10 Year Anniversary!!!

Its just crazy to me that 10 years has gone by since we were married.  It's funny to think I can't remember life without him or life without the kids.  We were really blessed to find each other.  We definitely round each other out.  I am thankful for our amazing life we lead and all the love we have...from each other, the kids, and our families.  We are beyond blessed. I really can't even begin to go on about him...he is just my rock, my soul mate, and the love of my life.   

We decided a few months ago we would do a cruise.  We had been told that you really want to do a cruise with at least one more couple...so we asked Johns brother Dan and sister-in-law Amy (also my BFF since 4th grade) to come with us. We were very skeptical..we even had some buyers remorse about going on a cruise b/c neither of us had ever been, BUT man oh man...it was simply amazing!!!!! We had the BEST time ever. 

We are especially thankful to all the Grandparents who chipped in and watched the kids for us...for 7 long days!! We have never left them that long and were nervous about it to say the least, but they did great and had so much fun. A million thank yous!!!!!!!

 If you wanted to eat in the dining room then you had to dress a little fancier (and by fancy...I mean a shirt with a collar and not jeans with holes in them...lol).  I didn't mind and John was a trooper about it :)  Mainly b/c the food was AMAZING!!!!

 Our ship was just amazing and so were our rooms.  We went all out and are so glad we did!

 They had some great shows and a hysterical comedian too :)

 The places we went to were off the chain amazing.  We went to Princess Cays (Bahamas), Grand Turk, St. Maarten, & St. Thomas.

 I have never seen water like this...it was just so beautiful!!

 At dinner one night...again, best food I have ever had...ugh want to go back!!!

 We got to watch movies under the stars at night.  It was so cool!!

 This is a horrible picture of us b/c we both look like we are still asleep...but it shows the view.  I mean every day...all day long...you had a view.  Every meal was so beautiful!!

Alijeh Moving

Alijeh moved to Ohio last month and we all miss her so much already.  We know she is going to enjoy her new position with her company and her new fiance, but it was so nice having her down the street!  Luckily technology is fabulous and we basically "talk" to her everyday through texts, snap chats, and Groupme.  Love you and best of luck!!! 

Halloween 2014

We had an awesome Halloween.  Of course Bailey wanted to be Elsa and Jackson truly wanted to be a zombie (for the 2nd yr in a row), but I just thought he was too young for that and promised him next year he could do that :)  Did I mention how much we love our neighborhood? They served pizza, had games, and a parade :)  They also decked their houses out like crazy, I have never seen anything like it :) We need to step it up next year.  

Jackson & Bailey's birthday party

They kids had a wonderful birthday!  I am not a big decorator when it comes to birthday's.  I am kinda "old school".  I would rather just have food, cake, and fun! I do the best I can to just get a little as possible. My sis-in-law Amy is amazing at it, I just don't have the passion for it.  Luckily I get away with only doing it once ;)

We had almost our entire family over and everyone got to see the new house.  John is now busy building the tree house for the kids...I will post pics when its done of the whole process.  

Our 4 yr old

Bailey is full of life, that is for sure!!  Her nickname is Busy Bee...because she goes non-stop!  She loves to play pretend with Jackson and they get along great...for the most part (they are actually fighting as I type this! ha!).  She is such a spit fire.  She is the furthest thing from gentle...we have to say "GENTLE BAILEY about a million times a day".  She has such an intensity about all that she does.  She is getting better everyday and learning not to be so rough. lol.  It's not mean spirited at all...she really doesn't know her strength. She is so super kind and is always wanting to hug or kiss.  She is all girl...minus her strength.  She loves dress up, playing with hair, princesses, playing with dolls, ect.  

She is one smart cookie.  She loves to learn and draw. Thankfully she also loves school and complains when its not a school day.  She loves to ride bikes and anything that Jackson does, she wants to do.  She loves to sing and dance and when we put her to bed she typically is singing herself to sleep :) She is the star of the show too...not afraid in the least to put on an act for whoever will listen.  She pushes herself too.  She tries harder and harder until she can get things.  She has a drive about her that is amazing.  

We love our Busy Bee more than anything.  She is just as beautiful on the inside as she is outside.  Obviously we couldn't imagine out life without her and feel so blessed to be her parents.  

Our 6 year old

The years are going by so fast!!  Look at how big they all are!  

Jackson has become such a sweet boy.  For the most part he is so kind and gentle.  He is not a real rough boy (that would be more Bailey's territory! ha!).   He has the best questions and stumps me all the time.  Like "what are eyes made out of?" and "when you die and you are buried in the ground, do the bugs come and eat your body?" ...the list is endless.  He is just always thinking up the craziest things.  He has a whole lot going on up in his little head.  He is a HUGE rule follower.  Sometimes I wish he would just chill...but hey...rather a rule follower than a rule breaker ;)  He is still extremely cautious too. I think he may have training wheels forever.  Jackson loves playing on the playground after school.  They are usually playing zombies or monsters and chasing each other around like donkey's and having a blast. He is definitely one of the skinniest kids in his class and I can barely keep his pants up. lol.  He would much rather play than eat.  He is not really into food at all and if it were up to him he would just eat cheese and bread all day long. ha! Luckily we still force him to try everything and he is realizing he is gonna have to eat it, so might as well not complain :)  

He LOVES school thank goodness! He is also still obsessed with Skylanders, we only let him play on the weekends and even then its not much.  He got a baseball glove for his birthday and really enjoys playing catch with me and John.  He will start tennis lessons in our neighborhood next Monday.  That should be hysterical! 

We love him so much.  He brings so much life & laughter to our home.  We are growing right along with him and learning how to parent each age.  It comes with its challenges, but he is such a blessing to us and I can't imagine life without him.