Crusin' and more

 Life has been a whirlwind of activity for the Rayner family over the last several weeks. Let's see....what have we been up to... My parents took the Sayle family on a cruise to Mexico and we had a blast! I am blessed to have wonderful parents and our children are blessed to have them as grandparents. They make a lot of time for the kids and Lila and James both love being around Lainey and Papa Ike.  I am also fortunate to have my brother and sister and their families close to me and so when we go on vacation together, we really enjoy each other's company.  After returning from our trip Bradley had a college reunion and Lila and I celebrated birthdays. James came down with pneumonia and had to stay overnight in the hospital. Thankfully is completely fine now. We also started this crazy cleanse called the Crazy, Sexy diet. So far it is crazy, and not so sexy. We have a few days left, so I am hoping the sexy part starts soon.... 

 Proud grandparents posing with their grandkids on the boat.

 Here is the group at dinner on our first night. I am so proud, I have such a beautiful family, inside and out!

Lila and James checking out the boat before we set sail

 Lila and James had a great time on the cruise and they behaved really well too, which made it especially nice for Mommy and Daddy

Lila went to the kids' club a few times and loved it! They had great activities and a fun staff. Here is a picture of her painted up like a bunny.

 Dad and me on the dance floor

 Mom and me

 Taking the kids for a whirl

 Me and my two beautiful sisters

 LIla not so sure about the sand....just like her daddy!

 But she loves the pool

 James Thomas is thinking "just take the picture"!

 Getting ready to play with the dolphins

 This was the highlight of the trip for me, seeing Lila kiss the dolphin

Thanks Papa Ike and Lainey for such a wonderful family trip

When we returned home Bradley had a college reunion with several of his SAE buddies. We had a crawfish boil at our house and watched Rebel baseball. I know all the guys enjoyed seeing each other.


I celebrated my 34th birthday on March 20th, and my friend Amy put together a great girls' party at the nail shop. My friends treated me with a mani/pedi, delicious food, and champagne. It was a wonderful birthday!

March 21st (3-21) Is world Down Syndrome awareness day. My sweet James got sick with pneumonia on the 21st and had to stay in the hospital, so I did not write about this special day on here, but I did check out Kelle Hampton's blog and she said it much better that I could have anyway. Please check out her blog post at the link below. She is an inspiring  person and I always love reading what she has to say.


http://www.kellehampton.com/search?updated-max=2011-03-23T04%3A46%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=8




Lila celebrated her fourth birthday in grand style. Her party was originally planned to be in the park where children could ride bikes and fish. But Oxford experienced a hail storm the night before and our church generously let us switch our party to the church's gym. Lila had a beautiful Cinderella cake made by Magan Shelton.  Lila loved it, especially because all of it was edible, even the sparkling glass slipper! 

 Lila hits the butterfly pinata

The kids race for the candy!

 On Lila's actual birthday, the 27th, we spent time with both of our extended families, eating cake and opening presents. We are very fortunate to be able to see our families as often as we do!

James discovered chocolate pudding....I think he likes it

A couple of Lila and James' friends had birthday parties last week and so we got to pretend to be pirates, skate, play and fly kites

 James got the royal treatment from some beautiful little princesses. Check out their poses!

An update about the cleanse I mentioned....we finished strong, 21 days of the Crazy, Sexy Diet by Kris Carr and we plan on utilizing it in our day to day lives. No I am not going to be completely vegan, or caffeine, or gluten, or processed sugar, and alcohol free. But my eating habits are much better and I plan on staying that way because I feel great.  Congrats to all my comrades on the cleanse, it was tough but we did it!!!!

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted,  but life gets busy, I'm sure you can relate....