Mini-Tousa Family Reunion

Over the 4th of July weekend my parents (aka: Gramps and Nana) and my brother Jeff and his family came to visit. We had so much fun reconnecting and spending time together as a big family. Things we did together as a family: went to the Ballpark in Arlington to watch the Texas Rangers on 4th of July and watched fireworks after the game, found relief from the Texas sun by swimming at the pool, took a daytrip to Austin, and lots of cousin sleepovers... So much fun!!

Ruby Ballerina

Ruby has been wanting to take ballet for some
time now. Amanda, a lady in our ward, teaches
ballet at a little studio not far from our house,
and Ruby loves her. So, I thought it would be
the pefect place for Ruby to give it a try.


As you can see, she's not at all shy!!! She loves
it, and looks forward to it every week!

Stella

So, we took the plunge and decided to get a dog. I found this cute dog to adopt, Stella. Her foster parent brought her to our house on Memorial Day, so we could meet her, and, of course, the the kids fell in love with her. She seemed to have such a great temperament. So, Jim and I decided we could keep her. We went out and got all the essentials: food, leash, chew toys, kennel, etc... Jim and the kids wanted to take her to the annual Dallas Symphony Orchestra conert/ fireworks at Flag Pole Hill for Memorial Day. She did such a great job around all the people and kids.

The kids have had lots of fun taking her for walks, taking turns feeding her, and giving her lots of hugs and kisses. Unfortunately, throughout the week Jim has come to the conclusion that he is allergic to this sweet dog. I had to contact the foster parent and tell her that this arrangement was not going to work after all. The kids are taking it pretty well, but I think it's going to be pretty heart breaking when the foster parent comes to pick her up today.

We hope Stella finds her forever home real soon, and that we can find a dog to which Jim is not allergic. That's been the one bit of hope that has made this transition better for the kids. Bid us good luck in finding our forever dog!!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... NO MORE!!!

On February 11, this is what it looked like in our neighborhood. It was one of the largest snowfalls Dallas had seen. Our poor kids did their best to have fun in it, eventhough we are totally not equipped for snowy weather. Ruby wanted to make a snow angel, and then she was pretty much done, but Jim, Zoe and Tristan were on a mission to build snowmen and a snow fort. They had lots of fun doing it, but we were so happy when it finally got back to normal around here with warms temps, and sunny days.

Then... the second day of Spring and here are the remnants from our back yard of the 3rd, but maybe 4th (I'm starting to lose track) snowfall of the "season". We didn't get a chance to play in it or get good pics because church starts at 9:00am for us, but I had to get a quick snapshot before it all melts for proof to all those who used to live in Dallas, and can hardly believe that we have had as much snow as I am claiming. It was supposed to be just a dusting, but I guarantee we cleared off more than just a dusting from our windshield before church this morning. It is fun, and I am glad that it clears out so quickly around here. Hopefully we can get back to our sunny days and warm temps... the way Dallas is supposed to be!!!

Gramps came to visit...

I'm a little behind on some of the posts I've been wanting to make. Here's for catching up... At the end of January, my dad (aka: "Gramps") came to Dallas for a short visit. Wish it could have been under better circumstances, for Gramps was here to speak at a funeral for a dear friend of his. Nonetheless, we enjoyed having him come and spend time with us. We were able to fill him up with lots of hugs, kisses, and a little Tex-mex to top it off. We sure love our Gramps!!!

What a catch!!!

This is Tristan, Madeline (my kids' cousin), and the wide-mouth bass Tristan caught. Tristan spent the night with Maddie, Sam, Uncle Nick, Aunt Katy, and all of Katy's family. Katy's family owns a house on a small lake east of Dallas, and they had been out all week relaxing and fishing for Spring Break. Tristan joined them on Friday when Nick went out to spend the last night with his family. They pulled out the Spider Man fishing pole for Tristan to use, and wouldn't you know, he caught the biggest fish of the week, a 2 pounder. He had a great time, and was proud to tell us about his big catch!!!

Tristan turned 7...

This year for Tristan's birthday, he had a friend party at Planet Pizza, but we, unfortunately, forgot to take the camera. He had loads of fun playing on the super-sized jungle gym, playing the arcade games, and the fun rides with his friends, not to mention the yummy birthday cake and ice cream (Blue Bell... YUM YUM)!!

Then on Feb 15, his REAL birthday, we had the family over for cake and ice cream. We did have the camera to capture this, thankfully! It's just so hard to believe sometimes, that our little guy is growing up on us!! What a special part of the family he is!!