The Vara's: A quick trip and catching up

Turns out it's wedding season! The first wedding we attended was in El Paso for Matt's Godparent's daughter. We made a quick weekend trip to EP flying out Friday evening and coming home on Sunday. As it turns out Friday was quite the adventure. Long story short, the flight was delayed by 3 hours which meant we spent close to 5 hours in at the Houston airport. We rode the train, ate a nice meal, and visited a few Presidential Clubs. Jackson pointed out EVERY plane at the airport and never got bored saying "Plane!". Considering the delays, the kids really did great. It's a shame to see all the changes with our hometown airline now that they have merged with United but we'll adjust.

Once in El Paso the kids enjoyed lots of Grandparents time and we enjoyed catching up with friends.

The wedding was beautiful. We took both kids but the Catholic mass wedding ceremony, which was 1 hour and 30 minutes, was 1 hour and 20 minutes too long for Jackson. I ended up waiting outside most of the time with Jackson.

The beautiful couple

Grandma Vara had bought the kids precious outfits for the wedding. Haley and Jackson posed for a few pictures.

Jackson sitting still but I love his eyes. Wonder what he is thinking?

Sat just long enough for a picture with mom :)

Tia had brought the kids some presents. Jackson was overly excited about his beanie babies.

Haley loved her princess glasses

It was quite hot outside, especially when in long sleeves.

We could never get the tie on Jackson and I had to force the vest on for pictures. He tried hard to figure out how to take off these clothes

Haley seems so grown up in the picture

Jackson had enough and was ready to leave. I'm outta here peeps

But Haley had other plans. She loved playing with the shaw from the bridesmaids dress.

We had a few hours after the ceremony to relax then it was time for the dinner and dancing. We took the kids to the dinner then were kid free for the dancing. Matt and I took advantage of no kids and danced well into the night!
Haley and Daddy at the dinner

Grandpa and Jackson.

Our best attempt at a family photo

The highlight for me of the dinner was the mariachi's that sang the entire time. They even did an 4 song tribute that included Sweet Home Alabama & Journey. Pretty cool. I told Matt we can have mariachi's at our 10 year anniversary party so watch out!

On Sunday we had some friends over for a cookout prior to our departure. Haley fed Uncle Michael so she could get to swimming faster.

Jackson had fun with Sandie, Tia's new puppy

We had a great trip even though it was short. Grandma and Grandpa are back in Houston this week to watch the kids while Matt and I head to Boston for another wedding.

A few pictures from everyday living.

Haley and her babydoll Sunny posing on the stairs. Sunny is technically a boy, and has the parts to prove it, but Haley told me she has turned "him" into a girl. It only gets awkward when she dresses Sunny in a dress and you can see the dolls boy parts (STRANGE!) She doesn't seem to care. I guess since she has a brother it's not a big deal. Just as long as she doesn't start dressing Jackson in dresses I think we are ok.

Jackson is mastering the stairs. Hopefully that means no more broken bones for me!

My little bug catcher. Haley loves frogs. She caught this baby one the other day in the pool. Funny thing is Jackson HATES frogs, and really most bugs for that matter. A frog came in the house the other day and jumped on Jackson and he was hysterical. It was so funny. Buster ended up finding the frog and that was the end of that little guy.
Here's a baby frog from the pool Haley caught

My brave girl

And not so brave boy! He kept his distance for sure

And finally, most days are spent beating the heat with a swim after work/school. Haley is an excellent swimmer and is working on doing back rolls in the water. Jackson is becoming quite the swimmer too. He's learning to take breaths and then put his head back under water in the middle of a long swim. So proud of them both.

Jackson loving the water