Randomness......

My mom lives in the desert. I don't know why but I love these pictures.

Just two kids walking down the lonely road of life with their loyal dog. LOL!

Actually Ryanne might have a snack in her hand, so maybe not so loyal as much as the dog knows who has the goods. :)

That's OK cause loyalty means allot in our family, whether it's sharing a snack or letting your "people" cuddle with you on the couch.

We went to my mom's last week and I got sick..........Macy tried to comfort me but then......

Well, she just couldn't help herself. I ended up moving to the recliner. What? She needed her beauty rest. :)

Made this grilled chicken dish last week. It was marinated and then covered in a peanut sauce. Yummy!

It Just Is Sometimes.......

Sometimes life is so crazy you cry at the drop of a hat, it really just is sometimes.

Sometimes your puppy uses the hallway as a bathroom instead of going outside cause it's snowing, they just do sometimes.

Sometimes your husband is so busy working, studying, testing, getting stuck on fires and training that you just don't get much time together and the time you get is well........."strained" at best, it just is sometimes.

Sometimes you are walking through the neighborhood with your 6 year old and they yell at the neighbor down the road that she is old and you in turn want to crawl into a hole and, sometimes you just do.

Sometimes you sit with your 6 year old for over an hour explaining why she is writing an apology note and hand delivering it to the neighbor she was rude to, sometimes you just do.

Sometimes you fight a cold for 2 weeks, loose your voice and feel sorry for yourself cause well, sometimes you have to.

Sometimes you hold your tongue to no end because your 10 year old is so sassy and moody you want to scream and tape their eyeballs down in the right position as apposed to rolling around in her head, sometimes you just do.

Sometimes you take your dog to the vet in the pouring rain and it throws up all over the car and then it bites the vet drawing blood because he grabs her to throw her up on the table after being warned that she is scared and nervous, sometimes that is just what happens.

Sometimes you say "yes" to sharing your marriage testimony on a video for church and then can't sleep for days cause well, you are sharing your marriage "junk" on a video for church. But sometimes you just do.

Sometimes your great Dane comes running down the hallway and knocks you over to the floor and you lay there trying to decide if it's better to just lay there and feel sorry for yourself, because you just do.

Then sometimes you take a deep breath pushing through all the colds, stress and crazy's and keep on moving. You just do.

This Crazy Thing Called Life......

I know I've mentioned the Married Life Ministry that Dan & I have been helping head up; well we had our first event for 2011. It was a dessert/murder mystery game night. It was sooooo fun. We rented out this old building called the Old Church and it had all these fun kinda off to the side hidden rooms. Anyways, we did a Friday and Saturday night and though we were beyond tired we were so blessed at the same time. We have this amazing group of couples who support us in this ministry and they are rocks let me just tell you. They put their whole hearts into these 2 nights.

Our punch area....

Our friend from church came in his uniform and did us the favor of arresting the suspect at the end of the night. No it wasn't Dan but Berry thought he needed to be taken down a notch anyways. :)

Here are Mr. & Mrs. Plum in the study. We played a live version of the game CLUE basically.

The mobsters Mr. & Mrs. Green. Careful you mouth off and they break your knuckles. :)
Did I mention the couples that help us out are amazing? OK just making sure.

A quick side note; anyone want to mention to Macy that she is NOT a lap dog? She sleeps on the kids like this. Oh and should we mention to Morgan how naturally beautiful she is or keep it a secret? :)

In the midst of all the Married Life planning, Dan studying for the BC test and training for the Iron Man we managed to squeeze in our annual Feb. trip to Disneyland. Dan's uncle worked for Disneyland for like 15 years and has the most amazing, fun and interesting stories. The kids love talking to him.

It's a small world after all!!

I skipped the tea cups. Ever been to Disneyland with a horrible head cold and nausea? Ya' let's just say I sucked it up and took one for the team. I felt H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E! So there was no way I was spinning in circles.

Morgan on the other hand LOVED it!

"Ummmmmm, ya' hi Mickey. I would like to file a complaint; my parents won't buy me a cell phone they said like EVER! I know so unfair right!"

"Hi Mickey, can I speak to the next up in charge please?"

I told her to kiss him and see if he turns into a prince. :)

Happy Valentines Day!

My littlest Valentine's woke up to these cute little hand painted mail boxes filled with some yummy treats. They also had Valentine socks and a little puppy friend waiting for them.
I love you girls!


I bought this gigantic red pail and filled it with bite size chocolate chip, Reece's peanut butter, and heart shaped short bread cookies half dipped in chocolate. Topped it off with some Valentine's candy and TA-DA!! I then painted the station number on it and later today the girls and I are headed to Dan's station to deliver the treats!

Happy Valentine's Day my most important Valentine.

16 years of being my most favorite Valentine and you still give me goose bumps when you belly laugh with me at something, walk by with that great cologne, hold and play with our girls and ummm ya' your uniform still looks hot on you! LOL! :)

Happy 10th Birthday Morgan!

Happy 10th birthday my first born. You are my heart with legs. The minute we met I knew the tightness in my chest was for life. You bless me.

We had lots of waiting and hoping and praying before you were born. I laid in bed at night and prayed for specific character traits in our first born. I prayed for a child that would be full of joy and light to the world. A child that would impact people for the Lord. I prayed for a sensitive, kind spirit. I prayed for a servants heart. Morgan, people always say we don't ask God for enough of what he is really capable of; I asked and he showed me his gift in you. You are all those things.

You light up a room when you walk into it. People never forget you. Your a little bit Star Wars, a little bit frill and fancy.

Your funny and free and yet an old soul at the same time. We always say your heart and mind are a 30 year old trapped in a not so ready body.

Our conversation last night:
Morgan: "Uh oh mom, what if I'm not ready to turn 10?"
Me: "Well honey I think it's to late now. Looks like your gonna have to press forward with this."
Morgan: "But what if I'm not any good at being 10?"
Me: "Oh Morgan your going to be a fabulous 10 year old."
Morgan: "How can you tell?"
Me: "Oh honey, you were an amazing 9 year old so how could 10 not be just as amazing. You love the Lord and you are bound to keep doing great things in your life. Your gonna rock 10 I can just feel it."

The year of 9

You lost teeth and got braces

You asked where breast come from and when you get them.

You swam in the ocean with turtles in Hawaii,

rode cable cars in San Francisco,

ran your first 5k

decided it was time to leave the nest and sign up for winter camp for the first time

donated your time at an animal shelter

sang your first solo in front of lots of people

You grew 2 1/2 inches in 4 months

Swam 2 miles in the swim a thon and raised $600 for your team

Started 4th grade

And last but not least;
you spent tons and tons of countless hours making your family smile and oh so proud of you.
I can't wait to see what the next 10 years brings.
We love you sweet girl!
Oh and P.S. I LOVE YOU MORE!

Just Could NOT Resist...........

Girlie Wisdom!

1. A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills... she has 14 kids, but she doesn't really care..

2. One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.

3. My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.

4. The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.

5. The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.

6. The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really go od friends..

7. Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today...

8. Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.

9. I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my panties.

10. Amazing! You hang something in your closet for a while, and it shrinks 2 sizes!

11. Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like...'You know sometimes I forget to eat!' .....Now, I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name, and my keys, but I have never forgotten to eat.. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!

12.. The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing -- and then they marry him.

13. I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

My friend sent this to me today and to say I laughed out loud would be an understatement. :)

Happy 14 years!!

Today is our 14 year wedding anniversary. We have ups, downs and all around in our marriage. Good days, bad days, really horrible days and then just the day to days. We have grown apart and then back together, we have agreed, disagreed and often just agreed to disagree. We have laughed so hard we cried and then cried so hard we thought our hearts would physically break. We have seen many friends quit on each other and also had friends who we cling to because their marriages encouraged us. We have been prayed over and lifted up in our marriage and we have looked at each other and thought,"What the heck?" At some of the advice people have given. In the long run we have learned to not rely on our selves or what other people do or say instead relying on Gods word, plan and design for marriage. We know our emotions can NOT decide how we feel in "the moment" of a disagreement nor can we let the world's view on marriage be our road map. We have learned to work together. To encourage each other. To build each other up. We have learned to laugh at just about everything because heck tomorrow's another day, a new adventure. We try to take the craziness of life in stride and we always find ways to enjoy each other. You learn a lot about someone in 14 years of marriage but not nearly enough so another 14 sounds really good to me. :) I love you Dan!!!!

Disclaimer: One of the things we agree to disagree on and that is our football teams. Frankly though it kinda keeps football season spicy around here. ;)
GO DALLAS!!