Table Rock Lake

I love family vacations, and inviting our friends that are just like family. This was our 2nd annual Wahl/Coopers/Nazworth & Reihm Table Rock Vacation. We had a good time and enjoyed the weather, even though it was cloudy and rainy 2 of the 4 days. The kiddos all had fun fishing, slip & sliding, jumping from cliffs, fireworks, eating & eating, and just swimming from the dock.















This year we did something new and made a trip 30 minutes away to Roaring River National Park. It is a river that comes out of a mountain. They have a trout hatchery there. It was so neat to see the trout from all different sizes. It was raining when we walked around, so I didn't take any pics. We did trout fish for a few hours, even in the rain at times. It was amazing to see the trout right in the river and watch them go after someone's bait. I actually caught 2. The first one I had on shore and a little helper thought it needed cleaned more and away it went. The second one fell off the hook right at the shore line, and the same thing happened to Misty also. Dallas was the only one that actually found it's way to a stringer and went to the cabin with us. It was an exciting day, we will definetly go back next time.

Later that evening we did fireworks and sat on the dock and watched hundreds of them going off all around the lake shore. It was so pretty to watch. The kiddos did sparklers and enjoyed the show.








We always try to rent a boat for a day while we are there. This is year was no different. We enjoyed exploring new areas of the lake and found some cliffs for the boys to jump off. We found a pebble beach for the little ones to play and swim off. Abbey found more seashells to add to her collection. The adults enjoyed the ride and jumped in to cool off!








The last day at the lake, the boys finally caught a fish on their trot line...a 4 lb flat-head cafish. Of course with it being our last day, we set the fish free but not before we took a pic of it.

Before we could leave, we always have to visit the cliffs and the rope hanging from the bridge. Ryan, Denton, and Austin all enjoyed jumping off the cliffs and falling from the rope for about 2 hours. While we were there, there were 6 young (around 15 years of age) kids jump off the bridge itself. That is just crazy to me!

Wahl Family BBQ

This past Saturday, the Wahl family had a BBQ at Mac and Debbie's house. It was an enjoyable evening with happy and sad motives behind it. We were celebrating Brian's wife graduating and getting her PHD. At the same time we were saying goodbyes to Brian and Angela, who are moving to North Carolina for a job Angela was offered after graduation; and to Kevin, who is moving to Indiana to work at Purdue and further his education as a Vet.

This may be the last time we are all together for quite some time. We wish them each the best of luck. Brian and Angela have already sold their house in OKC and bought one in North Carolina the first week they went to visit. They showed us pics and it is a beautiful home. (I hope I can get Ryan to travel that way to visit them!)

Mac's bird dog had 4 puppies that were 3 weeks old and they provided the entertainment for the girls. Of course mine wanting to bring them home, as if we don't have enough animals to feed already! They are so cute though.

The surprise for the evening was that Aunt Debbie made Lisa and I a quilt. Each was made with our personalities in mind, and each fit us to a T. I absolutely love mine. I love the colors, they are so "me"; it is amazing that she knows me so well! Thank you Aunt Debbie! I will always cherish this amazing quilt.

Mini Get-away to Houston

This past weekend, the family went to vist Aunt Diane in Houston...of course the trip wasn't long enough; but we all had a great time! I am sure Aunt Diane needed a day to recover from our whirlwind of 2 days.

The first afternoon we took the girls to her club house swimming pool and they played and played...and then they talked Aunt Diane into playing! We took a tour of the club house and the surrounding houses. It was such a beautiful community. We went to dinner and home! It was a full and fun evening.

The second day, I think we were trying to see how much we could cram into 12 hours...we tried to do it all! We went to Galveston and showed the girls the ocean for their first time..and they collected so many shells (with the help of Aunt Diane of course) and they ran through the water. We ate a seafood lunch of course and drove throught the city to look at the damage still left from Hurricane Ike. It was amazing to see the damage still there after a year.

Then Aunt Diane wanted to take the girls to Kemah Boardwalk and they had a blast. So did we watching them on all the rides. It surprised me that both of them enjoyed all the rides so much. We ate pizza from The Pizza Oven, which was delicious! Fed the catfish from the dock, which was kind of distrubing how many were piled on top of each other in the water. The girls won their colorful dolphins at a game, with the help of Aunt Diane and daddy. They rode more rides, and we called it a day at 11:00 p.m.

The girls had a wonderful time! They LOVE their Aunt Diane!! And she LOVES them too! Ryan and I enjoyed the get away and the company of Aunt Diane. She helped make it a trip the girls will never forget... THANK YOU AUNT DIANE! WE ALL LOVE YOU!

Fishing, again!

Ryan and I are trying to take advantage of the evenings with our girls. Make more memories and get out of the house. This summer we have decided to go fishing in the evenings or days when the work is done.

This past Saturday, after the work on the rodeo arena was done and the hay was all stacked and the yard was all mowed, we packed up a few supplies and the girls and headed South about 5 miles. We have ponds all over on family land and leased land. We went to the Doane farm this time and Rylee was reeling them in. I think she actually caught 7 fish, Abbey reeled in 2 more off Rylee's pole. Ryan and I caught 0!

Rylee is a natural. Every time we have gone so far, she has caught the most or the biggest. She loves it!! It is fun to watch her get so excited, everytime!

Sunday, we went to the store and bought Rylee a new pole and gave Abbey her old one and changed the reel for a left-hander. Abbey loved it! Now neither of my girls use a baby pole....(I am getting a little teary eyed) LOL! Rylee caught a beautiful 4 lb bass, and once again caught the most and biggest!

Summer Days..

After a long morning of moving hay bales from in front of the house; I decided it was time for a little fun! What better to do on a hot summer day, but to go to our friend's pool for the afternoon. My girls are like fish, they could play in the water all day long. We went to our friend's Danny and Joy Lawerence's house and played in the sun. Jamie (Lawerence) and her son Kason played with us, and that is the little guy in the pic with Abbey. It was a good way to end the day!

Memorial Weekend

We went camping with Dallas, Misty, and Sterling Cooper at the Salt Plains National Park. It was a last minute idea, so it wasn't a long trip; but it was a lot of fun for the entire family.

They had a little park that Ryan and I took the kiddos to and they played for a while. Sterling loved to do anything the girls were doing and he liked to take pics with them also. We went to the spillway and saw fish, birds, turtles, and snakes! The girls enjoyed picking flowers on our walk and made a beautiful bouqet for the camper!

We fished, but Rylee was the only one to catch a fish the entire day we were there. She caught a 5lb catfish. She didn't really want to hold it, but she did for the pic.

Rylee and I went on a nature hike, just the 2 of us. She loves the outdoors and exploring. They had a blind set up to sit behind where they had put bird feeders up in an opening of trees. We did not see any birds when we took the trail, but it was a neat idea.

It was a fun and relaxing weekend. We had a great time with our friends and our girls. We hope to do more camping trips this summer!

Paige's Dance Recital

My niece Paige had a dance recital in OKC on Saturday that the whole family attended. It was all the classes that the Dance School taught. They had 2 and 3 year olds, which were so precious, all the way to Seniors. They had some very talented kiddos on the stage.

After the recital, we went to On the Border, to celebrate Paige's 15th birthday which is May 29. After we left the restraunt Mike and Ryan spotted airplanes (model) being flown in a park by Hefner Lake, so we stopped in to watch them. We were there for maybe 5 minutes and a guy crashed a big model plane into the ground. It was something to see. Mike and Ryan thought it was "AWESOME" of course, but I felt bad for the owner, that is an expensive hobby. After our entertainment we went to Heather and Mike's house and ate cookie cake. The girls then went outside to do cartwheels, and Paige attempted them also!

It was a good day. I am still amazed that the first baby in my life, to make me know what it meant to love something that you hardly know unconditionally, is turning 15 this weekend. She has turned out to be such a beautiful young lady, inside and out. She will always be my Paiger! Happy Birthday Paiger, I love you!