Catching Up

I didn't realize that I had not written for so long, so this will be an attempt to recreate some of the events in the last little while--don't know how far I will get. Two months is almost too much for me to remember! We celebrated Averie's birthday. She turned 7 years old and is very happy that she is getting so grown up. She is usually very happy and can get very dramatic about all the wonderful things in her life. She loves her family and has some good friends, but especially loves cousin Nicole. Happy 7th year, Averie girl And, since we are talking about celebrations, Jer and Liz celebrated their anniversary in March as well.Jer loves posing for pictures! They didn't do much celebrating though because they have been spending all spare moments fixing up the house they bought. It needed lots of work! But, things are coming together for them and it should be a great house, with lots of room. Happy Anniversary, Jer and Liz! Little Ben turned a big 2 year old this year, also in March. Wish I had one without the bink cause he has an adorable, melt your heart smile! It is so cute to hear him talk now. And, he gives great hugs. I was a little worried after reading Kim's blogs about what a mess maker he was, but when they visited at Easter, we only had one mess--rice krispies (with the Cherrio's threatening to follow) dumped out. I tried to follow Kim's example and take a picture, but Daniel was faster cleaning up than I was finding my camera. He is so cute, though, how do you get mad? I didn't--I thought it was funny. Also, the first of April, Isaac had a school play that was a spoof on Little Red Riding Hood. He got to play the couch potato father in the story. He did a great job and his voice projected so well that we heard him great. He has lots of supporters if he decides to stay in drama. We had a great "surprise, sort of" family mini reunion in April, for Easter. Trav and Allison and family made their traditional trek to our home for Conference. They got to come a whole week early as their kids had spring break. And, Kim thought it would be great to spend Easter with everyone, and her kids also had spring break, so they made the trip also. (And she was dying to see her new little niece!) They didn't get to spend very long though--just Friday till Monday morning, but we take what we can get. Conference was so great and TJ and Brody love going. I can tell it makes an impact on them when on Sunday they were watching it with the family here and they even sang the rest songs. That was great! Kim was so great to do all the traditional Easter things with the kids. They loved dying the Easter eggs. Only problem was that the eggs didn't get cooked all the way. Whoops! We discovered that when a few were dropped, so back into the pan they went, colored and all. The kids had so much fun the next morning when they did the Easter egg hunt. The weather was awful so it was inside, but they loved it. Trav and Allison and Kim and Daniel took them downstairs where the Easter bunny had hidden eggs and baskets and goodies. (This picture of Trey looks kind of weird--don't know why. It is really cute on the computer but it came over to the blog looking strange. sorry Trey!) I insisted that we take a few pictures--not nearly as many as we should, but the kids cooperated--on threat of no dessert. We let the girls stay inside. We took the boys outside for theirs. I love these pictures. It was a hoot getting them to do it, but well worth it. Olivia's first Easter After dinner and pictures, Allyson had the kids do Easter baskets for dessert. They had a great time making and eating them Other Easter memories: And who doesn't love doing a game night??? The next week we took off for Hawaii, which was wonderful. I am going to write a separate post about it, but can I just say that I am ready to go back! or anywhere for that matter! The Sunday after we got back we celebrated Jer's and Dad's and JD's birthdays. (the birthday boys!) Dad really scored this year. He got lots of books to read--thank you everyone so much!--and he got lots of steak. Now that doesn't sound like a good birthday to me, but since he doesn't get red meat very much he thinks--not true, he got spoiled. I took him to Texas Roadhouse, thanks to a gift certificate, on Saturday, Sunday was roast and then Monday, Christie and Darren had us over for--steak. Now if that wasn't enough, Jer and Liz took him to lunch on Thursday at Tucano's, where he got all the steak he wanted. So happy birthday and eat lots of oatmeal now to unclog all those arteries. JD wasn't sure what was going on with his cake! Oh! It is a castle! Family shot Well, that is a synopsis of a few events. At least it is a start!

She's Here!

Well, after making her mom wait these long, long last weeks, little Olivia Mae decided she would hurriedly make her appearance. Laura did wonderful! The nurses staff all heard about her 18 minutes from curbside to delivery. John has some amazing pictures that hopefully will be posted soon, but for all you who are asking about her, I will put these few on. Instant love What a great family With her proud and happy daddy Grandpa is still a little uncomfortable holding one so small but he thinks she is beautiful. With her Aunt Christie, who is campaigning to become the favorite aunt. We are so thankful everything went so well and that she is here and healthy. She is perfect at 7lbs and 2oz, 19"long, delivered by her great Uncle Jim Feb 25th in the early, early morning--around 12:30. She is beautiful! We are so happy for John and Laura and so thankful for this sweet baby girl.

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Happy Birthday to one of the big guys! Funny how my two daughters both married really tall guys. And, we all know that wasn't the only reason they were "chosen", but their children will have one amazing gene pool to take from. We are all glad Daniel is part of our family cause he is a really great guy. He is an amazing husband and father and a genuinely good person. So, Happy Birthday, Daniel and have a wonderful year ahead. Much love!

Izzie-Bell

Our baby girl turned one year old! She has been the baby of our family for over a year now so she has had the brunt of all the hugs and kisses and "can I hold her?". She got tired of it when she was younger but has gone with the flow as she grew older. Welcomed by two big brothers Favorite place to sleep Special blessing day She inherited the beautiful big eyes She has been the favorite of the cousins And of course, she has grandpa wrapped around her fingers One of my favorite memories is at the family reunion. The guys were playing basketball and every time they would make a basket, she would giggle and giggle. She is going to make a great cheer leader! She has the sweetest personality and is so good natured. She has loved to walk holding on to fingers since she was really young but after her birthday she decided she didn't want too anymore. After a couple of weeks though she decided that walking would be her main means of getting from point A to B, so she is a walker now. (Check out the cute cake Liz made her. Pretty artistic) We are so thankful for this little girl. Happy birthday, Izzie!

Johnny!

What a somber day I had on John's birthday--my baby is getting "old"--well older. I hate having life on such a fast pace. But, I moved on and celebrated his life. Having the experience of almost losing him as a baby has made me especially appreciate his life. I am thankful every day for the tender mercy of his life! He has been such a joy in our life. And, like each of my precious children, he has taught me so much about life, love and true joy. Happy Birthday, John. What a wonderful adventurous year you have ahead of you.

Shower Power

Laura's cute sister, Sarah, had a baby shower for Laura a week or so ago and what a fun time. She had it at Dear Lizzy's so that was atmosphere already. Lots of people came from Laura's work and that was fun to meet them. Pam and her cute daughters and their 3 little ones came also so that was really fun to see them and appreciate them for supporting us! Laura was so cute! She finally smiled--I have one of her giving me "that look" but I am already in trouble for the hair one! I'll save it. Most of the crew. Forgot to get the camera out before it was time to go! And, somehow Christie is cut out of the picture--how did that happen? With Sarah. Thanks to her for having such a fun and yummy shower for Laura She got a lot of cute things for this baby girl! We are all getting so excited to meet her and hope it won't be much longer!

Super Size It! & Who Dun it???

So, our anniversary was a little disappointing this year. I got pretty sick late Friday night and it continued on Saturday. I had about zero energy and felt lousy. So, our plan to use the gift certificate to Texas Roadhouse that J&L gave us just wasn't going to happen. I sent dad down to get a burger at Wendy's and I had tomato soup, which was the only thing that sounded half way good. All of you know how I feel about dad eating burgers and when he came home and put Miracle Whip on top of everything already on it, I didn't have the energy to even give him a bad time! Sunday, our actual anniversary, I was feeling slightly better. C&D had us over for a anniversary dinner which was so nice--thank you, thank you--and we even made ice cream to celebrate. We had to hurry home so dad could go home teaching and I did some stuff on the computer. I noticed that the DVD player was going which really freaked me out cause I knew that I had taken the DVD out the night before. Anyway, I stopped it and did some more stuff and when I walked by again I realized I hadn't turned off the DVD player. When I turned it off I had another SHOCK--there was a huge TV sitting inside the hole! We had no idea when or how it got there. So, there are a couple of things that this whole TV thing has brought to light. One is that at least one of my kids is a really good liar- -(We already knew that John had the lying thing down because of the whole Office Depot thing)- -no one will fess up to this deed. I have questioned and tried using entrapment but I am still so stumped. Everyone had an alibi and they were very convincing that they hadn't done it. So who did this absolutely surprising, huge, sweet and generous gift that we had decided that we wouldn't do for ourselves???? The other thing that has come to light--which we already knew--is that we can see any of our kids doing this. We have always known how unselfish everyone is and how generous all of you are with us. And, as I talked with each of you that night, each one would say something like, "I bet it was Travis, or it had to be Christie, or Reed or Kim or Tom or John or Jer. It was pretty cute that you all thought it could also be each other. So, thank you, who ever you are--I will find you out! I have a new clue.