A Shower For Baby Logan

Last weekend we had a baby shower for baby Logan. This will be my 2nd grandchild and yep I'm excited!! He will be cut from mama's belly on February 25, 2009 providing he decides to stick around in that home of water that long.

Here is a pic of Taryn and I. Not one of my best but I gotta be in at least one right?

The yummy food and cake. The bakery did a fab job on the cake! Its the same bakery we used for our wedding cake.

Here are the girls playing the baby bottle game. They had to see who could suck down 4oz of juice the quickest and with a newborn nipple too!

I know! Gross! But...it was hilarious! This is the "guess what kind of choclate" game. We took 5 different kinds of candy bars, melted them in the microwave, and smooshed them in infant diapers.

Even Brayden got in on some of the fun - he was pretty occupied with all the Baby Boy balloons.

There was a break to eat that delicious sandwich and other munchies.

So where do you think the men were? In the kitchen by the food of course!

And on to the gifts. She got some real useful things. It was a fun party and there was a lot of laughing. Logan will be here soon!

Christmas 2008

We had a nice Christmas holiday this year, over and over and over! Our tree was pretty colorful this year. Also a nice pic of the stockings over the fireplace, all filled by Santa :)

We started off with Christmas eve over at Taryn & Daniel's house. Dan is in the Air Force and had to work a 12 hour shift the next day. So we did our exchange and enjoyed watching Brayden open his gifts. Bray loved the Brobie he got - he's a total Yo Gabba Gabba junkie! He also really liked the Wonder Pets flying boat with Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming Ming Duckling and Turtle Tuck.

On Christmas day, Tim and I exchanged our gifts and had Taryn & Brayden over for breakfast. We gave Bray his stocking and Taryn a little something I held back so she could have something to open on Christmas day.

Two days later, we went to Tallahassee to pick up Tim's girls. And...you guessed it, we did our gift exchange with them Saturday night. Here they are doing silly faces in their new jammies.

Then on Sunday, it was officially Alex's 15th Birthday, she got a sweet new digital camera. She was really excited for that! We had a family get-together and Tim's mom came over and we did our Christmas exchange of gifts with her. On Tuesday, Alex got her permit - watch out Florida drivers!

Christmas came over and over again, it was fun to spread it out like that. Its the most fun for me to give gifts and watch people's faces as they open them. I try to put a lot of thought into them and get them something that is just right. With the loss of my job it was hard this year and very limited but I did what I could and I am satisfied at how things turned out. After all, Christmas is about that one special person who was born in a manger and then later died for our sins. It is a season of giving, family and joy. We definitely made the best of it!!

A Visit To Bass Pro Shop

So one day a couple weeks ago Taryn and I decided to take Brayden down to the Bass Pro Shop. Tim works there in the loss prevention dept. and we decided to surprise him. Brayden had never been so there was a lot for him to see.

We first stopped by the huge fish tank. He didn't want to leave this area but the noise of the train convinced him.
We hit up the snow man, and then Santa. Basically he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Santa so this is the best pic we could get. I'm actually surprised they found a moment when he wasn't squalling!


Out to the boats on display, now he really thought this part was cool.


Well, that was our trip to Bass Pro Shop :)

I GOT A JOB!!!

I Got A Job!! I Got A Job!! I Got A Job!!

I officially start on December 29th and I am sooooo thankful!!

More later....but

I Got A Job!! I Got A Job!! I Got A Job!!

Holiday Time is A Fun Time!!

Well I have been here almost 3 years and Tim and I thought it was about time to find a church that fits us. I searched on the internet a while back and found a couple in our area. We visited one that looked to be what we were looking for so we went the end of November. We liked it and were very welcomed and wanted to try it out some more. We had to miss the next week due to prior obligations but were able to visit again the following week. It was a very moving service and we loved it. We knew that day that this is the one. We went last week and I decided to take Brayden to the nursery/toddler room. He did well for about an hour, I had to come in and show him I'm not leaving him forever and he was able to finish out the time. I think this will help him when he starts school for 4 hours a day in Feb.

We stopped by Taryn's the other day to check out her decorations - Brayden likes to play "chase me" so Tim always does. Here is a pic of them after Tim tackled Bray on his bed!

On December 7th we went to Tim's mom's house and decked out the front with lights and decorations of all kinds. She made a fabulous lunch, she always does feed us good with great Southern cooking. Then we headed off to Tim's company Christmas Party. It was great food and a lot of good conversation. We sat with one of his co-workers and his wife and I liked them so much I think we will invite them up to the house some time. Check out the pic below - I decided to straighten my hair for the occasion.

We have had some of our decorations up out in the front of the house for a couple weeks now but we needed to find time to do the house lights. We found that time this past weekend. I think it looks pretty snazzy. We will keep adding every year from the after holiday sales. We got our tree today, it will be fully decorated tomorrow.

On another note - I had a 2nd interview at a job today and I'm really hoping things work out. I should hear soon but it sure does look like they are leaning towards giving me an official offer. It is for a large Physical Therapy company in a neighboring city. I can use my medical background once again and learn some new things. Most importantly I will have a job again and be able to help get this family back on their feet. I'm super excited about this and tell me, what would be a better Christmas present? I can't think of one!

Memories To Be Thankful For

This year we had such a great Thanksgiving. Yes, I'm 40 something and this was the first year ever I have cooked Thanksgiving Dinner. I've always gone to my parents once I moved out. Since I have been in Florida Tim did it the first year and his mom the second. I figured since I am out of work, I'll go ahead and try this on my own. I sure am glad I did! I must say I did a great job and everything turned out fabulous! (you will notice Alex is missing from the photo - she took the pic!)

Alex & Katie were with us, Tim's mom Mary came and of course Taryn, Daniel & Brayden. (Taryn is VERY pregnant) The only thing missing was Bret - I truly miss him so much. Tim had to work earlier in the day so we had our meal about 3pm. The weather was nice and actually a little warmer than usual. With all the people in the house and the oven on all day I had to turn on the A/C.

Even though I am jobless at the moment, I am still very thankful for many things. I do still have a roof over my head and although paying all the bills is very trying right now, I am healthy and so are all my loved ones. I'm happy to have 2 working vehicles, gasoline, food in my fridge and pantry and a husband that loves his job. I have people that love me unconditionally and I love them unconditionally back. I live in a lovely neighborhood, I have trees and nature all around me, and a lively grandson to play with. A job does not define me. My life defines me and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I hope you and your families had a spectacular Thanksgiving Holiday and that you were able to realize all the things you are thankful for.

6 Months of Marriage

Yes I know it is crazy to celebrate a 6 month anniversary but I really wanted to! As Bret says, "its an anniversary not a monthaversary!" I bought some pretty yellow daisy's and used the nice china too! We had a simple dinner with candlelight, our unity sand heart from the wedding and some great background music. We even had New York Cheesecake for dessert! It was really nice and a good look back at a really happy and perfect day.