Saturday, July 20, 2013

CONGRATS are in order

Twenty years ago I met one of my favorite people on earth. We clicked instantly and have enjoyed countless hours laughing, talking, drinking coffee and supporting each other as we grew through life. We graduated high school together. I was in her wedding. She was in my wedding. I was there after her first little girl was born. She came to the hospital when my first little girl was in the NICU. We spent tons of time on the phone and not as much time in person as we'd like. She has a beautiful blog that inspired the start of this one and you must check out her two latest miracles. They are absolutely a sight to beheld. My heart is swelling with joy for her and her growing family!! Way to go sister!! One more incredible milestone in life that I am honored to witness!! Love you Miss Sarah!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Twelve Years

The years truly are short . . .even those at times the days are long.

Yesterday marked our 12 year anniversary as husband and wife. Over the past twelve years, we have moved three times, had two beautiful little girls, faced medical problems beyond belief, lost some special family members, laughed, cried, attended sibling weddings, went on family vacations, driven the same cars (until Travis' recent update), welcomed a niece and nephew into the world, taken countless pictures, had two dogs, some fish and a few hermit crabs, switched school districts, watched two elections, the falling of the twin towers, some amazing storms and the rising of Duck Dynasty, made friends to last a lifetime and continued to grow as individuals and a couple.

We have been through a lot. Some amazing and some less than amazing. Life is not easy - our kids throw up, bills stack up, washing machines break, unexpected and unwelcome surprises come our way . . . but we are strong. We have not broken and we will continue to grow even closer as the years go on.

Twelve years ago we made vows. Vows to stick together. So we have . . . and I'm thankful for it.

Travis - for the long days and fun days and sad days and growing days and happy days and crazy days . . . I'm so glad I'm spending my days as your wife. Here's to many more.





Wednesday, July 10, 2013

I have a blog?!

What happened to my blog? To the space I loved so dearly. To sharing photos, adventures, musings, laughter, and a day in the life of our family? Who knows - but I want it back.

Mark this down as a re-start. The dawning of a new chapter . . . ok - just re-reading the same chapter you lost your place in when you set down the book.

Here's what you missed the past few months . . . (months? really? pathetic.)

Hannah had her piano recital. No offense to "Hot Cross Buns" but she has improved so much and continues to surprise me! If I was more talented and tech savvy, I'd be able to insert the video here. Obviously I'm not.

Gerry conducted his final memorial day service at Washelli cemetery with his SPU wind ensemble. He is officially retiring after over 40 years of teaching, coaching, and inspiring young musicians. It was a beautiful service and was a special opportunity to teach our kids the reason we celebrate and honor our veterans.









For fathers day, Travis wanted to head to Chateau San Michele, a local winery that has beautiful gardens, fish ponds, buildings, and of course, ducks.









It was a great day spent honoring a great Daddy.

Once again I had the opportunity to attend a Beth Moore conference. She is my favorite speaker, an true inspiration and a lot of fun. This time, I went with some of my favorite people including my sweet Lisa who is moving to Alabama. It was an incredible opportunity to spend one on one time with her before she had to leave. I will miss her smile on a daily basis!!






 We had almost front row seats!! Truly a perfect trip!

Six years ago I started on a journey that forever changed my life. In that span of time, I've spent more days in hospitals, more hours on nebulizers, and more medications than I can count. I should not be here. Or if I was here, I should be stuck on my couch hooked up to a breathing machine. INSTEAD, I have spent the last two years losing 93 pounds, staying out of hospitals, and July 3rd was the first day in the last six years that I have not taken steroids!!!! And now, three times a week I attend two hours of Zumba and a boot camp. God is so ridiculously good!!



The end of the school year, Haley's class went to the zoo . . . one of my favorite places!! And they have a baby lion cub!!





The girls had 2 months of horse lessons.






It was amazing how quickly they learned and was pretty incredible to watch them ride around and around the arena all by themselves!!

Hannah - the 3 pound preemie baby - turned 10!!! For her birthday, she wanted to get her ears pierced and have frozen yogurt at Menchies. And of course, we had to get the American Doll's ears pierced first.









We have been saving money in order to afford a trip to Disneyland so we've started cutting Daddy's hair. For some crazy reason, he let Haley do it this time.




Surprisingly, she did an incredible job!

And last but not least, our deck remodel is almost done!! When we moved in our beautiful new home, the back deck - or should I say a broken concrete slab with a broken hot tub taking up half the space - left a lot to be desired. We now have a big, beautiful trex deck which we have spent time on non-stop since it's been finished. We've eaten breakfast on it, bbq'd on it, read books in lawn chairs on it, and planted some beautiful flowers on it. We couldn't be more thankful.


  

Here's to the reviving of the blog!