Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to my Valentine. You have always made me feel loved. You always tell my I am beautiful. You always want me to be happy. Even though our life is not a fairy tale, we are still living our happily ever after. I love you! 24 years of marriage and still going strong.

Happy Birthday Jordan!

20 years ago today an awesome, strong-willed child entered our lives. He has so much personality, it is not even funny. His brothers and sisters actually read his baby book for entertainment to laugh at the funny things that he has done and said. He is "all or nothing!" He is usually very happy, but if he isn't, he is letting you know otherwise. He is full of life! He is not here to celebrate his birthday, because he is in Honduras teaching others about Jesus Christ. Jordan, we love you and wish you a happy birthday!


He was into everything as a child!

Jordan never did things half-way. He was all boy! He had just turned two years old when he somehow managed to climb on to his toy car and jump off before I got to him:



He actually wore holes in the floor riding this horse:

When he wore these boots, his whole personality would change and he called himself the "hit kicker." He kicked a hole in the door. Needless to say, these boots were put up on the highest shelf in his closet quite often. :-)



He loved his dog, Ollie. It broke my heart to see him outside crying and praying for his dog once when he thought Ollie was going to die. He loves with all of his heart. Thankfully, Ollie recovered and lived about a year longer.


When he puts his mind to it, he is one smart guy!
Fun with lots of cousins!!


When he sets his mind to something, he can accomplish anything. When he was going through his "dog and hunting stage," he wanted a dog that cost quite a bit more than he had. He used to study the ads and dream about getting a dog. One day Jordan called about an ad in the paper (I had no clue he had done this) and explained that he did not have the money to buy a dog. He asked if they could call him the next time their dog had a litter. He was going to start saving right then and he told them he would have the money by the time the next litter came. To his surprise (and mine), the owner called me a couple weeks later and said she had a few dogs that did not sell and they were getting too old to sell for full price. She said her husband told her to call that young boy who had called earlier because "nothing comes between a boy and his dog." They wanted Jordan to come over and pick out one of the remaining pups for free. He was ecstatic! So, here is Dash.

Like I said, silly, silly, silly

Moving on up

His brothers and sisters adore him.
Proud of his car!!
Still not too big for Santa. :-)
We love our Eagle Scout.


Jordan, we are proud to call you son. It has been a privilege to be your parents. We thank the Lord that He entrusted you to our care. You are no longer a teenager. You have grown from boy to man! Happy birthday!!

Fun at the Zoo!!

For Christmas we received an awesome gift of a yearly family pass to the zoo. So on New Years' Eve (during the day), off we went. We had a fabulous time!





This jaguar was not too happy that I was taking his picture. He roared at me, lol.


The kids had fun with these paintings on a wall. They are acting as if they are part of the picture.



We sure worked up an appetite!!






Of course, we could not leave until they played on the playground.





Nothing more fulfilling than knowing your kids have rocked til' they dropped! All is well that ends well. :-)