When Life Hands You Lemons, Decorate for Christmas

Right now we are supposed to be celebrating Derek's birthday. We had planned the menu, ordered the cake, and even bought yummies to complete a hot chocolate bar. Instead we are (hopefully) recovering from being sick. :(

Man, oh man it has been a long 8 days. God has blessed us with great health, and we do our best to support our health. Afterall, it IS our responsibility! We are fortunate to almost always dodge the cold and flu germs that buzz around from time to time. However, this time the flu bug has caught us and has stung us hard. It started with Derek last Friday night and has lingered between the 3 of us for 8 days. We are SO over this! And why did it have to hit during the week that Ryan and I had off work and the week of Thanksgiving?! Ugh. Well, things could always be worse. And now I will be extra grateful for good health.

Even though we were feeling crummy, we wanted to put up our Christmas tree to lift our spirits. Derek thoroughly enjoyed decorating the tree. He says the lights are "preeeetty" and he enjoyed putting the "orments" on the tree. I love this sweet little boy and love to watch him have a good time. I am thankful for this memory we made. :)

Choo-choooooooo

Derek built this "choo-choo main main main" all by himself. I must say I was kind of impressed. ;) He has been into trains lately. I'm pretty sure it's what he and his nursery buddy Gage play together.

Trick or Treat

This Halloween was the first that we took Derek trick or treating. He did surprisingly well going door to door. It was as if he innately knew what to do. He went as a puppy dog because he told me that's what he wanted to be. A few weeks before Halloween I asked, "Derek, what do you want to be for Halloween?" His response was, "dog" even though he obviously has no concept of Halloween at all. Ha!

Mom and Pop came over to see him, and I'm SO glad they did. We had a great evening!

The previous night we went to a Halloween party at Courtney and Matt's. We had so much fun, and all the costumes were really creative. I went as a gothic, Ryan went as a tourist (booorrring), and Derek was the same cute puppy dog.

OMG!!!

Elijah, Samara, Derek, Selah, Skyla

Samara and Auntie Heather

Mom and Baby Skyla

Samara and Derek

Jake, Kim, and kids came to visit toward the end of September because JAKE HAD A JOB INTERVIEW AT OUR CHURCH!!! He was offered the worship leader position and has accepted it. We are beyond thrilled, yet still somewhat in a state of disbelief. I honestly never thought they would move to Indiana from Arizona. They absolutely love it out there, and AZ just "fits" them so well. However, we cannot wait to have them here....AND at our church!

We had so much fun with them during their visit here. It was so precious to see Derek interact with his cousins. We look forward to making lasting memories with them!

Goodbye Collin

Our last night with Collin

Collin's going away party

Our last walk with Collin

We made the heart wrenching decision of giving our sweet puppy dog away. Our decision became final when we found an exceptional couple who had been looking to open their home to a Bichon. Collin was a perfect match for Charles and Katie. And Charles and Katie were a perfect match for Collin. They took to each other immediately at the first meeting. Knowing this has made the transition a lot easier because we know he has a fabulous new home, and he is happy. Collin will always hold a special place in our hearts. We miss you, Doody!

Vera Bradley Tennis Classic 2010

This year's Vera Bradley Tennis Classic was another success. There was over $800,000 raised to fund the fight against breast cancer!!!

From cocktails on court, to match play, to the celebration dinner, it was a very busy and very fun weekend. I am proud to be part of an event that is so passionate about ending this disease!

Aunt Rita plays in the Classic every year in memory of her sister (my Aunt) Rebecca.

Cocktails on Court with my bestie.

Congrats, Mom!

My Mom has officially retired! She taught elementary special education for 25 years. Now that is dedication! We are so proud of her and so excited for her to embark on a new chapter in her life.

The school hosted a dinner party in honor of all the retirees. She, along with 3 other teachers were honored that evening. Mom felt so special. She had an absolute ball, and it was great to be able to celebrate the ending of her teaching career. Congratulations, Mom! We love you, and we are so proud of you!

Way to go, Mom!

Mom and her co-retirees

I'm back

While taking care of an 18 month old, working part time, and keeping up on everyday household tasks, my blogging has been pushed to the wayside. Now, I realize and understand I am not the only mom out there with a million things to get done. That is why all these other moms completely AMAZE me with all they can accomplish in a day and still manage to look cute. Wish I had their organization and drive. I'm working on it... ;)

If there are any readers left out there (hello Aunt Glennda!), this is what our family has been up to since Easter:

We took a vacation to Destin, Florida in April. This trip was much needed, and we enjoyed every minute of it. It was such a treat to have nothing to do everyday besides soak up the sun and enjoy being together.

Derek's face expresses his "I cannot believe it!" excitement. Cracks me up.

Dinner by the ocean. This was the night Derek danced in the open to the live music. He was the star of the evening. Too cute. Wish we had a pic of him movin and grovin.

My cousin Dane drove to see us. He is stationed at Elgin AFB. So great to see him!

Me and my love, bayside.

Derek LOVED being at the ocean!

priceless.

Daddy and Derek eating eggs in the morning.

Our pool.

Family photo at the beach.

Happy Easter

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! He is risen; He is risen indeed!

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. Our good friend from Colorado and college student, Chelsea was able to visit for a few days. She attends a university in our state, and her dorm was closed over the holiday weekend. So, she got stuck with us for a few days! It was a treat to have her here, although it really made us miss the rest of her family!!!

This was Derek's first year to experience coloring Easter eggs. He wasn't too intrigued with decorating them, he just wanted to eat them. Chelsea and I had a good time, though. ;)

Bye Bye Combover

Over the course of the last couple months Derek has gotten quite a few comments about his combover hairstyle. I really didn't think it was that bad until he got the comment that told me loud and clear something needed to be done: "Oh cute, he's sporting the Gene Keady combover!" Total insult, ewww. The following day I scheduled his first hair cut appointment.

Our dear family friend Tiffany cuts hair in Marion. Though it's a drive, I had always planned to have her do his first haircut. So, we made a day out of it. Derek and I drove down that afternoon and stopped at Grandma Mary Jane's. Ryan met us there then we all went together for his appointment.

Ryan and I were a bit apprehensive because Derek does not like to sit still for anything. He throws a fit when I cut his nails! We were prepared for him to wail, but thankfully quite the opposite occurred. He sat in that chair like such a big boy and even seemed to enjoy it! Tiffany did a fantastic job with not only the cut and style of his hair, but also her demeanor with him. Thank you, Tiff!!!

Yep, it was definitely time.

Feeling secure with Daddy.

Such a big boy.

Proud of himself for being so good.

Loving his faux hawk.