Today has been a great day!

Today has been a great day. The morning started off with a photo shoot for a dear friend, Maggie. If you would like to check out the photos you can go to www.AllThingsSimplePhotography.blogspot.com

After the photo shoot, I spent the afternoon at home with the kids. First, Preston and I did an art project. My project is on the bottom and Preston's is on the top. He loved finger paining with the colors. After the art project and some lunch, we headed off the grocery store. Nothing too exciting but it was nice to get out of the house for a bit. This evening we went to Qdoba for dinner and both kids took a bath. Here is our happy little girl in her duck towel. Oh yes, I also had another photo shoot with the young lady - photos to be posted tomorrow :) Preston was in bed by 8pm and Peyton was asleep by 8:30pm. Not bad at all. I am just now finishing up the photos and blogs and am heading to bed myself. Overall, today has been a great day!

Happy Birthday Alice

Our niece, Alice, turns 1 this week and we celebrated with her this evening for her Birthday. Alice is my sister's daughter. Here is a picture of my sister with Alice and me holding Peyton. It is so sweet to know that they are only 9 months apart and live in St. Louis :) I also have a sweet photo of Peyton and me. I love this new outfit from our friend, Hillary.

I think the best part of a baby birthday party is the cake eating. Look at this picture of Alice digging into the cake - awesome.

Oh yes, Preston was able to get into the pool with a friend and had a blast. I think Preston is turning into quite the water boy :)

Catching up from the week

It's Saturday. I am so thankful its Saturday. The Dalbey's are enjoying some needed time at home this evening. Peyton is currently taking a nap and Preston is watching some Thomas with Steven. While I have a minute, I will update our viewers on our adventures from the past week.

I spent a couple days at home this past week. While at home I took the kids outside and in the back yard to play in the pool that our neighbors have let us borrow/use this summer. Preston LOVES the pool. He could spend hours in the pool if I let him. Here are a few pictures. First, Preston watching some Thomas the Tank Engine. Second, Preston in the pool. (Even Hershey jumped in the pool to join the fun).

Peyton continues to be a wonderful little girl and was sweet to play in her bouncy seat while Preston played in the pool. I also have a photo of Peyton's sweet hands.

I also spent some time outside and in our front yard waiting for daddy to come home one day and taking some pictures of the kids :) Wow - Peyton is just starting to sit up in the bumbo seat - crazy how times flies.

Well, I had to save my post because Peyton woke up from her nap. Now, a few hours later I am back. Some other fun events from the week include some time at the Denholm's on Friday evening (thank you) and some time with Grandad on Saturday morning. Oh yes, I stopped by a fun garage sale this morning and found an awesome pair of shoes for $5 and some toys for Peyton for $1. Not bad at all. Now, the kids are in bed and I am looking forward to finishing some laundry and hanging out with my hubby!

Peyton 3 months and a few days

I couldn't help but get my camera out today and capture a few pictures of sweet Peyton who is now a few days more than 3 months old. In just a few weeks I will be taking pictures of Preston for his 3rd Birthday. I love my children!

Happy Birthday Steven

Dear Steven, Happy Birthday. I love you very much. You bring so much joy and laughter to my life. I am so thankful you are the father to our children and my loving husband. Thank you for being patient and kind, even when I am super serious or just exhausted at the end of the day. I am so thankful to celebrate each year with you. Love, Katrina

Here is us at the Cardinals Game for Steven's Birthday (Thank you, Grandad for the tickets). Oh yes, it was free t-shirt night at the game. Thank you Whitey Herzog. Hmm, I just noticed that lady in the red shirt. She doesn't look excited to be at the game - bummer.
Here is Peyton enjoying her first Cardinals Game :)
Ahh, I just love this view of Busch Stadium and the Arch.
The girl passed out in the 3rd inning - lovely.
I look forward to celebrating many more Birthday's :)

Peyton 3 months

Our little girl is 3 months old tomorrow. Wow! Here are few things she has learned the past few days: She now giggles and smiles for mommy and daddy. She sleeps about 8 hours a night, wakes up to eat and then goes back to sleep for another 3ish hours. She also grabs at objects hanging from her baby bouncy seat. Oh yes, I think she weighs in at 14lb...that is the best I can do with my home scale. We all, including Preston, love spending time with her and cherish our time to hold her and cuddle. We love her very much!

Josh and Angie

This past weekend I had the great privilege of helping some dear friends with their wedding. Everything went very well and I am so excited for Josh and Angie and the beginning of their life together. Here is a photo from their beautiful day. Congratulations!

Hair Bows

I just love all the cute hair bows for girls! Here are a few photos - enjoy.

I am thankful for the ZONE

This past week, Steven and I spent time at our annual summer camp for students, The Zone. While we were surrounded by great friends, fun students, exciting events/activities and wonderful teaching, it was what I learned that will remain with me and encourage me for many years to come. I am so thankful for this camp and the opportunity to be a part of it for the past six years. I look forward to many more years of the ZONE! Here a few photos of our time at camp. First, all 225 participants. Here is our group from Central.
Here is a picture of Peyton sound asleep.
This is Maggie and Kaylie. They adopted me into their room and I spent a lot of time with them and their 4 students.
Here I am with Peyton driving a golf cart - awesome!

The Zone

Steven, Peyton and I are at the ZONE camp this week. Preston is at Grammie and Poppa's house having a great time. We are having a blast and I will post pictures when I return on Friday!

A Great Weekend

The Dalbey Four had an awesome weekend!! It started out with some fun hanging out with friends on Friday as Steven went camping with his buddies and Katrina had some visitors to the house. On Saturday, the Dalbey four hung out with Grandad at the Route 66 festival at the Chain of Rocks Bridge. We didn't stay too long because it was SUPER HOT but we had a great time. Here are a few photos.

First, the cars lined up on the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

The Dalbey Four - very hot!

This was my favorite car :)

Oh yes, my dad is a Route 66 trivia master! He won some cool prizes during the trivia hour. After the festival, we headed to Carl's Drive in for some yummy burgers!

On Sunday, Katrina hung out with more friends at a Bridal shower. Here is a fun picture of the gift wrapping.

To see more pictures from the shower check out my photography blog at www.allthingssimplephotography.blogspot.com. Steven also spent some fun time with Preston on Sunday. They played with Trains and went swimming in our neighbors pool. Overall, a great weekend!

Just Another Day

Here we have a couple pics of the kids. Its just another day in the Dalbey Family.

Peyton loves to smile :)
Preston loves to play outside, mostly with his trike and t-ball.
Mommy loves to have a clean kitchen...I'm still working on that.

Thank you

The past year has been, well, full of change and emotion. I think I have cried more the past 6 months than I have the past 6 years. Many of the tears have been tears of great joy - like when we welcomed our little girl to our family back in March. Some of the tears have been from great pain and sadness. While I can't go into detail about those tears, I have been trying to find encouragement by reminding myself lately about what is true. I am loved. I have a deep network of support and care that has blessed me through the great and difficult times. Because I have felt so much love and care, I wanted to take a moment to send out some 'thank you' messages to those who have encouraged me the past year.

First, thank you to my wonderful husband. Steven, you are a blessing. You are a real man who is caring, passionate and hard working. Thank you for listening well and taking the time to care for me.

Thank you to my dad who cares for me every day at work. Thank you for providing me with a job during a time of transition and being patient as I learn how to be a paralegal. I am blessed to have a dad like you.

Thank you to my in laws, Mark and Beth, who have gone above and beyond the call of Grandparent duty to love our family. From caring for Preston every Wednesday, providing meals, a safe person to talk to and much more, you are a great blessing.

Thank you to Eric Larsen, our mentor and great friend. Thank you for praying for and with us and being there to talk when we need support.

Thank you to our SLYnet friends: Drew, Lindsey, Zane, Stephen, Bil, John, Bo, Michael and others. Thank you for being our Youth Ministry support and faithful friends.

Thank you to my Sunday night Bread Co. small group. Thank you for honest conversation, laughter, and support. You girls are beautiful and have so much to offer the world. I am blessed to be in your life. Oh yes, thank you for giving our sweet Peyton her baby shower. I pray that she will have a mentor like one of you when she is a teenager.

Thank you GYFM Mexico team. Many of you know that Steven and I were part of a team of Youth leaders from across the US to travel to Mexico last October to support students whose parents are missionaries with MTW. While Steven and I went on this trip to care for students, we felt deeply cared for by the team. You all reminded me why I love youth ministry and encouraged me to never doubt my calling. Thank you.

Thank you to Lucy, Leah, Mallory, Grace, Olivia and Marta. You are beautiful young woman who help keep me young at heart and on my toes. Thank you for all the ways you have continued to love me and our family while you are away at school.

Finally, thank you Jesus for providing for our family during this time. I trust you know well and have a greater plan than I do. Thank you for your love and grace. Only you have sustained me and will continue to sustain me.