sense since we've been talking about this trip so much.)
This thing was so much fun! We got to eat good fair food, and the people watching was supreme as you can see here. This is just a taste of all of the fun people that we got a chance to meet. They have a full jousting competition, tons of shows, a maze, and rides. We had a really good day with the girls, our precious scary fairies.

Hay Season

One of my favorite times of the year is when they cut the hay in the field right next to our house. They did it over the past weekend so I took the boys over to play on them. It reminds me why we decided to live out here in the country- nothing beats the big Texas skies.

Driftwood Heritage Days Parade

Before Ella's birthday Madalyn was in the Driftwood Heritage Days parade on the Dance Unlimited float. It was a really nice parade and my dad was kind enough to volunteer to drive the truck and pull the trailer for the parade. So, the trailer went from pulling Cody's race car one night to pulling 40 girls on a float the next. That's me and Beck on the tool box, and Maddy in the back of the truck. Bristol and Jeff watched the parade and picked up all the candy! After the parade was over Madalyn's 'pre-team' group danced to their competition song 'All For One' from High School Musical 2. I'm not sure how many times we've heard that song by now, but I'm sure it hasn't been the last.

Ella turns 2

Ella turned 2 on October 1st. It's cliche' but I don't know where the time has gone. She's gotten so big and is super talkative. We had a lot of fun at her birthday party which was complete with a Dora moonwalk and swimming. Beck's head-first dive out of the pool will be remembered, I'm sure. Nicole and I started the 'Fairy Godmothers Fund' for Ella's college. It wasn't nearly as fun as the rest of her toys, but I'm sure it will be a hit at her high school graduation.
Pics are of Nicole with Addison; Brenah,Reagan and Makayla helping Ella blow out her candle; cousins Madalyn, Makayla and Brenah after swimming; and Beck enjoying the extra yummy ice cream cone cup cakes - chocolate and vanilla.

Jeff's New Truck

There's a new baby at the house - Jeff's new truck a 2007 dark silver Texas Edition with 20 inch wheels, tinted windows, bed liner, and steering wheel controls. Yes, he's spoiled rotten, but totally loves it. I think it even came with an updated 'man card'. Not sure if that was extra. =)

Small things in life

The boys and I were coming home the other day and it looked like the rainbow ended right at our house. Maybe it is the treasure...

Fairies and Me by Madalyn

Fairies and me
By Madalyn Raymond

One day I was in a beautiful dark forest. Suddenly, a fairy appeared. I said you look so pretty. She said, I’m the queen of fairies. She was all black. She had a black dress, a black wand, black earrings and even black sparkly wings. She was so pretty. I want to be like her. In a few seconds she turned me into a fairy. My name was Mysterious fairy. I was all red and black. My hair was even red and black. She and I went to a fairy ball. They had a DJ. He was playing cool fairy music. They even had a disco ball. The fairy ball was so fun. I met some cool fairies. One of the fairy’s names was Magical fairy. She was all purple. She liked to do magic tricks the best. When me and midnight went home we saw a mid butter fly. The mid butter fly’s are cool. We went to our rooms and went to bed.

The end

Texas vs. Rice Game

Jeff and I got tickets from a guy at work for the Texas vs. Rice game this last Saturday night. It was a super fun date (thanks to Julie for babysitting!). We got to go by Stacey's tailgate and although the game was not a nail-biter, it was fun to be there. The craziest thing was the Rice band - 'the Mob' who had a very interesting half time show. It included police arresting UT football players and Michael Vick jokes about training Revielle. They made a 7 on the field to heckle our score from the A&M game last season. We were totally in shock, but it was too funny. The other thing was one of them marched the half time show with a toddler in a backpak carrier out on the field. It was bizarre.
The game was great and it was a very fun date. Especially since Jeff will be gone all week in California. We got to see a couple of freshmen players that looked really good. And of course, the most important thing we won!

Kittens on the Raymond Ranch

One of our cats had kittens that we found a couple of weeks ago. There are five of them and we have had so much fun playing with them. They are creatively named- Blacky, Tigery, Tigger, Fluffy, and Orangey. Not sure how two of them got normal names, but Tigery the Tiger cat is my favorite in the pic with Beck. Can you guess what Blacky and Orangey look like? It's been fun and good for the kids to have them to take care of. Thank heavens my parents are going to take a couple of them!

Erin and Cullen's Wedding

Last weekend my cousin, Erin Stafford married Cullen Mills. They met at North Texas where he was the quarterback and she was the president of her sorority. They are so sweet and make an amazing couple. The got married at the University Christian church on the UT campus and had a fabulous reception at Scholtz's Beer Garden. It was a wonderful night, wish I would have gotten a better picture of them! The first pic is of the Nelson crew- all of the family on my maternal grandmother's side. It was great to see everyone, and I'm so glad that we didn't scare Cullen off! Bristol enjoyed watching everyone and was obsessed with cups as always. Madalyn enjoyed playing with Brittany, Erin's niece and flower girl. It was definitely in my top 5 weddings ever.

Mason Garrett Larvin Arrives!

And now all of the babies are here! Mason Garrett arrived yesterday around 5 pm and weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 10 oz and was 21 inches long. Poor Kim had to have c-section but seemed to be in good spirits when we took them dinner last night. They also delivered at Seton Central and will be there a few days. It's always nice to add to the cousins list, and we definitley think he's a keeper.
The first picture is one of the quilt that my mom made for Mason, stepping in for Grandma Nell who made all of the grandkids quilts. Even me and Cody - her adopted grandkids. Kim with precious Mason, and one of Beck with new big brother Eric. Beck and Eric were born in the same hospital on January 15, 2004 just 3 hours apart.
Welcome to baby Mason, and congratulations to Danny and Kim!

Baby #2 - Mason Lynn Randolph

As I had posted some time ago, I had three really good friends that were all due within a couple of weeks of each other. Addison joined us on the 25th, and now on September 9th Mr. Mason joined us. He's the son of one of my friends from college Marjorie Harrigan, now Randolph after she married Rodney last May. She was a bridesmaid in our wedding and truly a dear friend. And look - he's totally precious as you can see, and the Randolph family is doing great. They are so sweet and totally happy - it's always so much fun to watch everyone go through this. Especially the first time! So, now we're just waiting on my cousin Kim who's scheduled on the 18th. More babies!!
Mason was 8 lbs 2 oz, 20.5 inches long and was born at Seton hospital (where all the Raymond babies made their appearance). He is the fourth generation of men in his family to have the name Lynn - it's all about tradition and family. Love it. Welcome Mason!!

Madalyn joins the Brownies

Madalyn has joined Brownie Girl Scout Troup #2283. We've been to one meeting and I got picked to be in charge of fall product sale - get ready to buy some nuts and some cookies in the spring. Our cousin Lea did a long stint in the GS, so I'm hoping she'll help keep me and Maddy on track. She'll earn 'try-it' patches for the front of her vest, and we get to buy the ones on the back. I couldn't help it though, I had to get the spanish one that had the burro pinata on it. Ah, it all comes back to the burro. =)

Fishing with Jeff

After the kids got to fish at Cody's skeet shoot, Jeff and the kids have had the fishing bug. Here they look like they've got a fish at the petting zoo. We've gone a couple of times at Cody's tank and have really enjoyed it. Beck is either totally interested or could care less, but really likes his new Cabella's fishing pole. This night Madalyn caught 6 fish and Beck caught 5 - go Team Raymond. (Note: this was the same day Labor Day weekend when we went to visit Addison. I promise that we do change clothes!)

More of Miss Addison

We waited a week and then took the whole Raymond Clan to meet Miss Addison. She is doing really well and is so beautiful. It was a quick visit, but we got to take some cute pics. Madalyn was even brave enough to hold her this time. I'm sure there will be lots more pictures of her to come!

Abbie's 8th Birthday

Madalyn's good friend Abbie turned 8 a couple of weeks ago. Here's a cute pic of the polka dot queens from her birthday party at Mamacita's in San Marcos.