Happy Birthday Kimbo!

(This is an apron that Kimbo made. It is made of felt and has a ziploc bag on front that is holding all of her supplies.)

Yesterday my sweet Kimbo turned 7!! I cannot believe it!!!!!!!! What a joy miss Kimbo is to our family. Her creativity never ceases to amaze me. This amazing little girl can create some of the most interesting things. Kimbo is a very sensitive little girl who is always putting the wants and needs of others before her own. When I look at Kimbo, I see myself at her age. Her sweet little freckles on her nose melt my heart daily. Kimbo is such a spititual little girl. She loves her Heavenly Father and her Saviour Jesus Christ. She loves to read the scriptures and says such beautiful prayers.

Kimbo, thanks for being such an amazing little girl and making me smile each and every day. I love you so very much!!

Happy Halloween!!

Here are our trick or treaters!! They had such good time..Garrison was Luigi, Kimbo was a vicious vampire, Rachel was a black cat, and Natalie was the Alabama mascot. I made home made chicken noodle soup and rolls for dinner, then as soon as our tummys were full, we were off. Naddie was the biggest hit..Her little "trick or treat" was just precious! I will say we got some interesting responses living here in Texas with our Alabama mascot in tow...All in good fun though! I put bows on her ears to make sure that people knew she was a girl. :)

Kimbo said trick or treat in her best vampire voice at every door, Garrison was jumping up and down at every door because he was so over stimulated, and rachel couldn't see out of her mask very well so her main focus was not falling..boy were we quite the sight.

No thanks needed

I got the best email ever today. Turns out, you can send other people emails from your Wii. Let's rewind a little bit...Instead of a birthday party, Rachel asked to go to the American Girl Doll store in Dallas. It was just her and I. We had lunch at their little cafe and bought some cute things for her doll. When we were there, I could not believe how many people were there with their daughters buying what I am sure amounted to be hundreds of dollars of dolls and clothes. One doll alone is about $114. As a mom, you want nothing more than to be able to do the same for your child. I was so worried that Rachel was looking around at these girls and thinking the same thoughts that I would have been at her age.. "I wish we could by all of those things." I honestly was feeling kind of bad looking at these moms and daughters with their shopping bags full with items. I tried to make it a fun day for her but some times you never feel you can do enough. Rachel never once said anything of the sort and in fact told me multiple times how much fun she was having and how glad she was that we did this. Then today I get this....

Dear mom thank you so so so much
for the Amaracin girl doll store! I
would say thank you a milan times if
I ccould but of cors it would bug you.
Love always Rachel!

My eyes immediatly filled with tears. I hope she knows that it was a day that I will never forget! It is a day with her that I will treasure forever. I guess the fact that we don't have hundreds of dollars to spend at these fancy stores doesn't matter to her. It was just being together that made our day special! As a mom, it is our job to be there for our daughters and to create these special memories with them. Money does not need to be a factor, just lots of smiles, giggles and of course, love!

Happy Birthday Rachel!!

Today is Rachel's 9th birthday! What a beautiful 9 year old she is..both inside and out! Our family is so blessed to have such a wonderful young lady in our home. Rachel is so caring and kind and is always willing to help out anyone who is in need. She is loved by all who meet her! Rachel we love you much and hope you have an amazing birthday today!!!

Our New Family Member

Some friends of ours gave us their sweet little Maltipoo! His name is Jay (I am in no way a fan of that name but it is what he came with and Garrison wont let us change it.) and because he is a Maltipoo, he is hypoallergenic and doesn't shed so Garrison is not sneezing and rubbing his eyes like crazy! Garrison was scared to death at first, but by the time an hour had gone by, they were sleeping next to each other. All of the kids love him! It is so fun to have a dog. He is such a great dog. He is 3 years old, housebroken and never barks! We are so excited to welcome Jay to our family!

Autism Walk

This is Garrison and his "girlfriend" Skylar. According to Skylar, who is also autistic, they WILL be married one day.

It is that time of year again!!! We are so excited to participate in the Autism walk here in Dallas! Once again, our entire family will be participating! We love doing this not only to help raise money and awareness for Autism but it also gives us an opportunity to tell others about our amazing son and to be surrounded by those who are living the same life we are, facing the same struggles we are and getting through each day in the same ways we are.

If you are interested in donating you cann go to http://www.walknowforautism.org. Scroll down to the Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas walk. Click on the donate tab and type in my first and last name. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If you cannot donate, that is no problem..just do us a favor and be patient with those children and adults who have Autism and any other disability. They are incredibly special spirits that if you allow them into your lives, will change you forever!!

Thanks for all of your support!!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

You can barely see because just then, a teacher and a parent stood in my shot, but this is her getting her little necklace.

Here she is wearing both awards

At Sendera Ranch Elementary, every Friday, they have an assembly and each week, one grade hands out awards for certain characteristics. Today was 1st grade awards and the award was for respect! Each 1st grade teacher picks 3 or 4 students and they get to come up in front of the entire school and get an army tag type necklace. Then, the P.E. teacher picks 5 students out of the entire 1st grade to get a fairness award as well. I got an email from Kimbo's teacher earlier this week telling me that she had chosen kimbo to recieve the respect award from her. This is kept secret from the kids so they are surprised that morning. So I went to the assembly and saw her get this award...then the P.E. teacher got up to announce the 5 first graders who would recieve her fairness award and Kimbo won that too!!!!!!!! At that point, I got emotional!!! I was bursting with pride. She was the only one who got 2 awards!! As a mother, I am so proud of my kids anytime they do anything well, win any awards, or achieve great things however, when your child recieves an award for showing great respect to their teachers and other students and being fair when participating in sports or playing games at school, well, that is the ultimate for me!!! An award recieved for the character is the best award of all.

Kimbo , we couldn't be more proud of you and the wonderful daughter you are! Your kindness to all around you and the respect you show to everyone shows what an incredible child you are! We love you so very much!!!

My Sweet Boy

Garrison wanted me to take some pictures of him tonight. He is just such a sweet boy! He brings so much fun and love into our home! His innocence is just amazing to me. He accepts and loves everyone. I do not feel worthy enough to have the honor of having such a special spirit in my home. Children with special needs are sent here to teach US not the other way around. In my opinion, they are the Lord's way of letting us know He is near and loves us. These special children are His angels sent to earth to help us feel Him near. Thank you son, for all you do for me. I love you!

My New Business

I am so excited!! I just started a new business with a small and yet wonderfully successful company called Just Jewelry. I have been buying this extremely affordable jewelry from a friend for almost a year and now I am selling it myself. Here is the scoop....Everything is a set price. Necklaces are $20, Earrings are $10, Bracelets are $15, watches are $26 and our sterling silver rings are only $38. You are not going to get this great of jewelry at this great quality anywhere. The new fall line just came out today and I am so excited about it. If you are interested in looking, you can go to http://www.itsjustjewelry.com and look it over. If you are interested in ordering, please let me know!

On September 4th I will be having a $1000 day. This means I am going to be trying to sale $1000 worth of jewelry in ONE day!! As a bonus, for every $50 you spend, you will receive a great ring (details are on the website) and ONE lucky person will get all of the hostess benefits from the sales of that day. I will be picking randomly so ANYONE can win.

So shop, shop, shop, and PLEASE tell your friends!!

Sold Our House

We got some of the best news of our entire lives last night!!! We finally sold our home in Omaha. What an incredible blessing!!! It has been for sale for a year and a half. I cannot even begin to tell you the amount of stress that has now been lifted from both Buddy and I. Even though it took so long, I can say with conviction that I know that Lord had a plan and all would be okay. It was hard sometimes to keep that thought, but regardless, I always knew. It couldn't have happened at a better time as we will be moving in less than a month.

We are excited for sure. I am so grateful for the memories that we created within that home and more importantly for the friends that we were so blessed to make while we lived there. They have become more than friends to us and a lot more like family. Thanks for being so wonderful to us and especially for all of the prayers that have been prayed in our behalf.

Disturbing

Okay, well, I finally think I am going to go private on my blog. I just read a very disturbing article about some adoption agency using a little boys picture in a hoax adoption scam. The people got the picture of some ladies family blog. So anybody who wants access, send me your info and I will add you to my list. FREAKY!!! You can either email me or post a comment with your email address.

Happy Birithday Natalie!!

Today is Natalie's 2nd birthday. I absolutely cannot believe it. Naddie brings such a joy and happiness to our home. We all love to watch her dance and sing and her smile can light up an entire house. I feel incredibly blessed to have such an amazing daughter in my life.

Fun in Omaha

Kimbo and Emma playing together under the tree in our front yard.

Rachel and Carly playing on their scooters.

Kimbo, Natalie, Carly, Emma, Alexa, and Rachel

Wow has it been a crazy week!!! So much fun though. We have LOVED being here with our dear friends here in Omaha!! We have missed everyone so very much!! We have been out to lunch with friends, roller skating, swimming, hanging out in the driveway (of course!!!) and just having an amazing time!!! When I got here, I had found that my amazing neighbors had made up airbeds for us in our rooms, they had a travel crib for Naddie and the bathrooms were stocked with towels and washcloths. The kitchen had dishes, pots and pans, silverware and dish soap and hand towels. My kitchen even had a small card table with a table cloth over the top of it and two fold up chairs around it. It was just awesome. My best friend Tena even had a refrigerator brought down to put into my garage!!! And people wonder why I love it here so much!! With friends like these can you blame me???

10 years ago today....

10 years ago today, I lost my dad. Man, do I miss him still so very much. It is amazing how there are some days where I still get the urge to pick up the phone and call him. I miss hearing his voice. I miss so much about him. My dad was one amazing man. He was incredibly generous. He was a wonderful dad who was always there for me. He was always complimenting me on everything from my outfit, to the decisions I had made. I was there when my dad died. I saw it all. As hard as those images are to have in my head, I am grateful I got to be with him in those final moments. It was just me and my mom, and that is a moment in time I will cherish always. I feel incredibly blessed to have been in his daughter and for all of the love he gave me while on this earth. That's all I can write for now....

While the boys are away...the girls will play!!!

Dessert at Johnny Rockets!! Sooo yummy!!!

Kimbo getting her manicure

Rachel getting her manicure

Rachel's first pedicure

Kimbo's first pedicure!!!

Buddy and Garrison went on a father and sons campout for church the weekend of May 15th and 16th. So, I asked my friends if they would watch Natalie so I could take the older girls on a date with their mom. We had such an amazing time. First we went to get our toes and nails done. They LOVED that. It was so cute watching them. They were the hit of the salon. Then we went to this awesome diner called Johnny Rockets. It is just like a 50's diner. We were laughing so hard (at Kimbo's antics of course) and just had an awesome time. Then we went SHOPPING!!!! What is a girls night without shopping??? We were so tired after all of that was finished so we topped the night off with watching "Hairspray" of which the girls lasted maybe 20 minutes before they conked out. It was a wonderful night. I will honestly hold it close to my heart for years to come. Thanks for being such wonderful and fun girls Rachel and Kimbo!! I love you so much!!!

Kindergarten Graduation!!!

Kimbo look so scholarly!! :)

Ms. Ray (the EA), Kimbo and her teacher Mrs. Varnell

Kimbo was in charge of the letter Q for the "Kindergarten ABC's"

Kimbo walking into the room trying so hard to keep her hat from falling off.

Well, today was Kimbo's kindergarten graduation. We are so proud of her. She looked so cute walking into the room with her cap on. I cried of course!! Kimbo has grown up so much this year. She is such an incredible joy in our home. She has been such a blessing to me. She truly does light up not only our home, but my life. Here's to you, our big 1st grader!!!!!!! I love you to pieces!!!

Happy Birthday Babe!!!

Today is Buddy's 34th birthday. I just wanted to take a moment and tell him (and everyone else) just how much this amazing man means to me. I love him more than words can say. He sacrifices so much for our family and his patience (especially with me) never ceases to amaze me. He is such an amazing dad. He loves his kids and shows them continuously how special they really are. He is an incredibly hard work and extremely loyal. I could go on, and on, and on, and on... but you get the point. Happy Birthday to the love of my life.

Lovin' me some NASCAR!!!

Elliott Sadler's car. This is Buddy's favorite driver

Jamie McMurray's car. He is my favorite driver

Buddy and I Saturday night after the race.

The kids and I at the Friday night race

Our family Friday night after the race

One of the good things about living in New Mexico, is that we are only about 6 hours away from Phoenix International Raceway where every April and November, they have a NASCAR race. We like to go in April because the race is on a Saturday night rather than a Sunday. So this past weekend, we went!! We had a blast.

We arrived in Phoenix late Thursday night and spent that night at my good friend Kim's house. Friday afternoon, we met up with some of my most dearest friends Vickie, Suzie, Missy, Trisha, and of course Kim. It was so much fun to see everyone. We ate at In-N-Out which is my most favorite food on this planet.

We actually took the 3 older kids to the race on Friday night. That race is the Nationwide series which is kind of like the minor leagues. Tickets are significantly cheaper. We had so much fun. The kids were blown away by how much louder and faster the cars were in real life. After about 30 laps, they were done. We were joined by our brother in law Mike and 3 of his boys and Buddy's sister Melissa and her husband Chris and 3 of their kids. It was so nice for all of the cousins to be together for this.

Saturday Morning, we met up with Buddy's friends Branden and his wife Ashely and their two very sweet twin boys, and his friend Greg and his wife Amy and their two sweet kids. It was so fun to get to see them.

Then on Saturday night Buddy and I and Melissa and Chris went to the Sprint Cup race. This is where the big dogs race. It was amazing. We have gone one time before but I cannot tell you how much I just love the whole atmosphere of being there live. It is unbelievable. I know what most are thinking about your average NASCAR fan but let me just say, yes many of them may be rednecks but...I have grown up in a family that was full of die hard sports fans and I have been to many professional sporting events and NEVER have I been to an event where everyone is so accepting and kind to each other. It is like a family of about 30,000 people. Yes there is your "typical" fan who looks like everything you may have ever heard. And yes, there is quite a lot of alcohol (what sporting event to you go to where alcohol is not running rampid through most spectators bodies) but I love being there and enjoying the sport with all of those people who love it just as much, if not more than I do.

The noise is indescribable. the speed of the cars cannot be comprehended. And for all of you non fans out there, there is a whole heck of a lot more involved then these men going round and round a track in circles. It was awesome!!! My driver came in 11th so that was pretty darn cool as well.

Mission Update

Okay!!!!! He is going to Sierra Leone (the country) Freetown (the capital city) West Africa (the continent) English speaking mission. He will report to the Ghana MTC on July 31st. He will only wear a suit to arrive to the MTC and then from the time he gets there, he will wear a white shirt and tie and slacks with sandals!!! He is so excited!!! Of course...so are we!!!! I love you Ryan!!!!

I Hope They Call Me On A Mission

So tomorrow around 8:00 p.m., my phone should be busy so do not call. My nephew Ryan will be telling me where he will be serving his mission!!! I am beside myself with excitement!!! Those who know me well, know that I am very, very close with my nieces and nephews. Probably because I have been an aunt since I was 10. Being the youngest of 6, I have so many nieces and nephews. I love them all so very much!! This will be the first grandchild to serve a mission. He is the oldest boy. I am so proud of him for making the decision to go. He is going to be an amazing missionary!! He has such in incredibly strong testimony of the church. I am so excited for him but jealous of those he will be serving as they will get to be with him for 2 years, and I wont!!

I love you Ry-Ry!!! I CANNOT WAIT FOR "THE CALL"!!!!!!!

My Husband Should Have Been an Orthodontist!!!

This morning Rachel had her first of what turns out to be many, visits with the orthodontist. Let me start with I LOVE this office. The people are amazing. Everyone from the receptionist to the orthodontist himself. They have like 4 video arcade games for siblings to play if they so choose. They have a huge fish tank which I cannot wait for Garrison to see. They gave not only Rachel a capri sun but Natalie too. After Rachel was done she got like 4 full size candy bars. Probably not the best thing for a girl who just had 2 cavities filled but after all she went through today, she probably deserves them. They were just so family friendly. It was wonderful...until I got "the news." Poor Rachel has her fathers teeth only worse. She has a very significant over-bite. Her mouth is way too small to fit all of her teeth in so the crowding is out of control.

We will go in on April 2nd and get a "guard" which will fit in the top of her mouth. We will crank it every day to slowly expand her upper teeth to allow more room for her future permanent teeth. That will stay on for 3-4 months after which she will get braces on her top and bottom teeth. Those will stay on for a year. After those come off, we will wait until she is 12 or 13 at which time she will get another full set. Hearing this I became incredibly dizzy with dollar signs floating around my head instead of birds.

The funny (okay not so funny) part of it all is the secretary told me that we have incredible dental insurance. So $2300 is a good price for all of this??? Wow!!! I know it will all be worth it for her to have a beautiful smile but my wallet will be MUCH lighter for the next year as I pay this off.

In short...my husband definately picked the wrong profession.

Ahhhh the 80's

Last night I saw a picture of a girl friend and she was wearing one of these charm necklaces. The memories came flooding back!!! When I was in elementary school I LOVED these necklaces. I had a million of these charms. Some of them even worked like the toilet one where the lid came up and down!!! I got on eBay to see if I could still get one and holy moly..they are going for like $40!!!!!! So I guess I will just have to relive the memories by looking at pictures on the internet!!!

You Should See The Other Guy!!!

So I wake up around 9:00 on Saturday morning. I lay there for a second allowing myself to fully wake up. I reach over to grab my cell phone to see what time it is and holy moly, I have a text from Buddy. It came it at about 7:30. I knew he was gone because he goes early every Saturday morning to play basketball at the Stake Center. The text read.."I am going to get stitches at the hospital you went to for your burn. I am ok." Are you kidding me???? I jumped out of bed and tried to call him. No answer. Of course. I take a minute to figure out what the heck I was supposed to do. I thought of calling my neighbor to come and sit with the kids so I could rush down there but I thought he will probably be finished by the time I got there. A few minutes later, Buddy calls me.

He was playing basketball ( I knew that already) and some guy was on his way down to the court to make a basket and Buddy tried to steal the ball and the guy accidentally elbowed him right between the eyes. Turns out he had to get 5 stitches. Of course the other guy is fine. He felt awful for hurting Buddy. My poor hubby. I think he learned that next time he needs to call me and not text. At least I hope he did!!!!

The In-Laws

(My Mother and Father in law. Rosemary and Gary)

(Rachel with Alyssa and her boyfriend Andy)

(Kimbo with Buddy's Aunt Kathy)

(Garrison saying goodbye to Mitzi)

(Rachel with Bob and Lucy)

I feel the need to get sentimental and mushy. I have many friends who I often hear complain like crazy about their spouses family. Either it is their mother in law is too over-bearing or their sister in law is too judgmental or their spouses aunt and/or uncle are just nuts. Well I have to say that I have been extremely blessed with AMAZING in laws. My mother and father in law are just fantastic. They know when to step in and offer guidance and advice and yet they know when we have things under control and don't butt in. They respect our decisions as parents and support us 100%. They have made me feel loved and as much of a daughter as their own daughters. I love them unconditionally and will be eternally grateful for their love and guidance.

I cannot say enough about Buddy's two sisters. I ADORE them. I am as close to them as I am my own sisters. They are two of my dearest friends.

Buddy's dad is the oldest of 7 kids. One, sadly past away as an infant so it was just Buddy's dad and his 5 sisters. Now let me tell you..when you get these 5 sisters together...LET THE FUN BEGIN. There is nothing these ladies will not do. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to see them bungee jumping off some bridge. When you are around them, hold on to your pants. They are a blast. Often times, all 6 of them (including Buddy's dad) will burst out into song. If you say anything that resembles a song, they start singing. The cool thing is they sing very well together. I love to hear them sing.

While living in Omaha, I got the awesome opportunity to get to know one of Buddy's aunts (Lucy) and one of Buddy's cousins (Mitzi) so much better. Mitzi lived in a suburb of Omaha and Lucy lived a few hours away in a small town in Iowa. I loved this opportunity. I grew to love and cherish these two amazing women. They got to know our children and my children grew to love an absolutely adore them. Garrison grew very close to Mitzi, Kimbo grew very close to Mitzi's husband Al, and Rachel grew very close to Mitzi's daughter Alyssa. It was so fun to see the love that each of my kids developed for them. Thank you Mitzi and Lucy (and of course Al, Bob, Nicolas, Christian, and Alyssa) for all you did for us while we were there). We miss you more than words can say.

In short, I feel incredibly blessed to have such amazing in laws. Yes they are a tad bit crazy at times, a tad bit loud sometimes, and a bit passionate about their college football but you know what??? I wouldn't trade any of them for anything. (Not to mention that they have done a darn good job at sucking me into their Alabama football obsession.) I will forever love them all. Thank you to all of the Hopkins clan for loving me.

My New Hobby

So my mom and step dad came to visit a week ago and while they were here they taught me how to make these blankets. Now those who know me, know that I cannot even sew a button on a shirt. Crafty things just are not my cup of tea. However, this was so easy. I am sure those of you who already know how to do it are thinking "Hello, it's not rocket science." However, I am very excited about it as it is a huge accomplishment for me. The first one is Kimbo's. That was the first one I ever did. It is Monkeys. The second one is Natalie's. She is obsessed with Elmo. I found this material today and thought she would just love it. She is now in bed so we won't know until morning. I am so excited about them!!!

P.S. I just added a picture of Rachel's. It is frogs. I made it this morning. I seem to do better every one I do. Poor Kimbo got the smallest and least attractive one. She loves it though!!

Happy 10th Birthday Sweet Boy!!!!

Today is Garrison's 10th birthday. I can hardly believe it. I remember so vividly the day he was born. It seemed like he would never get here. I could hardly wait to see the beautiful angel that me and my amazing husband had helped create. The minute I saw him, I was overwhelmed with the love I felt for him. He truly was an angel from above. To this day, I do not quite know what I did to deserve such an amazing little boy but I am sure grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who trusted me enough to entrust him in my care. Anytime I talk about Garrison, I have a difficult time controlling my emotions and even as I write this, I have tears in my eyes. When you have a child with special needs, there is just a different and most sacred spirit about them. He knows no hate and loves all who come in contact with him. He is so accepting of all. His innocence is just precious. I love you son. Thank you for all of the joy you have and continue to bring into my life.

Pine Wood Derby

So the pine wood derby is next week. Garrison really has no idea what that even is but each year we try very hard to get him to help in making the car. This year, Buddy came up with the idea to do a "Yoshi" car. Yoshi is a character off of the Nintendo Wii game MarioKart. He actually did a great job in helping this year. When they did the weigh-in the other night, all of the boys LOVED his car. We are excited for the race this Wednesday.