Not Just Any Accessory

My photography assignment/challenge today was to take a photo of an accessory. Breann gave me the idea to take a photo of her ring, and I thought it was a great idea. This ring, though, is not just any accessory. It was in my Mom's jewelry box. Bre wears it a lot, and it's become something very special to her.

Easter 2014

This Easter was so great! We spent last Sunday with family. We read about the Resurrection in The Bible. Eggs were colored and hid. We cooked out in the park. I also took a lot of photos! There were smiles, laughter, and memories was made.  Such a blessed day!

More Photos are in the Members Area. Photos:[Our Family Easter Photos] [Mine and Justin's Easter Photos] [Part One of Three] [Part Two of Three] [Part Three of Three]

Mom's Surgery...

Back in 2011 my Mom had a right lung transplant.  Today Mom had a portion of her left lung taken out as it was no longer working and hopefully this will help her right lung to expand to where she can breathe better.

Yesterday evening we met with family to have dinner before Mom's surgery today. Below and in the Members Area are photos of that and of Mom and I right before her surgery today.
   
 More Photos are in the Members Area!

Memory Lane...

My Mom moved recently, it was the best decision for her, at this point in her life.  Still yet, with spending over 30 years at a house that she and my dad had someone (a close friend, who also has now passed away) to build for them, I am sure there were many memories that she built there with my dad and also with my brother and I...we all built so many memories at the place we once called home.

Although it has been over a year now, it is very hard to believe that my Dad is no longer with us on this Earth.  It helps me to find peace in the hope that I will see him one day in Heaven.  Until then, we have memories!

Justin and I went to pick up a few of the things that were left for us at my only childhood home.  The house was empty, nobody there, it felt very odd...my Mom at her new place of residence with my Dad no longer with us.  Usually when we visited Mom and Dad at this place, Mom was at the door holding it open for us, meeting us at the door with a hug and a kiss, and Dad was always telling us not to wait so long before we visited again and he always was giving the kids some kind of snack...an ice cream or something out of his candy dish.  I will always be grateful that Justin and I had time to just be there alone and reflect on memories, this past Friday (after all, he has also been a part of mine and my family's life for nearly half of my life, so the house was dear to my husband too).

Justin's Mom kept the kids for the weekend, and after we dropped them off with her, we made the drive up to my childhood home.  I loved sitting on Friday and going through some of the pictures and my yearbooks.  I liked walking through my Dad's workshop...trying to recall the sound of his tools and how the heat felt on my upstairs bedroom floor, a hardwood floor, when he had a fire built in the stove that was below my bedroom.  I enjoyed looking at the patterns my Dad used to trace of the woodwork projects he wanted to do at one point or another...just seeing his handwriting on the labels on his jars (that held things like nails and screws, the little things) and seeing the patterns he traced, it made me feel a part of him still lives here with us on this Earth, through the stuff he made, the influence he had in our lives, the kind of person he was, and through the memories.

  Anyhow...as Justin was about to turn off the lights, downstairs, in my Dad's workshop, I had him to wait just a moment longer, so I could get a photo or two of his workshop...may it always live in my memory, as anyone who knew my Dad would know he loved his woodwork and I love the memories he has helped me to have of him with the things he made!

  This is also in the Members Area!

FUN Snow Day!

We haven't got much snow this year, but one day it snowed just enough for me and the kids to get outside and play just a bit and build some snowmen.




  More photos are in the Members Area!

New Family Photos!

We recently did our family photos...take a look!



More photos are posted in the Members Area!

Thanksgiving 2011 Gathering!

This year was a Thanksgiving filled with happiness, blessings, and sorrow all at the same time.  As I have posted about numerous times this year, my dad passed away in August, so it was our first Thanksgiving without him so there was a lot of sorrow that still filled this Thanksgiving.  I missed his yearly tradition of saying the blessing at my parents table, his smiling face, and his voice and laughter.  On the other hand, I felt incredibly blessed with the memories I have of him and the family I have as each and everyone is a blessing.  My family brings me happiness and God has blessed me in so many ways.

On Thanksgiving Justin, me and the kids were all off from work and school, we began the day with watching the Thanksgiving parade on TV while having coffee and hot chocolate, then went to Cracker Barrel to spend the early part of the evening with my mom, brother and his wife and kids.

We then went over to my husband's mom's and spent the rest of the evening with his mom, sisters and their husbands and kids. 

Where I got a video of all of the kids (minus Bryce, seeing as how he is only two months old) dancing. Its in the Members Area, so if you have access, be sure to take a look...very cute!

It was a great evening and a blessed Thanksgiving!




More photos and a video are in the Members Area!

Seasons Greetings from Our Family!

Well, this year has holidays that are filled with blessings as well as sadness.  This year is the first year we will be celebrating the holidays without my dad, a very sad time indeed, but I will always hold dear the memories of him in my heart and in my life.  It also will be filled with many blessings, each family member, each friend, and the joy that each of them bring will bring happiness to this time as well.

Seasons Greetings (Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year) from our family to yours!



This photo is also in the Members Area

In Memory of My Dad...

From teaching me to ride a bike to telling me to start out with the same foot as him as he walked me down the aisle at my wedding, I have a lot of great memories of my dad.  Sure, there were a lot of trials that our family had, but there were many, many blessings that God blessed us with from the life of my Dad.

The hardest day of my life up to this point came on August 10, 2011 when I received a call from my mom at almost 7AM letting me know that my dad had passed away.  As I sit here and think, feel, remember, I know that nothing will ever be the same again without him.  There will never again be another "best" holiday because my dad will never again be a part of it here on this earth.  I may have good holidays, but never again a "best" holiday.  There will never again be a new photo with my dad's face in it, here on this earth.  I will never again be able to make new memories with him or hear his daily "I Love Yous" whenever me, him, and mom would talk on the phone.  He won't be the one to say the grace over holiday meals...someone else will need to do that.  But...my dad, he will live forever in my memories, in my heart, and always be a part of my life in that way.

It was (and will always be) a blessing to call him dad.

Meet Frosty and His Little Baby Frostella!

Well...we have been getting quite a bit of snow this Winter and the kids have SO wanted to go outside and play in it...so it warmed up just a little bit today (well...not really warm...but compared to what it has been) and Justin and I went outside to have some fun with the kids!  Between snowball fights and building snowmen...we all had a blast...even our two dogs had fun!!  LOL  I think some of us are even tired, because as I type this, Breann is in there on the couch asleep and the dogs are in their beds napping as well.  LOL

Anyhow...meet Frosty


And...meet Frosty and Frostella (which Breann says is our snowman Frosty's baby)...





Originally, there was just Frosty and then Breann decided to make him a little baby and name her Frostella.  LOL



Here is the creation of the snowman and snowgirl!!


Then...among our other adventures...you will notice Breann trying to hug the snowman (which we named Frosty) and Justin behind him trying to throw a snowball at me...but Frosty blocked it with his left hand and Justin ended up breaking Frosty's arm so Justin had to make him another arm.  :p



Then...Bo (our American Bulldog) kept trying to get my gloves (which I put on Frosty).  LOL

Then...Troy got mad because Frosty's mouth (which was made out of gravels) kept falling off....

But he quickly cheered up and started playing snowball fights with his dad again!  And...we all had fun with other things as well...snowball fights...Troy's bike ride, our dogs Maisy and Bo playing in the snow, etc.

 

Then...we all came inside and the kids had some hot chocolate.

Oh...and look...

The kids footprints...




My snow covered boot...



And even more unusual (than my footprint) is what my husband says is a rabbit's footprint...there are rabbits all over hopping around in the woods, I know, but  I just thought it was great I got a picture of this in the snow!!  Pretty cool, eh?!?




It was a good, snowy day!







More Photos are in the Members Area

Hide and Seek is Especially FUN...

in the DARK!  :)

Last night, Justin, the kids, and me decided to do about eight or so rounds of the game Hide-and-Seek, but with our own twists...we put our headlights on, turned off the lights, and were in the dark.  The only person with a light on, upon the time to find us, was the person doing the seeking. 

It was especially fun, and we will be doing this outside in the Summer time.  :)

Here is a photo of us just as we ended our game...silly faces, and all!!  :)












More photos are, of course, in the Members Area!

Fair 2009

We have had a blast at the county fair over the past few days...and while some photos was taken with my good camera, some were just taken when all I was carrying around was my cellphone...so some were taken by my cellphone camera...either way, I am glad I got to get these moments on camera!

From things as simple and fun to the kids eating ice cream...

To Justin getting the kids a balloon made from a clown there (the balloons were pretty cool...monkeys in a tree)...

 

To...Justin trying to climb the rock wall...



To us seeing Billy Dean in concert (which I had saw him before, but it was years ago and this time around Breann and her friend Gracie got to meet him and get an autograph)...



It was SO funny...as we were turning to leave after Breann got the autograph and picture done with Billy Dean, she turned around and said "Bye"(in kinda' a squealing/excited voice), and he kinda' mimicked her and told her bye.


Troy wasn't as much into the concert thing, but he had fun playing with his friend Hunter.



We also went to a section where they keep some animals and the kids got to see a few farm animals (and even hold a baby chick...and so did I)!

And we have even seen some roping competitions a few nights.

We have been to the fair a few times the past couple of days (and plan to go at least one or two more times before it ends, as we promised the kids...as long as the weather holds up and stuff that they could ride the rides once all of them are set up)...

Needless to say...we have had lots of fun!

More Photos Are In The Members Area!

Justins IL Brother

Justins brother, Rodney came in from IL this past weekend and then we had dinner at Justin's dads and Justin's sister Gina and her son Cameron came over for a visit as well.
Here are some of the pics. that I ended up with...

More photos are in the Members Area

Spring Is FINALLY In The Air...

Yesterday we did a bit of gardening...
(and yes that is a scratch on Troy's cheek...he fell at Breann's softball practice, but he is okay...he got up and dusted himself off and went on about his way...he is a tough little guy).

And...Breann had softball practice...where she practiced softball and even came back home and practiced some more!

These pics. are also in the Members Area!

Bringing Things Up-to-Date...

It has been a sad week...

It is with much sadness that I ask for prayers for my Mother-in-Law (and the family), as her husband (my husband's step-dad) passed away this past week. He was one that wasn't really talkative, but he was great to our kids and I am sure they will miss him greatly.

The Birthday Girls!

My Mom always thought (until just a few years ago) that her birthday was exactly one week after my niece's...my Granny (which would be my Mom's Mom) had a lot of kids so I guess she got confused on some birthdays or something...anyhow...it was just a few years ago that my Mom needed to re-order a lost birth certificate and found out that she actually shares the same birthday as my niece and of course her grand daughter...how cool is that?!? Anyhow...so...this past weekend we celebrated my niece's birthday with a party and we also got to give my Mom her gifts then as well.
So...here are the birthday girls! Happy, happy birthday Mom and Ashley!!!

I am so grateful for my family and love each of them dearly!!!
March is just a HUGE month for birthdays in our family...we just celebrated my Mom and my niece's birthday and then this coming weekend...is my husband's birthday celebration and then we also have two anniversaries this month...me and my husband got married in March and so did my parents (although they have been married a bit longer LOL).

Anywho...more pictures of this past weekend's birthday celebration are in the Members Area!

A Snowy Week...

Okay it has pretty much snowed for most of the week here and yesterday (which was Wednesday) we decided to give in and let the kids break loose in it for just a few minutes.

They got all wrapped up...




Then they went for a little ride...

Then they had snow ball fights...


Then...the kids and their dad found icicles...


Then...once we came back inside Troy decided that I should take a picture of his snowy gloved hand...so....


And...more photos of this fun snowy and cold activity are in the Members area!

Updates N Such...

There has been so much to happen since my last post around the time of Breann's birthday. Geesh...that was back in October.

In order...hmmm...let's see...

October 31, 2008...consisted of Halloween parties at the kids schools and trick-or-treating. Breann was a vampire and Troy was The Hulk. Maisy even had cute little bows in her hair.







The Halloween pics. are up for viewing in the Members Area!

Then on the 2nd of November a day came that was one of the hardest days of my life. My mom has had emphysema for years and she had a huge attack from her breathing...her lungs collapsed and by the 3rd of November she was placed on a ventilator for nine days. Me, Justin, the kids, my brother and his wife and kids, and my dad spent most of every moment at the hospital and even slept there on couches and in recliners most nights. My aunt from Richmond even came in and was a great support to me...she made it a point to always make sure we were not alone in what we were going through. But...many prayers went up for my mom and now she is walking around just fine.



Then on December 6th, Justin and I went to his company's Christmas party. We met the owner of his company along with his wife. The party was at a nice hotel and the company even paid for us to stay overnight at the hotel. Very nice!


This photo is also made viewable in the Members Area!

On Dec. 19th we went to the kids Christmas parties at school.

Troy with Santa...



More photos of Troy's Christmas party are in the Members Area!

Then it was Christmas time and we spent Christmas Eve at my husband's Mom's house. It was nice to spend the day (as well as the evening) there. We had dinner and the kids opened gifts. Breann even got to help her Nanny make blackberry cobbler.







On Christmas day we went to my parents, my brothers, and my husband's dads and opened gifts and had dinner.

A few pics. from that day...







More photos of Christmas are in the Members Area!

And...that about brings us up-to-date thusfar.

Justin and I have been together eleven years today and it has been a wonderful eleven years. I am very blessed to have him in my life.