gorgeous skies and snappy turtles.

one of my favorite things about oklahoma are the beautiful skies.  

i love, love, love, watching the sun come up and staring at these gorgeous skies.  

the holy spirit speaks to me as i run in the stillness of the morning while i listen to worship music and pray.  

brenner also found a turtle on the side of the road and brought him home one day.

the kids loved him and we tortured played with him all day before taking him to the pond.

we fed him spinach and carrot peels and everyone took turns carrying him around and chasing him.

this video cracks me up. 

but i must preface it with this:

-i'm sorry for clara's excessive snotty nose...and the fact that she keeps licking it.

-elise's jeggings look more like balloon pants

-clara got bit by the turtle on her finger right after this happened. (it didn't break the skin, but that little sucker was holding on tight and had to be pried off.  clara was throwing him around a lot so one of her parents might have laughed and said she got what she deserved....ahem, brenner)

more from our trip.

here are a few more pictures from our oklahoma trip.

the kids love these dogs!

 we grilled almost every day.  i LOVE to grill in the summer!

 swimming in the windmill tank. 

  

 paci swap on a walk.

 wading in wolf creek and gathering lots and lots of shells.

 going to the windmill park.

 finding lightening mcqueen on the side of the road.

 running with the dogs.  chewy made an usual appearance with me several mornings.  

i think he gets rejuvenated by the country air!

 going to the watermark.  

giving sister rides.....this looks safe.

standing on the front porch watching daddy load us up and saying goodbye to our beloved ranch!  

oklahoma.

we are blessed to be able to have a family ranch in northwest oklahoma.  

this is the place where i spent every summer growing up and i have more fun and special memories with my family and grandparents than i could ever recount.  

needless to say, i love it here.  

and i married a man that has fallen in love with it too.

since real vacations are just not really feasible for us right now, we are so blessed to have this place within driving distance for us to get a little rest, relaxation and rejuvenation before brenner takes off for more air force work this summer.

brenner and cole rode the 4 wheeler a lot.  to say cole is obsessed is an understatement.

we went on lots of walks.  our house is one mile from the gate at the road and halfway down is our windmill.  we would walk up to the windmill almost every day, one girl in a bjorn, one girl in the stroller and cole walking the whole 1 mile by himself. we would let the girls get out and walk part of the way down hill.  i love that all the kids love to go on walks and "expeditions" with me!

cole watching the cows.

we ate some of this.  if you are not a walton or kline family member and know what this is, leave me a comment and i will send you a prize!

the first week it was so cool in the mornings that i got to run in my sweatshirt.  a treat considering it was june!  

clara beth loved rocking in the rocking chair from great grandma on the porch!

front porch playing.

elise is our big hugger and loves her dogs!

the girls' first 4 wheeler ride.

who likes to ride with daddy?  

we do!!
grandma don't look!

they met horses for the first time too.  

i think. 

i can't remember if they met the horses in decemeber when we were out but if they did, i didn't capture the moment so we will say this was the first time. 

i'll post more pictures later.  

im trying not to overload you.

Happy Monday!!

Happy Monday y'all!!

Father's Day

happy father's day!

i cannot imagine doing this thing called parenthood with anybody other than brenner.  

i am so grateful for the involved, loving and hands-on father that he is.  he carries the diaper bag, changes diapers every time i ask him too (seriously, people, he really does), he knows that the girls need bloomers to complete an outfit (although i am sure he would rather not know this fact), takes cole for one on one man time, disciplines but always ends with hugs and kisses, knows how to treat diaper rash (another thing that i'm sure he is so proud of), talks to cole about salvation and sanctification (in addition to calvinism vs. armenian on occasion), doesn't mind joining in when we sing itsy bitsy spider in the middle of the store, reads to the kids every single day, stops his work day to play, eat lunch with us or help when all four of us are crying, and is pretty much one of the best dads out there.  

i am grateful for his daily sacrifices for our family.  that he chooses us over work, that he leads us by example, that he is showing our kids that our lives need to be based on Christ and that he is generous with his love.  

we love you daddy!

this is a video of how clara beth typically greets brenner when she see him.  forever she was a mama's girl but the pendulum has sung and she is a full-blown daddy's girl these days.  this seriously happens every time she sees brenner pull up.

my dad is such an amazing example of a father too.  his support, love, and encouragement has abounded over the years.  i am grateful to have such a wonderful example of a leader, man of God and father in my life!

a few pictures.

we got back from oklahoma late last night and we are sad and glad to be some.  

i'm slad. 

the internet is not strong enough at our ranch house to upload pictures to this ole' here blog so sorry for the lack of posts.  

i resorted to spending hours each night on Pinterest instead and pinned about 962 new recipes and projects that i hope to accomplish this summer.  

i'll keep you posted on my progress.

here are some pictures from the week before we left for oklahoma and a glimpse into what we were up to.

summer popsicles. 

clara, where's your belly?

first boat ride of the summer and the girls' first time on the boat! (lots of work for 30 minutes on the water!)

post-dinner shopping at lowes. 

painting a car.

brenner, huntley and cole went to hang out with papa in brownwood!  

i ordered a surprise for brenner.  this is his all-time favorite pizza delivered to us straight from chicago.  he was shocked....and it was soooooo good.  so good, in fact, that we didn't even let the kids have it. (we made them eat chicken! sometimes it is good to be the parent!)

 

went to the waco "beach" with some good friends!  the kids all basically went swimming in our clothes!