A Month In Pictures...

Get comfy... this is a long one. :)

September started off with a detour to TN. Hurricane Gustav messed up our driving plans to Disney World, so we left a couple of days early and went to Chattanooga! It was a quick visit, but it's always so good to be home.

Audrey LOVED playing with Aspen...
and playing outside in the cool weather!

Audrey teaching Owen how to throw a perfect spiral...


On the 3rd the whole family (Grammy, Grandad, Nana, Papa, Greg, April, Autumn, Owen, Jeremy, Audrey and me) headed to WDW! This is us at our resort- All Star Movies. We were in the Mighty Duck building!

Swimmin!

Eating at Downtown Disney!

Hanging out at the Boardwalk...amazing sunset!
Our good friends Donny and Kim (and Hunter and Millie!) met us there and we had a blast!

Below are a few shots from our day at EPCOT. Btw, if you're wondering why there are so many pictures of us in restaurants, it's because we spent half of our trip eating! We took advantage of Disney's free dining promotion- which I can't recommend highly enough.

Dining with the princesses at Akershus in Norway (EPCOT).
Audrey wasn't a big fan...

This picture pretty much sums up Audrey's experience
at Biergarten in Germany.

And then there was breakfast at Chef Mickeys...
Audrey LOVED every single one of the characters!

I think she liked Donald the best... she even started an impromptu game of peekaboo with him! This moment made the entire trip! And my 30th birthday! :)

Dinner at Ohana! Autumn, Audrey and Owen...

A bit breezy on the ferry boat...

Hammock shot!

...And the last of the Disney pics-
this is Audrey's favorite souvenir from the trip.

We got home from Disney on Tuesday 9/9 and spent much of the following day watching the news related to hurricane Ike. Then on Thursday morning, our zipcode was included in the mandatory evacuation zone. SO, we booked it to Richard and Gabe's house in Dallas! All things considered, we had a total blast. Audrey loved hanging out with Jonathan (and playing in his car- see below), and we really enjoyed being with good friends.

And then on the following Monday we headed home...

...to find minimal damage, thankfully.

Many of the pine trees in our neighborhood suffered a similar fate as this one above...
And Audrey enjoyed helping us clean up the yard!

Our neighbor's tree, which fell away from the house- thankfully!
And what is left of our fence and tree limbs...

Our electricity was out for 4 days so we kept the headlamps handy...

Generator + giant blow-up play thing = tons 'o fun! Thanks Jamie!

No fence...New fence!

And just when we thought the fun was over...
Yesterday a tree trimming truck drove down our street with it's cherry-picker still up in the air, and it ripped our power lines in half. It was actually pretty scary- live electrical wires were all over the place and 4 firetrucks, 2 ambulances and 6 police cars blocked off our street. We didn't have power all day, but all is well now.

And finally...
We let Audrey have some chocolate ice cream, you know,
since this month has been so traumatic for her. :)

Hopefully October will be completely uneventful.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end, friends!
Lots of love to all!

15 Months :)

Hi Friends!

We've had a really busy summer! We've been to Dallas to see the Whites, Nana and Papa came for a long visit, and Jeremy has spent more time in Florida than Texas!

Next week our entire family heads to Disney World (yes, we were just there in May- so what?!)- so stay tuned for fun pics from that trip! :) Oh, and guess who'll be turning the big 3-0 while we're there? Yours truly (Elizabeth). :)

It's been two months since we last blogged about Audrey, and it would require a novel to fill you in on all of her accomplishments since then! So, we'll just stick with the highlights! Audrey was taking her sweet time when it came to walking, then all of the sudden at Richard and Gabe's house in Dallas she took off (and hasn't stopped since). She has also fallen in love with her bellybutton since the last post- we think she inherited that from her cousin Autumn. She loves to say "ouch" and "weeeeeeng" when she wants to go outside and swing. She gets SO excited when she hears airplanes (which is about every 10 minutes as we live near an airport) and she points to the sky and makes a noise like the airplanes. Since she has perfected walking, she now likes to challenge herself by walking everywhere on her tippytoes and occasionally running. Coincidentally, we've had 3 busted lips in the past week. :)

These pics will give you a little more insight into her personality...

Feeding the Ducks at White Rock Lake Park in Dallas!

Audrey was melting into her stroller...

We spend much of the day playing in the mirror... she loves hats!

Or anything else she can put on her head, for that matter!

Leisurely reading after bath time...

In a bit of a predicament...

She was saying "weeeng! weeeng!" and of course, standing on her tippytoes.

We've been putting her hair up now that it's getting so long.
Sometimes, as you can see here, it stays up even when we take the clip out. :)

Forget the expensive push toys! Give her a box and she's happy!

Audrey also enjoys shutting herself in rooms and yelling "open! open!"
when she want out.

She's also reeeally into sunglasses. Not vain at all.

Looking cute in Papa's cycling hat!

Lots of love to all!!!
The Owens :)

Please Pray...

Hi Friends! More Owen blog to come soon... In the meantime, please lift this sweet family up in prayer...

www.prayforjoseph.blogspot.com

Lots of love to all,
The Owens

13 Months!

There's no possible way to list every cute thing that Audrey is doing these days, but we'll try to give you a small glimpse...

It is so neat to watch Audrey figure things out- she's recently learned how to feed herself with a fork, and we've also caught her trying to comb her hair and put shoes on her feet! She is also walking more and more each day. Her latest record is 8 steps, and it seems to increase by a step or two each day. Won't be long before she's running!

We also spend a lot of time in Audrey's new pool- it is the cutest thing ever! Thanks for the recommendation Tracy! :)

Another thing worth mentioning is how much Audrey talks... She is constantly babbling! Pretty much everything is some version of "dada" but mommy can tell what she's saying. :) She can say kitty, duck, doggy, yey, and uh-oh. She loves to clap her hands and feet, and she is learning how to shake her head "no." That should be interesting as her personality (and feisty streak) continues to develop. :)

Here are a few pics!

Cutie pie! :)


Yum yum!


Check out my new teeth!


Don't mess with this one while she's drinking her juice!


Gettin' around!


"Yes, Audrey. That is where your poopoos go."


Climbing!


I see you!


Yey!


Audrey's new pool!




She's figured out that the cats hide under the bed...


And poor Apollo... he honestly thinks he's hidden. :)
This cat deserves a blog all his own!


She's wondering if she's allowed to play in these drawers...


She's allowed! :)

More fun pics to come!
Lots of love to all!

Mother's Day, Anniversary, Disney and Audrey's First Birthday!

May was quite a busy month for the Owen family! We decided to combine Mother's Day, our 7 year wedding anniversary (May 19th! Whoohoo!) and Audrey's FIRST BIRTHDAY (can't believe it) and celebrate with a little trip to our most favorite place on the planet- Disney World! All of these very special occasions happened to fall around the same time as one of Jeremy's trips to Cape Canaveral for business, so Audrey and I tagged along and we made a detour over to Disney. Audrey didn't care much for Mickey, but she LOVED all of the elevators and the free bars of soap in the hotel room. Go figure. :)

We had a small birthday celebration among the three of us on Audrey's actual birthday. We decorated the house, sang happy birthday, devoured some cupcakes- the whole nine yards! Grammy and Grandad visited the last week of May- and spoiled all of us rotten- and we're looking forward to a visit from Nana and Papa in July! I think it's safe to say the birthday festivities will probably last all summer long!

It's impossible to blog all of the fun, hilarious things that Audrey is doing right now... What a fun little personality this girl has! She is figuring things out SO quickly these days- just yesterday she figured out how to comb her hair and feed herself with a fork! She loves to put things on top of her head and say "tada!" and she also says "uh-oh" a lot. She isn't walking on her own yet, but she gets around just fine... and she loves, loves, loves the pool. We'll be swimming A LOT this summer!

Enjoy the pics... :)

Cutie pie!

Swimmin'!

Buzz, Daddy & Audrey

A little siesta in the lobby of the Animal Kingdom Lodge...
Notice the mini crocs! I won't even tell you how much we paid for them,
but when you see them on her tiny little feet- worth every penny!

Breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe- a Disney must!
Audrey thoroughly enjoyed it!

She was a little distracted...

The essential family pic!

We couldn't resist...

At the pool!

Audrey's first trip to the beach... she loved it! She squealed and laughed the whole time!

We decided to have Audrey go shirtless for the cupcake festivities... and it's a good thing we did.

Although most of it went on the floor.

Oh, and we also got a new car (not brand new, just new to us!).
We love it!

That's all for now... Lots of love to all!
The Owens :)