Christmas Is My Favorite Time of The Year!!

We have been thoroughly enjoying the Christmas Season. I love decorating and putting up our trees. And although Kerry probably didnt love hanging the lights and decorating our yard, he did a wonderful job. Not to mention made me and Aubree very happy girls. I love shopping for others as much as I do myself and had so much fun sharing it with Aubree. She is quite the gift giver. Very creative and thoughtful about what to give others. We enjoyed wrapping all the gifts together almost as much as picking them out. It has been so much fun reading the Christmas story over and over to her and baking Christmas candy and cookies and all the yummy foods we bake around the holidays. She is just an amazing helper and makes everything so much more enjoyable. We started the month of December off with the Miller Christmas and every weekend since that was full of celebration with family and friends. This year I hosted the annual party with my bff's from high school(and years before that too). We had a fabulous dinner at Four Winds Steakhouse and then came back to my house for a gift exchange and to catch up. It has been a tradition for 15 yrs to have our girl time and we always stay up til the wee hours of morning visiting and still don't really feel that we had enough time. It was a great evening and due to our busy holiday schedules everyone scurried home somewhere between breakfast and lunch. My life has been so blessed by these wonderful ladies and I am so glad we have made it a priority to keep this anual slumber party a tradition.. The Riggle family Christmas was on the18th and was such a treat. Aubree and her cousin Lilly really enjoyed each others comapny this year and it was a delight to see so many lovely faces. We were treated to a great night in Bosier City by Kerry's wonderful boss for their company Christmas party on the 19th. Jerry took us along with his wife and 3 adult children to stay the night at Sam's Town and to dinner at Ralph and Kacoo's. They made us feel like part of their family and were such kind and loving people. It was such a refreshing get away and a fun time for us all. We had a wonderful time with them and are so glad God has placed them in our lives. Aubree enjoyed riding in the Christmas parade this year as the Little Miss Van Zandt County Queen. She had so much fun tossing candy but really got a kick outta seeing Santa the most. She sat in his lap and didn't hesitate to tell him she wanted a tv to hang on her bedroom wall and a dvd player. I was impressed with her braveness and am thankful for a darling picture too. I am happy that Santa did not disappoint and the angel got a 26 inch Magnavox flat screen that has a built in dvd player. She also received several new movies and is a very happy girl. Of course she got tons of other wonderful gifts from Santa, us, and our families but the tv was the one thing she had her heart set on. She loves to watch movies. Every evening she wants to curl up in our bed and ask me to turn a movie on. Now she can curl up in her new bed and the beautiful bedding Nona made her and watch movies anytime she wants. :) We had a wonderful Christmas holiday and enjoyed all our friends and family so much. I am grateful for Kerry's much needed time off last week. He had the week off and I had part of the week off so we were able to enjoy lots of family time. We spent Christmas Eve eve with Kerry's parents and siblings' families, Christmas Eve at my grandparents as always and Christmas day we had breakfast at home and played with Santa's gifts then went to lunch with my Mema's side of the family. Then we spent the afternoon at home enjpying our new things and then went to the Dugan's annual Christmas party that night. We had Christmas with Kerry's Dad's family on the 26th and with the Burnett family the 27th. Thank you for all the generous gifts and the traditions you have all instilled in us. I am so thankful for the birth of Jesus Christ and for the freedom and traditions we have to celebrate his birth. Merry Christmas and may you have a very Happy New Year.

Halloween was so much fun this year. Aubree ask to be a lady bug back in September and we found a very cute costume on the internet. Thankfully it fit her to a T. She wasn't too fond of the wings though. The strapes cut into her shoulders and bothered her. Grand Saline held the annual Goody Trail and this was probably the most people I have ever seen at it. The trail of costumed kids was awesome and afterwards we went to the carnival as well. Aubree enjoyed playing the fun games and visiting with all her friends. She is a social butterfly for sure. After all the excitement and seeing friends and family we ordered pizza and she was fast asleep in no time. All the excitement wore us all out. We celebrated Kerry's cousin Tim's marriage to Shannon at a beautiful ceremony and reception in Bullard. The wedding was beautiful and so much fun. It was a great time of fellowship with all Kerry's family. This particular weekend was a very blissful time but also one that was very sad for me and my family. On the same evening as the rehersal dinner I went to see my Aunt Wanda who was in ICU at ETMC in Tyler. She had a major heart attack and her organs were shutting down. Mom and I went in to see her and I held her hand and she looked at me and squeezed my hand and then not long after that she received her wings and heaven got another angel. I have always been very close to Aunt Wanda and it was hard to say good bye. I miss her dearly but am so glad she isn't living in pain. I have a very large, close family and during this time I was reminded how precious it is to have one another to lean on. This past weekend was a very exciting weekend for my home town. Grand Saline hosted the 1st Annual Peanut Butter Festival. We are home to a really unique PB store, Nutty's. They make their own 12 flavors of PB. It's a real cute, old fashioned store on Main Street kinda a diner type shop that has hand dipped ice cream , fudge, candy and of course pb. The festival was a huge success and Grand Saline attempted and successfully broke the world record with the largest peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It weighed 1,343 lbs and was massive. The peanut butter, jelly and bread all had to be made within 24 hours and in a certain distance from the location as the sandwich was assembled. It was an awesome experience and is cool to know that the world record no longer belongs to Oklahoma, but resides right here in East Texas. Pretty neat huh?!? The festival consisted of tons of vendors, rides, games, food and live music and entertainment. Aubree won 1st runner up in the 3-4 yr old category at the festival pageant. She was so beautiful and had a blast strutting her stuff. She was also awarded the "IT FACTOR" of her group. She was tickled to receive 2 trophies and said to me as we exited the stage, "Momma, did I do AWESOME?" As she stuck her precious , lil hand up for a high five. My reply of course was, "Yes, sweetheart you were awesome." The entire festival was so much fun and I am glad we got to be a part of it. We are so blessed and I am looking forward to some fun time next week with both our families as we celebrate Thanksgiving. I am so thankful that I serve a mighty God, for my family, our health, my friends, our jobs and all the many blessings in our lives. I am so blessed I could list them for days. WOW now that's a blessing; to be so blessed. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Fall Fun

We had a wonderful time at the State Fair of Texas. It has become one of our family traditions. Kerry and I have been going together since 2001. We have so many fond memories and love to take pictures of the good times we share there. It's cool to see how much and how little we change over the years. There are pictures of Aubree in my belly and then every year there after. This year was by far the greatest for her. I know I probably say that every year. But it was priceless. The girl smiled the entire day and I can still hear her deep, belly laugh as she rode the kiddie rides and even a couple that I myself was a lil scared of. She is so brave. She laughed hysterically on one ride in particular that went super fast and then even went backwards. I was watching on the side but am so thankful she asked Bebe to ride that one with her. Thanks, Bebe, for saving me. Lol! We had a wonderful time visiting the exhibits and shows. And last but not least, trying all the food. It was a grand time and I am so thankful for all the wonderful memories. Nona and Gramps and Bebe enjoyed it so much they wanted a souvenir. They got a good deal for buying two so they purchased hot tubs at the fair and should be having them delivered any day now. That's kinda an odd sounding souvenir, but one we are all excited about. Hopefully, soon we can be enjoying some hot tubbing at both Nona and Gramps and Bebe's. We have been so blessed by beautiful fall weather. Aubree and I enjoy playing outside almost every afternoon. Her favorite thing to do is lock hands and run through the yard and pasture with our puppies chasing us and nipping at our ankles. It is beautiful to see how much she enjoys running outside. I love it and hope we can enjoy it for many years. We enjoyed a week full of fun homecoming festivities lat week. The parade was Aubree's favorite and she talked all weekend about going to the football game and wearing her pretty mum. I love the small town pleasures that she enjoys so much. Again, they are priceless. Saturday we celebrated a dear friends 2nd birthday and then her Momma's(who is a little older but I won't reveal her age). We went out for an adults night of good food and good times with our friends. Uncle Julio's still ranks pretty high on my list, might I add. We finished the night off with some great live music and then retired for the evening at the Marriott Courtyard. It is always so nice to spend time with our friends, even though we miss our baby girl dearly. It was a great weekend. Only thing that could have made it any better would have been to see the Cowboys win but I have learned not to rely on them so much. Win or lose I will always be a fan. I just smile and go on with life either way. Excited for what the Rangers got going on and hope to see them advance after tomorrows game. Let's Go Rangers!

Feeling so blessed today. Blessed that I have a career I love and a job at a great, small hometown hospital that allows me to do what I love and be only a few minutes down the road from my baby girl. It is so nice to work with people I grew up around and to have the opportunity to provide care for people right here in my own community. I am loving this opportunity God has given me. I am also feeling blessed because I am at peace with what all has been going on with my thyroid. I am happy to report that my medicine is doing the trick. My thyroid levels tested normal this past time and the cyst, which is called a goiter is shrinking. It is down to 3.2x 2 cm. I am so relieved and happy that this was able to be corrected with medicine. God is so good! I will continue to monitor it but am so pleased with the way it turned out. Got a fun filled weekend planned with a beautiful forecast ahead. Gonna spend the evening relaxing at home. This is probably Aubree's favorite thing to do. She is becoming a pro at riding her bike and loves to play outside. She is a really smooth driver, and the puppies spend a lot of time chasing her in her gator too. I enjoy leisure time at home like this. Although it is rare. We are going tomorrow to the Sate Fair of Texas and I can hardly wait. Aubree will enjoy the games and rides so much more this year than the previous years. Hope you all have a blessed and wonderful weekend.

Another 2 months post rolled into 1 big blog

Hmmm, Where should I start? We were busy in the month of August celebrating summer with a wonderful Casey Donahew concert under the stars. It was an awesome performance and made me even more of a fan. We enjoyed our night out with good food, good friends and good music. We spent the weekend of Aug. 14th in Houston celebrating Kerry's Dad's parents 60th wedding aniversary. They requested the entire family(there were 35 of us) travel to Houston and have an outdoor photo shoot of everyone together and then some family groups. It was priceless. Afterwards we had a cookout and pool party at Kerry's uncle and aunts house. It was a great time. On Saturday everyone traved to the Nasa Hilton and we enjoyed the day and then spent the evening at the Kemah beach boardwalk. There we ate at the Aquarium which was fabulous and enjoyed live entertainment and music. This was a really neat trip and I am so glad we got to share in their celebration. We met up with my girlfriends for a girls day the following weekend. Aubree enjoyed having her nails painted at the saloon for the first time. She chose neon green and I must say her nails were hard to miss for days. She was so good and still though. Bee was so impressed she gave us the entire bottle of green nail polish. Either that or it is so hidious only Aubree had chosen it. LOL! Either way we got neon green nails and toes anytime we like. Aubree started tap and ballet leasons the 2nd Monday of Sept. She is so cute in her pink tights and black leo. They are learning the basics and it is the highlight of my Monday(Nona's too. She doesn't miss a class). Aubree still loves gymnastics too. The running around to this lesson and that has already started and it is so much fun. But makes me a lil sad that she is growing up so fast. We have a full pledge petting zoo now at Kindle farm. In addition to our 11 yr old golden retriever Alex, and our 16 month old cat Blue, we have our duck Cinderella, Dora, and Polly and now two baby pups Max and Zoe. I wasn't kidding about the zoo was I? It's a lot of mouths to feed but we are animal people and love our zoo so much. I was against two new pups but Kerry and Aubree baited me in and made it hard to resist theses precious pups. They are outside dogs and they run and play with Aubree so well. She is the happiest 3 year old around. So life is good. Mom threw me an awesome birthday dinner on the 10th with all my close friends and family. Seafood always makes me happy and mom went all out with hot pink and zebra decorations and chocolate cake. It was a great time and if I had to turn another year older there is no other way I would like to spend it. We went out the following night for an adult evening of good food and live music. Kerry thoughtfully surprised me with a new Victoria's Secret perfume and also a pair of black Coach boots that I love and the sweetest card I have ever gotten. He never siest to amaze me and knows how to spoil me rotten every day of my life but he always puts a lil extra effort in on my birthday. After a steak dinner at Four Winds Steakhouse with his parents and my mom the following week I couldnt have had a better birhtday. I feel so blessed by all the people in our lives. A family RVing trip with my grandparents, mom and three generations of the Phillips family at Hawkins Lake wrapped up the month of September. We had a fun trip and Aubree is definitely a lil camper. We are loving the beautiful fall temperatures October has brought us. This weather is perfect! We have eatten atleast half of our meals out on the deck this past week enjoying the changing season. Happy Fall Y'all!!

Summer Lovin.....

I know this is a redundant statement that is in like all my latest blogs, but I absolutely LOVE summer!! We are outdoors type of people and enjoy grilling, relaxing outside on the deck, gardening, fishing, camping, long walks and runs in the warm evening air and beautiful days playing in the water. Those were just a few of the wonderful past times we have been enjoying this summer. We spent the entire week RVing a couple weeks ago at a lovely family rv resort. We had a great time enjoying the lazy summer days where the only time schedule we were on depended on what time the pool opened and closed. It was a great week!! Aubree has learned to swim under water and is getting really close to being able to swim on top of the water. I am so impressed with her progress this summer. We also enjoyed a road trip with Kerry's parents to Austin last weekend . It is always refreshing to get a way for a few days. Kerry helped his Uncle Steve build a privacy fence with the guys while us ladies enjoyed a more leisure trip. We did a good deal of shopping at the Round Rock Outlet Mall. I love that place, too! So much to see and do but just not enough time to do it all in. Oh well, it was probably better on my check book that away. Lol! It was a great trip that included lots of shopping and good eatting of course. Aubree had her first dental appointment a few weeks ago. She did fantastic and loved Dr. Richie. She got a good report with no cavities. He advised me to not allow her to have her OJ in the middle of the night as she has been accustom to having. So we immediately started giving her a cup of water to take to bed. She no longer even wakes up during the night for a drink. Which is great for us both. I am a light sleeper and always woke up when she did. So we are FINALLY sleeping through the entire night....most nights anyway. That is such a nice improvement. She remembered almost everything the doc told her and reminds me often if I am not following his orders to a tee. Aubree is also doing well in gymnastics and still anxiously awaits her weekly lesson. The girl is so full of energy and coming up with the craziest things these days. She is a hoot! She loves to play outside and the other day got such a kick out of playing in the water hose while I was watering the flower beds. She laughed so hard and thought she was so funny when she sprayed me or Kerry. She can turn the small simple chores of day to day living into fun, joyful times. She lights up our home and makes the world a better place. I could talk about the joy she brings to us for hours. On another exciting note, I am getting ready to change jobs and am really excited about the opportunity God has laid before me. I am leaving the office I have been in for the past 2 1/2 yrs to take a job at the hospital in my hometown, Grand Saline. I am nervous about the change of jobs but am very excited about the possibilities ahead. I will be trading in my long work days and 2 hrs of drive time a day to be right here in town. It will allow me so much more time with my family and I am excited to be able to contribute to the community I grew up in. My grandmother worked all of my childhood at the clinic there, so I have a lot of fond memories of it. I am sad to leave the office I have been in but feel this is a chance I must take. It will be a great opportunity and is a blessing for me and my family. We have another fun Saturday at Splash Kingdom Water Park in store this weekend and I can't wait for the good times ahead. Hope everyone has a great weekend!! XOXO

Here I am again blogging a whole months worth into one mega blog. I do apologize and am going to try harder to sit down and post more frequently. God has been doing some amazing things in my life! I have been enjoying this summer and seeking God"s plan and will for me and my family. In my career I am blessed with ample opportunity to show God's love and grace and I have really enjoyed reaching out to my patients. However, it is my desire to step out of my comfort zone and seek Him in every opportunity. He continues to pour down His blessings and I am ever so grateful! I experienced some really difficult times last month when I discovered a 5.7cm x 3.2cm complex cyst on my left thyroid. After having a complete ultrasound, thanks to a girlfriend of mine from college, Dr. Zeb sent me to an ENT in Rockwall who did some blood work and discovered I have hypothyroidism. Which means I have an under active thyroid. Dr. west is hopeful that is what caused the cyst and he started me on synthroid. He then scheduled me to have a fine needle aspiration(FNA) done at Lake Point Medical Center. There a pathologist collected some of the cells and tested them. They drained 20cc of fluid out of the cyst at that time. Thank God 72 hours later the pathology report came back benign. Unfortunately the cyst has came back and is currently 4 cm x 3.2 cm. I am scheduled to see an Endocrinologist in Tyler on July 12th to get my medicine regulated and hopefully then the cyst can be drained and will stay that way. According to Dr. West that is a long shot but is worth a try being that I am not crazy about the alternative of having my left thyroid removed. I have learnt a lot during this process and God reminded me how precious life and the everyday small stuff really is. Often in life we get caught up in the day to day routine and take our health for granted. I am guilty of that and am trying to be more appreciative of all the blessings in my life. On another note, Mom and I recently took Aubree in for her 3 year check up. I still take her to MDPA in Coppell due to my dislike of change. I am comfortable there and they have seen her since the day she was born. She hit a big growth spurt this past year. She has always been in the low percentiles for her age but not anymore. She weighed 32 lbs and that put her in the 50%. She was in the 5% at her 2 yr check up and in the 3% for height and now she is in the 75% for height. The doll grew 6 inches in one year. I remain amazed at that. We had a great visit with Dr. LeYoung and then enjoyed a fabulous lunch. Following lunch we headed over to Fire Wheel Shopping Center and shopped a bit. Aubree enjoyed using her birthday gift card at Build- A-Bear. She picked out and designed a white unicorn in pink princess attire on roller skates. It is adorable! And her new bff for the moment. Also in the past month we welcomed a dear, sweet, new addition to the Phillips family. Justin Rex Phillips was born on May 18. He is so precious and to me favors his big sister Finlee Rae. I know Audra and Justin are proud parents and probably very tired too. Audra said its a hard transition going from one child to two. I hope I know the feeling in the next couple of years. Lol! We have been enjoying our season passes to the Splash Kingdom Water park in Canton. This year Bree is tall enough to ride the big tube slides with me. She absolutely loves the big blue one! I love it too....mostly because I enjoy hearing her deep, belly laugh all the way down it. What memories we are making!! I have been loving every minute of summer and all the fun it brings. We have an all American camping/boating trip planned for this weekend to celebrate July 4th. Its us and the Phillips family and we can all hardly wait. Happy Summer 2 u all!!!

So Much To Do, So Little Time To Post!

Sorry to all who have been wondering why it has been so long. The only excuse I have is...LIFE. We have been going from day to day and everyday I have the intention of blogging and then look back and remember, oops I forgot! So where do I start? In the month of April I helped host a baby shower for one of my besties, Audra Phillips. It was a fun shower that my girlfriends threw for her. Man did she rack up on the lil boy things. Baby Rex is already so blessed with overwhelming love. We also enjoyed our first camping trip in the new RV. We went to Whispering Pines along with Pa and Mema, Uncle Bobby and Aunt Nadine, and Kerry and Darla Phillips. It was the first voyage for Pa and Mema's, Kerry and Darla's and our trailer. We had a great time and enjoyed the new roomy camper so much. It is like double the room we had in our other camper. The trip was so fun and Aubree and Finlee were great entertainment. Lol! Aubree Malena Kindle hit another milestone in April. It was three wonderful years ago April 26th that God blessed us with a beautiful baby girl. She had a wonderful Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party. It was in our back yard just as she requested. All her friends came and enjoyed her playhouse, swing set and trampoline. She loved it!! They also enjoyed driving around her new green gator(Aubree refers to it as her tractor). I had the patio decorated in all MMCH decor with huge balloons and streamers. Salt City Sweats made this amazing two layered MMCH cake that was breath taking. It turned out just as I had requested. I threw in a few snacks and drinks and as Aubree put it, we had the best party ever! It was a huge success and I so enjoyed watching all the kids play and enjoy themselves. The girls didn't even give the boys a chance at the pinata. It only took about four beauties to have that thing busted. Watch out guys, we got some tough girls around here. He-he! Happy 3rd Birthday to the apple of my eye! You have blessed us more than you will ever know. With this beautiful spring weather we have been enjoying our beautiful patio and back yard. We have enjoyed many BBQ's and cookouts with our friends and family and look forward to hosting many more. I love this time of year. The beautiful weather and late evening sunsets are my favorite. Plus it allows for Aubree to do what she loves most, play outside. Kerry completed his 2nd semester with all A's again. He made the President's and Dean's list again. I am so very proud and excited for him! And for us, cuz we got the whole summer to enjoy him home in the evening with us. Yippie!! Another reason I love this time of the year! I had a fabulous Mother's day and enjoyed spending the day with my Mom and Grandparents for lunch and a nap and then that evening enjoyed a shrimp boil with Kerry's Mom and family. We are surrounded by loving, caring, Godly, amazing Moms that are such a great example of how a Mom should be. It was truly a blessed day. Last Friday, May 14th was me and my honey's 5th wedding anniversary. As much as I would have loved to run away with my groom, due to our schedule at this time we were unable to take a trip but have a couple in the making for later. We did enjoy a fabulous, romantic dinner at Four Winds Steakhouse and of course ice cream to follow. We spent the night talking and laughing and well, I will spare ya the juicy details. Needless to say it was a great evening and we both enjoyed our anniversary to the fullest. I could not imagine my life any other way and had no idea how someone could complete me the way he does. He knows EVERYTHING about me, even my darkest secrets and feelings and still he loves me unconditionally. He is the only person who I can completely be myself around and know no matter what he has my back. He makes me feel so safe and secure and loves me like I never imagined. We have had our ups and downs, but in the end of the day we always know where our heart belongs. He is my soul mate and my one TRUE love. I look forward to the rest of our lives together. I knew I had chosen a great man to be my husband, but never imagined how wonderful of a father he would be and how every day together gets better and better. I am such a lucky girl to call him my man! The rest of the last few weeks have been filled with what to some may seem like boring everyday life but to me it is a treasure. I have enjoyed some rays by the pool watching Aubree splash around with her Daddy(the water is still a lil too cold for me). We have also enjoyed a craw fish eating with some dear friends and neighbors and Aubree's first recital, if u will, at church. It was so cute! Her class sang three songs and she did an amazing job. I was a proud Momma once again. Like I said, that may all seem mundane to some but to us it is precious, just as everyday is. ~Come grow old with me, the best is yet to be.

LITTLE MISS VAN ZANDT COUNTY

There is a queen among us!! As if she ever lets us forget. She is already treated like royalty by all of her grandparents and great grandparents but just to make it official Aubree had to get herself a crown. A couple of weeks ago Aubree was in the Miss Van Zandt County Pageant and did such a good job. She was so big on stage and hit every X all by herself. She is a ham and ate up all the attention and being center stage. It was so cute how she waved and blew kisses and pranced around. We have it on video if anyone ever needs a good laugh. Its hilarious how much personality this chic has. I love it...could be because I am her mother but I will proudly say she is a beautiful doll any day of the week. I curled her hair on hot stix for the first time before the pageant and that was so "cool" to her. I think those are the same hot stix Malena used to curl my hair sophomore year of high school for the Favorite's dance and those babies still worked like a charm. The curl held all day. Her hair was so pretty, too. During the crowning she was so sweet and so proud. She clapped for all the girls and even for herself when they crowned her Little Miss Van Zandt County. She loved her trophies, flowers and crown so much! She wanted to carry the trophies everywhere, even to church the next morning. She was so happy and that made me so happy too.

What a beautiful time of year!

We are loving this beautiful spring weather! Thanks to day light savings I now can almost cram everything I need to get done into the day. Almost! Aubree is loving playing outside lots, too. It's just beautiful! We had a delightful Easter weekend. Friday afternoon Aubree and I met a friend at First Monday Trade Center and enjoyed shopping out in the sunshine. It was a perfect day and we enjoyed the leisure time together. Saturday we did some good ole fishing at Tuttle ranch and then went to the community egg hunt and play day at the ranch. Bree loved it all. She is such a lil fisherman. She is not scared to grab the bait or fish either one. She also enjoyed the egg hunt. This year she is not bashful. She found a bucket full of candy. The highlight for her though I do believe was the horse back riding. She loved it!! She also enjoyed participating in the egg races, obstacle courses, bounce houses and other games they had set up. It was a perfect day to spend out at the ranch. That evening we went out for delicious Mexican food and then called it a day. A wonderful day indeed.
Resurrection Sunday was a wonderful day as well. We rushed out of the house in our Easter best and enjoyed worshipping with all our family in Christ. I had organized a breakfast for our Sunday school class and it turned out flawless.(If I do say so myself.) Thanks everyone for chipping in and making it a success. After a very heartfelt worship we went to Kerry's parents to spend time with some of his family. It was a delicious meal and a great time spent with my other family. We arrived at my great Uncle Bobby and Aunt Nadine's at 4pm just in time for the traditional egg hunt. It is always so much fun cuz the "young" adults hunt along with the 2 little girls. This year it was all about Aubree and Finlee, my cousin and bff's lil doll. The girls are great friends and cared more about being next to each other than actually hunting. Although they both managed to snag a basket full of goodies. Bree is a fast learner, she would shake the eggs and if they didn't jingle she threw them down. It was hilarious!! The girl is a toot I am telling ya. Funny thing is she would rather have change than dollar bills. Oh well, her loss was Finlee's gain. We ate supper with my family and then visited for a while before we made another round by Kerry's parents. It was a busy day!! But such a blast and Bree got to have another egg hunt at Gramp's and Bebe's before the sun went down. It was such a blessed and beautiful day to celebrate the rising of our Savior. Oh and I almost forgot to mention the 4 new members of our family that were Bree's early Easter present from us. Last week Kerry and I took Aubree to get 4 baby ducks. They are so cute and messy all at the same time. The idea is to raise them inside until they are big enough to live out on our pond. We will see if I can stand them that long. LOL! Actually they aren't so bad, but they are noisy and messy. However, Bree is crazy about them. She holds them and sings to them and reads to them. It's adorable!! She wakes up and the first thing she says is "Can I hold my ducks?" She has named them all by herself. Cinderella(that's her favorite duck), Belle, Daisy and Donald Duck. It is really fun having them around....most of the time.

Feeling So Blessed

In the past few weeks we have enjoyed lots of wonderful blessings. Some with our family and some with friends. One of my favorites was spent with a group of 10 of our dearest friends enjoying a night at Shoguns, our favorite Japanese Hibachi grill. We had such a wonderful time. The food was fabulous and the night was filled with good times. A short week later I was star stuck as we were sitting at Chili's in Lindale and realized we were sitting next to the entire crew from Extreme Makeover Home Edition. They were all there and even came over to our table to talk to us. Such kind, down to earth people who do an amazing job in helping those in need. What a cool experience that was. We also survived our 2nd annual garage sale. These sales are not something I enjoy, however I am amazed at how well baby/kids clothes sale. We had our sale with 4 other families in a great location and I am still in awe at how well it did. I got rid of a lot of unneeded stuff and put some extra cash in my pocket. Gotta love that! Sunday I indulged in Red Lobster's Lobster Fest and it was oh so good. Lobster tail, crab legs and shrimp...MMMM...makes my mouth water just remembering how good it was. Following our delicious lunch we spent the day shopping. Kerry looking for a new tv for our bedroom and me mainly enjoying all the cute lil girls clothes that are out for spring and summer. Aubree loves to shop with me and is so cute picking out the things she likes. She is set for spring and I can't wait to see her in all the darling outfits we got her.
Just when I thought life couldn't get any better, it did. We went on Tuesday to Medical City Dallas for Aubree's yearly follow up on her renal reflux. She had to have a sedated VCUG and renal ultrasound. This was very stressful for Kerry and I as we hated to see Bree put to sleep and we were prayerful that God would take care of her and make her reflux better. It had previously been graded as a 2-3 out of 1-5. As the VCUG was underway the doctors were amazing and were talking us through the procedure again. But as they neared 8oz of fluid being injected this time there was no reflux seen. YEAH!! It was officially gone. Only 20% of kids outgrow renal reflux and thankfully Aubree is in that 20%. It never crossed my mind that it would be completely gone. All this time we were praying for it to have improved, just for it to not be worse. Last year they had told us that some outgrow it by the time they are 5 yrs old and if this didn't happen or if it got worse she may need surgery to correct it. All I could think was please don't let it be worse and don't let there be any kidney damage. But God is so good!! He cured her and took the reflux away. For us that was such a peace of mind and meant no more prophylactic antibiotic daily for Bree. What an AWESOME day!! As a treat for Bree's day we had promised when it was over to take her to Chuck E Cheese. However, she asked to go to McDonald's and play on the playground instead. And since it was her treat we let her decide. We compromised and stopped at Chic-fil-a to play since it was on our way home. Aubree had a great time and played like such a big girl. It was a great day and again, I could not ask for more. I feel so very blessed to have the life I have. God is so GOOD!! To top off my great week my raise at work went into effect this week and I got back payed what I was owed. Yippee!! I truly feel on top of the world and owe it all to our amazing God. Thanks to everyone who prayed for Aubree and for all of our family and friends for their amazing love and support. XOXOX to all!!

We were so blessed this past week with a beautiful snow. In east Texas snow like that is rare and it was such a delight to see it falling and sticking, if only for a day or so. On Thursday I was sitting with Jennifer Stewart having lunch at La Waffalatta in downtown Mineola and it felt as if we were sitting in Manhattan. Through the huge glass windows we could see large snow flakes steadily falling. It was amazing. Through out the day it continued to snow and by the afternoon the ground was covered. I was able to attend Aubree's Valentines Day party at parents day out and then we went home to enjoy the snow some more. Bree was confused a little. She kept asking me"Where is the grass?" Her mind just couldn't figure out where it had went. That afternoon Jennifer brought the girls over to play and we enjoyed watching the snow from the warmth of our living room. Kerry made homemade chili for us all to enjoy and we took lots of fun pictures in the snow. It was a great night with great friends. The snow fell all through the night and by Friday there were probably 10 inches on the ground. It was the prettiest thing ever. Due to the snow my office was closed and I got to spend another day at home with my wonderful family. We had snow ball fights and made snow angels and had such a blast playing in the beautiful snow. Just as we were almost frozen we loaded up and went to Kitchens for breakfast by the fire place. We were too late for breakfast so we had an early lunch instead. It was a great time, however the snow had caused our electricity to go out so we spent the day in town at Gramps and Bebe's house. There we made snow ice cream and enjoyed the cold winter day. It was so fun sharing this experience with Aubree. Our electricity was out until Saturday afternoon so we enjoyed a day of shopping and leisure with Bebe. Then we had a great italian dinner at the lake with Gramps, Bebe, Nona and the three of us. The snow was all almost melted by Sunday and although I was sad to see it go, it was nice to see the grass again. Sunday was a very special day. Not only was it a day of love, but our oldest nephew, Parker was baptised at church. My heart is always moved when a child accepts Jesus but it was even more precious since it was our dear Parker. After church we enjoyed a great lunch and then my two loves(Kerry & Aubree) and I and Bebe and Gramps enjoyed seeing Valentine's Day at the theater. It was a great day filled with lots of chocolates, kisses and love. I could NOT ask for more. XOXO to all!

Too cute not to archive....

I use this blog as a way to keep a lot of our events archived and there were a couple of cute comments made by our darling Aubree that I want to make sure never get lost or forgotten. First off, Kerry and I love to watch sports. From football to basketball to hockey to baseball to UfC and Nascar. We enjoy all sports and most of the time don't miss an event. The same goes for my Mom and Grandparents. They are usually watching basketball or whatever sport is in season. My mom especially loves to watch the Maverick's basketball. She doesn't miss a televised game. Well Miss Bree has joined my mom in her passion for the Mav's and will cheer them on every time they are on the big screen. It is really cute to hear Bree say "Go Mav's!" or "Go Dirk!" Yes, she has learnt who most of the players are from my mom. She is very interested in this particular sport. Which I think she gets naturally cuz it is a sport that both my grandparents loved to play and from what I hear were very good at playing. The love of basketball was passed from them down to my mom and her brother Curtis and even to myself. I loved that game and still today enjoy playing and watching basketball. Well to get to the point, Pa and Mema and Bree were watching the Mavs and Bree ask, "Where is Dirk?" and teasing her, as Pa always does, Pa replied, "He's probably off with his girlfriend." And as serious and innocent as can be Bree replied back, " I am Dirk's girlfriend!" It was the cutest thing ever and she was so serious its not even funny.
On another note, this is a story that just melted my heart. I put this on face book so some may have already heard this, but for my Dad who I know isn't on fb I wanted to share this. Our cat Blue has a sore place on his back leg that we have no idea what has happened. We think it is a bite of some sort but aren't sure. Well the place started to get bigger and is bleeding more and has us all concerned. So we have been doctoring it and Bree has been pretty worried about it. Well out of no where the other morning she said to Kerry, "We need to talk to Jesus and ask Him to make Blue better." What a brilliant idea! I was so proud that at such a young age she already knows to go to God with her worries and ask him for help. This was a priceless moment for me as a mother. What a blessing that Bree is to our lives and to know she does understand the concept we are trying to teach her about having a relationship with God and talking through prayer to Him. It was just the sweetest thing and I wanted to share this joy with everyone, but my dad especially who always conveys the importance of having a relationship with God to me. And who always reminds me to turn it over to God, and although it may not be the answer I am wanting, it will be what God wants. And after all that is what we are here to do, seek God's word and live the life God wants for us. Hope these stories will warm your heart as much as they did mine and be a blessing for you all. XOXO

The month of January....

We have been enjoying this beautiful weather but know that the cold front is back on its way in. Last week I enjoyed running outdoors and it gave me a lil taste of what I have been missing on the treadmill. I love to run! It is relaxing and calming and a time when I can think and collect my thoughts. However, it is not nearly as refreshing when done indoors and not outside. I am not trying to rush things but I loved the 70 degree temps last week and am anxious for spring to get here. I am starting to think Bree has the same love for running. Every day she wants to see how fast and how long she can run. She runs up and down the living room, going full throttle the whole time. It is cute seeing her try so hard. I hope she grows up loving to run like I do. As a child I use to go out in the pasture with my Dad and we would have races through the woods and all over his land. We would see who could run the longest before they had to stop. Chasing each other all over, up and down hills and thru the creek. We went everywhere. It was always lots of fun and is a very good memory I have of time spent with my Dad. He always encouraged me and kinda planted a seed in me that has really flourished. As an adult I have participated in numerous charity events, marathones and half marathones, all sorts of runs and running organizations and hope to continue this well through my adulthood. I hope that I can do this with Bree someday(I can invision us chasing each other all over our land) and it is my dream to run mother-daughter events with her when she is big enough. I sure hope she loves it like I do. Her health is very important to me and I want her to enjoy exercising. I want it to be something we can do together. We have spent a lot of the month of January trying to slow down and spend more time enjoying each other, our home and allowing Bree to play with her toys and things. We have stayed in a lot of days and cooked our meals and eaten at the table together as a family instead of going out as we were so accustomed to before. We still enjoy a good meal out too dont get me wrong. It has just been fun planning our meals more and grocery shopping as a family has become one of our favorite things to do. We all enjoy cooking together and love how much more connected we feel after spending our time at home together. Our lives were so chaotic during the holiday season that this time of rest and relaxation was very needed. Plus I am constantly reminded of how fast Aubree is growing up and don't like looking back and wondering where the time went. Its inevitable I know but at least I can say that I am spending as much time as possible enjoying everyday with her and nurishing her mind and soul. One of our favorite family games that we have been enjoying is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse bingo. Bree got this as one of her gifts from Nona and we all enjoy playing it. Plus it is teaching her shapes and colors. Colors she has known for a while but there are a few shapes which she is really learning for the first time. Bree is really a lucky bingo player too. I have always enjoyed playing bingo on the cruise ships we go on and have been pretty lucky there too sometimes. I am sad to admit this but Bree usually beats Kerry and I most of the time. However, it's a fun time for us all. Bree has become quite the pajama girl. As soon as she comes home for the day she ask if she can put her jammies on. Normally it is fine and she spends the rest of the day comfy in her jammies and house shoes. And much to her delight she will enjoy "pajama day" at Parent's Day Out this Thursday. She is overflowing with personality. Always making us laugh. The other day she was very clear on informing Bebe that she wants to be called Aubree instead of Bree. I am not sure if she is sincere or if that was only for the time being but I have gotten in the habit of calling her Bree. I sure hope it doesn't last too long. Hopefully it is just a phase. She enjoyed a slumber party last week with her 1st cousin Kate at Gramps' and Bebe's house. I heard they had a lot of fun and while doing so I got to enjoy a date night with Kerry. So it was a win-win situation for us all. Well maybe not for Bebe. The girls kept her up most of the night and I sure bet she must have been exhausted. We spent last Saturday celebrating Bree's other cousin Lilly's 2nd birthday. It was a fun Elmo party and Lilly loved it. The party was great and we enjoyed spending that time with Clay, Tori and Lilly. Last night we were out to dinner with Gramps, Bebe and Papaw and when the waitress brought us Kerry's to go order Bree said to us, " I don't want Daddy to go to school." Made my heart melt. I knew it must be hard on her cuz she doesn't see her Daddy as much when he is in class but this was the first she had every said about it. She loves her Daddy so much and he is so amazing with her. He is a great Daddy and it makes me sad that she misses him so. I reminded her that he loves her and going back to school is a sacrifice he is making for all of us. So that one day he can be home more, enjoy his career and provide more for us. I am not sure if she understood but seemed to be comforted by what I said. God love her soul!! Precious little darling! Makes me even more ready for the relaxing weekend we have coming up. I cant wait to spend some time home together as a family enjoying each other's company. Every one should try it. It is great to slow down and plan on spending more time as a family, bonding and relaxing together. XOXO

After 12 wonderful Christmas parties and a very busy vacation, I am finally sitting down to blog about our wonderful holidays. This year Bree really enjoyed unwrapping her gifts and those of everyone around her that was willing to let her help them. The magic of Christmas was definitely present in our home. Bree's laughter was priceless and filled my heart with joy on Christmas morning as she discovered all the joys of being a child at Christmas. We are so blessed and it was great sharing this time with our families. I have started a tradition of making breakfast casserole on Christmas morning and having both our parents over. We all enjoyed watching Bree play with her toys. She loved every minute of it. A couple of her favorites were the outdoor trampoline, that of course came with the padding and enclosure and her talking spring horse and the musical sit-n-spin, easel desk and stuffed Dalmatian puppy that has a stroller and accessories. She had such a blessed Christmas and received so many cool gifts that she loves. Kerry and I both exchanged stocking stuffers and agreed to build a shop/workout bldg/ storage as our gifts to each other. My Mom gave us professional grade garment steamer to share as well as a LL Bean jacket for Kerry and shirts and 2 yearly subscriptions to outdoor and gardening magazines that he had wanted. Mom gave me a pink Ipod to use when I run and some really cool knee boots. From Kerry's parents we got a Vita Mix 5200. For years we have seen the demonstration at the State Fair of Texas and admired how "MEAN" they are. For like 2 days straight we lived on smoothies and have been amazed at how good they taste. Maybe they will help us both to get more veggies and fruits in our daily diets. The cool thing is u can fill it w greens and not even taste them when they are mixed in with the fruit. It also makes warm soups as well. We just dumped in the ingredients for tortilla soup (including fresh, raw vegetables)and in a matter of minutes had warm soup. Fascinating huh? My Mema got Mom and I an awesome gift that I am supper excited about as well. She got us season passes again this year to Splash Kingdom.(The local water park that we spent like every Friday of last summer enjoying.) Well now we are all set for this coming summer and I just cant wait. Bree has so much fun there and will be able to enjoy even more of it this year. Thanks,Mema! We received way too many wonderful gifts from our families to list everything but now u have an idea of some of the great things we were showered with. We thoroughly enjoyed all the time we got to spend with our families and friends during the season. As for vacation, I was off from work for 12 wonderful days. We spent a lot of the time relaxing at home. We hardly ever get to just spend down time at home just the three of us. So I enjoyed pajama days the most, more than I would have enjoyed any trip for sure. I spent most afternoons out on the trampoline with Bree. She loves to play 'break the egg' the most. We also do a lot of chasing each other in circles too. While Emily and Josh were in town we also enjoyed a fun night of bowling with Kerry's parents and family. This was Bree's 1st time to bowl and she absolutely loved it! The kiddos had a lane all to them selves with the bumpers on and had a blast. She keeps asking to go back and I keep promising cuz I must admit I had forgotten how much fun it is myself. Kerry was the ultimate champ and beat us all but I did have a great time too. Now if I can just get my house back in order and get all of Bree's new things organized. We may have to add on to our house just to accommodate all her gifts. Thanks to everyone for all u did to make our holidays so outstanding. We are all so blessed! XOXO