New Season

August 24, 2009, my baby girl started Kindergarten at Reeves-Hinger Elementary School. She was so much braver than I was. She walked right in, sat down, opened her playdo and smiled for the camera. I cried during meet the teacher. Her teacher this year is a dream. She is so sweet and has it "together." I am thankful for where we live. This place is the best place for us to raise our family.

As for Avery.......

I am in class 2 days a week this semester, so Avery only goes to Kids Kollege for those 2 days. As for the other 3 weekdays....he's just chillin'.........

Avery and I are enjoying some one on one mommy-son time. He misses his sister so very much though. Nearly every hour that he's awake during the day he asks if it's time to go get Halee. Two days a week he is at Kids Kollege Daycare on the WT campus. He doesn't enjoy it all too much, but it's a great, safe place for him to be when he can't be with me.

This begins a whole new season for this family. Halee starts school, Avery and I have bonding time, and then starting in January, I will begin my first full time school schedule since I began college. In December 2010, I will be graduating college. I am thrilled at the thought of it. Until then, I will take all of the QT with my babies that I can get.

Summer 2009

First thing's first...the highlight of this summer was my 10 year H.S. reunion. Yes sir...I graduated from Hereford High School 10 years ago this year. The sad news is that only 15 of us out of nearly 300 in our graduating class) showed up to ride the float in the parade. It was fun seeing some of my old classmates and friends. GO MAROON, GO WHITE..GO MAROON, GO WHITE, FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! Alright, I'm done now.

Moving on..............

Our summer was full of excitement..as usual. Roughly counting, we have around 12 birthdays we celebrate in the summer between close friends and family! It may be costly, but we wouldn't want to miss even one of those birthdays! Keri celebrated her 22nd Birthday this year and was treated to one of my homemade cakes after dinner!

Here is our 4 year old cousin, Brady's birthday party. Dustin and Jocelyn went all out and rented a GIANT inflatable water slide. I must admit that I had as much fun as the kids..only I'm sure they didn't regret it the next day! By the way, all but a few of these kids are cousins of ours. Big families are great!

Also this summer we had Jonathan and Keri's wedding! Lots of Greg's family came to celebrate with us. This may be one of the only family pictures this group of girls will ever have. We had such a great time with the family. I wish we could get together more often!

And look at this crew! Summer is always time for playing at the park for my kids. We pick up our cousins, call a few friends and head to the park, sometimes up to 5 times a week! Sure helps burn some energy and break up the long summer days. Of course, the mommies sure enjoy the adult fellowship too!

Perhaps one of the best things about summer for me is that my BFF, Sarah, is done with the school year and off for the summer!!! She is a school teacher and so getting together is often difficult. We sure try to take advantage of the time we have
together in the summer and spend as much of it with each other
as we can. Kade and Kenzie are her two babies. Our kids really do have a great time. Our boys are only months apart, and Halee is a great big sister. Sarah and I have been BFF's since 1998. She is my forever friend. I love her and her family very, very much.

Greg, myself and Halee also celebrated our birthdays this year. I had a BBQ and made a homemade pinata. It was an adult only pinata, which means that all of my friends and family were blindfolded, spun and made to take a wack at a high flying pinata. Some of them were surprised when it smacked them in the head as it swung back. It was hysterical. Thank you dear friends and family for humoring me and for being there. I love you all!

Greg turned 30!!!!!! It was awesome. I threw him a surprise birthday party the weekend after his actual birthday and he was so shocked. We had a great time with a hotdog cookout and I organized a poker game for him after. We had it at our friends, the Davis' home. They were so kind to let us have the party in their backyard and it really helped the surprise!

Another big part of the Shelley family summer's are the highly anticipated golf tournaments. Greg plays in several big golf tournaments each summer. One of those is the Budweiser Partnership. Every year he plays with his long time friend and old H.S. golf mate, Josh Shields. The last time they won was in 2001, and 8 years later...VICTORIOUS AGAIN!

Josh, Sam, Andrew and Ainsley are some of our very best friends. They moved back to College Station last year and we've missed them badly. We love when they come home to visit throughout the year and we are so grateful that their family allows us to share that time with them while they are visiting. At the end of September, Josh, Sam, Greg and I are vacationing to Puerto Vallarta together...DID YOU HEAR THAT?? This is the best of all worlds...vacation with best friends...no kids, no responsibilities. We are very excited about this and I've now begun the countdown! 26 days!!!!

This is an older picture of Andrew and Halee playing dress up. I'm quite sure Andrew is not upset that he's missing out on these playdates anymore. Sorry Josh..had to post this one!

All In The Family

I'd love to share a bit about our families! This is Petee, or, "Petee Jaxson Shelley" as the kids call him..I obviously call Avery by his middle name too much! He is our 7 year old Jack Russell Terrier. I drove to Oklahoma to pick him out of a litter of 8 week old JRT's when Greg and I were first married. He and Greg are best buddies and our kids think he's the best. He's a bit high strung, but he's awfully cute!





Here are our parents. My mom is Lisa and she is married to my stepdad, Jason. My children would not function without time with their "Gaga and Jas." Seriously, they forget Greg and I exist when they are with them...but that's okay, that's what grandparents are for! They spoil them rotten...powdered donuts at every visit, surprise toys when they get in the car, and school clothes! Let's just say that sometimes what's good for them is good for Greg and I too! They give us lots of much needed babysitting so Greg and I can have QT together. Thanks Mom and J..we love you very much!

Also included in the middle picture is Jason's parents, Dewayne and Carol Pruitt, AKA, Papa and Mimi. We recently lost Mimi to a heroic (on her part) cancer battle. She is greatly missed and loved. She made the most beautiful quilts for my children and countless others. She made many memories in our hearts!

Here is my studly Daddy, Jack Bivens. He recently moved back to the San

Antonio area to run a fire equipment business. He is quite the entrepreneur..I am very proud of him and miss him a lot when he's not around. The kids call him Papa and wow, do they love when he's here! I believe they have him wrapped around their fingers..I'm sure he would agree. Come see us soon Papa!!

Here is Greg's Grandpa with some of the grandkids at his last visit. We are so blessed that Grandpa is still around and healthy enough to travel all the way from KY to see us every few months!! He loves to play golf with his boys and playing cards at our house in the evenings. He's a night owl...outlasts the rest of us! We love you Grandpa..can't wait to see you again real soon!

Here are Greg's parents, Tray and Diana and his brother Jonathan with the newest addition to the Shelley family...Keri! Welcome to the madness sis! We're so proud of Jonathan and so very happy that Keri is part of the family. Jonathan and Keri got married this summer and it was a beautiful wedding...and very large! It was an "all family" wedding, and there were so many of us standing by their side as they said their vows. Its was truly beautiful and I was honored to stand up beside them while they started their lives together! We love you!

Mom and Dad Shelley are a true blessing, we enjoy getting to spend Saturday evenings with them for church and sometimes dinner afterwards. They are also two of the kids' favorite people..Grandpa always has a special surprise "sweet treat" for them when we pull up to the house and Grandma loves to take the kids out for a movie or bowling. Wow!! Thank you Jesus for our awesome families!

This is the Macklin Family..Greg's sister Stephanie with her family. We are sooooooo glad they decided to move here from MO a few years ago! Our kids are so close and we enjoy being with them so very much. I get so excited when we all decide to get together for a family game night! More than anything, I'm so excited to have sisters!!! (Steph, Max and Keri!! )

This is my brother Christopher Garland Bivens, his wife Max and their new baby boy, Cash Garland Bivens. He was born last Thanksgiving Day..and we are so thankful for him! I cannot believe he will be one year old this fall..I miss them so very much. Chris and Max also have a preteen named Collin...he is so much fun! When we visited them last year, Collin and I "tore up" some Rock Band and Wii! No kidding, I was sore the next day! Unfortunately we don't get to see them much, but we hope to get to see them this holiday season!

These are my grandparents Connie and Reggie, my aunt Diane and cousin Krista at one of our favorite restaurants...El Camino!!! It's famous for it's greasy mexican food..and boy is it muy delicioso!! If you haven't ever been there, it's in Tulia Texas, about 30 minutes south of Canyon..and I'll join you if you go!

I'm New At This!

I'm jumping on the "Blog Train." Thanks to my friend Sam's excellent blogging skills, I am now inspired to start one for our family. I can only aspire to be as cute and clever as Sam though...thank you Shields family for being my motivation! ( :)haha )

So here we go! Here is my family--->

This is our summer family picture taken by Portrait Innovations here in Amarillo (I'll be sure to give credit where credit is due to avoid trouble!)