Five Years!

Steve and I have officially been married for 5 years this past Jan 11! I can barley believe we have made it this long...that is to say, I'm impressed that Steve has put up with me for that many years. Actually, truth be told, we are pretty well matched for each other.



My dear beloved hubby scored major bonus points this year because despite being thousands of miles away he sent me this beautiful bouquet! And let me tell you, it made my day...no week...no month. The only down fall was...he wasn't hear to celebrate it with me.




Isn't it stunning!



As a tribute to the man I love so much...let me count the ways!



1. Thank you for being an incredible father. It is nice to know the kids come first and that you do anything in your power to give them everything they need. They love and adore you!



2. Thank you for making your R&R trip home as good as it could be considering we had such a large audience. (I promise to post those pics asap!) I enjoyed being with you, our conversations and watching you interact with your kids. Most of all thank you for giving me the space I needed to get used to having you around again. You were sensitive and understanding...it meant a lot to me!



3. Thank you for being my partner, my friend, my confidante, my lover, and my spouse!



Come home soon! We miss you like crazy!

4-Wheelers

Ok I know I promised to go back and put in notes for the Christmas pics...but who are we kidding. I barley have time to keep up with all that I try and do. Anyway they are mostly self-explanatory anyway!

So now here are some of the cutest pics of Stevie and his best friend in Idaho Falls...Gabe! The two of them are very cute together. Gabe invited us to go 4-wheelin' and the two boys had a blast together! Thanks to Jerry, Lilly got a turn too!


All dressed and ready to go. It was nice of Staci and Gabe to lend Stevie a pair of goggles or "go-gles" as Stevie calls them so he could be just like Gabe!

Stevie is on the right sitting on the battery powered 4-wheeler. This thing is amazing because it will actually go on snow. Stevie was in hog-heaven because this is the exact toy he has wanted for 2 years now but I'm too mean a mom to get it for him. Gabe is on the left and sitting on a gas-powered mini 4-wheeler. He is an incredible driver...and that machine goes pretty fast!

Jerry was kind enough to take Lilly and it was a good thing too, she didn't want to be left behind. She was and still is in the "me too" phase. I have a sinking feeling that phase lasts a long time!

Gabe pulled Stevie on the sled. The two of them had such a blast! They did switch and Stevie drove with Gabe on the sled. Gabe is one tough kid...Stevie didn't quite have the hang of going at a steady pace and Gabe about got jerked out several times...but he hung on and they had a great time!

Christmas

I will post the stories the next chance I get. Enjoy the cutest family ever!

Wrapping Presents

Stevie is helping Nana wrap a pressent for Papa and Lilly can't resist getting smack dab in the middle! Too cute!

Uncle Jack

This is a picture of my Uncle Jack, Cousin Jessie and Jessie's girlfriend Kristen. This picture is from the Christmas party but I wanted to put it in a separate post to pay tribute to Uncle Jack. He passed away about a month ago due to an unexpected heart attack! It was horrible! He was only 48 and the youngest of my dad's brothers. It was a horrible shock to the family.

My memories of Uncle Jack:

1. He always took special time to seek me out and hear about my life at the Christmas parties. A lot of the time at the party we talk small talk but Jack was genuinely interested in what was going on with me and my family.

2. Steve really enjoyed talking with Jack. Said he was funny and easy to be around.

3. He would come every summer to go fishing and was the only one of my dad's siblings to do that. He would always bring a friend of girlfriend but it was still fun to see him and hang out.

4. He came up over the 4th of July to go fishing one summer and it snowed. I remember him cursing the Idaho weather.

5. He drove his motorcycle up one summer when Stevie was just new and bought him a Harley Davidson sweat shirt. Stevie still wears it and knows who gave it to him.

We will miss Jack and wish the best for Jessie!

Chrsitmas Party

These pictures are from the Holt Christmas party. It is about the only time we all get together and it is a wonderful time to catch up with every one's lives.

I kind of uploaded these pictures backwards so these first pictures are from the end of the party.

This is David and he loves babies. He couldn't barly keep his hands off Lilly. It took her a while but she eventually warmed up to him. He asked me if he could take her to his prom. He said that she is the cutest girl ever including the ones he goes to high school with. He is such a sweet heart and was so kind with her.


Angie was awesome and baked a bunch of ginger bread men and brought all the goodies to decorate them. Stevie went to town put his little man together.

Stevie just opened his presents and got a pair of spider man pjs and a "spidy" car. The gifts couldn't have been more perfect. He wares the pjs every night he can to this day and I'm lucky if I can get them away from him long enough to wash them.

He is thanking Grandma with a big kiss. If this is any indication of what I have to look forward to when he is older....the girls better look out. He is one hell of a kisser!

Stevie is helping Lilly to open her presents. She was so tired at this point, she needed the help. And unfortunately, this is where the camera's batteries died so I didn't get the picture of Lilly kissing Grandma. She got a pair of pjs too, a baby glow worm, and a toy little radio. She loved it all. Both kids changed into their pjs that night but I didn't get a picture of how cute they were! Bummer!!!

Angie is distracting the kids until Santa came with the story, Polar Express. Stevie loves that story! Aunt Janet snagged Lilly. I guess when I was out of sight she was just fine in her arms. It was when I came back with the camera that the water works started!

Stevie had no problems sitting on Santa's lap this year. He told him exactly what he wanted, "a diesel truck with a trailer and a crain and the box." He still has the box because it makes a perfect garage. He repeated himself like 4 times just so Santa wouldn't get confused. And Santa brought him just what he asked for!

Lilly didn't enjoy the lap as much. I think every family has one of these pictures.

This is Stevie and Lanie singing jingle bells for us. It was pretty cute!

The party was a lot of fun. Good food, family, presents, and Santa...what more could anyone want?

School Work

Once again I'm months behind. This picture was taken in December. I went in with Stevie to help in the class and this was one of the works he wanted to show me.

First he hammered the nails in and then he pulled them out.

He really loves his school. The other day we were talking about moving back to Savannah when Dad gets back from Iraq. Stevie asked me if I would ask Miss Susan and Miss Joanie if they would move the school to Savannah. I told him he should ask Miss Joanie. We had parent teacher conferences about 2 weeks ago and Miss Joanie brought up the conversation she and Stevie had. She couldn't figure out why Stevie wanted to move the school to Las Vegas because she was pretty sure we were moving back to Savannah. She said that Stevie asked her one morning if she would move the school to Vada and she thought he was saying Nevada and then they both agreed it was Las Vegas. She said that Stevie nodded, smiled and bounced some more. I love it. And she was touched that he loves school so much!

As for the report card, Stevie is doing great. He is working on all the pre math, pre reading, and just where he needs to be!