October Fun!

As the chill fills the air and the leaves start to change we say goodbye to October. It was such a fun month for us! We were able to explore some new adventures as well as repeat ones from the past. We went back into time as we visited the Pioneer Festival in Rusk. We enjoyed our visit with "Grand"(John's Mom) and showed her some new areas of Tyler; such as the Pumpking Patch and The Rose Museum.
We celebrated with many during the Rose Parade as we waved our hands and marched with the beat of the band. It is such a blessing to live in such a fun town!!

Abigail went on her 1st field trip with her school. She rode on a "BIG" school bus and was amazed at looking out the window and seeing how "FAST" the bus goes compared to Mommy and Daddy's car.

We visited the zoo all dected out and festive for the Halloween occassion. You can see the picture of Abigail and John with "Mr Frank"!

Finally, we ended the month holding the hand of a beautiful princess named Snow White Abigail! It was such a sweet night seeing her face light up when someone opened the door with treats in hand.

You know...this is very much like when Christ knocked on my heart door. When I opened the door and let him in, I did not have any treats to give him. In fact, he gave me a treat...eternal life. How about you? Have you opened the door and allowed God to give you the best "Treat" of all..Eternal Life?

Summer Vacation

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite pictures from our family vacation. We had so much fun and look forward to the day we can go again.
We started our vacation out with a big bang! We celebrated John's Birthday/4th of July at his brother's house. Tuesday we took a family trip to New Orleans to see the Aquarium of Americas. It was facinating!! I could not get over how big fish can get!
Wednesday we packed out bags and waved goodbye to all of our family in Baton Rouge and headed to Houston/Humble. There we stayed with my grandmother and helped her pack up for her BIG MOVE!! We did take a break from packing on Friday and drove down to Galveston with my brother and his family. I could not wait to get Abigail down to the beach for the first time. She started out not so sure of the whole thing but soon started to warm up. By the time we started to pack up and leave she was having a blast jumping in the water. The following day the UHAULS showed up and we loaded Mammaw's things up in the trucks. What a wonderful way to end our vacation by having my grandmother live so close to us! We have unpacked our suitcases, washed clothes and gone through all of our mail. I still can't stop my mind from reflecting on all the fun we had and missing my family from afar.

Summer Vacation 2010

Summer Vacation 2010

Catching Up Top Ten

I know it has been ages sinces I entered a post. We have had a lot going on at the Ourso household. Here are the top ten!


MAY
10) My Dad had knee surgery and is almost finished with his 6 weeks recovery.

9) My brother and his family along with my grandmother came down for Memorial Day Weekend.

JUNE

8)John's Dad and Ms. Lee came down for a visit from Baton Rogue. While they were here we visited the Rose Garden for the first time.

7) Abigail starting her swimming lessons at TJC. She has improved so much since last year. We just might have a swimmer soon!!

6) Sewing Lessons have started back up again and I am already working on my 3rd project!

5) I took Abigail to see her first puppet show at the Tyler Public Library

4) My Aunt came down from Humble to visit the family.

3) We purchased a larger swimming pool for Abigail to practice her swimming and John and I to lounge in and cool off from the HEAT!

2) Abigail conqured her fear of the Water Spray Park. Yea! She actually is looking forward to going again.

1) My grandmother sold her house and will be moving closer to us. Praise the Lord!!! This has been a prayer request for over a year!! God is Good!

I have posted a few pictures and will post some others soon. Hope you are staying cool and enjoying the summer with your family!!

Kitchen Cabinets

My Saturday project was to glaze my kitchen cabinets. Here is the finished look!

Kitchen Cabinets

Anniversary Celebration

Friday - I took Abigail over to her Grammy & Papa's for the weekend so, John and I could celebrate our 5 year Anniversary ( yes, 3 months later we are finally celebrating it!) While we were in Rusk I took Abigail to the Foot Bridge. She had such a great time!

Saturday - John and I started the day with sleeping in! We then went and had breakfast and then started our task list. I glazed my kitchen cabinets and John did the yard work. We then went out on our Anniversary Dinner to Villa Montez. This was our first time to go there and I will sum it up by saying, "AWESOME"!

I am ending the day by giving Thanks to my Lord and Savior for giving me such an amazing husband. He is the joy of my life. I am blessed beyond measure! I love you John!

Goodnight Weekend

It is Sunday night and we are now having to say goodnight to a wonderful weekend. Even though this weekend was filled with runny noses, long naps (not by me) and a few chores we had a very wonderful weekend. We got to experience more of Tyler this weekend! Yes, still 16 months later we are still enjoying getting to know Tyler. Here is a quick run down...

Saturday morning we ran errands then we met our wonderful friends at Weinerland for some fabulous chili cheese hotdogs. We found out that Weinerland has been in Tyler since 1967...that is a long time!! We followed our trip with a drive to UT Tyler to feed the ducks at the duck pond. That was our first time to be at the UT Tyler campus. I have to say it is a very nice campus. The ducks however, not so nice. Those things are vicious. Do NOT get in their way when it is lunch time. They will not only attack each other but also you!! We really did have a good time. You will see pictures of Abigail and friend playing at the bridge...they were playing Pooh Sticks. If you do not know what Pooh Sticks is then you need to read up on your Winnie the Pooh stories.

Saturday afternoon, John and Abigail napped and I cleaned out our flower garden...well I only made it halfway through. Once everyone woke up it was time to play so I had to put my garden gloves away.

Sunday morning we had a wonderful message at church (that is a whole different blog) and a great morning bible study.

Sunday afternoon ran some errands with a friend of mine who has been out of town and we needed to do some catching up. Two women who love to cook and eat at a grocery store together can be VERY dangerous on ones pocketbook..but, we were good!

Sunday night we went back to church for our Growth Group Bible Study. (another blog story one day)

Now, we have made it to where I am right now..John is asleep, Abigail is asleep and I am working on getting sleepy. As, I say goodnight to you and to my day, I am ending this weekend with a grateful heart of just how blessed I am. I give all the thanks to my Lord.

Easter Brunch

Today was a blessed day! I had my house filled with food, laughter and little kiddos as we kicked off the Celebration of Easter! I hosted a Easter Brunch this morning that had an amazing attendance. I am still overjoyed by the wonderful response. I want to say a special thanks for all that attended. I had such a good time seeing all your little ones with their baskets! I have attached some photos from today.

Saying Goodbye

Have you ever walked in the church ready to worship and learn and God speaks to you in a way you never expected? Well, that is what happened to me this morning.

As I looked at the bulletin as we sat down in the pew this morning. I glanced over at the music listings. I turned to John and pointed to the song called He Is and said, "If this is the song I know...it is going to be awesome!" Well, as the soloist took his place and the music began to play I quickly realized that it was not the song I had in mind. So, I somewhat become a little disappointed. Until, I heard the words and felt the emotions the soloist put in the song. Before I realize it tears were rolling down my face. The singer had touched my heart, my soul and he was singing the very thing I needed to hear from God. Wow! All I have to say is Thank You Lord!! Thank you for reminding me that you are there, you are holding me and that I am not alone.

On a side note...today was a great day with family. After church we headed over to my Mom and Dad's house so we could say goodbye to my grandmother and my aunt who were headed back home to Humble. We had a wonderful visit, lots of laughs and some travels down memory lane. I just love my family!!

I know tonight when I lay down in bed, before I close my eyes, I will end the day with a smile. I had a blessed day with my Saviour, Husband, Daughter and Family!

Today my grandmother Minnie, my Aunt Elesia and my Mom came over to visit. We had a fabulous lunch at Mercado's. The we followed it up with a great shopping experience at Target. I could get carried away in that store!!

I ended up buying Abigail this cute Easter dress. It is so precious I can't wait for it to warm up so she can wear it. Speaking of warming up...what about this weather? I don't remember having a year where the weather was this unpredictable.

I just look at it this way. It just keeps us on our toes!!

Well...I finally did it. I created our first blog site. It will be interesting to see if I can keep up with this!!