FIVE YEARS

The best decision I have ever made!!!

Christmas Season Highlights

Christmas cards have been sent,



Neighbor gifts delivered,



Gingerbread houses made,



Jack managed to stick a nickle in an outlet and a m&m up his nose and survived it, all in one night,




I turned 25 and we celebrated, we also celebrated 75% of our extended families birthdays (nearly everyone in our family has a birthday in Dec.)



We've played in the snow (Jack keeps begging the sun to bring it back),




Shawn and my prayers have been answered and he is busier than he has been in the past few years, which stinks because he has been going in early and staying late, yuck. But we feel VERY bless, we will deal with the crappy hours, well he will.



Jack has learned his own version of a few Christmas carols and has made up a few of his own including... Jingle bells (jingle bell jingle bell all the way home, one more neigh neigh), All I want for Christmas is my two front tires (mater style), Oh timing belt oh timing belt how lovely is your rubber (Mater style too), Frosty the snow plow(yeah you guessed it, mater style) and last but not least, Merry Merry Ka-chow (McQueen style) Not the sweetest Christmas songs but he loves singing them!



And the shopping is 99.9% of the way done.

No wonder the season goes by so fast!!!

New Family Photos

My darling and very talented friend errin took these great pictures of our little family. They are so beautiful, apparently I had a lot of favorites, thanks Errin!

For Jack

Paul Harvey Writes:

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better.

I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches.. I really would.

I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated.

I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car..
And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.

It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.

I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room, but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him.

When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her.

I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.

On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.

If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one.

I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.

I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like.

May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.

I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it… And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.

I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle.

May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.

I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Hannukah/Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.

These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.

Written with a pen… Sealed with a kiss.

To the One I Owe My Life To

I love that my Mom and I have birthdays right next to each other. Mine is on the 8th followed by hers, today, on the 10th. The day before my birthday I was thinking about where my Mom was 25 years ago. I remember so vividly Jacks birth and how hard and special it was and the sacrifices and blessing that have come from that day. But rarely have I thought about the day I was born and the sacrifices that my Mom made that day and every day after that. She has always put us children and My Dad first before any of her needs. She is incredibly thoughtful.

This is such a small thing in perspective to all the things she has done for me, but she knows how much I love peppermint ice cream and I can't remember a birthday ever going by without her buying special peppermint ice cream for my birthday. That is so... my Mom, she knows how to put a magic touch on everything and make us feel so special. That is my favorite thing about her.

I also started to wonder, as my Mom, how many diapers she has changed, how many bedtime stories she has read, how many times she has layed by the side of my bed waiting for me to fall asleep, how many times I woke her up in the middle of the night because I couldn't sleep. How many messes she has cleaned up because of me, how many sack lunches she's made, how many hours she spent doing my hair and making sure I always looked nice. I wonder how many time she cried because I hurt her feelings, how much money she has spent on Christmas, birthday gifts, and school clothes. How many nights she stayed up way too late to make sure I got home safe, how many ride she has given me. This list could go on and on and on, I am sure I haven't even touched the surface. But the point is I have the best mom in the world and she probably doesn't even care that she has spent every second of her life providing for her children. She has truly taught me what being selfless is and I owe her the world for that. I couldn't ask for a better Mom. I have had such an easy, happy life because I was blessed to have her as my Mom. Happy Birthday Mom I love you with all of my heart, Thank you for being My Mom.

SANTA

"I want a Boost and a New Mater, because Austin broke the tow cables off mine."
- Jack Christmas 2009