Zippie come home!

Today Zippie got out of the backyard and we haven't been able to find him. He didn't have his collar on either because he had recently had a bath and we hadn't put it back on yet. Please pray that he will return safely, the kids are really bummed.

Yuck!

Ainsley's first feeding with rice cereal. I'm sure you can guess how she felt about it.

"Look mom, I'm a bridge!"

Domestic Diva

This is my first loaf of bread! I wish I could take all the credit but I had help from my bread maker. I'm so proud, it's like I'm a new parent to baby bread.

Can't get this girl down

This little girl is such a happy thing, I swear she doesn't get upset. This is her after her four month check up. She ended up getting four shots, two in each leg. Ouch!

Trick or Treat!

Here's a pic of the kids on Halloween. Prestin was Batman, Avery was a princess, and Tatum was Belle. All the costumes were dress up clothes that the kids had, so we didn't spend a dime which was awesome. We went to about eight houses which was just enough for the kids. Plus, it was kind of cool outside and the girls didn't want to wear sweaters because it would hide their costumes. So they shivered from house to house. I was so proud of them, usually I have to go up to the door with them because their too shy. But this year they went right up to the door and would say trick or treat without being prompted. It was actually fun this year and didn't take a whole lot of work on my part. As they grow older things seem to get easier in some ways, but it makes me sad because they are growing up at warp speed. Tatum is going to be five in a little over three months, it seems like she was just a toddler the other day. And now she looks so grown up and she acts so grown up as well. She is definitely mommy's little helper. And she is becoming such a clean freak, which I don't mind one bit. Her room is always clean now and she made her bed about two weeks ago all by herself and she refuses to sleep under the covers so it won't get messed up. So she has an extra blanket she uses to cover up with. She's a funny girl!

A Great Lady

When I was a little girl my Grandma Caggiano had this ability to make words on paper come to life, to really make your imagination run wild. I know that's why I love to read and write, hopefully I'll be able to follow in her footsteps someday and write a book, possibly children's books. It's something that I've always wanted to do, and I have her to thank for that. She was a wonderful lady, grandmother, author, poet, and servant of God. I'm thankful that I knew her and for all that I learned from her and I'm thankful for the peace I have knowing that she is in heaven, because she gave her heart to Jesus so long ago. She will be greatly missed. I was glad for this trip to Arizona, because I was able to say goodbye to this great lady. I will always remember that moment as she was lying there so peaceful and I was telling her how beautiful it was up here with the leaves turning colors, she squeezed my hand and I knew that she heard me. I'm sad that my kids won't ever get to know her like I did, but they'll know who she was through me. I love you Grandma, Bye oh bye, Oh bye oh baby.

Pics from our trip

Memories, from the corners of my mind, misty water colored memories..... Do you all remember that song. That's what is going through my head as I write this post, I know I'm a nerd. So anyways these are some pics from our trip I wish I had taken more, we miss you all. Play that song in your head as you scroll through the pics, come on sing it out loud I know you want to. And thanks again Grandma and Grandpa Cookie for letting us stay with you during our visit. We love you guys!

Family Reunion Pics

Okay, so I just now have the energy to write. Wow, what a trip! Can I just say that I am still so exhausted from it that we have decided that the next time we consider taking that trip again will be like five years from now, because we will just then have regained our energy. It was seriously 26 hours each way and with time constraints we drove straight through both ways. The way up there was fine because we were rested and excited to see everyone, but coming back was a bear. Ash drove most of the way(poor guy)and I drove maybe six hours, if that. I kept having hallucinations that deer were jumping out in front of me or lying dead in the road, and I would slam on the breaks so that I wouldn't hit them. It definitely made for a fun ride home(hee hee). But I definitely had my reasons for being cautious because the proof was everywhere, it was disgusting. We had to pull over a couple of times to sleep in parking lots for half hour stretches, it was miserable. Ash has let go of his bitterness with all the potty breaks we had to make along the way, even though he caught up to all the cars he had passed, it's a haunting thought to think how much further he could have been. But it was all worth it in the end to see all of you, we wish we could have seen everybody or spent more time with the ones we did see. We really miss everyone, but not the heat! It was great to get together with everyone at the family reunion, it was a fun day, windy, but fun. These are just a few pics from the family reunion, we loved hanging out with everybody and seeing the kids play together, big and little. Our door is open to anyone who wants to come up. I'll post more pics of our trip in the next post.