This past week we headed down to Cancun for a destination wedding of our friends Amir and Karrie. It was a great get-away! I will let the pictures speak for themselves. 
There are more on the 2012 slideshow when you click pictures! My mom and dad watched the kiddos while we were away. Pictures of their fun adventures to come soon!
Congratulations again Amir and Karrie!
Check out our scuba diving video on my facebook page!
We had a great NYE bringing in the New Year with friends.
The yummy desserts!
Me and my bestie!
Taylor LOVES to ride in the back of the bike! haha
Corban prefers to be pushed!
Caden and Taylor with Riley!
The whole gang just before midnight! Minus some that party hopped to other parties!
Once the clock hit’s midnight we always bust out “Happy Birthday” to Chris and this year was no different! We all slept in the next day then Chris headed out to play golf with a friend!
Once he came home he wanted to go to the “Flying Field” for remote controlled airplanes. He is such a kid at heart! Here are Caden and Chris watching a plane!
Then we headed to eat at a Hibachi and Sushi place. Some of Chris’s favorite foods!
We finished off his birthday watching 7 days in Utopia. GREAT movie and GREAT end to ringing in the New Year! Happy Birthday again babe! So blessed that you are my man and the kids dad! Love you!
For the past two days we have been staying at the Gaylord for a little stay-cation with our dear friends The Ballards. We did it all…saw the trains, the ICE exhibit, tubing, yummy food, swimming and even a double date night at the Old Hickory!
At the Ice Exhibit. Caden and Taylor were not fans. I think it was too cold for them. And poor Taylor’s parka was way to big, she tripped over it and busted her lip. Needless to say we didn’t stay in there long. But we all did manage to go down the ICE slide!
Can’t you just see the excitement! haha
Sophia and Caden became the best of friends. And Everette just LOVED Taylor! It was too cute to see him interact with her!
Caden loved the trains!
Check out more pictures on the December 2011 slideshow
It was an escape the past two days and we loved it! 1st Annual Mechsner/Ballard vacation in the books. We are ringing in the new year hoping for our 2nd Annual vacation very soon!
We went to Birmingham this past weekend for Jonathan and Catherine’s wedding. Chris was living with Jonathan’s family when I met him here in Dallas. He still reminiscences about the days with The Lenning Family, lots of fun stories. So when we got the invitation to Jonathan Lenning’s wedding we knew it was not one to miss. They are a family that we use as models for godly parenting, a house full of love and open doors at all times!
We weren’t in the bridal party, or family of the bride or groom but this will be a wedding that I (and Chris) will never forget. I only snapped one good decent picture at the rehearsal. Tami, Jonathan’s mom did an AMAZING job at the decor. It was a storybook theme, completely adorable. I am bummed I didn’t get more pictures, I was too busy chasing around two kiddos that had been in the car for 8 hours that day!! Needless to say they were non-stop!!
On Saturday we headed to Dreamland BBQ. It came highly recommended by our friends from Birmingham and it did not disappoint! Even the kids scarfed their food down.
The kiddos stayed with a wonderful sitter for the wedding, so we got to really enjoy the Spirit-filled ceremony with no interruptions. I can not even put into words what an amazing ceremony it was. It was a completely booked Chapel at The Shoal Creek Country Club. Every single person in there was singing In Christ Alone and you could just fill the Lord’s presence. I really don’t think there was a women in that chapel that wasn’t crying.Chris even sung, and it takes a lot of spiritual nudging for Chris to sing. I don’t know Catherine very well, but just with the wedding ceremony that her and Jonathan put together you can tell that as a couple they are going to serve the Lord tremendously. I felt so honored just to be in the very room with them when they made their union as one, glorifying God to the fullest. You know how we compare ourselves to “the Joneses” or to other women who have things that we want, etc…well I walked away from that ceremony wanting to be on fire even more for the Lord than I already am. It is people like Catherine and Jonathan that will challenge others, along with themselves, to live a life FULL of love for others, giving of themselves, and truly living as Christ lived.
The pastor that married them did something that I have never heard/seen in a ceremony. He talked about Catherine and Jonathan, how they met, when they fell in love with each other, how they see the Lord’s love in each other. I am assuming that Jonathan had not heard the things Catherine said and vice versa until they were standing at the alter. It was a beautiful way to tell the story of their love and to love on each other during the ceremony in such a selfless way.
Chris and I tend to walk away from weddings remembering our big day and being thankful that we found each other. This wedding gave us that and so much more. It got us talking on our 10 hour car ride back how much we want Caden and Taylor to love the Lord in a way that draws people in to them, to share the love of the Lord. It was almost like walking away from church camp. Church camp would always put things into perspective for me. And it is good to be put into perspective more often than not in this earthly world that is so easy to get sucked into.
We are so excited to see where the Lord takes Catherine and Jonathan. They are going to be living in Uganda March-May doing the Lord’s work with Sozo Children. You can follow their blog if you wish here.
The country club that the wedding was at was absolutely gorgeous! God’s country at it’s best!
And of course the company was amazing as well.
Us with the bride and groom
us with the grooms sisters, Brittany and Scottie (how did I not get any pictures with Tami and Scott, the grooms parents?!?!?!)
The Wolverton Family, another wonderful, god-filled family. Loving on people every where they go!
We visited them in The Netherlands, in 2008 when they were there with Greater Europe Mission. Wow!! Look at how much the kids have grown!!
I almost took this little Wolverton home with me! Olivia and I.
Another thing that Chris and I talked about on the way back home was figuring out how to see The Wolverton’s more. So Tagg and Susan, be ready….we may be heading to South Carolina VERY soon!!!
It was an amazing weekend and well worth the 23.5 hours spent in the car! We would do it all over again this weekend! HA!
As we gear up for Halloween, we have been hearing a lot of “to infinity and beyond!” in the house lately, and when he put his costume on it got even louder. I think everyone at the pumpkin patch heard Caden yell “to infinity and beyond” when I took the picture below!
And sweet Taylor has no idea what she has on, but apparently it is fun to look at upside down!?!
Precious Riley trying not to get knocked over by buzz or tackled by the lady bug!
Be sure to check out more pictures on the link above, there are some great out takes
Some more recent pictures:
Back at the pumpkin patch today
Corban, Taylor and Ryan
Taylor and Maelyn, the daisy!
Taylor went down her first bounce house slide this past weekend and absolutely loved it as you can see in the picture. She kept climbing up the slide and then going back down it!
Again, more pictures at the link above