The BEST Gift.

Wow, what a birthday! Thanks to that sweet post below I am now a weeping mess, Thank you, Jas!!

It seems like we have been celebrating my birthday for a few weeks now but today it is official!

For my birthday Jason took me shopping for all the things needed for my brand new etsy studio. I cannot wait to take pics once it is all set up! This weekend we are celebrating with family and he also got us reservations for Saturday night to celebrate just the two of us.

Last weekend I blew out candles at Mom and Ron's.




Love the 80's sunglasses?? You could say I am feeling pretty loved! What an amazing year it has been. Since my last birthday, I have survived a scary hurricane, married my very best friend and become an aunt (twice!) We have been lucky enough to have travelled all over the place from Dallas to San Antonio to Breckenridge to Florida to Mexico.

And now for our grandest adventure yet and the best birthday present in the whole world....

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We are going to be parents!!!!

Lots of love,

Mack (Mommy) & Jason (Daddy)

Happy 29th B-day Mackenzie!!!!!!!

Today, along with every other day of the year, I get to celebrate the birth of my beautiful, loving wife.
Mackenzie, thank you for everything that you do, and for being the awesome person that you are! Some people look at aging another year as another year older. Know that I view it is another day closer to us being able to spend the rest of our lives together; a new chapter in life to live. I hope that your birthday is a fantastic one! I love you with all of my heart, my sweet!
Love,
Jason

Not So Little Anymore.

This weekend we got some exciting news all the way from Provo. Laci (AKA "Little Sis" "Runt") is getting married!!


I'm pretty sure I blew out a couple of people's eardrums in Cracker Barrel with my screams when we heard the news. Laci and Mark, we couldn't be more happy for you! Laci, it seems like yesterday that I carried you around everywhere on my hip and told everyone you were mine. You've been my best friend for almost 21 years now which is a lot because you can kind of be a pain in the butt sometimes.... I kid! I kid!





Mark, you are getting an amazing girl, take good care of her and I can't wait to meet you!


Congratulations to you both!!! We love you!!



XOXO,
Mack & Jason

Kanye Is At It Again.

September Rain.

It has been a rainy, rainy week. The kind you wish you could spend inside wrapped in blankets napping.

This time last year we were running with a trunk full of bottled water and a full tank of gas away from Hurricane Ike.

I'll take a simple rain shower any day. :o)

Aunt Debbie.

My sweet sweet aunt lost her 14 month battle with stage 4 cancer and passed away Sunday morning. Memorial services have been set for Saturday at 11am.

Monday was hard, waking up and coming to work and putting on my smiley face as if nothing had happened. I think the hardest part right now is trying to wrap my head around the fact that family gatherings will never be the same.

But then I look over at my sweet sweet husband who, since this has happened has been holding onto me tightly as if afraid to let go, and I realize that we will have our own little family one day and be starting new traditions and we will bring along everyone with us who was left behind.It might be different and it might be missing someone very important, but we will go on.

Plus we will have the best guardian angel that anyone could ask for. We love you, Aunt Debbie! XOXO

Re-Paint.

So, what, you are saying that because on a weekend where I have no committments and I spend the time re-painting the kitchen whose existing color was only about 2 years old instead of vegging on the couch watching lifetime and napping that I am OLD? WHAT? ME?

Before:

After:

Whatever. Haters!

I believe you can make out the stack of mail on the counter with a letter from AARP on top.

*cough cough*

Loads of love, Mack

Welcome, Amy Ray!

Our niece, Amy Ray, arrived Thursday afternoon weighing in at 6lb 11oz and 19 3/4 inches long! She has a full head of blondish/strawberry hair and the sweetest little face! We got to visit with her at the hospital and it is obvious we are already putty in her hands.

Congratulations, Bell's!

XOXO, Aunt Mack & Uncle Jason

Progress.

Made a trip out to the property this weekend. It is actually at a stage now that progress pics can be taken. Join me for a tour?

The office and beginnings of a front deck:



Proccessing equipment with the fire water pond directly behind:

Jason's future office, I tried to talk him into keeping the purple walls but he wasn't having it. ;o)

Conference room:

Augie's future office, or what I like to call, "Thank goodness paint is cheap!" No offense to the Looney Tunes fans, there is just something creepy about Daffy Duck holding his beak in his hands, what is all that about?

Still some work to do, but coming along nicely!

I Need To Wear A Helmet.

Just completely fell out of my chair because I log onto etsy today and one of my items made the very front page of the featured handpicked items!!

I knew something was up because I did my normal routine of checking my shop at around 8am. Then work got really slow so for the heck of it, I checked it again around 9am. Oddly, one of my items had jumped from about 30 views to nearly 200. *eyebrow raise* I knew something was up because that just doesn't happen!

Sure enough I click to the front page and notice the front page theme is orange:

So I scroll down and there it is! My fall flower girl pomander in the middle of the bottom row! It is this item.

In shock. Very good and excited shock. Wow. Still cannot believe. *runs to go look again*

XOXO,

Mack

Celebrate The Old.

One of the things I love about birthdays is that there is usually some really good food involved! Last night we met up with the fam to celebrate Jason's birthday at Roma's. I made sure to bring my big purse so I could smuggle some garlic knots home.

Just when I thought Roma's couldn't get any more amazing, someone there must have great taste in music because they played Lionel Richie's greatest hits all evening long (or wait, "ALL NIGHT LOOONG, ALL NIGHT, YEAH, ALL NIGHT"). BAHAHAHAHA. SCORE!

And with that, Jason's birthday officially comes to a close. Nothing like ending on a high note!

Getting birthday snuggles from Evan.

She Came, We Cooked.

Laci flew in Friday afternoon and we met her at Gigi's, went to visit my aunt and then headed home. Popped in a Christmas CD in my car and we jammed to Jingle Bell Rock and I knew it was going to be a good weekend. Jason braced himself. :)

I was just a leeeeeeeeetle excited to see her. We got to our house and watched The Haunting Of Connecticut and Ron told stories of his days working at a funeral home. He actually lived in an apartment above the room that housed all the dead bodies. I threw up in my mouth a few times and then Laci and I split a bowl of ice cream. Sidenote: Has anyone tried Blue Bell's new Southern Blackberry Cobbler? I highly recommend.

Saturday morning we woke up, hit the grocery store and then began to cook. Mom and Ron went and picked Gigi up and brought her over as well.

Gigi and Ross discussed current events while Laci and I made dip and banana pudding for Jason's birthday. Which is actually today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MUFFINS!) but we have made it into a several week affair. :)

After we ate, we decided we had had enough of the heat and decided to relax in our luxurious top of the line swimming pool. The pool boy had just come on on Thursday so the pool was in top crystal clear condition.

BAHAHAHAHA. Oh yes we did!

On fancy our pool is SO fancy that one of the dogs popped a tiny hole in it with their claw, but have no fear! I just plopped my arm right on top of it and stopped the leak! PHEW. Thought I was going to have to bust out the warantee there for a second.

Sunday we said goodbye to the fam and caught up on some things around the house.... Etsy orders, the boy changed his oil and I risked my life trying to get shots of the crepe myrtle covered in wasps.

El fin.

Loads of love,

Mack

The Big 3-0, Mexico Style!

We're back!! Trip went fantastic, the weather reports were wrong so the rain stayed away all week. Thank goodness for that as I was able to get some sun, fish belly white is not a good color on me! Most of our time was spent relaxing on the beach/by the pool. We celebrated Jason's upcoming birthday (Aug 3rd) by going to the spa (Don't worry, I will spare you the pictures of him in his tiny robe!) and then I set up a dinner on the beach that night with the most amazing waiter named Herty who hooked us up our entire stay and we should probably name our first child after.

We also made a trip into Playa Del Carmen and took the ferry to Cozumel for the first time where we honed our bargaining skills, misunderstood the ferry schedule and spent our time waiting for it laughing at people learning to ride mopeds for the first time and tourists in spandex. After arriving back to Playa Del Carmen we also learned what it was like to feel the terror after stepping into a cab to be driven into the middle of nowhere to our isolated resort realizing we are short some pesos to pay the cab fare. We are dangerous people, living on the edge and wearing lots of leather and concealed weapons! Not really, as the cab driver was happy to just take what we had. *shrugs*

All in all, it was a great trip and I officially know what people mean when they say they are exhausted from relaxing and doing absolutely nothing!

Happy 30th, my sweet!

Adios, Puerto Morelos!

Loads of love, Mack

So Vogue.

I could not resist posting a pic of the adorableness that is our nephew! Jason took this at lunch yesterday. Your cuteness for the week: