Bitter Sweet...

Nahille, Me, Helen and Lisa

I have been with these ladies for quite some time now. We have worked together side by side for over 2 years and love each other like sisters. We kid about how we see each other more than our own families! So, it is with a heavy heart that I leave this group. I have transfered to another clinic within our company that is much closer to home. I will miss each of you more than you can imagine. I do know, though, that because we are so close I will be able to call any of you at anytime, for any reason...and I expect that you will do the same. So, while we may not see each other at work everyday, we will remain the best of friends. I love you all and will miss you terribly.

I Cute Mommy!

Hunting Eggs

This is Dayden's first year to actually hunt eggs. I made sure to bring a smaller basket so that she could actually walk with it full, but she had other plans. She wanted to open each egg as she found it. Her cousins were zooming past her as they collected dozens and dozens. She couldn't have been more happy with her 4 eggs.

Since it was Easter, I decided to tack on a few extra PTO days so that I could head to my parents early and get some much needed visits in with good friends. I have known Lynn and Steph for about 25 years. We all grew up together and even though we talk only once a month or so, it's like we just saw each other yesterday. It was so good to see them and visit and gossip and catch up. I truly enjoyed dinner and missed the old days when we all hung out...


Little Dayden was definitely in heaven. Lynn followed her around outside all evening letting her explore, pick flowers, jump on the trampoline, and even ride a bike. Thanks Lynn!!


Gracie and Dayden had a great time terrorizing the cat. Does that cat even belong to them??

David and I are absolutely positive that Dayden will be our lil athlete. In fact, I'm trying to teach her a few skills of the game. Yes, David...I got game!!

She played to exhaustion. She was asleep before we got to the only blinking light in town!

Our Cool Aunt Melonie

Aunt Mel watched all the kids on the first day of Spring Break. They enjoyed seeing a movie, playing outside and feeding the ducks!!





But, after all day long with this many kids...Aunt Mel was ready to put herself out of her misery!!

I know...I'm so bad!

I know, I know. I am WAY behind on the blog. Poor little Dayden was sick for an entire week. Then Easter decided to be early this year so I'm just a lil behind...I'll do my best to catch up!!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

My CRAZY sister.

My only brother, Bailey (10). Maybe when Daddy gets home that will change?
Aunt Mel always lets me do all the fun stuff!!


DAYLEE(11) AND DAYDEN (20 months)

That's me...wearin' my sisters' sunglasses!

Mommy calls these two "DOUBLE TROUBLE!". Hehe.
Ashlyn (8) and Dacie (8)

My Birthday Celebration

This year I had the great pleasure of spending my birthday with some of my most favorite people...my kids. Of the six, five of them were here to sing, dance and celebrate with me. Oh! We can't leave out Aunt Melonie! She has been such an incredible help while David's been away. She is truly adored by her nieces and nephew and I can't imagine going through this deployment without her. We had such a fun time at the Olive Garden (Thanks Mary Helen!) and the singing wait staff was so fun!!

Yummy cake!

Thank You!!

Thank you to all for the wonderful birthday wishes. I swear turning 29 for the 8th time never gets old!! Thanks again!!

Flowers from Iraq

Somehow my very sneaky husband managed to send me flowers all the way from Iraq for my birthday. They are absolutely beautiful and the note attached was even more beautiful. I would share...but he does have a reputation to protect!!
Thank you David and "Ditto!".

I love it when Naunnie visits...

Well, while we waited for the awards ceremony for Ashlyn's DI competition, Mommy, Naunnie and Bailey decided to take me to the mall. I guess they think I like going shopping and sitting in that stroller. Haven't they learned I love to roam free and that I will yell at the top of my lungs if I don't get my way? I mean, REALLY, Daddy didn't give me this L-O-U-D voice for nothing. (I will make an excellent cheerleader or drill instructor someday...)

Anyway, there were some perks to the trip. I got to eat lunch with Naunnie, take a picture with the Easter Bunny (who, by the way, is the coolest and I cried really hard when Mommy said I had to get off of his lap) and I got to ride the train with my favorite brother Bailey (10)!!

It was so nice to have my Naunnie here. I really like it when she visits and I think my cousins like it when she visits them too. Maybe she'll come back next month and we can do more fun things together!!

Destination Imagination

Ashlyn(8) participated in her 3rd annual Destination Imagination competion this past Saturday. She really enjoys the program. She and all of the students work very hard to prepare for the competition and do all of the work themselves. Their hardwork certainly paid off when they won the much coveted Renaissance Award. (Of course the coaches work really hard too and put in plenty of "overtime" to help these students prepare for competition day.) Congrats and great job!!
Mrs. Dennis reads the judges reviews as the kids hang on to EVERY word she reads.
Naunnie even got to see the performance...and was she ever impressed. It's quite obvious Ashlyn gets her flare for the dramatics from her grandmother!!

"IT 'NOWIN MOM!"

My big brother Bailey and big sister "Ash-en Rae" (Ashlyn) were able to enjoy the snow at their dad's house this morning...looks like Mr. Chad got a little more snow than Mommy. Mommy's okay with it though...she really doesn't like the cold!!

While I got to see snow for the first time in my 19+ months on earth. I was a little confused by the white stuff last night, but I was CERTAIN this morning that marshmallows covered the lawn. All the way to daycare I told Mommy about the "mallows" outside....

Saturday Mornings

What's better then sleeping in on Saturday morning?? Watching cartoons with my big brother and sister...I REALLY love hanging out with them!!!

Update from the sandbox...

Here is a brief, unofficial update from David on the work he and the Marines are doing in Iraq:

We are employing local nationals on base as kind of a clean up crew.
We are continuously seeking out and destroying bad guys.
We do whats called combined medical engagement (CME) in the towns for families to seek and receive free medical assistance. (not a pretty sight)
We also provide chow (food) for the neighborhoods and needy families. (EVERYONE)
We meet and greet with the Sheiks and different tribal leaders.
We provide the local govt with force protection issues.
We work with Iraqi Army (IA) and Police (IP) closely to train and form some kind of infrastructure so we can turn over this country, SOMEDAY.