Monday, July 21, 2008

Vacation

It has been wonderful!!! Jake has really enjoyed being back at "home" for the first time in 8 years. A lot has changed in those years.

The girls are having a wonderful time, too. Across the street is a park and they are at it all the time!!!!!

I added a new (old) friend to my blogroll. Staci was one of the first girls we met in our youth group in Oklahoma. She really didn't know what to think of Jake & I, but she and her family quickly became some of our closest friends. She's great! I'm so glad that I can keep up with her through a blog now!

I'll post vacation pics and stuff later when we get home.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Just a few pics

Taelor riding on the fire truck in the 4th of July parade. (Last one on the end)
Addi riding with Jake, and yes, sucking on her finger during the parade. But she's still got the wave down!
My favorite summer pic so far. Taelor in her All-Star uniform and Addi ready to cheer for sister's team!
One of the few pics they both look sweet in!
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Vacation

I'm am so excited. We actually get to go on a vacation this summer! We leave tomorrow evening after Jake gets off work and will come home sometime next weekend.

I know that a lot of families normally take a summer vacation - we haven't had a chance to. At Dillard's, Jake wasn't allowed to take time off during the summer months (they have certain days "blacked out" for vacation time). So now that he has a job with real benefits, we are leaving town.

We are going to Albuquerque and Farmington (his hometown). Yes, we'll be spending a lot of time with the in-laws, but at least it's not in A-town. Jake's poor mom, Cindy, has been in Alb. all summer long taking care of her dad. Cindy and her other two sisters stay with him 24-7-365. Cindy's turn is always in the summer since she's a teacher. So, anyway, her turn in up on Saturday, so she's going to go home and check on her home before we arrive on Sunday. We're planning on taking the girls to the zoo and maybe check out Old Town in Alb. before we go on to Farmington.

Once we're in Farmington, I think we'll take it easy. We are planning on going to Durango, but we really have no firm plans for this trip - not even a firm return date! We're just going and doing what we want to when we want to! It'll be great.

The sad part is, once we return, there's not much left of summer. I don't offiicially start back with twirling until the 11th. But there are still things that need to be done before then. So, summer is basically over - how sad.

Enjoy your remaining few days of summer - how bout this crazy July weather?!??!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

A GREAT 4th

Happy belated 4th to everyone! I hope yours was as good as ours was!

We started the day with our parade in town. Yes, A-town has a parade. Taelor rode a firetruck and Addi rode with Jake in his company's "gator". (I am aware of how redneck this parade is sounding...) Both looked so cute. Addi sat in dad's lap and sucked her finger the entire parade while waving at the crowd. Mom and I sat and watched and realized that parade's aren't as much fun to watch without being able to see it through a child's eye. Last year, Taelor was in the parade and Addi was with us. She was SOO EXCITED to see every float, every person, every siren. It was fun getting to see my own kids in the parade, but the rest of it didn't hold quite the same sparkle as it does when you are watching it with your kids.

Then we spent the rest of the day at mom and dad's. Our 4th has always been about spending time with family. This year, it was extra special. A) my grandparents (who are both in the 80's) felt well enough to come and B) my nephew made his first outing since being released from NICU!!!! Brock got to come visit. He is so sweet and such a trooper. It was pretty cool to watch my parents as they enjoyed having all three grandkids around for the first time. And I can't tell you how excited my dad is to have a grandson (though Addi really does have a lot of "boy" in her). It was just a very special day to have the family there and to now have the newest addition healthy enough to come visit.

The evening was concluded with a great fireworks show here in A-town. It's really a fabulous little show. And you don't have to mess with ANY traffic. We sat with several of our friends from here in town and just enjoyed each other's company as we watched the fireworks. Then, since we do live in a small town, we came home from the official fireworks show, only to watch about 12 more going on around us! Only about 4 of them were legal and being done outside the city limits. The rest were going on all around us. So, we didn't get to bed until somewhere around 1am this morning. But you know, it was all worth it. We even let Taelor stay up until midnight watching the fireworks. Back to that "watching things through the eyes of a child" thing. She really loves fireworks, and the fact that she had mom and dad to herself!

Happy 4th to everyone and I hope you all feel as blessed as I do to live where we do and have all the freedoms that we have. God bless America!!!!!!