Pictures, Pictures and more Pictures...

Our holiday weekend was jam packed with fun! We went to Johnna's on Friday night, Downtown Arlington Saturday night for fireworks, Kimmie's on Sunday for the Jones' 4th of July party and finished up the three day weekend swimming at Grammy's with Christi/David and the kids. Thought I would let the pictures do the talking!



I think this looks like me and Kimmie 27 years ago...dead serious! I wish my mom had taken pictures!


They love Aunt Claire!


Landon looks like such a big boy!


Ashley and Landon


Heather and Caden


Kimmie and Audrey


Em, SoSo and Nicholas!


Kelli and Dylan


Say Cheese!


Firework Time!


All about it!


Except for these two...check out Kennedy's nose.


Landon starts it!


Cool shot of J


ZuZu Pet and Sparkler - Check!


They were scared but didn't want to miss the action!


Sparks for sure


Was it really a good idea to give the two and three year old's sparklers?


Karacakes!


Landon was not amused!


The good shot...


The bribe for the good shot.


Twinkies!


Summer Lovin'


How blessed am I?


Check out those moves! MJ would be proud.


Most photogenic family EVER!


Happy 4th!


Little Firecracker!


My blue eyed boy.


They had watermellon, cherries and strawberry popsicles...can you tell?


Sweet family of three that will soon be four!


Put your hands up!


Splash!


Let's do it again! (for the hundreth time!)


Cool Cousins


Sweeties carrying sweets!


Addyson's special action shot - she requested a picture of her alone going down the slide...guess she didn't want to share the spotlight!


Caleb and Nolan playing basketball in the pool!


Love these ladies!


Um, is David from Jersey?


True Happiness - one of my favorite all time pictures.


There aren't words for this one...


Sweetie Pie


Notice Hudson's crack...we saw it all day! Future plumber?


Hudson after the bee sting. :(


Daddy playing a little baseball with the boys right in front of Jamey and Melissa's windows - yikes!


Even her backside is sassy!


Sparkling Carrie


Notice Hudson with the "big boys" doing firecrackers...right!?! Why does he look SO old! Dustin dead serious let him help light a smokebomb and throw it!


Such a great weekend!

Father's Day 2010

Pictures from Father's day! It was a good day for dear old Daddy I think. He slept a little late woke up to cards and breakfast. Nolan was so proud of the card he picked out for Scott because it was one with sound and had Darth Vader on it. They have been all into Star Wars the past few months and have been slowly watching all of the movies together.) We went to church and then over to PaPa and Granny's house for a few hours to hang out and eat. PaPa's b-day was on Friday so we all celebrated while we were over and Aunt Cindy made him a birthday cake - yummo! As you can see from the pictures below - the boys LOVE my cousin Matt. They had so much fun playing with him. Then we headed out to Midlothian to Wes and Tammy's for dinner with the Mays'. It was a nice relaxing day.

My Father's Day Story

Father’s day is such a bittersweet holiday for me. It’s been almost 7 years since my dad passed away. Even as I type that, I can not wrap my head around it. My dad was such a fun guy and I really miss the love and laughter from him that was always a constant in my life. I know he would have adored the boys and it is truly so sad that he missed that part of life. My mom says that too all the time – it’s like he spent all his life working and never made it to the next stage in life to reap the rewards of all his hard work. He was a good provider for my mom and us girls. We never went without and always had more than our share. My mom ran the house and loved us to pieces but my dad made it fun. He had the best sense of humor - always playing tricks and telling jokes. Scott loved my dad and always said he was “cool” which is actually a really good way to describe him. There was something about him that drew you in – he was the perfect balance of playful and smart. He was a guys’ guy yet had a sweet side for his three girls. I often wonder how different our lives would be if he were still here. I hate that my mom lost her soul mate and had to pick up the pieces and carry on without him. Nothing can prepare you for how it feels to lose a parent and especially to then watch the other parent live through it. It is the most heartbreaking and hardest thing I have ever been through. I still get very upset about it when I start to really think about her point of view. For us, we were able to continue on with our little lives, as they were just starting. She was left alone…why? Why did that happen to our family? Why did it happen to my mom? I don’t know God’s plan for me or my family but I do know that God’s will is perfect. I have been able to find comfort in knowing that, but it’s still not easy.

The silver lining in my father’s death was the birth of Nolan. I can’t remember if I have ever written about this. Scott and I had been trying to get pregnant for about a year when my dad died. He knew how badly we wanted a baby. I think we conceived Nolan the night my dad passed away. We got a call that night after we had already gone to bed from the police saying that I needed to come to my parents house. They told me that my dad had had a heart-attack and we needed to come and get my mom and meet the ambulance at the hospital. I of course freaked out! We quickly got up and headed to their house. We got there so fast the ambulance was still there! The police told us to go ahead and leave for the hospital because the ambulance would of course still probably beat us. The next few weeks were a blur – family and friends took care of us. I practically moved in at my mom’s because I didn’t want her to be alone for even a second. I didn’t even really notice that I was late. When I finally stopped to think about it I really just assumed it was stress. I had not even been home, let alone had sex since my dad had died the month prior. I knew the “ins and outs” of my cycle since we had been trying for months and knew that I “should have” ovulated a full week after he passed. I knew there was no way I was pregnant. A few weeks later when I still had not started, I decided to buy a test just to make sure. I even re-did the math and again knew that I couldn’t be – BUT I WAS. It was a crazy, crazy thing to see a positive test…the best possible news at the worst possible time. I wasn’t ready to be happy, I wasn’t ready to tell my grieving family, I wasn’t sure this could even be right. We decided to not tell anyone until I went to the dr and it was official. The dr had a hard time pinpointing my due date because the baby was about three weeks ahead but I just knew that couldn’t be right based on my cycle. He stuck with what I told him and my due date was set for June 17, 2004. We had dinner with all our family and told them the news. Everyone was of course so happy, yet you could feel the sorrow too. It was such an amazing blessing and gave us all something to celebrate. My mom was so supportive and wonderful through my whole pregnancy. Nolan came three weeks before his due date. He was a full term healthy 7 pounds and 8 ounce baby, the NICU was there when he was born and called in just in case there were any complications since his was early but I remember the nurse saying “this baby wasn’t early – I think your due date was just off”. My dad passed away exactly 10 months prior to Nolan’s birth date and a woman is pregnant for 40 weeks or 10 months! I really think that Nolan was our little angel sent from God to help us through our loss. I have watched a lot of friends and family lose loved ones since my father’s death. My heartbreaks all over again each time it happens. But I have a different outlook on life and death now. I truly believe in the saying “When God Closes a Door, He Opens a Window”. I think He does and Nolan is the proof. The hard part about that statement is that it doesn’t always happen so profoundly. Sometimes it’s hard to quit going to the closed door. We end up being stuck behind door but if we just would look around we might see the light coming through the window down the hall. While it may not be the way we wanted to go, it still might be more refreshing than being stuck in a dark room.

Father’s day always falls close to my original due date so for some reason I think a lot about our miracle during this time every year. I think about the loss of my father but how in that - Scott became a father. Scott is an amazing daddy to our boys with many of the same characteristics as my dad. They are blessed with a great daddy and so was I.

Grayson's Heart Day and Denton's Baptism Party

Sunday was Grayson's fourth annual heart day party - I can not believe it's been four years since his surgery! Sweet baby Denton was baptized in the morning so this years' party was for two very special reasons. What a neat way to celebrate all the blessings the Binford's have been given with their two healthy happy boys! Unfortunately we did not get to stay for the whole party because Nolan was just getting better from a week of strep and wasn't up for hours of fun in the sun. Hudson, on the other hand, probably would have gone up and down the slide until midnight!

Lady Antebellum and Tim McGraw

Last Saturday night we went to the Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum concert. It was great girls night. Life has been so busy the past month, it was nice to have a night out with friends! I love these girls!




This picture cracks me up - check out Amy in the background...so cute!

Dinner and a Swim

Scott's cousins Kresson and Angi came down with their families for a quick visit. We met up with them for dinner at Fuzzy's. They were going to Six Flags the next day so they stayed in a hotel right across the street - so it would be like a "real" vacation for the kids. The kids all wanted to swim in the hotel pool and invited the boys back to take a dip with them. The kids had a great time swimming and we were able to just hang out on the patio and visit. It was a fun night!