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Christmas 2009

2010-02-20T14:33:00.000-08:00

We had 2 weeks off school for Christmas break this year and we loved it!! We spent the first week at home and the 2nd week in Missouri with my family.
One night we went out to eat and shopping with the Middleton's. We got Addi and Grant's picture taken with Santa. It cracked me up because they both just crawled up in his lap like they had been friends forever. It turned out to be a great picture, but I'm not sure what I did with it...sad but true. Anyway, as soon as Grant was finished with Santa he spotted the guns to shoot deer. He was so excited to say the least. Here are a few pics of him thinking he is shooting deer...

Also during this week Ryan Miller (one of our youth kids) came over to make Christmas candy. I think we ended up making candy 2 or 3 times before the holidays were over, and it was ALL delicious.

Christmas morning was Beau, Grant, and myself and I loved it. I really thought I might get sad because this was the first Christmas we were not going to be with any family, but it turned out awesome!!! Grant LOVED opening all of his presents, and then playing with them for the rest of the day. Beau and I enjoyed watching him opening them and playing with them the rest of the day. The Middleton's invited us over to their family lunch, which was very thoughtful and sweet, so we did still get to eat a great meal. Let's face it, if they wouldn't have invited us over we probably would have eaten sandwich's or a frozen pizza!!:)

Doodaa and Pops went to the NFR in Vegas and bought Grant and bull rider's vest and had 4 bull riders sign it!!

They also sent a car table, which he LOVES!!

After a long day of playing, here he is with his ug, pillow, and yes a pacifier! Our friends got him this "ugly" doll when we brought him home, and he for some reason here lately loves it, and sleeps with it every night.

This is just a picture of my favorite face that he makes.....

I bought him these precious reindeer pj's for Christmas eve night and he did not like them at all!! He tried to pull them off!

Another gift that he got was the nerf basketball goal. We all played this the majority of the day and still do!

We got him bathtub crayons, and if you will look on the back tub wall you will see the awesome drawing of a horse that I drew. Everytime anyone is drawing anything he wants them to stop and draw and horse, cow, and duck!

Now moving on to our gifts...I totally got a pink snuggie and LOVE it!

We had a white Christmas which was also awesome, so here is Grant super excited to go play in the snow!

The Sunday after Christmas we drove up to my brother Trent's house to spend time with my side of the family! My mom decided to change things up this year and have a fiesta, hence all the sombrero's and flowers in our hair! Here is Hope, me, and Emma wasting time while the food was being prepared.

Mindy and precious Gracelyn!!

Mom and her posse...Monica and I
The kids...Grant, Emma, Hope, Kado, Steven, Michael, Sarah, and Gracelyn

My family

Michael helping Grant open his massive horse book! I really think it weighs more then GrantThese crazy girls wanted me to beautify them, so I spent 2 hours getting them ready and these are the results...not bad

Emma took sooooo many pictures of herself with my camera, and then jumped in a lot of pictures I was taking. Grant and Kado sat here everyday to eat a banana together. They were so fun this time. The older they get the more they enjoy playing with each other. I love it!

Emma again with my camera...

Beautiful Sarah, who is looking more and more like her mother everyday! One of my families traditions is my mom gives us $10, we draw names, go to Wal-Mart to buy a gift, and then go to Pizza Hut to exchange them. This year it changed a little bit. We started at Pizza Hut, went to Wal-Mart and exchanged gifts in the Wal-Mart snackbar area, and then went roller skating!!

Todd and Julie with Gracelyn. I totally think they need another baby!!

Just a really great picture of Monica! Makes me laugh every time!

Here we are at the skating rink. Trent is 6' 6". He is not wearing roller skates and I am! How sad is that!!! I am HUGE!

I love this picture of all us about to hit the floor!

The funny thing about this picture is that mom is standing flat footed and so am I!!

Here is another picture of the boys enjoying there snack and Emma jumping in the picture!

Sweet Gracelyn and Grant watching TV!

Kado and Grant at bedtime

When Monica and I get together we tend to do A LOT of laughing, and the best part of that is that Monica cries everytime she laughs! So if you it looks like Monica's eyes are glistening, they are, with tears!!:) We told Beau to take a picture of us which turned into like 23 pictures because we kept laughing, and thought that our faces looked fat!

This is us trying to make ourselves appear thinner...

Hope and Emma wanted in on the sisterly love time...

Beau and Emma acting tough, which neither one are...

That wraps up 2009 Christmas!! Holidays always remind me how much I love my family, and how much God has blessed my life!!

Happy Thanksgiving in December

2009-12-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

First off if you didn't get a Christmas card I am sorry, I did not order enough and I am too lazy to order more. Here are the 3 pictures I used, so here's your Merry Christmas card...

I just love this vest on him! No other reason for this pic!

The week before we left for Thanksgiving, Grant got the stomache flu! He was pitiful! It broke my heart!

I was sitting next to him on the couch talking with a friend on the phone rubbing his head, and when I looked down he was out!

This is on our 13 hour Thanksgiving trip to Beau's house! Grant LOVES to listen to my ipod and watch "Boots"! He did awesome! I was so proud of how he traveled!

Once we arrived on the ranch I didn't see Grant until it was time to come back home, 5 days later!! He loved being there to say the least! The weather was perfect, and he played outside from the time the sun came up until it went down! Everyday he went out and fed Pretty Girl (horse) and the cows with Pops!

Here he is chasing cows. Dangerous? Probably!

Playing football with his cousins...

MIA (Kristy) and Beau

Colt and Grant

Jace

Doodoo (Doodaa) and Pops

After the fabulous Thanksgiving meal, we all headed to the park to play

More pictures of Grant outside, climbing a fence to check on the horse.

Eating his 15th peanutbutter ball ...

Pops reading the kids "The Polar Express". Grant NOT listening!

Pops and Doodaa with the grandkids

Rusty, Heather, Colt, and Cassie

Kristy, Joel, Jace, and Kennedi

The Polar Express train ride!!!

Sweet Thatcher! We love you!!

Beau, Grant and I left 70 degree weather, right after the train ride and drove to Amarillo to spend the night. When we woke up the next morning this is what it looked like outside!!

Halloween, Fun with Friends, and Anniversary!

2009-11-15T11:40:00.000-08:00

I know I have fallen behind AGAIN, so here I am trying to catch back up on all that has been happening!

First up Halloween...
This was Grant's second Halloween, and this year he went as the Jedi Master, Yoda! We of course went with our friends Chris, Tammy, and Addi who was a precious monkey!

He was not afraid to go door to door reminding people where to put his candy! In between houses Grant would of course repeatedly ask for Addi. Beau asked him, "Grant what are you going to say when you see Addi?" and to that he replied, "Kiss!" Then he would get out of the car yelling her name and she would say, "I'm coming Gant!" Too sweet!

At one of the houses we visited they gave him a balloon, which he loved more then the candy...
If you look closely at his face you will see where he skinned his it up running down the street in one of the neighborhoods while trick or treating!

Secondly, Fun with Friends...

I know I write a lot about Grant's love for Addison, but the words I write do not even come close to the reality of it all! Last Friday she came over for a couple hours to play! Grant was thrilled to say the least!

Here he is picking her flowers, smelling them first of course before giving them to her...

Here is our sweet friend Addi!! How could you not love that face!Snack time! We caught him climbing on top of the table to eat part of her snack a couple of times!

More expressions of love...

Here he is coming to her rescue after she wrecked into the curb!!

Last, but not least...HAPPY 9 YEAR ANNIVERSARY BEAU!!

You may be saying to yourself right now, "Why is Joni's mom and Grant with Beau and Joni on there anniversary, and more importantly why are they dining at Chuck E. Cheese" and my response to you is "Deal with it, because I have!!"

Alright it is a REALLY long story that I really do not want to relive so I will give the condensed version. It was supposed to be us and two other couples enjoying PF Changs for supper, a movie, followed by a nice hotel! It ended up being us, my mom and son at Chuck E. Cheese followed be a nice hotel! I have the BEST husband in the world! Let me just say there will be a REDO for this anniversary!!

Grant would come by the table for a quick bite and then run off to play again! He loved our anniversary!

Here he is telling mimi to hurry up so they could go play with the balls!
Beau and I making the best of the situation...

Mother of the Year

2009-10-26T11:24:00.001-07:00

For those of you out there who thought you were receiving this award, you are sadly mistaken!!! Here are the top 5 reasons I think that award belongs to me...

#1~ I allow my child to pursue his dreams! He is trying out to be the next Twilight baby! I believe he has a great chance...
(that is marker, not blood!! look also at his hands)
#2~ I think that it is a great idea to NOT check on your children during nap time! This gives them the opportunity to explore without adult supervision! I wish you could see the beautiful art work on the carpet with markers. Truely remarkable!

#3~ I allow Grant to climb, climb, climb! He can climb into his highchair, onto bar stools then onto the counters, on top of his dresser! It is great for his physical growth!

***Here are just a couple pictures of him saying "CHEESE" again that I wanted to throw in***

#4~ I always lock him out of the bathroom while I am taking a shower! It is good to teach children modesty, and that they can make it on there own if need be!

(Beau took these pics)

#5~ And last but not least, once your child is able to say the word "bath", they also are able to decide their own bath times....

So there you have it! I hope I can count on your votes for this awesome award, that is unless you think you can beat my top 5!

For the Love!!!

2009-10-11T11:09:00.001-07:00

Ok I know most of you right now are thinking "For the Love, it has taken her FOREVER to post!" and you would be correct! It is soooo hard to keep up with my job at school, at home, facebook, and blogging! I am pulled in so many directions!:) Anyway here are a few pics from this morning at church that I thought would be fun to share! Let's face it, you probably won't hear from me again until Halloween so take your time looking at this post, just let it all soak in!!!

Uncle Trent and Aunt Mindy sent Grant this blazer a couple weeks ago and he wore it this morning to church! This is his face for EVERY picture now. If you can't tell he is saying the word cheese while pretending to smile. So we show up at church at the exact time as Addi. Grant has a little bit of an obsession with her. He walks around the house all day saying her name and carrying a picture around. Sometimes at night he calls her on the phone. He loves her to say the least, and she is precious enough to put up with him.

In this picture you will notice him looking down at their hands. He had just made her change the way they were holding them to the 5 finger lock! I am not kidding, you can not make stuff like that up!

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!! Addi looks like a supermodel!

Grants poor eyes look a little sad in this pic but I still love it! Last week he had fever for 6 days and this week he had a double eye and double ear infection!

Todd, Julie, Sarah, Michael, and Steven came and stayed the weekend!! They are so good with Grant and he loves them!!!!

This is not a new trick but one I have been wanting to post for a while. When it is time to eat we simply tell Grant to go get in his chair, and this is what he does....

The Whole Month of August:)

2009-08-29T14:40:00.001-07:00

Ok so summer flew by WAY to fast!! I started back to school August 10th, but enjoyed myself up to the very last minute!
Grant and I spent quite a few days at the Club Campbell pool! Here is Addi and Kennedi ready to go jump in. Grant was supposed to be in the picture, but was standing at the door yelling "outside, outside" instead.
Here is a quick video of my amazing child who can already swim, that is with the help of about 20 different floatation devices...

Monica, a.k.a Auntie Mo/my sister, invited Grant and I to come spend our last few days of our summer vacation with her and her fam! It was fabulous! I got to go to one of their neighborhood pools everyday with Emma to become some bronze beauties!!

My brother Todd and his boys, Michael and Steven, were there two of the nights that we were! Which was fun, UNTIL....

Every adult decides they have somewhere they have to be and you get stuck with a 11, 10, 7, 3, and 18 month old to get up, dressed, fed, bags for the day packed, shoes on, and buckled in the car to take swimming. Then when you get to your mom's friends house with the amazing backyard and pool, the 3 year old is running around the edge to scared to get in while I am terrified he will fall in, and the 18 month old thinks he is actually 18 years old and can jump in and swim without assistance while the 11, 10, and 7 year olds are doing back flips and cannonballs off the diving board! Don't worry though, some more adults showed up about 40 minutes later when the 10 year broke out in hives and needed to go in for a shower, while the rest of the children chased geese in the backyard! No I'm not bitter!:)

I will say the drive to the pool made it better! We cranked the radio to some Fergie and danced the whole way there!

THE CHILDREN, a.k.a my son and wonderful nieces and nephews..

Chasing geese...

CHUCK E. CHEESE

Precious Hope was sweet enough to take Grant through the climbing tunnel slide thingy...

Monica and I after doing the dance machine game thing 3x's in a row...

Nieces, nephews, and cousins...

Kado, Hope, Brooke, Thumper, Michael, Steven, Lexi, Emma, and Grant

Road trip to Uncle T and Aunt Mindy's house, just me Emma and Grant. We made a quick stop at Target to buy some sunglasses and then decided we couldn't go empty handed to see sweet Gracelyn...

Grant talking to either Mimi or daddy, anyone to keep him from screaming....

Yes we were driving down the interstate, Monica don't freak out!

Ok for those of you who don't know I totally grew up on a farm, and am a complete farm girl! Not really, I did grow up on a farm though, but don't know much about what happened on it:) Anyway, while we were at Trent's Grant and I spent Saturday morning at my dad' s house. Grant had the BEST time! Here is dad getting Grant his little bucket of feed...

Here is Grant helping to feed the calves....

I really do LOVE horses!! I tell Beau all the time to buy me enough land so I can have a couple of horses to play with!!

You can tell in this pic that Grant is focused on something...

it would be on this tractor. Dad thought that he would enjoy riding in it, but Grant crawled up in this wagon, sat down, and kept saying "no, no, bye bye, bye bye"

He loves to climb

The outfit Emma and I got Gracelyn...She is so darn cute!!!

COUSIN THATCHER CAME TO STAY WITH US!!! I am yelling this because it was that much fun!!!!! It makes me sad to see all these pics of him because we miss him so much!

Every night he would lay with beau to watch his "shows" before he went sweetly to bed!

Mitzy sent these adorable personalized t-shirts with their names!!! Love it!!
We played A LOT outside, and always had to take a break for a capri sun and Popsicle...

On a walk at our park around the lake....Playing at the park...Chasing ducks... Last night Beau and I had a date night with our good friends Chris and Tammy! We had soooo much fun. We didn't even eat dinner until 7:30, and then went to a movie at 9:50, and got home at 1:20 in the am:)!!! To some of you that might not sound unusual, but for us it was crazy! A usual night for us is dinner around 5 (sometimes 4:30), and bed by 9! Embarrassing, yes! I love you beau and had a Great time on our date!!

This was actually just taken about an hour ago!! I got some of him smiling sweetly, but this expression seemed to match the outfit! He was dressed and ready to go look at some cows and goats with daddy at one of our friends farms! He LOVES to go out there!!

Well there you have it August wrapped up in a day!! I need to get better at this again, but at least I am doing it some!! Love you all

The WHOLE month of July!!

2009-07-25T18:49:00.001-07:00

I hope you have time on your hands, because this could take a while! Since I haven't posted at all this month, I thought I would catch up by putting everything into this one post! Good luck keeping up! Here we go...

First of all I have now been doing this blog for one year! I found out through friends that you can publish your blog, so that is what I did! Here is the finished product, and I love it!

Next is the Fourth of July! The Presley's along with some of our college kids from church came over and shot off fireworks.

Like mother like son...

Ok, since June I have been taking a cake decorating class with my friend Tammy for fun. To pass course 1 you have to make a "Test Cake", which you copy from a picture! Beau's parents, a.k.a Doodaa and Pops, came to visit the second week in July so I made my test cake to say Happy Birthday Pops. And yes I made those roses, and yes it is so hard!

Every morning Pops wanted to go work out, and I went with him 4 mornings, and Beau went with him once. Here is a pic of Beau soooo excited to go workout with Pops!

Beau and his mom Doodaa, or as Grant likes to call her, Doodoo...

Grant loves his Pops! I have tons of pictures of these two together throughout the week!

Now moving onto the third week in July, Ft. Worth! Beau was supposed to be in Honduras for this week, but because of scary things happening there they had to cancel his trip. I planned on going to spend the week with Meredith during the same week, and did NOT cancel my trip!

So here is a glance of our week with our friends Mere and Blake...

Here we are at the mall play place where it was hot and gross, but the kids had a great time!

I love this picture because it shows the difference in skin tone! B is so tan and Grant just isn't! Right after I took this picture they kissed and Blake did her sign and said the words "more, more"! Too precious!

I LOVE Mere's backyard, and so did the kids! I love this pic of Grant standing on the fence. This is the same fence he flipped over the top of into the mud on his head! The joy of having a boy!:)

Our sweet babies playing sweetly outside. Notice Blake with a tan line, Grant the same color all over...

We decided to take a little road trip to Abilene for the day. Mere was filling the car up with gas and getting me coffee, while I was sitting with the kids in the car...

My precious friend Kim was sweet enough to let us come and eat lunch and play at her house. This pic is just a glimpse of the future with these two! Hopefully Grant will have j-o-b and be able to pick up the tab!!:)

I absolutely love this picture of the boys squishing sweet Blake, and her loving it!!

This is Jake, Jack, Blake, and Grant...

Here is Kim, myself, and Mere. Kim is now pregnant with their 3rd child, and this time it is going to be a GIRL!!! I am soooo excited for you Kim!!

After lunch and play time, Mere and Blake went to take naps at her parents house, and I went and spent the afternoon with Beau's sister Kristy and her family! She has a beautiful pool, so obviously we skipped nap time and spent some time in the water...

After swim time, Kristy and Doodaa were sweet enough to watch Grant while Mere, Kim, and I went out for supper at Abuelo's!! It was so great to have a little bit of quiet girl time!!

Because Grant had NO nap, he had a little bit of a hard time settling down on our way back to Ft. Worth. Being the fab mom that I am I decided to get back there and try to comfort him. I was driving so I pulled over to let Mere take over, who was cracking up at the thought of me trying to fit in between the two car seats, but I did it! While I was back there, Grant was screaming and Blake was dancing and singing to her songs!! I couldn't help but laugh!

Here is Mere posing for a pic while driving down the interstate...

Here is a little game B and G liked to play
More pics of the kids playing sweetly outside...

Taking time to cool off...

A little T.V. time....

Right before we left on Thursday morning Grant decided to dump a WHOLE box of cheerios for Mere to clean up...

Mere and I are kind of known to take 50 too many pics of ourselves, but this time we only had this one! I wish we would have chosen one of the days that we chose to shower and get ready, but that would have been too fake:) This is truly what we look like when we are together..

I love you Mere and B!! We miss you like crazy, and wish we were neighbors!! Thanks Ryan for being so awesome and letting me take over your house!

Ok so if you know me very well you know that I am a little bit of a brat. I can own it, I am not ashamed!!:) Well I was not ready for my vacation to be over, so I called Beau and told him to meet me about an hour from home, and get a hotel so we can play in the pool, and then go shopping!! This is what my AWESOME husband did...

He found this cool hotel! Grant thought that all of the concrete balls out front could bounce, but soon found out he was wrong...

We were next to great shopping, and a Chuck E. Cheese. This was our first experience there, and we loved it!!! Grant had a great time!!!

On Saturday we went to Grant's best friend Addison's birthday party. She LOVES cows, so her mom Tammy threw an awesome barnyard party. I told her she reminded me a little bit of Kate Gosslin! Here is the cake...

She had games for the kids with prizes! Here is find a prize in the haystack...

Here is the duck pond...

She also had pony rides..She also had cowboy hats for all the kids to wear...

It was the most precious party!! We can't believe you are already two Addi!! We love you so much and are so thankful for you and your family!!

Grant's Big Boy Room

2009-06-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

Yes I know that he is only 17 months, but he is a climber! It will not be long until he is able to get out of his crib. He can already climb in and out of his port-a-crib! Anyway we have had fun starting to put his new room together, and he LOVES it! He goes in there everyday and reads books on his beanbag!

My big boy...

On father's day some friends inviting Grant and I over for lunch and swimming since Beau is in the mountains somewhere! We had so much fun! These two pics don't show him in the water, but trust me he loves to swim!!!

I have never had problems with this child wanting to sleep, EXCEPT for yesterday! For some reason he did not want to take a nap! I ended up just letting him play, and finally at 2:20 this is what happened...

I have some friends that are from Missouri like myself, and got Grant this precious Mizzou shirt...

Side note to Monica: I will post about the GREAT time we had at your house when Tammy hurries up and gives me the pictures!! It is soooo her fault! WHAT?? I know!!!

I'll Post More Later...

2009-06-17T19:07:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a week in Kansas City, but my camera wasn't working so I am waiting on a cd of pics from our friends that went with us. So for now I will just share a couple of sweet pictures.

Here is my handsome boy before going to VBS...
This is what happens EVERY night. We watch either the Backyardigans, or Wonder Pets (both awesome shows) and then go lay him in bed. Grant will lay with either Beau or I but he always wants his momma to lay him down!!:)
Ok, here is something that Grant has been doing for a while now, and everyone has told me to get it on video. He walks with his hands behind his back! It is the cutest thing...

No Title...Sorry

2009-06-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hanging out on the deck, our favorite place in the spring time:)

Ok back in 1999 I began babysitting for a precious family, the Blairs. They had two little girls, Chandler (which Beau refers to as 2nd grader or Chanandler) who was then in Kindergarten, and Caitlin who was in the 3rd grade. I quit babysitting for them in 2003.

Now fast forward to 2009 and these are the same girls, Chandler 16 and Caitlin 19!!! I know that not everyone will be blown away like I am, but time really does fly by!!! Obviously they are both beautiful, but they seriously are just as beautiful on the inside!! I love them so much and am so proud of who they have become!!

They, along with their parents Greg and Jan, came to our house on Saturday and stayed through Monday. After they left, Beau and I talked about how they are not just friends to us, but family. We love you Blair family so much and are so thankful God placed you in our lives!!!!!!

Now some random videos that I thought were cute...

Pure Talent: Whistling, running, and a little break dancing!

It's never too early to train your children to help out with things around the house, including walking the dog...

Who needs a playhouse??

Singing in the Rain

2009-05-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

My mom is leaving in a week for the summer, since her J-O-B:) will be done, so she has graciously offered to help me spring clean. So today we cleaned out our garage downstairs, and the one upstairs!! While cleaning, Grant enjoyed running around and playing outside (and no he is not wearing shoes!). All of a sudden it started pouring down rain, which only lasted for maybe 5 minutes, but we decided to let him play in it. He had the BEST time!!!

You can tell in each picture how the rain keeps coming down harder and harder...

I love this pic!!!

This sums up the whole 5 minutes!! It was sooo worth getting drenched:)

Thank you God for little boys!!

This video cracks me up b/c he tries to sip up water out of a puddle like Jessie (our dog)!!

**I do a lot of unnecessary talking in this video. Please feel free to turn down the volume!!

A Day at the Park

2009-05-20T20:15:00.001-07:00

This post is for my lovely and HONEST sister Monica. She has informed me that I need to post some more pictures that are not related to the delivery room.

On that note, Monica, Emma, and Kado came and stayed with us Sunday through Wednesday. We had the BEST time with them, as we always do!! We decided to take the boys to the park because it was beautiful outside. I tried to get pics of the boys together, but they were much too active to be still.
Here is Kado...

Monica & Emma... Grant going down the slide by himself...

Love the static in his hair:)...

After getting home, eating, and giving baths, we were hungry for some ice cream.

I love this picture of Emma and Grant!! And yes he is in his PJS!!

Tonight it was so nice outside so Grant and I hung out on the deck for a while.

Please do not comment about "Ralph". For those of you who have never been formally introduced, that is the name of my cold sore. Long story, but a lady from my church named it, and said we should put it on the prayer list!! She was joking, at least I think she was:)!!

Here are a some recent pics of sweet Gracelyn Mae!! She is soooo beautiful!!!

Anyway for those of you that were needing some new pictures, there they are. I hope your happy now:)

Gracelyn Mae

2009-05-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

If you know me and my family at all, you know that we are a little on the, let's just say different side! And my sister-in-law Mindy fits in like a champ!!:) Trent had taken a picture right before this one of Mindy by herself, and cracked up laughing because he thought she looked dead in it. So needless to say Mindy wanted a redo, which I can't say that I blame her, and this is the sweet retake of the two of them, probably about 3 hours before precious Gracelyn was born! Now here is the rest of the story of her birth....About two months ago I get a phone call from Trent and Mindy saying they needed to ask me something, and both wanted to be on the phone when they did. I freaked out a little, because I really was preparing myself for them to say "We want mom!!" and I would have to tell them "NO!" :) Anyway, that wasn't it at all! They told me that they could have one other person in the delivery room with them, and said they really wanted me to be that other person!!! I immediately starting crying, I think harder then I have ever cried before. Beau ran in the room thinking something really bad had happened! This came way out of left field for me. I never thought I would ever get to experience the birth of a child, and for them to ask me to be in the room and share in that moment with them, was a true honor!

So...this past Wednesday at 2:30 am, mom comes and tells us it is time to go because there is a baby on the way! We arrived at the hospital around 8 am, and Mindy was so sweet to let us all come back to the room. When we were about to walk into the room Mindy started having a contraction, and if you know Beau at all you know how precious and sweet he CAN be:), and he teared knowing she was in pain. He and Grant only stayed for a little while, and then went to my sister's house so Grant could sleep. So that left me, mom, Monica, and Trent with Mindy.

Here is Monica giving Mindy a foot massage to try to ease the pain...

Ok now fast forward to around noon. The nurse said that she was at a 9 and that she was going to have her lay on her side and flip her every 15 minutes for the next hour. So the first set of 15 minutes Monica and I decide to go grab a bite to eat in the cafeteria. Right after we bought our food, mom calls us saying she is ready to push. Monica and I begin to run through the hospital, eating our food, shoving it in the trash can, and making it just in time!! Then mom and Monica had to go to the waiting room while I got to stay:) hee hee hee!!

So Jessica, their awesome nurse, is telling me what to do to help Mindy and preparing me for what they are about to do, and I am ready...NOT!!! Mindy begins her first set of 3 pushes, counting to 10, and of course does not breath while pushing, and me not knowing it stopped breathing with her! After about 30 seconds of not breathing, I begin to feel light headed. I felt so bad, and didn't want anyone to know, but at the same time didn't want to fall on top of Mindy, so I try to tell Trent quietly that I need to step to the side to get some air. Long story even longer, I end up against the wall sitting for a while. Once I thought I was feeling better, I realized I wasn't and had to sit on the couch. I ended up being WORTHLESS in the delivery room and felt horrible about it. Later when we were able to talk about it, Trent and Mindy were so precious and said that they asked me there to be a part of the experience, not for me to do anything. That made me feel better, but please, who passes out from NOTHING while someone else is in extreme pain, I DO, I DO:)

Anyway here is Mindy and I reenacting the day before...

Here is Monica, Mom, Trent, Gracelyn, and me...

Precious Gracelyn Mae...

Here is the group that sweet Gracelyn is now a part of (minus Kado, he was sleeping)! She makes number 8!!!!

We love you Gracelyn so much, and are so thankful and blessed to have you in our family!!!

Welcome Ozzie

2009-04-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

Here is the new addition to our family...Ozzie the Octopus!! He makes bath time so much fun, and colorful all at the same time!! No that is not pee...

Thank you Doodaa for the awesome Texas jersey!!! We love it, and we love you!!

Sidenote: I love all the cute shorts they have for boys this summer!!

The warm weather is getting us so pumped for the lake!!! Here is Grant's first life jacket. He loves to put it on and wear it around the house.

Well Tammy's husband, Chris, and Beau were both gone again this weekend, so Grant and I went and stayed with Tammy and Addison. We had such a good time! Grant loves to go over there because they have a ton of space to run and play!

Here Addison is collecting rocks in her cute pink basket, and Grant is trying to get Thunder's (horse) attention!

This is the view from the front of their house! Beautiful!!!

There really isn't anything exciting going on here, just super busy! We miss and love you all!!

I decided blogging is more fun then facebooking!!

2009-04-13T13:52:00.001-07:00

I like facebook ok, but it is overwhelming!! I much rather spend time on a post of little one:)

First of all Happy Easter to everyone!! I hope you had a great weekend, as we did!!

Ok I don't know about you, but in these next two pictures Grant looks like he is 3 years old, instead of just 14 months!!! Either way he looks good:)Alright I have never had so many people tell me how bad of a mother I am until yesterday. Doodaa, Kristy, and Heather hold your ears. I did not do an Easter basket for Grant. I had the best intentions, but never got around to doing it.So last night at Wal-Mart Beau and I got him a carrot bat and a ball that cost $1 to make ourselves feel better:) And by the way the ball is already lost!On Saturday our best friend Addi came and spent the day with us while her grandparents moved into a house in our neighborhood!! Here is Grant showing off how cool he looks in his new shades. And I'm not going to lie, I totally think Addi loved them:)Now here is Addison sitting so sweetly in the corner eating her cookie. I was flipping through the channels as any good babysitter and mother would do, and when I turned around she was gone. I really did freak out a little bit. But thankfully she was ok and this is what happened (plus a some more fun videos from the day)...
Video #1 Highchair thief

Video #2 Your feet make me happy

Video #3 Something we like to call...Happy Feet

Video #4 Story Time Watch how many times she hits him in the face with the pages:)

Facebook is taking over my life

2009-04-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

Ok I have been having people BOTHER me all the time b/c I don't have a facebook. And we all know how I am with peer pressure...not good!! Anyway, long story to say I finally signed up for it, and am addicted! I don't really understand why I am so addicted because I really don't understand it all. I think I just love being nosey!
Anyway just in case anyone was missing me that's where I've been. Hopefully I will come back soon, but you never know:)

Spring Break 2008...2009

2009-03-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

I love spring breaks!! Last year during our spring break Rusty, Heather, Colt, and Cassie were spending the week with us. I remember they had gone out as a family to do something on Tuesday and I just "happened" to be home to receive the phone call!!! I love the way God works:) Here is the rest of that story...

On the previous Friday, before the Rusty clan had arrived, I spent the afternoon over at my friend Wendi's house crying, longing for a child! That was the first time that I had really let myself be that upset. I remember coming home yelling at God and telling him how unfair I thought it was. It was like He let me have it out with him and then gently held me and gave me a peace that only He could give. I felt it in my gut, I know that sounds weird:), that He was going to give us the child we were supposed to have! I just didn't know it was going to turn out this great:)

The following Sunday at church I was praying and I felt like God led me to read Philippians 4:6 which says..."Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the God of peace, whichs transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." What was cool was about 3 min. later the preacher had everyone turn to this passage during his message:)

Anyway, the key part of this verse that I focused on was, with thanksgiving! My prayer changed from that moment on. I gave my request to God, I want a child, but now added, but thank you for doing whatever you are doing that I don't even know, and can't even see. I know that you are in control and that you have a plan for our family. Thank you for who You are! It was amazing the peace and joy that I would have after saying that prayer! I repeated it all day Sunday, all day Monday, and then on Tuesday I was home alone and went to my room to read and pray. I had just began to say my prayer when the phone rang. It was our agency telling me that this was THE phone call. They wanted me to go to Beau's work so that they could do a conference call with us about a precious 6 week old little boy! Now when people find out that you are wanting to adopt you start hearing about babies all over the place. So up to this point we had already had 3 babies fall through our fingers, which is very difficult, so we went into this phone call guarded yet excited!! (This was the first baby that we had heard about through our agency)

After learning all about this precious baby boy on this Tuesday afternoon, we asked "Is there ANY way that this could fall apart and not go through??" and their reply was, "Only if you decide you don't want him. There is No other way!!" Then our next question was "When can we get him?" and to that they said, "He is on spring break vacation right now with his foster family, (who we love!!) and will be back Sunday evening, so you can come get him on Monday!" You should have seen Beau searching for his calendar! He began stumbling over his words, "You mean this Monday the 24th?" and to that they said "YES!" We couldn't believe it! We went from no baby to having a baby within 6 days!

That night Heather and I primed the nursery, and I painted it the next day. We went and got our crib from Wendi's on Thursday, our friend Jim came and picked up some furniture we wanted painted on Friday, and we left Saturday morning for Texas. I think we averaged about 4 hours of sleep each night. We would just lay there and talk and laugh, so full of excitement and joy! Everyone kept telling us to get our rest now, but we didn't care! And looking back we still don't! I loved having that time with Beau in the quiet hours of the night and early morning sharing in our joy and fears!

Anyway fast forward now to Spring Break 2009! Here is our awesome boy Grant and his cousin Kado, at my brother Todd's house.

Here is Sarah, Emma, and Steven in the perfect climbing tree!! I love this tree!!

Is their anything better then family?? Here is everyone outside playing a somewhat friendly game of football:)

While we were all lounging around, Grant decided to play a little something he put together for us:) I love watching his little fingers push one key at a time...brilliant child!!

Here we are finally back home. During the week Grant had busted both his top and bottom lip, then fell on the concrete scrapping his forehead and nose, and fell down about 6 steps, but all in all it was a great week:)

Grant would like to say..."Happy Birthday Doodaa and Kennedy"...& "Happy St. Patrick's Day"

2009-03-17T19:40:00.001-07:00

First off
I would like to say
This is the first poem
I have ever written...ok!!

Today many of you
Will take the time to celebrate
St. Patrick's Day by wearing green
And other fun things that are great

But I'm here to tell you
This day is very special to me
Because its my Doodaa's birthday
That she shares with my cousin Kennedy

I always know I will have lots of fun
When Doodaa is around
And if I squeal or squeak at all
Kennedy will be right there to quiet me down

I do not get to see my Doodaa
As often as I would like
She sends me boxes of goodies
And when I get older maybe she will send me a bike

Anyway to Doodaa and Kennedy
Happy Birthday
And to everyone else
Have a Happy and safe St. Patrick's Day:)

Love,
Grant

First Date and First Sleep Over...???

2009-02-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

I know that the title sounds a little misleading, but it is the truth. For Valentine's Day Grant asked his best friend Addison out for dinner and she and her parents agreed:) He thought it was only appropriate to buy her a chocolate rose and buy her supper since he is a gentleman!! Here is Addison, Grant, and Elmo outside of the restaurant...ps she loved the rose!!

First sleep over...
Beau and Chris were out of town last Friday so Tammy and Addison came and spent the night at our house. We ALL had the best time!! Addi and Grant played together so sweetly and then relaxed in front of the TV before bed:) Precious!!!

Thursday we gave my friend Rachel a baby shower at school. I called the same awesome lady that made Grant's birthday cake to make one for the party. I think she did another amazing job. I loved this cake...it made me wish for a girl in the future:) Oh and she teaches cake decorating classes, so I am signing up for the summer. Go ahead and place orders with me now ladies!!! I will soon be making awesome cakes as well!!:)

Grant loves to play outside! He gets just a little frustrated when we make him come inside! In this first pic you can see him leaning against the deck. Usually what he does it sits on that little ledge by his knees. He looks so sweet!!

My friend Wendi got this shirt for Grant for his birthday and we LOVE it!!

Doodaa and Kennedy, this new background is for you!!

Happy Birthday Steven

2009-02-21T14:29:00.001-08:00

Today is Steven's Birthday

He is now 7 years old

He is my oldest brother's youngest

Now here is his story retold

He was born, I don't know

I'd say around a normal 7 pounds

He reminded me of my older brother Trent

Which meant he would grow with leaps and bounds

He was the cutest baby

When he'd smile his eyes automatically closed

But growing to 26 pounds at 6 months

I guess that's just how it goes

As you can see he is a very handsome boy

And is now of a normal size

The bad thing about my stupid camera

Is that it gave him red eyes:)

Anyway we are so thankful for Steven

Our family wouldn't be complete without him

He truly makes a room light up

When it was originally very dim

He has such a fun loving spirit

And always something funny to say

But today I just wanted to take the time

To wish Steven a Happy Birthday!!:)

We love you Steven

I can't wait to see your new bike that you took for a test drive in Target today:)

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

Grammy was gone all last week, and will be gone all this week, and we miss her so much. Thankfully this wonderful, AWESOME, lady from our church who has a daycare in the basement of her house was willing to take Grant in. Because of that he got to experience his first Valentine's party:)

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!!

Happy Birthday Beau

2009-02-10T19:02:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, I know Monica! I am two days late on getting Beau's birthday poem posted, but I have it now so here it goes!!

It's amazing how time flies

It seems like forever ago when we met

You were 21, I was 19

Together we made a set

You would throw rocks at my dorm window

Sweet poems you would disperse

You even sent me a dozen roses

With a card that read "Congrats you are the first"

You love to tell everyone where we met

You tell them it was in a bar

You will do anything to get a reaction

Even if from the truth it is far

You make me laugh harder then anyone

I know that doesn't shock you

When you read this you will say

"Oh that is definitely true!"

I love your sense of humor,

Your sweet spirit and your smarts

I love that you are my best friend,

Grant's daddy, and a man after God's own heart

So Happy Birthday Beau Baby

You are officially thirty-one

I love you I love you I love you

And now my poem is done!!

Happy Birthday

Happy 1st Birthday

2009-02-01T15:14:00.001-08:00

I took a picture of Grant as we walked into his room this morning. He is looking at Beau while he is singing Happy Birthday to him:)His cake...

We had Grant's party at our church activity building. Here are my precious friends that helped me so much. Kim, Lisa, Mom, and Tori

Ok this is a sad looking pic of the three of us but there were about 15 cameras on us and we didn't know where to look and when to smile, but I had to put a family photo...

Grant was not to interested in his cake. This is about as messy as he got. He did love playing with the cookie topper.

He did however love the balloons...

These are a few of our youth boys that Grant adores, and we don't know why:)jk We love these guys!!

Ignore my facial expression and look at Grant. For the first part of opening gifts he walked around with his balloons. For the second half he sat in one of his gift bags. Thankfully sweet Addison was there to help open!

My precious mother!!!!! She helped, helps, and is helping us all the time. She does so much and we are sooooo very thankful for her:)

Ok as you all know I write poems for birthdays now, so here is Grant's...

I got the call at 2:30

One Tuesday afternoon.

I immediately called your daddy

Telling him a baby we may have soon!

By 4 o'clock on that same day

We learned from Kelly and Bob all about you.

You were 6 weeks old, 13 pounds

And already slept the whole night through!!(Yippee)

We were told we could come get you

That following Monday

We could and would have come sooner

But you were on a vaca!

That Monday took forever

But did finally come

We can't even express in words

How our hearts with joy and love were overcome

We loved hearing your every breath

And noises you would make

Every night we would listen

And lay there wide awake

All these memories

Feel like just yesterday

But today is February 1st

So Happy FIRST Birthday!!!

We love you so much Grant and enjoy you more and more everyday!! We hope you had a great day, as we had a great time planning and spending it with you:)

Ice Ice Baby

2009-01-30T18:40:00.001-08:00

My Week...

Monday- Got out of school at 1:30 due to inclement weather

Tuesday- No school and this is what it looks like outside... Tuesday night- Lost power at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday- No school, no power, played all day with Grant:)

Wednesday late morning- Took everything out of refrigerator and freezer. Grant was gracious enough to help out since his daddy was at work and he was the man left in charge!

This is where we stored the refrigerated food...

Wednesday night- Beau cooking us supper over the fire. I know you can't really tell in this picture, but those of you that know him know how proud and excited he was to do this:)

This is what it looked like in our house Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night...Thursday- No school, no power, no fun!! It is beginning to get really boring!

Friday- No school, and power came on at 10:30 a.m.!!! Hooray!!!

Here is Grant helping us bring the food back into the refrigerator...

This is what one of our trees looks like in our backyard. Driving through our town it looks like a war zone. Huge trees and limbs are covering the streets. Power lines and poles were knocked down. Tuesday night during the storm we kept seeing flashes of light that later we found out were transformers blowing up.

We are so thankful that it is over and the sun is shining again. I hope everyone else had a great week and stayed warm:)

First Haircut & Birthday Invitation

2009-01-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

Ok I ordered Grant's birthday invitations off of my new favorite website (thanks to Amber), http://www.etsy.com/ . I shop on it ALL the time for personalized stuff. Anyway I thought these turned out cute and wanted to share.

Usually people do before and after pictures, but since I am still not a pro at blogging you are going to have to settle for the after then before then during pictures:)

Grant got his first haircut yesterday and was awesome! He sat up so big in his chair and stuffed his mouth full of teddy grahams.

Here is what Grant looks like now...a 3 year old:)

Now the before...all I have to say is party in the back!

Sitting so sweetly while Ms. Tori cut his hair...

I hope all is well with everyone.

Sidenote to Mitzy: Your blog will not let me make a comment, but please know I am so proud of how much you have been posting lately:) Thatch looks awesome with his new haircut! Love it!!

Just Because...

2009-01-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

I have nothing to say, just thought this was a sweet pic. P.S. he is not one yet. I had to take a picture of him in this shirt for his birthday invitation.

Praise God from Whom ALL Blessings Flow

2009-01-06T14:30:00.000-08:00

Doodaa got the results back from her cancer tests and they came back AWESOME! Her cancer was isolated to that one spot on her breast and nowhere else in her body! She is going to have an outpatient surgery on Monday to clear out more tissue and will check her lymph nodes. God is so good!! Thank you all for your prayers, they are much appreciated:) Grant turned 11 months last Thursday! Time is flying. He looks so big in his big boy chair at the table. He loves to eat meals together as a family. The only annoying thing is that he rather eat off our plate then his own, but I can't really be upset b/c I do that all the time:)!!

Well he did get one of his wishes for Christmas, his own real toy box. He loves it. Pops made this for him with a lid that holds open and slowly closes! We love it so much it ranks right up there with the radio flyer!!

Here are just a couple of funny pics that made me laugh and so I thought I would share...

Ok if this doesn't make you sad I don't know what will. Today my mom called me at school b/c Grant was wheezing really bad. We took him immediately to the doctor where he had to have blood taken, x-rays, and a breathing treatment all of which he did not care for. Turns out he has RSV, but thankfully we do not have to go to the hospital. We just have to give him his breathing treatments at home.

It's ok, I shed a tear too:(

My First Christmas...and A Prayer Request

2008-12-30T18:56:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Texas on the Saturday before Christmas for a much needed 10 day vacation. Beau grew up on a ranch, and his house is literally in the middle of a pasture. His driveway is a long dirt road so it is tradition for the kids to get out of their seat belts and drive up to the house. Here is Grant's first time to drive, and he is just a little proud of himself:)Prayer Request:
When we arrived everyone was outside waiting for us, which is not unusual, but this time everyone seem to be faking their smiles. Beau and I both felt sick at our stomaches and began to worry because his Uncle Bruce (which you can read more about in Mitzi's Memoirs) had his kidney removed two days prior due to a football sized tumor, which was cancerous. Thankfully Bruce was fine, but Doodaa (aka Beau's mom) was not. She had just received the news that she has breast cancer.
She went today to have a bunch of scans and tests to see if there are anymore hot spots. I am asking everyone to PLEASE pray that there are none!! Pray that the least amount of surgery will have to be done with no chemo or radiation! She will find out her tests results when she meets with her surgeon next Tuesday.

God is so good!! I love my extended family so much! In spite of the bad news we were still able to laugh and have a good time together.

Here is Beau driving "RC" which if you look at his face he quite possibly might have the same smile as Grant in the first picture.

Doodaa let Grant open a gift before Christmas so he would have something to play with and it was a hit!!!

Mit, Jeff, Thatcher, and Dusty all came down to Mimi's and then out to the ranch!! We love to see them!! We are planning on going to the beach this summer together and we can't wait!!!!!

Doodaa and Pops with all the grandkids...

Grant, Cassie, Colt, Kennedy, and Jace

A little "Risky Business"...

On Saturday we left and went to Abilene where we got to see some friends. This is Chandler and Caitlin who I babysat when I was at ACU. They were in Kindergarten and 2nd grade. Now Caitlin is a freshman at Tech!!!!! They are both beautiful girls inside and out!!! I miss them (and Jan) so much and love them even more:)

Then our friends Aaron and Kim invited us over Sunday evening. They have two boys Jake and Jack, who are absolutely precious. Kim and I both think Jack and Grant could be brothers. I loved getting to watch him play with other little boys his age.

Poor Grant had a runny nose and just looks delirious in all these pics. Here is Jake, Jack, and Grant...

Anyway I hope you all had a blessed holiday and an even better New Year:)

Sidenote for Kristy: FOR THE LOVE
and remember two of us makes 1 Heather...son ...:)

All I Want for Christmas is...

2008-12-15T10:26:00.000-08:00

#1. A new toy box. I mean what do you think people, really a pampers box, come on!! #2. A cell phone that works. This was fun for about a minute, until I realized the buttons don't even work!!

#3. My FOUR top teeth. That's right I have 4 top teeth coming in right now!! And just a side note: Sorry Mommy and Daddy for the little bit of extra screaming. You just gotta understand, these things HURT!!

#4. Some money. Look I'm only 10 months old, I'm not asking for a lot. Maybe just a couple dollars for some ice cream!

#5. A white Christmas. I think I would make a darn cute snow angel.

#6. Directions for this thing. I mean really, why would they put a closing at one end!!!

#7. Some new running shoes. I am not kidding people, I am fast:)

#8. My own cleaning supplies. I am really good at helping out around the house!!

#9 and #10...

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I can't wait to come to TEXAS and spend time with family and friends!!

I love you all,
Grant

Happy Anniversary (&Thanksgiving)

2008-12-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

First off I have to say "Happy Anniversary" to my brother Todd and his wife Julie. You guys are the coolest, and might I say very photogenic:) I know, I know, I know that Thanksgiving was forever ago and Christmas is practically tomorrow, but I just wanted to show off my awesome family! Here is the whole gang. I am the youngest of four. That's right I am the baby, and if you know me, you know I play that role to the fullest:)
Here are the names starting back row first...
Beau, Grant, Todd (brother), Julie, Trent (brother), Mindy, Brad, Kado, Monica (sister), me, Stephen, Hope, Sarah, Emma, and mom.

One afternoon while everyone was still here mom took the older grandkids to a 3-d movie, and here Grant is sporty those glasses...

Trent and Mindy are expecting a baby in April, so that makes 8 kids on my side. On Thanksgiving Day we were saying that the really cool thing is that we all are not finished having kids, so it is quite possible we could have 8 more!!! Anyway God is so good, and I am so very thankful for my awesome family!! Love you all:)

Happy 10 Months

2008-12-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Grant turned 10 months!! I really did take this pics yesterday, but my internet was down and so I didn't get to post them on time:(

Time seems to be flying by. Here is a top 10 list of things that he is doing now that he is a mature 10 months:)

1. says Bible, momma, dada (but he calls Beau, Beau!!), bye bye

2. can moo like a cow

3. walking everywhere

4. screams (not because he is crying, just to make a high pitch sound), gets in trouble for it, and then looks at you and screams again. His favorite time to make this sound is during communion at church. Never fails!!

5. loves to eat turkey, chocolate, green beans

6. loves to jump in his bed

7. has two teeth

8. has his first ear infection with high fever

9. loves to pull up on other little kids and knock them down

10. BEWARE of this one... loves to play in the toilet if parents are stupid enough to leave door open and lid up:)

I love and like Grant more and more everyday! I am so blessed to have him as my son! He not only is a great kid, but I think he is a cool kid and I love every moment with him. Happy 10 months ba, I love you:)

A Weekend with the Girls

2008-11-24T18:11:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my friends Tammy, Dione, and I took a MUCH needed getaway to Kansas City. We stayed with my awesome sister Monica, and had a blast!! Here are a few pics from Christmas in the city...

We left Monica's at 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning, and arrived back at her house at exactly 10:00 p.m. We would have stayed out later, but the restaurants were beginning to close! Normal people would have been worried about the stores closing, but not us, we went for the food:)

Monica and me

Our first food stop, Bucca di Beppos (sp?) on the plaza

2nd stop, The Cheesecake Factory, still on the plaza

3rd stop, Abuelos at Zona Rosa
(Yes people, all in the same day, hence the same clothing!!)

We left early Sunday morning and brought back my precious niece Emma. Her and Tammy complained the ENTIRE trip home about being cold:)

Anyway, that was my weekend. I know you are all surprised not to see pics of Grant but don't worry they are coming soon with more videos. He is walking everywhere now!!!!!!

3 Words... Walking, Cucumber, Black-Eye

2008-11-20T15:44:00.000-08:00

What do these 3 words mean, well let me explain. I came home today on my break because I had forgotten some papers. When I walked in I was greeted by a tough looking little boy that just so happened to be my son. His right eye had a bad scratch on it that was all puffed up, and from a distant looked like a black eye. It is a long story, let me shorten it by saying we might have to fire the help!:) Sorry Grammy. Anyway, so "the help" gave him a fat juicy cucumber to try to make amends. Then to prove that you can't keep a good man down he decided to continually walk around the living room, with cucumber, black eye and all!!

I hope you enjoy the pics and videos:)

Walking with Lionel

2008-11-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Random...
Finally a recent picture of my precious nephew Michael:) I think I love this hat a little too much, because I make him wear it even with shorts.

I thought I would post him walking with Lionel and show you how speedy he can be. Also you can see at the very end how he is taking steps and thinking more and more about walking:) EEK!

"Happy Halloween," said the sock monkey to the cow.

2008-11-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

Here is Grant and Addison sitting so sweetly... Here Addison is wanting to kiss Grant, but he just didn't feel like kissing right now...

My sweet sock monkey...

Today Grant is 9 months and I can't believe it!!!! He is starting to say the m sounds, so he crawls around saying "mom,mom,mom,mom,mom" which I love. He prays before he eats, sometimes screaming for his food while his hands are clasped:) He stands up without holding onto anything, and has taken 3 steps, but is by no means walking (thank goodness)!!! We found out while we were in Texas last week that he is very loud. He just gets so excited and has a high pitch squeal that really only dogs should be able to hear! But he still is a GREAT baby!! We love and enjoy every moment we are blessed to spend with him!!

This is why my paper is wrinkled...

I think you might be able to actually see his teeth in this pic...

Ok this picture I just wanted to know if you can tell how big his thighs are!! Every time we put pants on him, it takes a few trys to pull them over these babies:)

And here are just a couple of pics from this morning of him playing...

Thank you Doodaa and Pops for his adoption and Halloween prize!! We love you so much and miss you more:)

OCD...I just couldn't take it...

2008-10-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

Ok I just got done publishing the previous post and just could take it that these pics did not publish, so here are more pics...

More Boo at the Zoo..

Grant and his cousin Thatcher..

Kason and Grant

We of course took our own self timer picture, that is why it is so unbelievably awesome:)

A Week Full of Firsts...

2008-10-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

Ok first of all my computer kept putting these pictures in a different order then I had placed them and it is frustrating me. Also I saw Anna and Kason, Mit and Thatcher, and have pics from both, but for some reason my blog will not put them up. I will post on that later, but know that I love ya'll. Moving on...

#1 First Youth Retreat...

Here are a few pics from Grant's first youth retreat. We stayed the weekend in some cottages down on the river. He was so great the whole weekend. The kids loved that he came:)

#2 First teeth...

That's right TEETH! His two bottom teeth came in at the same time, and when I was looking at this pic at home I could see them really well, now I am not so sure, but believe me they are there.

#3 First trip to the zoo...

We went to Boo at the Zoo with Mere, Ryan, Blake, Heather, Jonathon, Layne, and Bowen. It was so fun:)

Blake was the sweetest chicken:)

Grant didn't have his whole sock monkey outfit. I had packed his little hat to show our friends, so that's all poor Grant had.

This picture is one of those that is randomly placed. I just thought it was cute, no real first.

#4 First trip to the courthouse...

Yesterday Grant's adoption was finalized!!! It was the coolest day. Both Beau and I said it felt kinda of like a wedding ceremony. Anyway here we are with the most precious judge and our case worker Kelly who quite honestly feels like family to us. She was with Grant the day he was born, and that is very special to me. We love her and appreciate her more than words could ever express.

More pics from the zoo that were placed weird...
We just want to say Thank you to all of you who prayed for us and our future children. God is so good, and not only blessed us with amazing family and friends, but now has placed in our care for his glory, Grant:)

I Don't Know What to Title This...

2008-10-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

I love that I always get the best video when my house is a mess, and my child is only wearing a diaper and one sock, but what can I say, thats how we roll in Bennett casa!! Just wanted to show what fun things Grant is doing. He really does know how to wave bye bye but for some reason just wanted to clap. OH!! This morning before I left for work my mom gave Grant one bite of food and then said, "Oh Grant we forgot to pray!" Grant then claps three times and then clasps his hands together and sits very still. It was the most precious thing ever!!:)

Happy Birthday Michael

2008-10-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

ok. I know that Michael may look anywhere from 2 years old to 4 years old in these pictures, but he just turned 10 on Sunday. That's right double digits!! I really have seen him since he was 4, but these were all the pics I could find. The last one is of him and his brother Stephen at Trent and Mindy's wedding 2 years ago:) I will be seeing him in 3 weeks and will take LOTS of pics then, but these will have to do for...

You've guessed it!! Another birthday poem:)

Michael was born on October the twelve

The day before his mom's birthday

Sarah was so excited to have a little brother

And we were all thrilled to have a boy on the way!

Since he could hold a ball

He has ALWAYS had one in each hand

It makes his parents oh so proud

That he will never be in the marching band (like his uncle beau)

He plays Baseball, Soccer, Football,

And makes time for golfing too

His favorite thing to watch on TV

Is his favorite college team Mizzou

He is the best oldest nephew

Both Beau and I would have to say

So we love you more than anything Michael

And hope you had a great birthday!!

My Top 10...by Grant

2008-10-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

#10...
I love the Texas Longhorns!! Today is the Red River Shootout, and I don't know about you, but I am pumped!! Hook 'em Horns!! #9...
If you haven't tried this you should. Put everything possible in your mouth!!! It is so fun to feel the textures, and see how close you can come to choking all the different objects in your house!

#8...

My Radio Flyer!! I love to go on walks, especially with friends, in this thing. It ROCKS!!!

#7...
My best friend Addison! She tells the BEST stories!!

#6...

I like to reach for the unreachable. I feel it is never too early to set goals for yourself!! Watch out Michael Phelps, I'm coming for 9!

#5...

I love to smile and scrunch my face at the same time. I find that it makes others around me start making funny faces, and then I laugh at them. It is a fun game!!

#4...

I just discovered how to pull the vents out of the floor. I could sit and do this ALL day!!

#3...
I love to clean ears!! I feel that it is not done enough, or maybe just not done properly, so I feel it is my job to try to finish what someone had tried to do first.

#2...

I love to help unload the dishwasher even when it is full of dirty dishes! My favorite rack to unload is of course the top rack. I simply stand on the door of the dishwasher, which daddy keeps worrying that I am going to break while mommy just laughs and thinks its funny:)
The cool thing about this trick is that I am so sneaky and fast that no one even realizes I am up there until after the fact:)

#1...

I LOVE to give kisses to the ones I love most, my mommy and daddy!!!
Well there you have it my top 10 at 8 months! I'm growing fast so I am sure it will change soon! I love you all and miss you! Can't wait to see you at the end of this month Doodaa and Pops!!!!:)

I much rather read a picture book!!

2008-10-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

I really wish that I was blessed with great writing skills like ALL the blogs I read, but I much rather let you know what is going on in my life through pictures. I do have to start out by saying first Happy 8 month Day to Grant:) His cousin Thatcher sent him these awesome UT clothes!

I don't know how well you can tell in this pic, but Grant has one knee down and one knee up. This is our favorite way that he sits...

Here is Grant packing for his trip to Kansas City to see his Aunt Monica, Uncle Brad, and crazy cousins Hope, Emma, and Kado:)
Friday night Brad and Monica had a charity event to go to so mom and I kept the kids. Before we left we thought it would be fun to have them pose like they were leaving for prom:)

Kado playing with his favorite toy...trucks! Grant playing with his favorite toy...the remote!!

Here is me in the kitchen with Monica pretending to help with supper...

KADO
HOPE
EMMA

Emma asked if she could play with my hair while Monica and I were talking. I of course said sure and this is the masterpiece she came up with all by herself:) I see a great future for this girl!!

Oh yeah! While we were at Monica's Grant decided to crawl up the stairs by himself!

So Little Time, But So Much To Talk About!!

2008-09-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Ok before I begin catching you up on everything, let's take a moment to look at a blurry picture of Grant... Please tell me who or what you think he looks like in this picture!! I promise, at least I think, it won't hurt my feelings. I want to hear what you have to say before I let you know what I think. Anyway moving on...

WELCOME KADO!!!! This is my new nephew Kado!! Brad was out of town last weekend so Monica and the kids came to stay, and I FINALLY got to meet him!! We had so much fun with him. He LOVED Lionel and rode him everywhere!!

While Monica and I took care of the boys, Beau took care of the girls:)
Guess who else got to meet Kado...The Smith's!!! They were randomly driving through our town on their way to their vacation destination and stopped by for a couple hours. Then we met back up with them for supper one evening. It was sooooo great to see them and catch up. They have such an awesome family. Mary Alice and Major are really cool kids. We really enjoyed seeing them and hope we don't go as long between visits from now on!!

Grant went to his first football game!! At first he was a little nervous with all the loud noise, but he had a great time, and looked precious:)!

I love getting packages in the mail!!! This week we got Grant's luggage and we love it. You can't really see the color very well, but suprise, suprise it is burnt orange, which leads me to our next package in the mail...
UT windsuit!! How cute is this!! Thatcher sent this to Grant and he loves it! Beau is so excited for him to wear it on Saturday!
Well that's about everything! I hope you all have a great rest of the week and weekend!! Love ya:)

Happy Birthday Emma!!! (a day late)

2008-09-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

Since Emma ALWAYS wants to have a "sing off" with me, I thought it would be fun to write her poem to the tune of..."I Will Survive"

At first she was small

She was oh so sweet

But now she's grown and beautiful

We worry about the boys she'll meet.

We spend oh so many nights

Thinking 'bout the times we've spent with her

There's many tears

From a lot of laughter.

And now she's back

From being out of state

She's now that awesome little person

To hang out with,

We just can't wait.

I now am running out of words

So I better cut this short

Happy Birthday

And I hope you don't end up in court:)

EMMA ROO:) LOVE YOU

***I know people I really should have been a song writer! Dang! I am totally in the wrong profession!!

Up, Up, And Away!!!

2008-09-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

Beau was so sweet this morning and played with Grant while I slept:). About 9:30 I heard a strange noise outside my window. I yelled out to Beau, or yelled at him however you want to word it:), that I thought I heard a hot air balloon. He of course thought I was crazy, but looked out the back deck windows, and to his surprise, and mine there were hot air balloons. That's right, plural!! There were several. It was awesome!! Beau started talking to the people in this first balloon and told them we wanted a picture, and they said to go to the front yard. This is what we saw...(Oh, and I might have still been in my pj's)

This picture was taken off our back deck...

I of course can never post without showing Grant. This is his favorite place to play while I am putting away groceries. And yes those are John Deer socks he is wearing, and yes I know they don't match! I came home at lunch one day this week. When I walked in I saw Jessie first and she was soaked!! I thought my mom had left her outside in the pouring rain, but then I saw Grant and mom and they look just like my wet dog!! Mom is laughing telling me how she let Jessie out and she ran away. The only shoes nearby were mine, I wear an 11 and she wears an 8. In the pouring down rain my mother was running after the dog, carrying the baby, and wearing shoes that kept slipping off! I don't care who you are, that is a great story:)

Here are some cute pics...

Watch Out London Here We Come!

2008-09-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

Ok if you remember my post from this morning, yes I know two posts in one day out of control, I was wishing Grant a Happy 7 Month-Day. Well it is now 6:15 pm and this is what he was doing in his room. He was playing with Lionel the Lion just like any other day, except today he started WALKING with Lionel!!! I yelled for Beau to come in, and I went to grab the camera. Of course when we get back in there he wouldn't do it. That is why you see Beau stand him up, but I promise he was doing it earlier by himself. Anyway long story short I think we might be headed to the 2012 Olympics in London for some gold:)

Happy 7 Months Grant... Happy Labor Day to Everyone Else

2008-09-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know if ya'll have noticed, but I like pictures more than words. Here are a few pics of Grant being 7 months and then some of us at the river this weekend. Thank you Katie for the AWESOME blanket!!! We love it and we love you:)!!!!!!

Some friends of ours invited us to their river house this weekend, and how could we refuse!! We had the best time. Grant loved the swing....

And the baby pool...
and the beautiful scenery!!!

Thanks Chris, Tammy, and Addison for such a great time!!

Pictures since I haven't posted in a while

2008-08-24T05:37:00.000-07:00

These first two pictures are what I found when I came home from work. Beau had kept Grant one day while mom was gone, and of course built him another fort.:)
I mean how great do I look in this outfit! Thank you Doodaa!!

I don't know if anyone else can tell but he is getting more hair!! If you don't please be a friend and just pretend like you do:)

Grammy Daycare Begins

2008-08-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm sure a lot of you can relate, and a lot can not (which I am jealous), but this week school started. YUCK!! All week I have been in meetings, struggling to get my room together, and lesson plans completed. Last Saturday night my awesome mom moved here so she can keep Grant while I am at work. I felt sorry for her b/c when she arrived it hit me why she was here and I became a little emotional to say the least, but I realize how blessed I am and Grant is to have her here. I know the next question in ya'lls mind is "Will your mom be living with you?", and to that I say, I love my mother and she loves me, BUT she will not be living with us. Actually next Saturday she is moving into her own house that is only about 3 miles away!!:)

Anyway this week I came home almost everyday for lunch and some of my sweet friends came with me. Sorry about the pics being blurry, but mom had a hard time using my camera...

This pic is of my niece Sarah. She was so sweet to come spend the week with us to help Grammy. I miss her already. Love you Sarah!!!:) Grant misses you changing all his diapers and taking such good care of him!!

Radio Flyer Rocks

2008-08-07T17:57:00.001-07:00

THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!!
The 2nd grade teachers that I work with got Grant this Radio Flyer for my school shower. I love it, but not as much as Beau. He has a bit of an obsession with it. From the day we received this gift until tonight Beau has been asking, "Is he big enough yet to ride in it?" But actually tonight he didn't even ask he just took it upon himself to put Grant in for a ride. We were sitting in our basement living room (which please don't pay attention to the lack of decor, I haven't quite made it down there to decorate yet), and then I turn around and see this...

He loves it just as much as his daddy!! Beau pulled him around for probably 20 minutes, and Grant just held on and enjoyed the same view over and over again.

Another funny thing that Beau does all the time is he loves to get Grant in the morning and bring him to me. But unlike normal parents, he loves to hide around the corner where I can not see him and hold Grant's head around the door so that's all I can see. It really is cute. So tonight I decided to do my own little trick. I sat Grant on the bar stool and hid under it, so when Beau walked in all he would see is Grant sitting at the bar. The great thing about my trick is Beau wasn't paying attention and stood right in front of Grant, sat his keys down, looked up and freaked out a little bit!!! I am laughing right now b/c it was so funny. This really maybe one of those stories where you had to be there, so let me just tell you it was hilarious. Anyway this is what Beau saw...

Happy Real Half Birthday Grant

2008-07-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Half Birthday Grant!!!!!!

I was sitting at my kitchen table yesterday when I turned around and found Grant with a bowl stuck to his head. I ran to get my camera and then put the bowl back on the floor, and this is what he does with it (video #1)...

#1

Then I decide since I have the camera out I would video some more. The second one is just of him mumbling:) da da da and squealing, and the third one was impressive to me b/c he almost stands up just using one hand.

Happy 6 Month Birthday Grant!! Kind of...

2008-07-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

First of all thank you Josh and Amber for the precious "Grant" onesies!!! We love them!!

Now Grant doesn't actually turn 6 months until tomorrow, but we have a really busy day. So I am posting the long post now, and will post a quick post tomorrow of his 6 month pics I will take in the morning.

Ok I am going to steal this idea from Mere, and probably every other mom out there, but I am going to list all the things Grant is doing up to this point. So here we go...

You drool uncontrollably. I am ALWAYS thinking you are getting your first tooth and the doctor ALWAYS tells me you are not!
You are a baby who thinks he is a toddler.
You have always slept through the night since we have had you! You rock!!!:)
You started crawling when you were 4 months/2weeks old
2 weeks after crawling you pulled up in your bed on your knees, and 3 DAYS after that you pulled up in your crib to your feet. Then you pulled up on everything!!
You got your first baby cold when you were 5 months, but thankfully it was the weekend we were going out of town so I got to give you Benadryl and you slept awesome:) Is that bad to say?
Last week you started to mumble da-da-da-da. You really aren't saying dada, you really are just mumbling, or that is what I like to tell myself!
Also last week, as seen in the pic after the Grant onesies, you are trying to stand up, but realize you can't since YOU ARE STILL A BABY!!
You sit up now without falling over.
You found your squeal and love to use it!
You get excited now when your daddy comes home from work. You love to laugh and play with him.
We know without a doubt that God gave you to us, and for that we are eternally grateful!
You make me smile every morning when I go get you out of bed, and I continue to smile the rest of the day because you are such a joy! We are so blessed to have you in our lives. I remember about 6 years ago when I began thinking about my future children, I began praying these verses for you then, and will continue to do so... "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:9-14
We love you Ba-Ba (Grant)!!

Happy 12th Birthday Sarah!!

2008-07-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

Sarah is the second granddaughter

And second niece on my side

She loves to sing

And sit on horses to ride:)

Sarah is the oldest of two brothers

Michael and Steven

She is a wonderful older sister

Caring and loving on her they can depend.

I was at the hospital

The day she was born

We all took turns holding her

We just stared and adored.

She is coming next week

To help Grammy take care of Grant

I've told them that if he gets out of control

Baby Einstein always puts him in a quiet trance.

Not Much to Say...But A Lot to Show

2008-07-23T19:15:00.000-07:00

There is a random group of pics I decided to put on here, so instead of writing a lot about nothing, I will just put a caption under each pic. You are welcome:) Grant now likes to make out with his reflection on the stove!
He loves to pull up on his Doodaa basket...
and pull out toys. It is sooo fun to clean up afterwards!
Notice here that Beau is only holding one of Grant's hands. He is practically standing on his own!!!
This picture is just cute I don't care who you are:)

Beau's new favorite thing is to build forts for Grant. He loves it.

Watching T.V. at Uncle T and Aunt Mindy's.
Beau feeding Grant for the first time. Look how proud Beau is of himself.

Happy 13th Hope!!!

2008-07-21T14:27:00.001-07:00

Hope wanted a poem like her mothers so here we go again:)...

I can not believe

That on the 20th of July

My precious niece Hope turned 13

It has to be a lie!

I remember when she was small

She couldn't wait for this day

She said she wanted to be a teenager

In the worst kind of way.

When Hope was little she said sweet things

Like "Kunga" and "Gim, Gim, Gimme a call"

But now the first words out of her mouth

Are "Where is the closest mall?":)

Presents she had already received from her parents

But I had to buy her more

But what ever happened to liking

The Disney and Limited Too stores?

Hope came into my life

When I was only eighteen

I remember it like it was yesterday

She is my best real life dream

I couldn't imagine our family

Without Hope being a part

She is the first granddaughter, first niece

And will ALWAYS have a very special place in my heart!

So without going on forever

To Hope I want to say

I am sorry this is a day late

But Happy 13th Birthday!!

WE LOVE YOU HOPEY!!!!!

BoBo, Jones, and G-Dog:)

Inappropriate...Probably, but Cute

2008-07-18T10:10:00.002-07:00

Here is a video of bath time this morning after Grant's doctors appt. Turns out our sweet baby has a baby cold. So sad. The funny thing is that they checked his length and weight and in six weeks he has grown 2 1/2 inches and 2 pounds!! He is now 28 1/2" long and 19.1 pounds and he is 5 months 2 weeks old!

Anyway we are leaving in about an hour to go to Missouri for my reunion, and I just wanted to post this sweet video of Grant playing in the tub. Enjoy!

Please Don't Be Offended...Especially You Shauna

2008-07-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

Beau, Grant, and I left Thursday afternoon to spend an extended weekend in Texas. Mitzi, Jeff, and Thatcher were gracious enough to let us stay at there house in Flower Mound for the whole weekend!! Yes Shauna I said Flower Mound! I am so sorry friend, but we were busy the entire trip. Please don't be mad at me for too long:)!
We had the best time with the Christ family. It made us realize we go way too long in between visits. We did a lot of talking late at night, laughing, and taking tons of pictures of our sweet boys!! Here begins our weekend. These pictures are of the boys playing in there precious matching outfits on Friday morning that Mit bought for them...

Let me explain Thatcher to you. He has a serious look on his face most of the time until someone puts a camera in his face. Then this is what happens...
TOO CUTE!!!

Friday afternoon Grant and I went shopping in Southlake with Monica, Hope, and Emma. Then we met up with everybody at Central Market to eat.

Here is Grant and Thatcher sitting so big in their booster seats!!
Again here is Thatcher facial expression as soon as he sees the camera:)!!!!
Mit and I had to leave early b/c the boys were so sleepy. I love this pic of them sharing Grant's blanket to sleep! Beau and Jeff came later and brought us dessert from Central Market! DELICIOUS!!

Saturday Beau, Grant, and I spent the day at Brad's parents house who have a beautiful pool in their backyard.

Saturday night we met back up with Mit, Jeff, and Thatcher at Mi Cocina for some amazing Mexican food. I don't know what possess' people to put lemons into a small child's mouth, but we couldn't resist. Here is Grant's first taste of a lemon...

Sunday- This was the whole reason for our trip to Ft. Worth. Brad got recognized by ACU Alumni Association for the amazing work that he does, and for the amazing man that he is. Brad has been in my family since I was 10 years old, so I feel that I know him well. I already knew that he has an unbelievable heart and spirit, but when you hear others talk about your family you learn how they are to others outside your family. I think it is then that you truly know what kind of person someone is. And let me tell you there is no one more deserving of that award! I am so proud of Brad, and who he is and what he means to our family, but I am also proud of who he is in the work of furthering God's kingdom. He does more then I will ever know. Anyway all this to say I love him and we were so proud to be there to honor him.

OK. While we were waiting for the ceremony to begin the girls talked me into going through the kids play tunnel in Richland Hills church. So here we are trying to waste some time...

We had a great weekend, and to our friends who live close by that we didn't get to see, we are truly sorry. We will plan a trip soon to visit you all. We love ya'll!!

I Might Be Little...

2008-07-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

I really think this is what Grant thinks... ***Grant is 5 months 1 week old***

Yesterday I was working on the computer and turned around to check on Grant, and this is what he was doing...SITTING UP!! When I got the camera and asked him what he was doing, this is the sweet face he gave me!! And think he is thinking "I do more then this that you don't know about!"
Here is his favorite trick, standing up in his crib, looking at the door crying, waiting for someone to come rescue him.

Here is his new lion that he loves to sit on, that really I just thought the picture was cute.
Now just so you don't think that I staged all of these pictures, here are two videos for proof. The first one is of him really crawling and the 2nd one is of him pulling up on our chair. The video is not the best I have ever taken, but you get the point. Enjoy...

First Date

2008-07-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

Beau and I finally went on our first date since Grant came into our lives, and we had a great time. We went to a movie, which I am embarrassed to say what movie b/c it was that bad! Then we went to eat at our favorite restaurant DeVito's. They have a trout farm where you can go down and feed the trout before they are deliciously prepared:)! They also have amazing Italian food. I know that is a weird combo to have on your menu, but we love it. Here are a couple pics of the beautiful setting of this place, and the of the happy couple on their first date!!

After our awesome evening together was over, we went to pick up Grant at our friend's house. We raced inside to see who could get to him first. The sad thing was he acted like he didn't even know who we were. He was having such a good time with a ton of extra attention. But this made it all better at the end of the night...My two favorite boys!!!

Roommate

2008-07-03T05:17:00.000-07:00

SABRINA IS PREGO!! YEAH!!!!
Bina and I were potluck roommates from college. So many times roommates don't work out, but I couldn't have been more blessed with her. We were BFF (wow I haven't seen that in a while) from the time we met! We had sooooo much fun together. We had dance parties in our room, sang a lot of show tunes, and might have almost gotten kicked out of the Abilene Embassy Suites once! Oops!
Anyway here are some pics from the old days.

Here we are outside our room on Nelson 3rd West. The sad thing about this pic, besides the look on my face thinking I look so good, is that it was 4:30 on a Friday evening and we were ready for the night to begin!

I mean I know we looked hot in college:), but here are a couple picks from last summer when I went out to San Diego to be in her wedding.

I am so excited for Bina and Craig on their first baby! They will be amazing parents! Love you guys!!!

Happy 5 Months Grant

2008-07-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from today. I can't believe he is already 5 months old! Time truely is flying by. It amazes us how our love can grow each minute with him and how he blesses us with new blessings everyday! He is a gift!

Anyway I also posted a picture (the top pic) to show you Grant's newest trick...

HE CAN PULL UP IN HIS CRIB!! Sunday during his so called nap, I went into his room to find him doing this...

Happy Birthday Monica

2008-06-30T13:45:00.001-07:00

Today is my sister Monica's birthday

Of her I am so proud

I am going to list reasons why I love her

Not just today, but year 'round.

Number One is easy

If you know her, you know it is not a lie

She has the purest heart in the world

One that is true and sincere inside

Number Two her dancing ability

If you have never experienced it, you're missing out

Her best choreography is to "I Will Survive"

But she also does a mean "Twist and Shout"

Number Three is the way she laughs

And she loves to laugh till she cries

Her nose flares like bat wings

And her pants do not always stay dry

Number Four is she is a great listener

Always there when I need an ear

I love our talks on phone or in person

Every conversation I hold so dear

Number Five she is an amazing wife and mother

Just like her I strive to be

She is an awesome Godly woman

And she is also really pretty:)

About my sister Monica

There are many more things I would love to take time to say

But the main thing I want to say right now is

I hope she has a wonderful BIRTHDAY!!

Monica always writes amazing poems. I write interesting ones:) I love you Monica and hope you had a great day today. I will see you in less then two weeks now. YIPPEE!!

Proof of Grant Crawling!!

2008-06-28T09:33:00.000-07:00

Dude Looks Like a Lady!!

2008-06-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

There really are no words to describe this picture, or to explain how he is going to react when he realizes I put it out there for all the world to see!! The lady that ran the Relay for Life in our town goes to our church and asked a few of the men to be in a beauty pageant to help raise money. So this was for a good cause. After I finished getting Beau beautified, all he could say was "I thought this was going to be funny, but it is not funny at all!" They ended up raising about $1000.00!!

Now here are just some fun pics for the grandparents. In the second pic poor Grant looks like he is 90 with his pants pulled up to his nose. Sorry Grant!

I will post more later. Love you all...